Sorry if I missed it somewhere, but does the proboscis thing that sucks out crew penetrate shields or do you have to take it down?
Yes, shields will not protect against proboscis; so all the other races are on the same playing field when it comes to this.
But again, I reason that it has to be adjacent to use it, so you have 2 choices, gun it down before you reach it, or get out of Dodge. Given the fact that boarding pods need to be fired from adjacent range, I can see Genari not wanting to tangle with the Hive. You slam it with a boarding pod, it turns in place and slams it's proboscis through your bridge. Your marines damage it's structure, it repairs by feasting on the rest of your crew. Practically a stalemate until the Genari run our of crew.
The boarding party would expire after a while; but no, they wouldn't be digested, since they are essentially attacking its internal organs, and not going through its 'mouth'.
A listing of the 'Classes' of the Hive: Class I Spore Class II Protopod Class III Neopod Class IV Protolith Class V Neolith Class VI Monolith Class VII Megalith Class VIII Hive Entity Class IX Greater Hive Entity Class X Supreme High Entity Class XI Gargantuan
Sounds rather like the film "Fantastic Voyage". Do enough damage and the creature's antibodies target you as an invading organism. I like the sound of the Hive more and more.
I'm definitely curious as to what the other hive ships would look like. Any new ships in the pipeline?
All focus is on Genari/Sol, once the Beta gets on its way, then the focus will be on Ma'Alaketh first. Also, Hive is going to be a lot more complicated, where as a playable race its more of a ship that 'morphs' into various types based on what the player decides to improve, vs. a fixed ship in other races. You literally select if you want to improve a specific system/armor etc... and the ship will grow and develop that area & express it physically.
It definitely makes the Hive even more interesting if you can customize your ship this way. I hope it gets there.
Oooh, yes, I like that idea immensely. Obviously as the Hive have no crew as such, another mechanic would have to have been implemented, but this is really something to look forward to longer term.
So the hive proboscis, I'm guessing that is like an insect's proboscis, I'd be curious to see what it looks like in action.
Incidentally, we're working on the animations the past few weeks for the Hive. Of course, the more you zoom in, the better the details in these cases.
If it ever gets properly implemented, I think the hive will be the most rewarding race to play. For now, I just like entering their borders, and seeing them blast my freeship lol
random question, I noticed that the maalaketh weapons had a facelift and sound upgrade, will the hive have it too?
So far, the Hive seems to be something that would be an interesting play style. I look forward to the chance to toy around with this species.
I've seen hive attack some borders lately. Is it AI or players doing it? They even captured some sectors.
So Ves, has there been any further development of the Hive recently, or has the focus entirely been on Maal?