Koradji wrote:

Regarding the “aggressive” appearance of my design, your analysis of the details of my drawings is well thought and you are certainly not the first one to comment on that. As I stated in other replies, some of the details are supposed to be imposing, if not outright intimidating. However, the aim of those imposing features is to appear dangerous, so that enemies will think twice about attacking. After all, the description does say that they have evolved to defend themselves from the aggressive species that conquered their planets. 

For example, the antennae of the civilian are supposed to look like big, scary eyes, as I took inspiration from how some animals mimic scary patterns (like eyes and skulls) to scare predators. 

Maybe this is like one of those optical illusions, but I'm seeing the "eyes" as red/yellowish green lobes in between the leaves, the "mouth" being between "eyes", and the antenna as this "tongue" lashing out of the "mouth". I like the concept of them having bright flashy flowers to mimic threatening faces to ward off predators, but I can't locate this on the civilian and I guess I'm confusing it for being a true face on the military?

 wanted to convey the strength and resilience of a race that is old, that has suffered incredible losses and that is ready to make any sacrifice. The provided background never gave me the feeling of a pleasant race. I imagined them as calm, but not necessarily reassuring; diplomatic, but not necessarily sophisticated; pacifists, but not necessarily delicate. 

I got to say that I really don’t think diplomatic species have to look peaceful and pretty, and I really enjoyed subverting that image. I hope others can see my version of the Unfallen as the slightly creepy but peaceful giants they are.

And in the end, don’t they also say: “Speak softly, and carry a big stick”?  

The thing is, it is communicating neither diplomatic nor pacifist. It seems like you are saying you tried to subvert the typical concept by removing aspects that aren't really necessary to communicate these ideas, but than I think you might of tossed the baby out with the bath water.

I understand if you wanted to make them imposing, but if you didn't want to communicate frightening, than you might've wanted to ditch the mimicry that is designed to frighten opponents. I'm starting to get a sense of what's going on, I think you have two great ideas here. One of them is large, imposing, powerful yet calm and gentle. The other is brightly colored, flashy, and intimidating, but actually quite benign, a sort of sheep in wolf's clothing. Yet when you combine the two, you get large, imposing, powerful, flashy, and intimidating with nothing to hint at its true nature.

These creatures look so disgusting! Well done, Koradji. I like how intimidating they appear to be despite being pacifists and I imagine this design would (will?) look great in 3D. Definitely my favourite so far.

Really, really amazing !! Very good job !

As I said, I couldn't resist thinking about a couple of heroes, so here are a couple of sketches, I hope you like them:

Arsicycad the Unburnt

A great warrior, Arsicycad was almost fatally wounded in the fire resulting from a vicious attack. The explosion of a nearby Dust repository let it survive, and the parts of its body that werelost have been substituted with cybernetic implants.

Memiphyllan, the Unsilenced

Memiphyllan always exhibited an extraordinary gift for administration, in no minor part to its ability to communicate with plant life on a scale that was never seen before. It came in touch with Dust during one of its communion with a forest on a remote moon, which further augmented its affinity with other plants. Some say it also became quite aloof, from that point onward.

Let me know your thoughts!

In my understanding, their pacifism has been a conscious choice, not something forced by nature. So if it's a race that can defend itself but still can't be "effectively" aggressive, it's very realistic

Celeir wrote:

In my understanding, their pacifism has been a conscious choice, not something forced by nature. So if it's a race that can defend itself but still can't be "effectively" aggressive, it's very realistic

It's not about it being realistic, it's about design choices. Batman could have big bat ears instead of the thin triangles, and it might be an effective device that gives him super hearing,

but that would throw his entire design off, making him look comical and removing the sharp angles that give him his signature threatening appearance. Pictures are just another way to communicate ideas to others, so you have to consider carefully what it is you are communicating.

Coming out of the "silent zone" to confirm what the other guys here above are writing. These are are awesome and, so far, this is the most inspired of the submissions. Great work!

Celeir wrote:

I see it in other way: Batman could have 3 hands to represent his climbing skill or huge brain, but he is a human and can't deny his nature. Costume is another subject to speak.

Design isn't really supposed to be as overt as throwing on evolutionary traits to make him better at his skill. There are much more subtle ways of communicating ideas just by means of colors. A good example, look at the Sophons and the Mavros. Knowing nothing of the factions themselves, if I asked you to tell me the aggresive, more violent of the two, you would probably point the the one in black and red with sharp vertical lines. If I asked for the more friendly one, I assume you would say the while and light blue one covered in rounded lines (remember, a Sophon is shaped like a friend. ) Have you ever noticed how Sophon ships look kind of like Apple products? This isn't a coincidence. Rounded corners are key to Apple's design to make their products look more inviting. You can subvert expectations a bit with something like the Mavros, who are still small, frail, and big headed yet still manage to get their message across. Replacing the Sophons with something that looks like the Cravers would send the wrong message to the players.

I think we will have to agree to disagree on a few points, radlawnmower.

You're making a lot of good points, but the bottom line for me is that I don't see all your points as mandatory guidelines to achieve quality in a design, at least in this specific situation. While I believe that some of these things might depend on personal sensibility and taste, I get that other design choices could have better communicated the qualities you mention, but I simply preferred to focus on different, and maybe uncommon, ways to convey them. 

Whether my design is effective can certainly up for discussion, but that was not my only goal. I'm not saying that a desing that clearly conveys all the characteristics of a species does not have its importance in a game like Endless Space but, given the sci-fi setting, I preferred to go with something that is decidedly alien. They are alien, after all, and they do not necessarily have to meet the expectations and stereotypes of us earthlings. Batman might not be as scary with big fluffy ears (and I do find real bats to be adorable ), but these beings are not from earth. I didn't approach my design with a marketing mindset, and while players might be taken by surprise by an uncommon design for this kind of faction, I think they can survive the shock and live to appreciate something that defies expectations.

Koradji wrote:

I think we will have to agree to disagree on a few points, radlawnmower.

Looks like it. Just another one of those "realism vs aesthetics" debates and where we mark the line when finding the right balance.

Celeir wrote:

Also, I doubt that this design will look the same in the game; they will be low-poly and so more smooth

I'm sure that regardless of the winner, the design will be changed. A lot of my concerns with this submission, such as color palette and aggressive shapes, can be changed with some minor tweeks.

@radlawnmower I think so, too. Again, though, I really appreciate all the time you took to analyse my work, thanks for the consideration!

Koradji wrote:

Regarding how the race might look primitive, I feared that many might think so. I still decided not to include technological accessories, weapons or other devices, while they certainly can and do use them, as I preferred to focus on the design of the creature themselves. Moreover, as you said, the minerals do become an incredible piece of technology, once they are melded with tech in the ships’ systems. While I probably could have depicted it more clearly in my design, I like to think that Unfallen technology has a natural and rough appearance, in direct contrast with the Sophons’ flashy holograms or the sleek suits of the Vodyani, but it doesn't mean that they are not capable of scientific feats.

After reading over DevilDog's original submission, I admit you were right in this decision. It really reflects how they use food as production better, as opposed to my design, which in hindsight, makes no sense. I guess I really should have read that better. Anyhow, as we draw to the end of this phase of the contest, I hope for your success in the end. All differences aside, I really do regard it as the best.

I *really* like this one! It's far more alien like and different from the ideas I had in my head.