New "Playable" Races

[M]

I know this may be an already discussed topic but I would like to say something different about it.
We all would like more, humanoid and not, playable races in the game. A space game needs aliens/races.

I tried to create and add a new playable race to the game on my own (Orc race form Warhammer World).
I used frames of other mods (Norbals + Imperial Guards + Core) to rapidly create a very "basic" Orc race/faction with a slightly different body from humans (same parts but different sizes/coverage), few classes (From both Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40K), few items (weapons and apparel from both Norb and IG mods) etc.
I found this part of the race and faction creation very easy, but then the ravine. FAIL.

I found myself with no Idea on how modify Textures for bodies, Colors, on how to bound the different race with different Background Stories, different Traits, different bodies and heads (Orcs should be melee and labour skill oriented instead of art/tech, should have other bodies and heads and different colors).
This is because I never ever did modding and stuff like that before, for this reason I am totally unable of carrying on a project of this nature and scale. So I gave up and I have not tried to keep going.

My suggestion/question is:
could we have new "playable" races, with different or selected traits and Bgs, in the vanilla game please? (playable = even from the start and from capturing planet tribes, it would be cool being able to customize other races like Orcs throught EdB Prepare Carefully Mod)[/i]

From what I saw, having textures/sounds (sound are not "that" needed) ready for use, this add-on would require only 1-3 days (max a week) of work + 1 day per race more or less.
This addition would add very much to the gameplay (plus is one of the most requested from players) and would lead to new possibilities for future game improvements and to race mods because, in my opinion, the addition in the vanilla game of new races (and basic features for the new races addition) would make really easy for modders to create new races by themselves.
But I am a total nescient about all that so I could be wrong and/or inappropriate. (plus eng is not my main language... -_-")

What do you all think about that?
I think the addition of new races in the game should be a priority as it would make the game more enjoyable, greatly enhancing its replayability, and would greatly expand the possibilities and characterizations of new mods (Races, Events, Factions, Traits, Backgrounds, Customization, Interface etc.).

[Johnny Masters]

In vanilla? Most likely never. Unless we consider some post-human abnormalities as different races.

You're more likely to find success in mods, as the developer is working with the premise there are no (known) aliens in the universe.

[tresflores]

if the creator didn't want us requesting other races or support to make our own maybe he could have not added the race tab  on info, speaking of which he could add some like deep sea race that would make them not alien by definition plus those transcended people could be a race of sorts without being alien and its more likely due to how many planets there are that here are aliens rather than not

[M]

In vanilla? Most likely never. Unless we consider some post-human abnormalities as different races.

You're more likely to find success in mods, as the developer is working with the premise there are no (known) aliens in the universe.

This is ok, if this is Tynan will, this is his game.
This way, however, is almost denied the opportunity to create new races because the game lacks the basics for an easy/managable creation, addition and use of races. That's what I am concerned about the most.
There would already be playable races mods out there otherwise... (Or I did not find em? This could also be ^_^")

I am, also, suggesting the addition of the basics for new races and their modding, not just new races.

(Example of basics: Tynan, or someone who helps him, could spend 1 day editing the RimWorld Wiki and the Modding section with a detailed page like "How to create and add a new playable race from 0" or something like that. This would help Modders a lot!)

[Adamiks]

I agree. Rimworld needs more races. How this game can be sci-fi game when we can play only humans even not modificated?

[Johnny Masters]

This is ok, if this is Tynan will, this is his game.
This way, however, is almost denied the opportunity to create new races because the game lacks the basics for an easy/managable creation, addition and use of races. That's what I am concerned about the most.
There would already be playable races mods out there otherwise... (Or I did not find em? This could also be ^_^")

I am, also, suggesting the addition of the basics for new races and their modding, not just new races.

(Example of basics: Tynan, or someone who helps him, could spend 1 day editing the Rimworld Wiki and the Modding section with a detailed page like "How to create and add a new playable race from 0" or something like that. This would help Modders a lot!)

Oh don't get me wrong, i'm just echoing the standard response to race request... But i'd love to see more races in the game. I understand what you are saying, vanilla could give at least support to race creating even if not using for itself, so +1 totally support you. I'm just not sure of our odds :s

[daft73]

Lots before on this. Overall it's a no, but modded yes. For instance orcs
Various posts and opinions to go over...
most about races in general, playable/ai
aliens?
gnoll race talk
vikings

[M]

Lots before on this. Overall it's a no, but modded yes. For instance orcs
Various posts and opinions to go over...
aliens?
gnoll race talk
vikings

I know, but what about "the possibility" to add races? I am not only writing about adding new races here...
(as written in the foreword)

+2 to you, Johnny Masters (1 for your +1 and 1 for your 400 posts)

[daft73]

Sure, it has been talked about...but as Johhny Masters eluded to, not likely. I like the idea of it myself.

Here is a post I found cornering the idea. It seems possible, but taxing possibly.... how to make a race

[M]

Sure, it has been talked about...but as Johhny Masters eluded to, not likely. I like the idea of it myself.

Here is a post I found cornering the idea. It seems possible, but taxing possibly.... how to make a race

Thanks for the link I did not read that before.

Unfortunately I've already done everything he says but this method still lacks some steps... Especially about the textures, visuals and the customization (bound Traits, BGs) side.
With those steps you can, at most, create new factions and/or new non-playable/customizable races.

[daft73]

Glad I could be of some help.

[SSS]

There's a bit of a misconception here. There are no true aliens in Rimworld, but what does that mean? The Longsleep Revival Briefing fills us in:

Ordo Historia records list thousands of reported contacts with alien life. However, in every case that has been thoroughly investigated, Ordo inquisitors have discovered that the 'alien' was, in fact, simply another branch of humanity.

Beyond the technological diversity of our species, there is also a broad biological diversity. Some populations have evolved under the selection pressures of pre-industrial life or on a world of great heat or cold, or high or low gravity, or even worlds bathed in the toxic residue of hyper-destructive wars. Though almost all such xenohumans (as they are called) are recognizably descended from the original Earth stock, their morphology is highly variable. Some are giants; other are tiny or squat. Some are dark; others pale as snow. Some are hairy like animals; others perfectly smooth. Diets, dispositions, and chemical and radiological tolerances vary significantly.

More alien are those xenohumans that carry genetic traits that were engineered instead of evolved. Across the long history and thousands of cultures of humanity, people have applied a dizzying array of modifications to themselves. Some were created to adapt people to a specific environment. Others were made to create better soldiers, pilots, or generals. Some were engineered to satisfy a bizarre fashion trend in a society where bioengineering is available to anyone with money. Such modifications are rarely seen in their original form by anyone besides the culture that created them. However, they live on in their descendants long after their originators were swallowed by regressive planetary catastrophes.

For example, Ordo sources tell of an entire world repopulated by the descendants of a small group of bio-engineered soldiers; the only survivors of a planetary nuclear war. Everyone on this world carried an obsessive sense of duty, minimal sexual impulses, and little sense of creativity. This culture became dominated by a conservative pan-planetary religion with little interest in technology. It lasted eleven centuries in this state until it was invaded by a stellar neighbor (who wisely avoided ground combat in favor of orbital bombardment).

The Ordo Historia has recorded and gene-sampled thousands of differently-engineered and adapted xenohumans. Among other notable traits in this genetic library, one may find.

• Aquatic-adapted strains who can withstand breathing very high gas pressures and even survive days of immersion by exchanging oxygen through the skin (no true permanently-aquatic fish people have ever been confirmed).
• Soldier variants carrying any of a large number of traits that various militaries have seen fit to bestow upon their people. Typically, they have large muscles and perfect eyesight. Some have minimized metabolisms made to digest a single kind of long-lasting nutrient solution, to make army logistics easier. Their lifespans are short - usually between ten and thirty years - and they grow up very fast. But the most significant differences are psychological. Engineered grunt soldiers are obedient, sense pain only in a distant way, obsessed with learning about weapons and war, and carry a strong need to be part of something larger than themselves. They are deliberately lacking in abstract intelligence and creativity. Engineered commanders are highly analytical, fascinated with military history, utterly cold under pressure, and masters at spatial visualization.
• Radiological immunity is a very common adaptation; the Ordo estimates that most of humanity is more tolerant of radiation than our Terran progenitors.
• Some worlds engineer "perfect mates" for the rich and powerful. Such specimens are created with bodies to match the fashions of their home worlds and the tastes of their owners. They tend to be obsessively submissive and devoted, totally without jealousy or self-regard, artistically inclined and endlessly cheerful. Such traits do not last long in an unrestricted evolutionary environment because they are so easy to exploit, but engineered mates are sometimes kept in longsleep long after their creation, to be traded into a post-catastrophe market that can no longer create them. The main contact most of us will ever have with such specimens is through their descendants, who, while they have most of the traits of the original in only a very diluted form, still occasionally express Mendelian traits like impossible eye shades or streaks of multicolored hair.
• Fashion-driven genetic modifications are often applied during later life instead of prenatally, and are most often cosmetic and skin-deep. Variations in hair and skin color are common. More exotic modification add shining crests, color-changing skin and eyes, reshaped or elongated bodies, and colored nails, feathers, or fur.
• Gravity variations create new body structures. People from low-g adapted populations are lighter, taller, and weaker than those from weightier environments. The most extreme examples are the gravity dwarfs, 3-foot-tall xenohumans from worlds of over 2g of gravity. Their short and stocky shape lets them live and work in comfortably in such oppressive g-pulls. They even have a noted preference for short and underground dwellings. It's unresolved whether this preference is cultural or genetic in origin.

The adaptive and engineering processes that have branched baseline humanity into these uncounted variations have also applied to our flora and fauna. Where we colonize, we bring our ecosystems of plants and animals with us. These creatures subsequently adapt to their new conditions of moisture, chemistry, light levels, gravity, temperature, and seasonal cycles. In addition, plants and animals have been bred and engineered for countless purposes across the galaxy.

One consistent class of modification we've seen applied to a wide variety of creatures is intelligence enhancement. Dogs, pigs, monkeys, gorillas, whales, dolphins, and elephants have all been engineered and combined with human DNA to produce smarter variations. Some variants are created as pets. Other are made to do work too dangerous or unpleasant for humans, and beyond the capacities of a culture's AI. Some are created as warriors and weapons - hyper-intelligent guard dog, a bird scout that can speak what is sees, a bomb-carrying suicide monkey. These brain modifications are often paired with physical changes - fingers so a pig can manipulate tools, or a humanlike larynx and mouth so a dog can talk.

Such intelligence-enhanced animals are collectively classified by their degree of brain power and called by a specific prefix like so:

• Opti - Indicates enhanced but still sub-human intelligence. Optianimals can usually use tools, form long-term goals and organize into primitive social groups, but can't speak more than a few words, read, or think abstractly. Optidog, optipig, optiwhale, optimonkey.
• Trans - Indicates intelligence in the human range. Transanimals can read, use tools, form teams, hold conversations, and think about complex ideas. Transdog, transbear, transgoat, transsimian.

Many times, these modified animals have, during a regressive catastrophe, been forced into interbreeding with an unmodified animal population, producing descendants of widely varying levels of intelligence.

In a few cases, transanimals have become the dominant species on a planet, eliminating or enslaving the remaining humans.

Other than intelligence enhancement, humanity has applied a wide variety of modifications to its pets, crops, livestock, and houseplants. Sometimes these new species become part of the natural environment and thereafter evolve further into a new kind of organism. Some confirmed examples are:

• Boomrat: A bioengineered rat that develops an incendiary chemical compound in its body which explodes upon its death. Originally engineered as a weapon, these creatures are now common in the wild on some planets where wars took place long ago.
• Boomfruit: Probably engineered as a novelty, this explosive plant evolved to be larger and more dangerous until it became the equivalent of a hand grenade, complete with murderous shrapnel. Its explosiveness dissuades predators. After that, people learned to farm the plant, using its explosive fruit as a weapon.
• Whip cactus - Created as part of a military defense system, whip cactus whips out and strikes moving creatures nearby.
• Terraforming plants: Many plants - especially desert varieties - have been modified into terraforming versions that emit far more oxygen than the original species during photosynthesis.
• Rocketrees - These trees form rocket fuel in their cores over many years. They were created as a fuel source and are extremely dangerous in a fire.

It sounds like the OP's desires could be reasonably fulfilled by transanimals.

[M]

There's a bit of a misconception here. There are no true aliens in Rimworld, but what does that mean? The Longsleep Revival Briefing fills us in.

Thank you for the interesting text .
If RimWorld's lore does not include non-human aliens then that's how vanilla game should be.
Like the sci-fi show Firefly, to be clear, and I like this concept, a lot.

I am still stating that there should be, at least, the "possibility" or "an easier way" for Modders to add new playable alien or not, humanoid or not, races through mods and customization.
Even xenohumans could have their own textures, traits, bgs etc. in case someone would make them playable from the start through a mod or whatever.

The fact those mechanics are hard or the fact that there is no real "possibility" of doing that could be restrictive and frustrating for some Players looking for new playable race mods and more contents in general or Modders who wants to create specific or generic mods with new races or xenohumans and their own features (visuals, textures...).

[Adamiks]

"Welcome!

We realize this may be a lot to take in. However, don�t worry. People just like you live full lives in our universe, and our studies have indicated that the great majority of longsleepers do adapt within a few years and make good lives for themselves. So - welcome!

Our AI has been watching your eyes sweep over the page through micro-cameras. Since you�re done reading, someone will be with you shortly."

This is creepy like hell Now i must wait for someone ^^

[M]

"Welcome!

We realize this may be a lot to take in. However, don�t worry. People just like you live full lives in our universe, and our studies have indicated that the great majority of longsleepers do adapt within a few years and make good lives for themselves. So - welcome!

Our AI has been watching your eyes sweep over the page through micro-cameras. Since you�re done reading, someone will be with you shortly."

This is creepy like hell Now i must wait for someone ^^

LOL! I was looking around and the screen like "wt...h..?"