Music Brainstorm: AERA

For collaboration between the different artists creating music and sound for vegastrike.
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kensuguro
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Music Brainstorm: AERA

Post by kensuguro »

Let's start digesting jack's descriptions. Let's first create a model of an Aeran, that we can all relate to, and understand. The entire staff needs to be thinking of the same aeran dude, instead of each of us having our own personal aeran.

AERA


1. What is the brief history of the race that everyone knows about? Something that defines the color of a race.

Executive summary:

The Aera homeworld was home to extremely competitive ecosystems. It
was not a supportive environment. If one considers Earth the "mother"
of the human race, then, in comparison, Aeneth was an abusive
parent. The Aera evolved in an environment where a slew of things
really did want to kill/eat/infest them. Beginning with the early
harnessing of fire, and ending with industrial might, the Aera
remedied this problem by destroying the vast jungles that bore
them. However, their outlook on the universe was fundamentally shaped
by their beginnings in a direction that humans would consider
paranoid, or at least profoundly pessimistic and somewhat untrusting,
though the Area merely see it as prudent recognition of how the
universe works.

This outlook was greatly reinforced by the Aera experience with the
nano-plague. The precocious Aera, unlike humans or Rlaan, developed
jump-based FTL before having otherwise left their solar system. The
resultant reactivation of the nano-plague and the devastation it
wrought on their population, served to gel their concept of an
inherently antagonistic universe. Aeran society greatly increased its
militarization, heretofore on the wane since global unification, so as
to better prepare for potential conflicts in what, evidenced by the
nano-plague, they presumed was an inhabited galaxy.

The Aera are the youngest of the three major groups, but are also the
most expansionist, fastest breeding, shortest lived, and devote the
highest fraction of their economy to military and military related R&D
spending. They are not evil, they are not delusional, they are not
irrational, but they have some fundamentally different assumptions
they are working from that make them somewhat difficult to get along
with. Finding out that their section of the jump network had them
pinned by the Humans and Rlaan, they first attempted to negotiate
passage, and were rebuffed. They then attempted to sneak a colony
convoy through Rlaan space, but this turned into an utter debacle
after Aeran escorts killed Rlaan Civilians, sparking a war lasting
several years, that churned the Rlaan-Aeran border into an
abattoir. Although formal peace has never been brokered between the
two, a cease-fire has been in effect for several years. As "upon the
coldest sea" begins, the Aera have now turned their sights toward
Human space, invading Forsaken territory, hoping to push through
toward the less defended Forsaken/Confederation border crossings,
carve a corridor through to the other side of humans space, and keep
it open long enough so that they can send enough colonization fleets
through to the other side to make the venture worthwhile.

2. What is their level of technology

This is a hard one to answer succinctly - I'm not sure what in
particular you were looking for, so I'll go with a sequence of
generalities, especially as it varies quite a bit from field to field.

Compared to 21st century humans (probably a useful point of reference for developers) really advanced. Really, really, advanced.

Compared to contemporary 33rd century humans, comparable or somewhat
more advanced in some of the physical sciences and their applications,
notably so with respect weaponizations of certain technologies. They
are noticeably behind in life sciences and AI.

3. What is the level of their development as a race? (in parallel to our world: developed country, developing country, etc) Maybe their primary industry would give us some insight. OF course, without making things up as you go. Just from what all players should already know.

Having been wandering the jump network for the least amount of time
(among the Rlaan/Humans/Aera), the Aera, though occupying the same
order of magnitude of systems as the Humans or the Rlaan
(Rlaan/Lmpl/Nuhln/Saahasayaay have most, followed by
Humans/Klk'k/Dgn/Purth/Mishtali, followed by Aera/Bzbr, then the much
smaller Uln, Shmrn) have not occupied many of them for nearly as
long. The Aera expanded in territory faster than that territory could
be developed up until running into the Uln. After one last push then
brought them to the Human and Rlaan borders as well, the Aera have
been racing to build up their newly settled colonies nearer the
borders, but the bulk of their industrial potential remains
concentrated in systems closer to their homeworld than to alien
space. This difference was especially clear during the Rlaan-Aera
conflict, wherein many newly settled Aeran colonies along the border
fell to the Rlaan assault, but the same Rlaan fleets were badly
bloodied when they tried to push into Aeran systems with more matured
defenses. Due to the war, Aeran military spending and infrastructure
development has been extravagant in comparison to human budgets, but
the Aera also had to cope with sizeable losses in personnel and
materiel.

While there are key differences between the level of population and
industrial development between the core colonies and the newer
colonies, due to the very strong central organizing forces in Aeran
governance and economy, this is not a deep political divide, nor an
economic one - it is merely a matter of the more fringe planets
growing as fast as they can into states undifferentiable from the more
core worlds. This centralization should not be taken as evidence that
Aerans are a selfless society of collectivists. Rather, the Aera have
a strong natural ability and desire to sublimate personal interests to
higher authority, a trait left over from their more pack-like
origins. Success, however, is still judged at individual granularity,
and Aera are entirely opportunistic about personal advancement when
the opportunity either does not come at the expense of the dictates of
higher authority, or places them into a position of higher authority.

4. In what sort of social/cultural context the race enjoys and consumes music in. (strong contrasts: "when vacuuming the house", or "during ritualistic sacrifices" will do)

The Aera are a bit musically reserved. They're a bit culturally dour
to begin with. Music is traditionally associated with either events at
one point associated with the spiritual concept of creation (the Aera
having had a creation/destruction dichotomy in their early
theology/philosophy), its more modern descendant, the continuation and
empowerment of the species, or organizational events, such as rallies,
sporting contests, and Military parades. Music for personal pleasure
is not a significant thread in Aeran culture. Instrument design has
progressed quite slowly, relative to the rest of their breakneck
technological improvements.

Events associated with death and mortality are not traditionally
musically accompanied, except as a death may have coincided with a
celebration-worthy accomplishment. Mortality is to be pondered and
meditated upon in its inevitability, not drowned in sound. It is worth
noting that it is not so much those that came before them that the
Aera cherish as the accomplishments of those who came before them. The
Aera perspective is that it is only though accomplishment on behalf of
the Aera that the Aera can continue, and the dead, thereby, can
continue to live in the memories of the Aera.

5. Also, in terms of ship/aircraft design, do we have a database of the most current images? (with the new engine) I think that's the most significant "characteristic" that the player actually comes into contact during game play that defines a race/faction, so I think it's best to use that as a guideline.

The Nicander and Ariston are good examples of Aeran small craft. The
Areus is somewhat less representative. We, as yet, have no Aeran
capital vessels that are representative of Aeran style. We have some
good concept art for some sub-capital vessels.
kensuguro
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Post by kensuguro »

this is my interpretation of the aerans:

They sad, kinda dark, abused.. They're dark because they've lived a tough life. Sort of like post war street children. They're a disturbed, nervously defensive bunch.

these guys are dark, and sort of have this overarching sense of "death and danger" because of their history and especially the dark times of the nano plague. Not too active or "fast paced" in terms of music I don't think. And the music probably won't be too extravagant. More minimal, somber.

But, they have the great energy of death.. not overly decorated, but just plain, force of death.. so during battles, I would suppose that sort of greatness of death, sort of like the power of nature depicted when a volcano erupts, carries out the main emotion. (big, slow, almost magestic pulses in the mid/low range)
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Post by klauss »

kensuguro wrote:Not too active or "fast paced" in terms of music I don't think. And the music probably won't be too extravagant. More minimal, somber.

But, they have the great energy of death.. not overly decorated, but just plain, force of death.. so during battles, I would suppose that sort of greatness of death, sort of like the power of nature depicted when a volcano erupts, carries out the main emotion. (big, slow, almost magestic pulses in the mid/low range)
Certainly interesting.
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Post by SolusLunes »

kensuguro wrote: these guys are dark, and sort of have this overarching sense of "death and danger" because of their history and especially the dark times of the nano plague. Not too active or "fast paced" in terms of music I don't think. And the music probably won't be too extravagant. More minimal, somber.
Minimal, dark, somber type of things.

Awesome. I love doing that.
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Re: Music Brainstorm: AERA

Post by SCghst1 »

What i would like to see is maybe some concepts of an actual Aeran.
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Re: Music Brainstorm: AERA

Post by Turbo »

Look in the Alien Artwork thread under Artwork and Content Vetting, here
http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/forum ... &start=150
near the bottom of the page.
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There are two speeds in combat: stopped, and as fast as you can go. Unless you run into something, going fast keeps you alive more often than stopping.
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