Hard Light Productions Forums
General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: Retsof on August 31, 2008, 02:44:27 pm
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Okay I finally got a codec pack and was able to watch the ending video. I really liked the way it slowed down so you could watch ships reassemble themselves. And I'm pretty sure I saw the Transcendent on like the last frame.
Since this was my second playthrough of the Sync / Transcend pair, I noticed that allot of the Transcendent's lines were from Sync. I liked the way he said "Doesn't that ... bother you?" When you had to kill one of your people. But why did he say "Thank You" when you killed him?
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Gah, I had to reply that damned awesome campaign just to answer your question.
Well, from what I gathered, the Transcendant had gone to the end of the universe, and surpassed humanity and nature. Thus, he seemed to be the product of insanity. It could be that he was just trying to communicate with us, but had no way of doing that harmlessly. I dunno, but I would like to see more campaigns like that. I love mods that have thick plots, and I could FEEL Sunder going crazy as he tried to get answers.
EDIT : Well, I just played the last/first mission. I am kind of perplexed.. Does this mean that the entire campaign was.. a dream? DAMN IT, I have to go play Sync now... :mad:
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The Transcendant has tremendous power, but he couldn't control it. He was suffering because of it, which is why he drew you to him to you could kill him with what little control he had left. Hence the "Thank you".
That might just be me epic-ifying it though.
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Whoo, I just got a shiver from just THINKING of the EPIC SCALE of that campaign. Although, I found that if you shoot the Transcendent enough inside the Node, he screams, " NO! " Made me jump the first time. So, I guess our boy has a bit of a mood swing problem there...
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The Transcendant has tremendous power, but he couldn't control it. He was suffering because of it, which is why he drew you to him to you could kill him with what little control he had left. Hence the "Thank you".
I think you hit the nail on the head.
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It's connected to Sync, cause in Sync, when they returned to GTVA space, some of the pilots jumped out on their way, and because of the Sync they appeared at random places, each further than the other, depending on who jumped later. Some were found, damaged and/or dead. One wasn't found, who jumped lastly. Or was it firstly? Anyway, the one that wasn't found became the Transcendant.
P.S. Sorry if this is incomprehensive.
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Well, I think that is an accurate theory, although I don't think that Sync has anything to do with Transcend. The author said it himself. Then again, what do I know?
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Transcend is connected to Sync, as far as I know. And wasn't it the author who said what I posted?
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Sync and Transcend are part of the same 'universe'.
And the "Thank you" was not from the Transcendent. That was Marcel.
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Yeah, the Trancendant has to be one of the ones from Sync. In the campaign as Marcel is going nuts he starts talking about taking a job to escort some freighters, but he's not a merc. Also, one of the "visions" he has distinctly shows the convoy you were with in the nebula.
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Well, he was also talking about losing his memory. So, of course he had forgotten about the convoy.
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You get to see the Transcendent in Sync during the subspace mission. he appears to transcend time as well and possibly his death revolved the things that happened in Sync.
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No, I think it was the Transcendant saying Thank You, because:
It had the Transcendent whisper
It was the Transcendent voice
It doesn't make sense if Marcel would say thank you.
It DOES make sense if the Transcendent says thank you.
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Not to mention the missions leading up to the Transcedant battle imply that the Transcendant himself is seeking death.
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It DOES make sense if the Transcendent says thank you.
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Not to mention the missions leading up to the Transcedant battle imply that the Transcendant himself is seeking death.
So it does make sense. :)
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Yes. That's why I quoted myself. Like you just did. Yes.
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Well, I think that is an accurate theory, although I don't think that Sync has anything to do with Transcend. The author said it himself. Then again, what do I know?
Yeah, as has been pointed out, there is definitely a link to Sync. (rhymes!) I believe there was a GameWarden thread a while back that pretty conclusively proved that the Transcendent was one of the wingmen from Sync, just based on the dialogue he spouts. Plus, certain ships in Transcend seem to be playing the roles of vessels in Sync -- the Deimos following you, for example. And the Transcendent starts a second Terran/Vasudan War, echoing the Vasudan threat in Sync.
I think the most horrifying thing about Transcend is the Prometheus R.
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I never really bit into the Transcendant story.
All that jazz about reaching the end of the universe and surpassing humanity. WTF is there at the end of the universe? More empty space, nothing else.
Just how would a human just suddenly get the power to manipulate space/time with his will..to affect reality itself?
Freespace is Sci-Fi ... this is more like fantasy horror.
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WTF is there at the end of the universe? More empty space, nothing else.
Just how would a human just suddenly get the power to manipulate space/time with his will..to affect reality itself?
It's implied that he went "outside" of the universe, and without the ordinary rules of reality binding him anymore, his being grew into something incomprehensible to us. When he tried to return home... he didn't "fit" into our reality anymore, which is why he lost control of his powers.
At least, that's how I read it.
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rubbish I say.
If he returned to this universe, wouldn't he be again bound by it's rules? And if he left this one and went somewhere where the rules of our reality apply, wherever he went has it's own rules. Could he even function there? The fighter? His body?
And again, how does one go "outside" the universe?
See....too contrieved for my tastes.
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He got there because of the Sync.
When he got back, he was bound to the rules of this universe, so that's why it all started to behave weird and he could have destroyed everything.
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It's like this, Trashman: you try to stick something large into a box too small for it. If you push hard enough, you'll destroy the box (along with causing some hefty damage to whatever it was you were trying to stick in there). I think that's exactly what happened with the Transcendant and the laws of our reality.
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What makes you think it's bigger out there? Even if it is, to enter back here, it automaticly must lose all the extra weight to get back. It cannot get back with the extra weight.
The universe is not created to be broken easily - and being broken by one guy jumping around is redicolously easy.
Long story short - you won't convince me there's even a hint of logic in there...so let's just drop this.
No sense in turning this into a debate no one wants to hear anyway.
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What makes you think it's bigger out there? Even if it is, to enter back here, it automaticly must lose all the extra weight to get back. It cannot get back with the extra weight.
The universe is not created to be broken easily - and being broken by one guy jumping around is redicolously easy.
Long story short - you won't convince me there's even a hint of logic in there...so let's just drop this.
No sense in turning this into a debate no one wants to hear anyway.
You're attacking the metaphor. The Transcend story makes perfect sense within the rules of a soft-SF universe, which Freespace is. And how would you know whether the universe can be 'broken' or not?
But let's just move on, like you suggested.
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That's what I figured.
And yeah, FreeSpace is strictly Sci-Fi. But that doesn't keep a custom campaign from being whatever you want it to be. Frankly, Transcend's difference from normal FS is why it's one of my favorite campaigns.
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'Strictly sci-fi'? Sci-fi is one of the broadest fields out there. Perhaps you're thinking 'strictly hard SF', which it's not, or 'strictly space opera', which it arguably could be, or 'strictly soft military science fiction', which is probably closest.
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I don't really know the difference between all the different (sub)genres, so it's more like I don't know what I'm talking about than anything else.
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What's wrong with Fantasy Horror in a Sci-Fi setting?
I like it for being different.
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What's wrong with Fantasy Horror in a Sci-Fi setting?
I like it for being different.
I just wished the missions were different instead of the same one over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again
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Heh. I killed the cruisers for extra kills out of boredom.
Its nice that they keep coming back. :D
But yes, Transcend's greatest fault its massive, utterly massive, chain of run-to-and-from-the-node missions.