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CCSF Blog Carnival, Day 6
Dec. 2nd, 2016 10:37 pmWhat do you think of the mythology and backstory of creatures? Do you have any favorite background details in the world? Any pet theories or thoughts, or questions you would like answered?
I've always liked the quirkiness of the Shee, like how they took so readily to genetic engineering and biology, never had a straightforward thought in their lives, and were incredibly lucky, and then left their world for a round one (such a great setup for a game that never appeared, alas). I also re-read the Lone Shee story more than once as a kid, perhaps to make up for not being able to have any of the Mall breeds at the time.
I also think that it's a good thing that while there is some of this (not too developed) backstory and myth to the games, you could play without ever looking at any of it and still have some vague ideas - the games, especially C1 and C2, are so atmospheric.
As for details and questions (I have lots), let's do this game-by-game.
C1:
~Official lore is that Albia has no moon. You might notice that there is a moon.
~What was the windmill used for? Surely it's not just to move the cable car back and forth.
~Behind the garden, you can see what looks like a temple - is it? What happened there? Did the Shee have deities? Was it just a lab that looks like a temple? The musicola area looks like it could be a small shrine, too, or perhaps just a very well-decorated building.
~Who built the Statue of Nornity, and why? Was it dedicated to a well-known Shee scientist who had done something great, or was it made by an egomaniac who built it too large or too fast and doomed it to crumble away?
~If the ocean is so small, why is the shipwreck so big? (Yeah, yeah, I know, game scale.)
~I appreciate the drippy-drips in the caves - the sound effect, too.
I would also encourage everyone to check out these new photos of the C1 background model, there are some nice details there.
C2:
Putting aside the fact that a lot of the map does not match up with C1 in a way that makes sense....
~Again, the temple in the desert - or was it one?
~If the Shee tech looks so nice and shiny and metal, then what was it that we saw in C1? Did they just keep their living quarters much more simple than their labs? That would fit in with the bamboo village area. Or was it all built over by someone else - perhaps even a few Shee who survived the volcanic eruption but lost all their access to their old technology?
~There's this one little room just above the Shee statue that's clearly someone's leftover office, and I love all the details in it.
~What's with the gold next to the Shee statue? Donations to a god? Taxes? The entire fortunes of all the Shee?
C3/DS:
~Where are the Shee living quarters? On the Ark I guess you could squint and say those rectangles in-between the Aquarium and Desert doors are Shee-style doors, but on the Capillata?
~Why Muco? We know that the Shee can make perfectly technological egg-makers. Why use a creepy eyeless uneating living thing that can't move except to flail its limbs? D:
~You know that easter egg with the star in the Norn Terrarium? That's my favorite easter egg in the series.
~Was it really, truly necessary to bring along piranhas, an artificial volcano, and two airlocks? Sheesh, the Shee truly didn't have any sense.
~If you've never read the Help for the ship's lungs, do yourself a favor and check it out. Technobabble at its finest.
~There's a nice little drawing in the kitchen in the Norn Terrarium.
Etc:
~What was Shee daily life like? What did their society look like? Surely they couldn't have all been scientists working away every day... could they?
~For all the talk about tea and biscuits, there isn't a single teacup in the whole series! We didn't even get biscuits until quirky cookies!
~We had a discussion about this on CCaves a while back, but what even is the Hand? My vote is an AI with a pocket dimension upgrade in C3, meant to help take care of norns and ettins.
I've always liked the quirkiness of the Shee, like how they took so readily to genetic engineering and biology, never had a straightforward thought in their lives, and were incredibly lucky, and then left their world for a round one (such a great setup for a game that never appeared, alas). I also re-read the Lone Shee story more than once as a kid, perhaps to make up for not being able to have any of the Mall breeds at the time.
I also think that it's a good thing that while there is some of this (not too developed) backstory and myth to the games, you could play without ever looking at any of it and still have some vague ideas - the games, especially C1 and C2, are so atmospheric.
As for details and questions (I have lots), let's do this game-by-game.
C1:
~Official lore is that Albia has no moon. You might notice that there is a moon.
~What was the windmill used for? Surely it's not just to move the cable car back and forth.
~Behind the garden, you can see what looks like a temple - is it? What happened there? Did the Shee have deities? Was it just a lab that looks like a temple? The musicola area looks like it could be a small shrine, too, or perhaps just a very well-decorated building.
~Who built the Statue of Nornity, and why? Was it dedicated to a well-known Shee scientist who had done something great, or was it made by an egomaniac who built it too large or too fast and doomed it to crumble away?
~If the ocean is so small, why is the shipwreck so big? (Yeah, yeah, I know, game scale.)
~I appreciate the drippy-drips in the caves - the sound effect, too.
I would also encourage everyone to check out these new photos of the C1 background model, there are some nice details there.
C2:
Putting aside the fact that a lot of the map does not match up with C1 in a way that makes sense....
~Again, the temple in the desert - or was it one?
~If the Shee tech looks so nice and shiny and metal, then what was it that we saw in C1? Did they just keep their living quarters much more simple than their labs? That would fit in with the bamboo village area. Or was it all built over by someone else - perhaps even a few Shee who survived the volcanic eruption but lost all their access to their old technology?
~There's this one little room just above the Shee statue that's clearly someone's leftover office, and I love all the details in it.
~What's with the gold next to the Shee statue? Donations to a god? Taxes? The entire fortunes of all the Shee?
C3/DS:
~Where are the Shee living quarters? On the Ark I guess you could squint and say those rectangles in-between the Aquarium and Desert doors are Shee-style doors, but on the Capillata?
~Why Muco? We know that the Shee can make perfectly technological egg-makers. Why use a creepy eyeless uneating living thing that can't move except to flail its limbs? D:
~You know that easter egg with the star in the Norn Terrarium? That's my favorite easter egg in the series.
~Was it really, truly necessary to bring along piranhas, an artificial volcano, and two airlocks? Sheesh, the Shee truly didn't have any sense.
~If you've never read the Help for the ship's lungs, do yourself a favor and check it out. Technobabble at its finest.
~There's a nice little drawing in the kitchen in the Norn Terrarium.
Etc:
~What was Shee daily life like? What did their society look like? Surely they couldn't have all been scientists working away every day... could they?
~For all the talk about tea and biscuits, there isn't a single teacup in the whole series! We didn't even get biscuits until quirky cookies!
~We had a discussion about this on CCaves a while back, but what even is the Hand? My vote is an AI with a pocket dimension upgrade in C3, meant to help take care of norns and ettins.
