Who are the Altarians?

from GalCiv3 Forums

This is coming from someone who appreciates the lore of the game and I'm hoping that this time around the lore is expanded to answer some of the questions I've always had. It looks like the campaign will answer the major Thalan questions, for example, but what about the Altarians?

 

1. Why do they look so much like the Terrans?

 

a) The Altarians are humans

-In Gal Civ II they supposedly looked identical to the terrans, but in Gal Civ III it's more ambiguous whether this is the case. So do they look identical or not?

-looks could be the same on a superficial level while still having totally different internal organs, brain structure, and ultimately, DNA. Is their DNA the same? Are Altarians humans?

-convergent evolution is a thing, yes, but this level of similarity seems unlikely both in the real world and in Gal Civ. In terms of the other races, many are humanoid-ish (Drengin, Arcean, etc.) but none are as similar as the Altarians humans (other than Korath and Drengin but that only proves my point since they're the same species). It does make sense that intelligent beings would have evolved sophisticated means of communication and for humans it's our expressive and empathic faces, which is why we are not a cruel race (comparatively speaking of course). But that doesn't explain why Altarians would evolve the exact same faces, not to mention all the other coincidences (bipedalism, number of fingers, hands, proportions) if indeed they do look identical.

-Why would 2 intelligent species evolve on the same planet? I find it plausible but unlikely that the Drath and Altarians evolved on the same planet in roughly the same geologic era (they were both still thriving enough to receive and utilize hyperdrive tech, rather a situation where one race has devolved or been wiped out).

-The origin of the Altarians is made to seem "fishy" by the game

-Why are they called a "resistance"? Could they be an ancient resistance group transplanted from Earth by the precursors or something?

 

12,076 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I haven't read it, but I've heard that there are intimation in the Elemental book that the Altarians are from the world of elemental, probably descendants of the Wraiths.

Reply #2 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Or maybe the Precursors seeded two worlds with human/altarian dna prototype that would eventually evolve into the current form.

Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

the story is here

https://forums.galciv2.com/124732/page/1/#1833459

Reply #4 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

This game is like the show sliders. A human race evolved slid into the universe. Created five beings. Memory lapse. Two of them started fighting. Memory lapse this guy affected dark energy. This affected how things evolved in the universe. The drath evolved on altariA a outpost of the dread lords. No mammals evolved on altaria. The five were the armor. One of the five were the dread lords. The other were theprecursor. The dread lords created the altarians on altaria. The precursor transplanted the drath. 

From whatI hear the humans in elementals sou d like the altarians in galactic civilizations.

Reply #5 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

To give a quick overview. In the GalCiv universe, a super human being came to the universe early in its development. His arrival had an impact on the very essence of the universe, causing life to evolve to resemble that person. The precursors became human like. The species that would become the sentient life in the galaxy would become human like. This super human being (if I recall correctly) literally set foot on Altara, and life there quickly began evolving to become very human despite there having been no species resembling mammals there before his arrival. They are practically human because they had the most direct contact with this being in their evolution.

For the record, this super human being is still around. On occasion, he shows up and sets events in motion. He played a role in preparing the humans for the arrival of the Dread Lords, told them how to protect Earth from the Drengin, and where to hide so they could build up their forces while they hid (hint, it involves plenty of Dread Lord tech).