[Droid803]

I'm thinking of calling Ancient systems by terran names, except for the ones not seen in FS. But Ragnarok stays

GAH! The one that coincidentally has to be a Terran Corvette as well    

But I have something more serious than naming that needs to be decided: pilot/command head animations.

That's one of the reasons to play as Shivans. 
The Shivan Datafiles have Shivan head animations (which are interchangeable because command shivans look like five-legged, five-eyed aliens as well).

However, it shouldn't be too hard to get some from other alien races from other universes.

[ShadowGorrath]

That's the problem- I don't want to use anis from other sci-fi. And I don't want to go non-canon and make them up. So I'm thinking of showing either an image of a ship, or just something like an "Incomming transmission. . ." in some random font ( like the one in the image I made ).

[Flaming_Sword]

But I have something more serious than naming that needs to be decided: pilot/command head animations.

That's one of the reasons to play as Shivans. 
The Shivan Datafiles have Shivan head animations (which are interchangeable because command shivans look like five-legged, five-eyed aliens as well).

I've already got that one covered.

That's the problem- I don't want to use anis from other sci-fi. And I don't want to go non-canon and make them up. So I'm thinking of showing either an image of a ship, or just something like an "Incomming transmission. . ." in some random font ( like the one in the image I made ).

I recall the TBP having something like that.

[ShadowGorrath]

I'd make something similar, but different at the same time.

[terran_emperor]

Well...The big question. What do the ancients look like?

Since we never see them, you could do just about anything.

The "Incoming Transmission" idea is a bit of a cop-out. Id say use anis based on footage from other series showing the pilots in spacesuits that completly obscure the Piliot themselve...

Sort of like the Tie-fighter pilot (Star Wars) or the Pilot of a Peacekeeper Prowler (Farscape) - you have no idea what species they are till they remove the helmet

[ShadowGorrath]

I have no imagination . . . Well, I have an idea on how the Ancients look like. I have a detailed idea. But I cant make a pic of how they look like. . .

[terran_emperor]

For a laugh, id make them look like sonic the Hedgehog characters....Man that would be a plot-twist

[Titan]

The always made me think of a vasudan, textured with knossos maps 

[DarthWang]

Several things:

1. You spelled "Aldebaran" wrong on the node map

2. I like the Norse system names, you should keep them

3. I always though the Ancients were related to the Vasudans, my theory was that during the Ancient-Shivan war, an Ancient ship was shot down and landed on Vasuda Prime, and they had to start from scratch and build a new civilization, the Shivans didn't kill them because they had become primitive and no threat anymore. That's also where the legends the Hammer of Light believed came from.

4. I can't wait to play this!

[ShadowGorrath]

There's already an idea on a Vasudan role   

[FreeSpaceFreak]

Is there a role for VPrime as well?

[terran_emperor]

Yay! Someone likes my map 

1) I made that map after being up over 30 hours. so its a miricle i spelt most of the names right.

2) Thanks...

3) Thats actually a very interesting idea. I never thought of that. it adds a whole new spin on the FS universe. Id always thought of the Ancients/Vasudan relation being something like the Caretaker/Ocampa[sp?] from ST:Voy

4) Me too

[Mobius]

I had an idea while I was talking with my gf...

What if the campaign starts with a cutscene in which GTVA scientists find Ancient artifacts(who knows, maybe they enter a previously undetected debris field)? An Ancient speaker would then start talking about the glorious Ancient Empire...

"That's what led to the downfall of our glorious Empire..."

And the cutscene brings the player to that period. That'd be an Ancient campaign with...a Terran(human) approach. You know, Minoan names etc. etc. We see Ancients "we can understand". I don't know if the quote above should be followed by something like "...we're showing you everything you need to know..." or similar.

IMO it's a good idea because a normal approach to the Ancients wouldn't be that effective and would still leave questions like "Why the f**k I see Minoan names?".

[ShadowGorrath]

Probably. I'll look into that. Just gotta make myself to finalise the whole missions concept ...

[Mobius]

Good to know.

[BengalTiger]

I like the idea of playing the campaign as part of a story told from an Ancient artifact (HDD or manuscript or whatever), with the narrator telling stuff about Ancient history during command briefings.

[Mobius]

The artifact idea is quite good but I'd also like to see something beyond it, like a dream, a possession, a form of trance or a simple story telling.

[Snail]

The artifact idea is quite good but I'd also like to see something beyond it, like a dream, a possession, a form of trance or a simple story telling.

Yeah, seems like something the Ancients would do.

The always made me think of a vasudan, textured with knossos maps 

I thought they'd look like Davy Jones...



But seriously, I always thought that either the Ancients turned into the Vasudans after they got shot down and were trapped on the planet, a species that was conquered by the Ancients but left alone by the Shivans, or a last-ditch attempt by the Ancients to continue their legacy (like the Vidar idea of Warzone). Anyhow, it will be very interesting to see how the idea plays out.

[chief1983]

Maybe the Vasudans didn't evolve naturally, maybe just a very low number of surviving ancients, too few to repopulate on their own, mixed in with the native population of V Prime 8000 years ago.  That could lead to all sorts of possibilities.

[Snail]

I think mating in-between species is too horrible to even comprehend... Japong...

I would guess the Ancients used a sort of genetic cloning thing to allow them to adapt to VPrime's climate.