Star Rattle Arena - Modern/"High"-tech base?

[NocNatural]

So recently i did the Star Rattle fight in the Treasure of the Midnight Isles (inside the main campaign) and i noticed the arena layout was ... strange? Its like a modern base with electricity , computers , keypads , modern lamps there are even some kinda drills there ... so my question is , what is this?
Read everything lore related that i find in the Isle (so far) but this strange i guess tile set eluded me.

[XcessiveNinja17]

that map type exists in the main game too

in pathfinder lore in general, there are already a number of spacefaring aliens outside of golarion, even long before the starfinder timeline. one of them had a spaceship that crashed in numeria, leading to cyborgs & other technology starting to spread around. cyborgs are a playable ancestry as of pathfinder 2e. now, for this video game specifically - one of the locations was built by someone using that space tech.

[jonnin]

or... to be a bit flip about it...
one of the devs appears to be a trek fan and thought that what our fantasy world needed was computers, electricity, and borg.

[Chronocide]

Originally posted by jonnin:

or... to be a bit flip about it...
one of the devs appears to be a trek fan and thought that what our fantasy world needed was computers, electricity, and borg.

It's pretty common in fantasy books to have sci-fi somewhere in the background, and likewise, for sci-fi to have moments of fantasy.

Wheel of time has a sci-fi component, so does dragonriders of pern, and the Saga of Recluce.

And now there's also "science fantasy" which is stuff that tries to look science-y, but doesn't really use any science and just does whatever it wants (like star wars...especially the disney stuff)

The genres exist so it's easier to find similar books, but just because one game is mainly medieval fantasy doesn't mean it can't have spaceships or time machines.

[solthusx]

Pathfinder has always had a bit of sci fi in it. For one, elves are technically aliens from Castrovel (another planet in the same star system as Golarion) who originally came to Golarion thousands of years ago through what are essentially star gates.

[Star Sage]

DnD has Spelljammers, and Pathfinder has Numaria and the Technic League, along with all the other stuff in its backstory. This setting is fantasy on the surface, with scifi in a layer or two beneath. Not unlike Might and Magic actually...though that one ends up being Pure Scifi if you play it long enough, though the tech is partially magical there.

[jonnin]

Originally posted by Chronocide:

Originally posted by jonnin:

or... to be a bit flip about it...
one of the devs appears to be a trek fan and thought that what our fantasy world needed was computers, electricity, and borg.

It's pretty common in fantasy books to have sci-fi somewhere in the background, and likewise, for sci-fi to have moments of fantasy.

Wheel of time has a sci-fi component, so does dragonriders of pern, and the Saga of Recluce.

And now there's also "science fantasy" which is stuff that tries to look science-y, but doesn't really use any science and just does whatever it wants (like star wars...especially the disney stuff)

The genres exist so it's easier to find similar books, but just because one game is mainly medieval fantasy doesn't mean it can't have spaceships or time machines.

I don't mind the mixing when its done well. WIzardry (remembering 7 here specifically) did a great job in their game series... the aliens (at least 2 races, and another local race had at least aircraft) had tech, but they also were having to make do with what the locals had as ammo was scarce -- meanwhile one of the local races enlists you to help them get a spaceship and tech to get off planet...

What I mind is a flat out copy of the borg from star trek shoved in sideways ... I can accept it as a bit of a joke or easter egg, but its still off-putting. If they had made up their own space faring aliens stranded here and given a little backstory, no problem.

[solthusx]

The thing is, there actually is a crashed spaceship in Numeria where most of this tech is coming from. And like I said Pathfinder's version of elves are actually aliens from another planet.

Its just that exploring these bits of lore aren't the focus in WOTR or Kingmaker.

[Chronocide]

Originally posted by jonnin:

Originally posted by Chronocide:

It's pretty common in fantasy books to have sci-fi somewhere in the background, and likewise, for sci-fi to have moments of fantasy.

Wheel of time has a sci-fi component, so does dragonriders of pern, and the Saga of Recluce.

And now there's also "science fantasy" which is stuff that tries to look science-y, but doesn't really use any science and just does whatever it wants (like star wars...especially the disney stuff)

The genres exist so it's easier to find similar books, but just because one game is mainly medieval fantasy doesn't mean it can't have spaceships or time machines.

I don't mind the mixing when its done well. WIzardry (remembering 7 here specifically) did a great job in their game series... the aliens (at least 2 races, and another local race had at least aircraft) had tech, but they also were having to make do with what the locals had as ammo was scarce -- meanwhile one of the local races enlists you to help them get a spaceship and tech to get off planet...

What I mind is a flat out copy of the borg from star trek shoved in sideways ... I can accept it as a bit of a joke or easter egg, but its still off-putting. If they had made up their own space faring aliens stranded here and given a little backstory, no problem.

The midnight isles DLC is just DLC. And None of it is particularly good, story wise.

If you go to the other areas of the WotR game that use sci-fi, I think they explain their presence a bit better.

As for copy of star trek borg....that's not really in pathfinder, unless you are of the mindset that cyborgs only exist in star trek...star trek did not invent the appearance of the borg (the humaniods), nor cybernetic implants. There are original ideas within the borg, but their appearance of the guys with cybernetic implants is unoriginal (it's still cool).

[Mauman]

I'm still hoping Owlcat makes a Numerian-based game.

Partly because I like science-fantasy.

Mostly because I'd love watching the heads of every "MUH FANTASY" person explode.

A real "pass the popcorn" moment.

[Chronocide]

Originally posted by Mauman:

I'm still hoping Owlcat makes a Numerian-based game.

Partly because I like science-fantasy.

Mostly because I'd love watching the heads of every "MUH FANTASY" person explode.

A real "pass the popcorn" moment.

Did you try the rogue trader game? Any good? Seems like a good preview of what science fantasy would look like from owlcat.

[Mauman]

Originally posted by Chronocide:

Originally posted by Mauman:

I'm still hoping Owlcat makes a Numerian-based game.

Partly because I like science-fantasy.

Mostly because I'd love watching the heads of every "MUH FANTASY" person explode.

A real "pass the popcorn" moment.

Did you try the rogue trader game? Any good? Seems like a good preview of what science fantasy would look like from owlcat.

Nope, I have not. I have looked at it and it doesn't look bad or anything.

I don't think the two are comparable however, as 40k is very much of a gothic horror sub-genre kind of sci-fi where as Numeria is a jokey-but-awesome "Barbarians vs Nano-cyborgs" kind of thing.

[Chronocide]

Originally posted by Mauman:

Nope, I have not. I have looked at it and it doesn't look bad or anything.

I don't think the two are comparable however, as 40k is very much of a gothic horror sub-genre kind of sci-fi where as Numeria is a jokey-but-awesome "Barbarians vs Nano-cyborgs" kind of thing.

Huge 40k fan, but I've not tried that RT game yet. Regarding genre, 40k (the setting) is comedy, not to be taken seriously. They dabble between "rule of cool" and "absurdity" as their motivations for all things.

Like you don't have normal marines in space, you have these 10ft guys with acid spit and such....absurdity, and kinda awesome.

Or like you got the imperium vs chaos theme thing, but like the imperium, the good guys, are basically space nazis, so your bad guys are guys that thought the imperium just wasn't quite evil enough, and rebelled....pure absurdity. And they aren't actually nazis, you can certainly draw comparisons, but it's parody, not a setting to be taken seriously or some indication of what they want the future to be.

Dunno, it's like pokemon, just don't think about the game's setting too seriously and it's a fun setting. Pokemon is like, "okay since it's your 11th birthday, I'm casting you out into the wilderness where you are expected to survive by training wild animals to attack people...." just don't think too hard about the setting, it's not intended to be taken seriously.

[Mauman]

Originally posted by Chronocide:

Originally posted by Mauman:

Nope, I have not. I have looked at it and it doesn't look bad or anything.

I don't think the two are comparable however, as 40k is very much of a gothic horror sub-genre kind of sci-fi where as Numeria is a jokey-but-awesome "Barbarians vs Nano-cyborgs" kind of thing.

Huge 40k fan, but I've not tried that RT game yet. Regarding genre, 40k (the setting) is comedy, not to be taken seriously. They dabble between "rule of cool" and "absurdity" as their motivations for all things.

Like you don't have normal marines in space, you have these 10ft guys with acid spit and such....absurdity, and kinda awesome.

Or like you got the imperium vs chaos theme thing, but like the imperium, the good guys, are basically space nazis, so your bad guys are guys that thought the imperium just wasn't quite evil enough, and rebelled....pure absurdity. And they aren't actually nazis, you can certainly draw comparisons, but it's parody, not a setting to be taken seriously or some indication of what they want the future to be.

Dunno, it's like pokemon, just don't think about the game's setting too seriously and it's a fun setting. Pokemon is like, "okay since it's your 11th birthday, I'm casting you out into the wilderness where you are expected to survive by training wild animals to attack people...." just don't think too hard about the setting, it's not intended to be taken seriously.

I'm aware. It's called "grim-dark" for a reason.

[Chronocide]

Originally posted by Mauman:

I'm aware. It's called "grim-dark" for a reason.

40k calls itself that, but I think it's more comedy/parody than grimdark. And, really, it's mainly the imperium that's grimdark.

And even there, I get the distinct feeling that the setting is more slice of life unless you follow a particularly unlucky or danger-seeking character, such as a rogue trader or inquisitor or space marine, who goes out of their way to find problematic situations. Most imperial worlds are at peace and have normal jobs that contribute to the greater imperium (which is how the imperium is able to sustain it's endless war).

[pete3great]

Originally posted by Star Sage:

DnD has Spelljammers, and Pathfinder has Numaria and the Technic League, along with all the other stuff in its backstory. This setting is fantasy on the surface, with scifi in a layer or two beneath. Not unlike Might and Magic actually...though that one ends up being Pure Scifi if you play it long enough, though the tech is partially magical there.

DnD doesn't just have Spelljammers, it has Blackmoore (DnD's original campaign setting, eventually merged with Mystara), from which Numaria was lifted almost entirely.