Reproduction

from GalCiv3 Forums

For some reason i just started wondering how reproduction works for the different species in galciv.

 

We all know how it works for humans: there are males and females who sexually reproduce through intercourse, with litter size typically being 1 or 2.  Pair bonding between parents is common and the parents take care of the children until they are fully matured. A female can produce well over a dozen children over her lifetime, but the actual amount of children depends on cultural and social norms. Child mortality is near 0%. Humans take a long time to reach mating ages and typically wait even longer before they start reproducing. 

 

I imagine Drengin are similar to humans, but with a much more patriarchal societal norms. Females are seen as weak, tools, or possessions. Pair bonding probably occurs but is taboo to talk about in public. I also imagine them having a lot of spartan like norms, discarding defective young, having a "the weak die" approach to growing up, etc. Child mortality is fairly high due to this. Every male is expected to have a lot of sons for honor related reasons and because a lot of drengin die in war. They probably have a bunch of aging and mating ritiuals that involve killing stuff in order to be worthy or manhood/a wife/whatever.

 

Torians are very different, i see them reproducing like frogs: females lay a couple thousand of eggs, a male comes by and fertilizes them. Still sexual reproduction but without intercourse, though they still have mating rituals and pair bonding. litter size is thousands, but it is accepted and normal that the vast majority die in the first few days after birth, and no real efforts are being made to adress this. However any children that survive birth and manage to leave the nesting area, are taken care of and provided full medical care. During Drengin occupation i imagine every individual egg being grown in a test tube instead of a nest, for higher yields :P Child mortality is extremely high but virtually all of it is in the first few days after birth and by choice. Children grow up quick and family isnt super important to them, due to their fast reproduction families quickly become to large to manage.

 

Yor presumably dont have genders at all and just reproduce at will/need by coding a personality for a specific function, this is mostly because they are evil, if they were good i would like to think they have more individualism. Child mortalty doesnt exist, children do not need to grow up or be educated, a brand new adult is just popped out of the factory with all the knowledge they need for their function. The limiting factor for their reproduction is the effort required to make new bodies, which presumably is pretty high because they have similar reproduction rates to other races. They evolve/can change by trying out random code changes and picking out the most optimal, but this is all done in simulation so no bodies have to be wasted. 

 

Anybody has any ideas for other races? Or different takes on mine, quite curious what you guys think about how the Yor go about it. Think there are any with more then 2 genders?

 

 

 

 

19,112 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

My guess about the Drengins, seeing as FrogBoy has stated many times in the distant past (Brad: do you still feel this way?) about how he wanted them to look like frogs, is that they reproduce more like terrestrial frogs do, and their social makeup is also more like frogs, including being able to change gender as needed.

Reply #2 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Lucky, reply 1
My guess about the Drengins, seeing as FrogBoy has stated many times in the distant past (Brad: do you still feel this way?) about how he wanted them to look like frogs, is that they reproduce more like terrestrial frogs do, and their social makeup is also more like frogs, including being able to change gender as needed.
End of Lucky's quote

I could see that for the Torians (it's how I envision them already), but the Drengin!? o_O  You wouldn't happen to have a link to one of those statements by Frogboy, would you?

Anyhow, we already know a little about the life-cycle of the Yor. Two of their techs in TotA gave some small details:

"Advanced Population Acceleration

We don't breed.

As a cybernetic species, we do not experience birth or childhood. We are manufactured and when the time is right, the holy spark gives us consciousness.

Needless to say, there are very real limitations on how fast we can manufacture more of our kind.  This is particularly problematic as the holy spark only exists in one place that no one may speak of.  The result has been that our population growth has been very slow relative to other civilizations.

Advanced Population Accleration evens the odds. Using secret techniques we are able to distribute the holy spark across our worlds to bring to sentience our kind faster."

and

"Extended Lifetime

The spark of life fades from us over time. We do not understand the mechanism of it. Our species is cybernetic. That is, we are ultimately machines.

As machines, we have, in theory, an unlimited lifespan. But, for some reason, we die.  We have only the slightest understanding of what causes this but ultimately, the spark of life begins to fade and eventually, even the most potent of our race loses its sentience and returns to being an animated machine much as we were when we were created by the Iconians.

However, through time we have learned how to slow down the fading of the spark of life. It is only a little bit but it allows us to significantly increase our net population growth on planets."

In other words, the Yor are more than simple robots. They actually have some kind of "soul" which gives them sentience.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Gaunathor, reply 2

I could see that for the Torians (it's how I envision them already), but the Drengin!? You wouldn't happen to have a link to one of those statements by Frogboy, would you?
End of Gaunathor's quote

Since this dates back to when he was building the original OS/2 versions, and the forums were on IBM owned systems (back in the early 1990s IBM was promoting OS/2 and was supporting the development of lots of products for OS/2 by outside developers), no, no links are possible.

BTW, don't forget Brad's penchant for frogs and that his favorite GC species is the Drengin.

Of course, we also have the problem of how outstanding my memory is. I can even remember events that never happened. :grin: :D :omg:

Reply #4 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Reproduction by Fission. We need a species that does this. When time is correct the over ripe non-gendered species 'Splits into 3 copies of itself' These copies then undergo internal hormonal changes which change it from the original matrix, giving rise to identity and self. 

 

^^^ Well I suppose someone else can do a better job, but I was just tossing that out there. 

Reply #5 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Lucky, reply 1

My guess about the Drengins, seeing as FrogBoy has stated many times in the distant past (Brad: do you still feel this way?) about how he wanted them to look like frogs, is that they reproduce more like terrestrial frogs do, and their social makeup is also more like frogs, including being able to change gender as needed.
End of Lucky's quote

Wholy Flucking Shirt! That is...diabolically useful and sickening. I will be sure to make a really big gun and fire it at the vile drengin. Not to say it isn't cool though. :)

Now, back to what I was doing...

 

DARCA ;)

Reply #6 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Lucky, reply 3
no, no links are possible.
End of Lucky's quote

Pity. I wanted to add it to my collection. :(

Quoting Lucky, reply 3
BTW, don't forget Brad's penchant for frogs and that his favorite GC species is the Drengin.
End of Lucky's quote

True. However, I'm curious why we haven't seen anything bee-related in GalCiv yet (maybe in the form of a deadly bee-weapon).

Quoting Lucky, reply 3
Of course, we also have the problem of how outstanding my memory is. I can even remember events that never happened.
End of Lucky's quote

Yeah, I'm still baffled at how you were able to answer a question I never asked.