Keep in mind that the zerg has assumulated many planets before reaching us, they have plenty of time and resources to make this large mass of Overlords (which are mostly necessary, anyway) to crush us with. Its not completely unbelievable that they have access to enough biomass to crush every human settlement (minimun necessary to pwn us), cover every square inch of land (recommended amount to pwn us), or even completely cover the Earth (optimal amount to pwn us).
Those of ye who wants to rid of the Zerg by destroying their supply lines...what if they destroyed OUR supplies? Given space travel and sheer numbers, they can easily just block out the Sun for decades.
<!--QuoteBegin-Wheeee+Sep 7 2004, 07:06 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Wheeee @ Sep 7 2004, 07:06 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> the siege tanks use plasma charges, apparently. So...who knows. Maybe our tanks wouldn't be able to handle ultras. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> Are you sure that's the tank's normal fire? Or is it what they shoot in Siege mode? Either way that's pretty crazy.
EDIT: That overlord looks extremely small compared to what it carries around. I dont think SC:Ghost should be used as the be all end all for scale.
<!--QuoteBegin-Thardin+Sep 7 2004, 06:55 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Thardin @ Sep 7 2004, 06:55 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> <Plethora of SC:Ghost screenshots> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Quite frankly, these don't quite cut it. The concept artists for SC Ghost aren't the same as the ones for SC. And some other zerg strains have had something removed from them.
Like the Hydralisk's false jaws. Those were simply teh pwn and they were removed....
Ah yes, and if anyone is going to consider using SC's actualy gameplay as a basis...forget about it. Simply put, the gameplay system in SC doesn't fit in. I'll try and take an example from Zergling vs Marine in cinematics.
Zergling gets near Marine in game -> Marine pwns Zergling. Zergling gets near Marine in cinematic -> Marine becomes a bloody heap o meat.
The M1 Abrams have at least the range of hundreds of kilometers and the US military planes can fire missles hundreds of miles away, blowing away any zerg air there is (except if there are milllions of score). I also doubt that the zerg armor would be able to withstand multiple shots with modern rifles because armor weakens as it is damaged.
So I really doubt the Zerg can overwhelm like 10 million soldiers( I'm guessing thats how many soldiers there are in the world), unless they had billions upon billions of units.
<!--QuoteBegin-GundamCL+Sep 9 2004, 10:35 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (GundamCL @ Sep 9 2004, 10:35 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> I kinda think that humans would win...
The M1 Abrams have at least the range of hundreds of kilometers and the US military planes can fire missles hundreds of miles away, blowing away any zerg air there is (except if there are milllions of score). I also doubt that the zerg armor would be able to withstand multiple shots with modern rifles because armor weakens as it is damaged.
So I really doubt the Zerg can overwhelm like 10 million soldiers( I'm guessing thats how many soldiers there are in the world), unless they had billions upon billions of units. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> If anything invaded Earth, they'd be much more than 10 million soldiers. Much much more. I'd say around 5.6 billion (current population of the world).
<!--QuoteBegin-ThE HeRo+Sep 9 2004, 09:08 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (ThE HeRo @ Sep 9 2004, 09:08 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> If anything invaded Earth, they'd be much more than 10 million soldiers. Much much more. I'd say around 5.6 billion (current population of the world). <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Look at the end-campaign cinematic for the Terrans on Brood War.
The "death toll" of the Zerg are counted <i>in excess</i> of <b>20</b> <u>BILLION</u>.
<!--QuoteBegin-GundamCL+Sep 9 2004, 10:35 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (GundamCL @ Sep 9 2004, 10:35 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> I also doubt that the zerg armor would be able to withstand multiple shots with modern rifles because armor weakens as it is damaged. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> Modern rifles, yet again, would not do ****. Marines in StarCraft use automatic <i>gauss guns</i> that shoot <i>uranium spikes</i>. Any gun today doesnt hold a candle to StarCraft Terran technology, and they still need to pump a**loads of bullets into hydralisks before they go down.
And about the "unless there were millions" part... There will be millions of them. Millions upon millions upon millions.
<!--QuoteBegin-BloodySloth+Sep 10 2004, 10:52 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (BloodySloth @ Sep 10 2004, 10:52 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> And about the "unless there were millions" part... There will be millions of them. Millions upon millions upon millions. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> ...and China's army will <i>still</i> have them outnumbered ten to one. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Our best hope is that they land in the Middle East and get fed up when even they, with every possible advantage, can't defeat Arabs with 30 year old guns in caves. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
BloodySloth, I'm afraid to say this, but everyone else is right. In this question, you have to be realistic. An Ultralisk is going to go splat if hit by an Abrams, and modern rifles will still affect their fleshy parts. Sure, if fired at an Ultralisk armour, its not going to penetrate, but it will take chuncks out. An automatic gauss rifle, of that size, firing hypersonic armour piercing bullets is just impossible, and no way could a human fire one and remain alive, let alone still standing.
In an actual prepared for battle, we can engage them far before they can even see us, with nukes/rockets/tanks/artillary. At the 1 mile/2 kilometer range, manchine guns can hit them (although this is at extreme maximum range). Mutalisks, realistically speaking (and this is even if they can fly), move slowly and are big targets, so will pretty much be beaten by our Airforces. However, up close, when ambushed or if they make it to our lines, we lose. Simple as really.
The zerg as a race is impossible. You can't have a giant brain telepathically controlling billions of mutant clones assimilated from different species across the universe. You can't have anything relatively slow moving enter our atmosphere. You can't have a creature that shoots needles out of its sides with the speed and accuracy of a gun. Are the zerg unrealistic? Yes. I'd be stupid to say no. Does that mean we change what they are so they can somehow fit a realistic image? No, we can't. The zerg are an impossible species, so trying to mold their characteristics to fit a somewhat "normal" image is a pretty pointless thing to do.
If you want to talk about a different alien species that is less physically durable than the Zerg from StarCraft are, go ahead. But I was under the impression that we were talking about an <i>imaginary species</i> that doesnt fit reality quite well. It's a hypothetical situation. I don't see people in the Jedi thread saying "hey, jedi cant move things with their mind", but that's pretty much what's happening here imo.
The hivemind isn't a large brain. It's the collective concious of the Zerg race as a whole. The overmind/hivemind/what ever in the campaigns was a physical node. Overlords are like telephone poles or cell phone towers. They radiate the Hivemind's instructions to the less intelligent races.
EDITZORS:
Gauss rifles fire very fast, very pointy Uranium delepted spikes. Very fast = hypersonic speed.
The Zerg RAPED Aiur, protoss homeworld. The Zerg then proceed to rape Chau Sara, Mar Sara and they had landed forces on the Terran dominion's homeworld within a week( a week ?).
If you remember the last Zerg Brood War mission. The Zerg proceed to rape the UED, sending them home with their tails between their legs, the Protoss, sending them to the Twilight world, and the other Terran base.
21st century humanity is not prepared. If we see the zerg enter our solar system we should nuke them before they get to Saturn.
<!--QuoteBegin-BloodySloth+Sep 11 2004, 06:44 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (BloodySloth @ Sep 11 2004, 06:44 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> The zerg as a race is impossible. You can't have a giant brain telepathically controlling billions of mutant clones assimilated from different species across the universe. You can't have anything relatively slow moving enter our atmosphere. You can't have a creature that shoots needles out of its sides with the speed and accuracy of a gun. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> I'm just going to address this bit only, but how do you know these aren't possible? While the atmopshere thing might be impossible, the other two we don't know enough, so we can carry on with the sense of disbelief that they occur, but sheer logic says that a tank shell is going to kill any land-based organism the zerg have.
If we start talking about imaginery species and hypothetical situations, why not just say the Zerg have evolved a planet-eating bug, making this entire argument a moot point? At which point do you draw the line at sheer ludracrisy?
Find me a cutscene from Starcraft or BW, that shows a Siege Tank firing on a Ultralisk and it surviving, and I'll drop the fact that modern tanks can affect something as big and strong as an Ultralisk. Until then, anything you see in game is a balancing point and should be ignored.
<!--QuoteBegin-Aldaris+Sep 11 2004, 09:16 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Aldaris @ Sep 11 2004, 09:16 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Find me a cutscene from Starcraft or BW, that shows a Siege Tank firing on a Ultralisk and it surviving, and I'll drop the fact that modern tanks can affect something as big and strong as an Ultralisk. Until then, anything you see in game is a balancing point and should be ignored. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> The cutscenes do not show Ultralisks taking Siege blasts, but they do not show them being downed by one either. On the other hand, we DO see them shrug off Siege Tank shots in game.
...as well, why do you people find it so hard to believe that the Zerg has strong armor? Just because its biological, it doesnt mean they are soft like we are. Who are you to assume they are just "leather and scale"? How do you know their armor, or even their vital organs are not made of strong materials that rival what we can produce out of metals?
<!--QuoteBegin-BloodySloth+Sep 12 2004, 04:03 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (BloodySloth @ Sep 12 2004, 04:03 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> If the actual game no longer counts in this conversation what is there to discuss? there is absolutely nothing to go on in any of the cutscenes. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Take this another way. If the technology far in the future cannot handle them, then what chance do we have? Theres nothing to discuss if you take what you see in the game as cannon. Therefore, think outside the box, and use a bit of realism.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Who are you to assume they are just "leather and scale"? How do you know their armor, or even their vital organs are not made of strong materials that rival what we can produce out of metals? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
For the reason you can't have a giant ants. If the bones/organs/whatever were made of materials which were somehow just as strong as our metals, if not more so, then the thing would collapse under its own weight. And its not so much the armour and resiliance. A large explosion would turn their insides to mush.
Wouldnt our conventional weapons doing next to nothing require more "thinking outside the box"? Again, if we're talking about the Zerg, we have to take with them their physical attributes, including their durability. You can't start, for instance, a discussion on whether a man could beat a lion to death with his bare hands and then say "Well it's not fair because lions have claws. For the sake of argument lets take away those. And their teeth too, those are pretty sharp."
Also, how do you know a material that strong couldn't be light? You just told me that we can't say intergalactic telepathic powers and an army of mutant clones are impossible, so why not this?
<!--QuoteBegin-BloodySloth+Sep 12 2004, 07:53 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (BloodySloth @ Sep 12 2004, 07:53 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Wouldnt our conventional weapons doing next to nothing require more "thinking outside the box"? Again, if we're talking about the Zerg, we have to take with them their physical attributes, including their durability. You can't start, for instance, a discussion on whether a man could beat a lion to death with his bare hands and then say "Well it's not fair because lions have claws. For the sake of argument lets take away those. And their teeth too, those are pretty sharp."
Also, how do you know a material that strong couldn't be light? You just told me that we can't say intergalactic telepathic powers and an army of mutant clones are impossible, so why not this? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> because the starcraft universe isn't ours. if we were going to 'port' the SC universe to ours, the Zerg wouldn't be arriving for another several hundred or thousand years.
i was referring to how hypocritical it was to be proposing to 'take the zerg and dump them on earth' and insisting on a few gameplay and backstory elements, while not allowing us to complain about how the mechanics of a zerg unit don't fit with our universe's physics.
if we were to take the zerg from the game, my point is that they would never have reached earth at this moment in time. in-game, they had only reached the outer edges of a splinter colony from earth, which is far, far away from it.
<!--QuoteBegin-Aldaris+Sep 12 2004, 05:41 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Aldaris @ Sep 12 2004, 05:41 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> For the reason you can't have a giant ants. If the bones/organs/whatever were made of materials which were somehow just as strong as our metals, if not more so, then the thing would collapse under its own weight. And its not so much the armour and resiliance. A large explosion would turn their insides to mush. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> Exoskeletons are limited. However, <a href='http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/allabout/Extremes.html' target='_blank'>skeletons</a> are not. As well, there is no end to how <a href='http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displayStory.cfm?Story_id=1020663' target='_blank'>light weight</a> and <a href='http://www.dupont.com/kevlar/whatiskevlar.html' target='_blank'>strong</a> and <a href='http://www.defense-update.com/features/du-1-04/reactive-armor.htm' target='_blank'>Unique</a> their <a href='http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=10&q=carapace' target='_blank'>armor</a> can <a href='http://www.armorsystemsint.com/' target='_blank'>possibly</a> ever <a href='http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20031108/fob1.asp' target='_blank'>be</a>.
So dont say that "the thing would collapse under its own weight" and "A large explosion would turn their insides to mush." Do. Your. Homework! <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/mad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
[stronger doesn't mean heavier, and the laws of physics - whatever they may be - are or seem to be constants!]
<!--QuoteBegin-Wheeee+Sep 12 2004, 08:29 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Wheeee @ Sep 12 2004, 08:29 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> because the starcraft universe isn't ours. if we were going to 'port' the SC universe to ours, the Zerg wouldn't be arriving for another several hundred or thousand years.
...
if we were to take the zerg from the game, my point is that they would never have reached earth at this moment in time. in-game, they had only reached the outer edges of a splinter colony from earth, which is far, far away from it. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> The Zerg is arriving now because this is what the whole discussion is about! The question was: Whether we, with our current technology and resources, can defend ourselves against the Zerg as described by Starcraft or not?
So the whole 'debate' rests on this: whether we can 'port' the Zerg over to our Universe.
Port all: The Zerg attacking us is EXACTLY as described as in the game. A zergling will take exactly as many Gauss gun'd uranium spikes as they do in the game to die. Ultralisks will sustain tank shells and smile.
Port some, and not port certain aspects that we think (with our current understanding of physics/bio/other stuff) are 'impossible': We own every unit with tank shells and cruise missles.
Frankly, I hold the same views as BloodySloth. If you dont do a 'full port' of the Zerg, we're not really fighting the Zerg. This is like how when you port "Splinter Cell" to the GBA, it is not really "Splinter Cell" anymore.
And again, telepathy doesnt really fit in our universe's physics either.
right, and the zerg described in SC is several hundred years in the future, and they hadn't reached our star system yet. So you couldn't possibly have the zerg in starcraft. You could have a similar species, but TBH since we haven't discovered intelligent life near us, I doubt it would happen.
<!--QuoteBegin-Wheeee+Sep 12 2004, 09:53 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Wheeee @ Sep 12 2004, 09:53 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> i was referring to how hypocritical it was to be proposing to 'take the zerg and dump them on earth' and insisting on a few gameplay and backstory elements, while not allowing us to complain about how the mechanics of a zerg unit don't fit with our universe's physics.
if we were to take the zerg from the game, my point is that they would never have reached earth at this moment in time. in-game, they had only reached the outer edges of a splinter colony from earth, which is far, far away from it. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> The situation given to us was that in 2 years time the zerg arrive. That's it. I didnt read anyhting about them starting their infinitely long journey to earth, they just appear within reach in two years. Strike it down as the zerg using their weird teleportation skills that were pointed out earlier.
All this "our universe and their universe" stuff strikes me as just plain... strange. In the game no one is supposed to know how the zerg work, so saying "because we dont know how an ultralisk can take so much damage we have to change it" is a bogus argument.
I don't see the hypocrasy in keeping the zerg as they are, however I do see the hypocrasy (spelling?) in changing some unbelievable aspects of the zerg to fit our needs, but not other unbelievable things.
it's not a bogus argument, because clearly hydralisks aren't as big as siege tanks, and battlecruisers are much bigger than, say, mutalisks. Taking some elements from gameplay and some elements from backstory is bogus, because many times they conflict, as pointed out earlier (marine vs zergling).
<!--QuoteBegin-Wheeee+Sep 12 2004, 10:59 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Wheeee @ Sep 12 2004, 10:59 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> it's not a bogus argument, because clearly hydralisks aren't as big as siege tanks, and battlecruisers are much bigger than, say, mutalisks. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> Duh. They look about the same size in-game so that you dont have to strain your eyes to see a zergling, or have to zoom waaaaay out to see the overmind's entire body (or structure, or whateverthehell you want to call it.)
B) take all of the zerg abilities from the cutscenes/backstory.
Remember, in the backstory, Zerg have way the hell more numbers than 'toss or terrans, and they both managed decently. So one could argue that the zerg in real life would be weaker.
Comments
Those of ye who wants to rid of the Zerg by destroying their supply lines...what if they destroyed OUR supplies? Given space travel and sheer numbers, they can easily just block out the Sun for decades.
Are you sure that's the tank's normal fire? Or is it what they shoot in Siege mode? Either way that's pretty crazy.
EDIT: That overlord looks extremely small compared to what it carries around. I dont think SC:Ghost should be used as the be all end all for scale.
Quite frankly, these don't quite cut it. The concept artists for SC Ghost aren't the same as the ones for SC. And some other zerg strains have had something removed from them.
Like the Hydralisk's false jaws. Those were simply teh pwn and they were removed....
Ah yes, and if anyone is going to consider using SC's actualy gameplay as a basis...forget about it. Simply put, the gameplay system in SC doesn't fit in. I'll try and take an example from Zergling vs Marine in cinematics.
Zergling gets near Marine in game -> Marine pwns Zergling.
Zergling gets near Marine in cinematic -> Marine becomes a bloody heap o meat.
The M1 Abrams have at least the range of hundreds of kilometers and the US military planes can fire missles hundreds of miles away, blowing away any zerg air there is (except if there are milllions of score). I also doubt that the zerg armor would be able to withstand multiple shots with modern rifles because armor weakens as it is damaged.
So I really doubt the Zerg can overwhelm like 10 million soldiers( I'm guessing thats how many soldiers there are in the world), unless they had billions upon billions of units.
The M1 Abrams have at least the range of hundreds of kilometers and the US military planes can fire missles hundreds of miles away, blowing away any zerg air there is (except if there are milllions of score). I also doubt that the zerg armor would be able to withstand multiple shots with modern rifles because armor weakens as it is damaged.
So I really doubt the Zerg can overwhelm like 10 million soldiers( I'm guessing thats how many soldiers there are in the world), unless they had billions upon billions of units. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
If anything invaded Earth, they'd be much more than 10 million soldiers. Much much more. I'd say around 5.6 billion (current population of the world).
Look at the end-campaign cinematic for the Terrans on Brood War.
The "death toll" of the Zerg are counted <i>in excess</i> of <b>20</b> <u>BILLION</u>.
Modern rifles, yet again, would not do ****. Marines in StarCraft use automatic <i>gauss guns</i> that shoot <i>uranium spikes</i>. Any gun today doesnt hold a candle to StarCraft Terran technology, and they still need to pump a**loads of bullets into hydralisks before they go down.
And about the "unless there were millions" part... There will be millions of them. Millions upon millions upon millions.
...and China's army will <i>still</i> have them outnumbered ten to one. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Our best hope is that they land in the Middle East and get fed up when even they, with every possible advantage, can't defeat Arabs with 30 year old guns in caves. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
In an actual prepared for battle, we can engage them far before they can even see us, with nukes/rockets/tanks/artillary. At the 1 mile/2 kilometer range, manchine guns can hit them (although this is at extreme maximum range). Mutalisks, realistically speaking (and this is even if they can fly), move slowly and are big targets, so will pretty much be beaten by our Airforces. However, up close, when ambushed or if they make it to our lines, we lose. Simple as really.
If you want to talk about a different alien species that is less physically durable than the Zerg from StarCraft are, go ahead. But I was under the impression that we were talking about an <i>imaginary species</i> that doesnt fit reality quite well. It's a hypothetical situation. I don't see people in the Jedi thread saying "hey, jedi cant move things with their mind", but that's pretty much what's happening here imo.
The hivemind isn't a large brain. It's the collective concious of the Zerg race as a whole. The overmind/hivemind/what ever in the campaigns was a physical node. Overlords are like telephone poles or cell phone towers. They radiate the Hivemind's instructions to the less intelligent races.
EDITZORS:
Gauss rifles fire very fast, very pointy Uranium delepted spikes. Very fast = hypersonic speed.
The Zerg RAPED Aiur, protoss homeworld. The Zerg then proceed to rape Chau Sara, Mar Sara and they had landed forces on the Terran dominion's homeworld within a week( a week ?).
If you remember the last Zerg Brood War mission. The Zerg proceed to rape the UED, sending them home with their tails between their legs, the Protoss, sending them to the Twilight world, and the other Terran base.
21st century humanity is not prepared. If we see the zerg enter our solar system we should nuke them before they get to Saturn.
I'm just going to address this bit only, but how do you know these aren't possible? While the atmopshere thing might be impossible, the other two we don't know enough, so we can carry on with the sense of disbelief that they occur, but sheer logic says that a tank shell is going to kill any land-based organism the zerg have.
If we start talking about imaginery species and hypothetical situations, why not just say the Zerg have evolved a planet-eating bug, making this entire argument a moot point? At which point do you draw the line at sheer ludracrisy?
Find me a cutscene from Starcraft or BW, that shows a Siege Tank firing on a Ultralisk and it surviving, and I'll drop the fact that modern tanks can affect something as big and strong as an Ultralisk. Until then, anything you see in game is a balancing point and should be ignored.
The cutscenes do not show Ultralisks taking Siege blasts, but they do not show them being downed by one either. On the other hand, we DO see them shrug off Siege Tank shots in game.
...as well, why do you people find it so hard to believe that the Zerg has strong armor? Just because its biological, it doesnt mean they are soft like we are. Who are you to assume they are just "leather and scale"? How do you know their armor, or even their vital organs are not made of strong materials that rival what we can produce out of metals?
Take this another way. If the technology far in the future cannot handle them, then what chance do we have? Theres nothing to discuss if you take what you see in the game as cannon. Therefore, think outside the box, and use a bit of realism.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Who are you to assume they are just "leather and scale"? How do you know their armor, or even their vital organs are not made of strong materials that rival what we can produce out of metals? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
For the reason you can't have a giant ants. If the bones/organs/whatever were made of materials which were somehow just as strong as our metals, if not more so, then the thing would collapse under its own weight. And its not so much the armour and resiliance. A large explosion would turn their insides to mush.
Also, how do you know a material that strong couldn't be light? You just told me that we can't say intergalactic telepathic powers and an army of mutant clones are impossible, so why not this?
Also, how do you know a material that strong couldn't be light? You just told me that we can't say intergalactic telepathic powers and an army of mutant clones are impossible, so why not this? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
because the starcraft universe isn't ours. if we were going to 'port' the SC universe to ours, the Zerg wouldn't be arriving for another several hundred or thousand years.
if we were to take the zerg from the game, my point is that they would never have reached earth at this moment in time. in-game, they had only reached the outer edges of a splinter colony from earth, which is far, far away from it.
Exoskeletons are limited. However, <a href='http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/allabout/Extremes.html' target='_blank'>skeletons</a> are not. As well, there is no end to how <a href='http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displayStory.cfm?Story_id=1020663' target='_blank'>light weight</a> and <a href='http://www.dupont.com/kevlar/whatiskevlar.html' target='_blank'>strong</a> and <a href='http://www.defense-update.com/features/du-1-04/reactive-armor.htm' target='_blank'>Unique</a> their <a href='http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=10&q=carapace' target='_blank'>armor</a> can <a href='http://www.armorsystemsint.com/' target='_blank'>possibly</a> ever <a href='http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20031108/fob1.asp' target='_blank'>be</a>.
So dont say that "the thing would collapse under its own weight" and "A large explosion would turn their insides to mush."
Do. Your. Homework! <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/mad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
[stronger doesn't mean heavier, and the laws of physics - whatever they may be - are or seem to be constants!]
...
if we were to take the zerg from the game, my point is that they would never have reached earth at this moment in time. in-game, they had only reached the outer edges of a splinter colony from earth, which is far, far away from it. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The Zerg is arriving now because this is what the whole discussion is about! The question was: Whether we, with our current technology and resources, can defend ourselves against the Zerg as described by Starcraft or not?
So the whole 'debate' rests on this: whether we can 'port' the Zerg over to our Universe.
Port all: The Zerg attacking us is EXACTLY as described as in the game. A zergling will take exactly as many Gauss gun'd uranium spikes as they do in the game to die. Ultralisks will sustain tank shells and smile.
Port some, and not port certain aspects that we think (with our current understanding of physics/bio/other stuff) are 'impossible': We own every unit with tank shells and cruise missles.
Frankly, I hold the same views as BloodySloth. If you dont do a 'full port' of the Zerg, we're not really fighting the Zerg. This is like how when you port "Splinter Cell" to the GBA, it is not really "Splinter Cell" anymore.
And again, telepathy doesnt really fit in our universe's physics either.
if we were to take the zerg from the game, my point is that they would never have reached earth at this moment in time. in-game, they had only reached the outer edges of a splinter colony from earth, which is far, far away from it. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The situation given to us was that in 2 years time the zerg arrive. That's it. I didnt read anyhting about them starting their infinitely long journey to earth, they just appear within reach in two years. Strike it down as the zerg using their weird teleportation skills that were pointed out earlier.
All this "our universe and their universe" stuff strikes me as just plain... strange. In the game no one is supposed to know how the zerg work, so saying "because we dont know how an ultralisk can take so much damage we have to change it" is a bogus argument.
I don't see the hypocrasy in keeping the zerg as they are, however I do see the hypocrasy (spelling?) in changing some unbelievable aspects of the zerg to fit our needs, but not other unbelievable things.
Duh.
They look about the same size in-game so that you dont have to strain your eyes to see a zergling, or have to zoom waaaaay out to see the overmind's entire body (or structure, or whateverthehell you want to call it.)
A) take all of the zerg abilities from gameplay.
B) take all of the zerg abilities from the cutscenes/backstory.
Remember, in the backstory, Zerg have way the hell more numbers than 'toss or terrans, and they both managed decently. So one could argue that the zerg in real life would be weaker.