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Original post by Wavinator Rather than relying on visual stereotypes and clues, I think the best way to handle this is through learning and repeat exposure. Otherwise, to immerse the player, you'll have to use stereotypes.

Ah, so we agree that only through _getting to know_ the species will we really, errr, know them. So is it that important how they appear to us on first inspection ? If it makes _gameplay_ better, is it such a big deal that you play on stereotypes for "first contact" ?

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I like the idea in principle, but it would take alot more graphics work than I have the resources for to remove a human's cultural cues from the game. For instance, making a posture of two hands together holding some device pointing at you unknown and unthreatening would take nothing less than graphically changing how the alien player received symbols. That's not visually possible using a common set of art and models.

Ah ! One of the reasons I believe PnP RPGs will never disappear :)
The only way to address the problem is to limit visual cues and increase the use of the narrative element.
Say, you get to see the face of your antagonist in a medallion view a la Ultima (possibly with facial expressions to denote various emotions), but you mostly use the narrative to express what's going on and to play on the feeling of totally alien culture and feeling.
In one PnP roleplaying game I tried (called Alienoids), you play Predator type aliens come to Earth to hunt the local species (i.e. humans). Most of the fun of the game is to try to figure out what the DM is describing to you, because if they do it properly, you shouldn't be able to use your knowledge of human too easily. For instance, if some native biped starts shouting and gesticulating, emitting loud high pitched noises with a metal protrusion on its vocal operture while frantically waving some sort of wooden device in your general direction, you might guess that you are looking at a policeman blowing a whistle and wielding a baton, but then again, it's more fun to figure that out than just being told it straight.

I think the only game I have played so far that _really_ put me in the middle of a totally alien civilisation and did it quite nicely was Albion, by Blue Byte studio. Maybe you can check it out :)

And what about Farscape, Wavy ;-)

Let's put it this way, I dont know of any other artist/studio that has consistently pushed the limit of puppetry and created so many original monsters/creatures than the Jim Henson company and its Creature Shop.
Actually, if you wanna see some of the costumes used on the show, there is a website that has plenty of cool photos : there
Although these are only humanoid type aliens (the really tricky ones are made by the Creature Shop, IIRC).

Babylon 5 was a great show, for instance, but what Farscape has is really really cool settings, and monsters, and characters. Oh what can I say, it's an inspiration to me :)

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Original post by ahw Babylon 5 was a great show, for instance, but what Farscape has is really really cool settings, and monsters, and characters. Oh what can I say, it's an inspiration to me :)

Alright, you forced me to do it!!! [grin]

I watched the first 4 episodes tonight! It was very refreshing to see truly alien aliens that weren't portrayed as monsters. The Pilot and the little floating guy were great examples, but I also see what you mean about being able to make really alien looking humanoids, too. In one episode they did a great job of using makeup to stretch the normal aspect ratio of the human face to create ambiguity yet still make them sympathetic. Even the drug-addicted "tabloid" [smile] guys in power armor were made sympathetic through one captured character, though they still used the well worn trope of "battle scarred mutants are teh evul!!!!" in the beginning.

My own designs are duly influenced. Thanks!