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The backstory is not as important as the gameplay implications, this is a game after all, not a movie: only after their unique tactics are defined should a backstory be created. We thus begin with the animal's steryotype (the very heart of anthropomorphism), then define their tactics, then define their backstory. Here's a bit of a brainstorm - there's a lot of different species here, but I think there can be as many as there are ways of fighting:

Rabbits
As in Lugaru, Rabbits are the "standard" creature, with all other creatures defined relation to them, simply because the main character is a rabbit, so rabbits essentially become humans in all but appearance. They shouldn't be quite as "versatile", culture wise, though, since if Rabbit civillisations can range from raiders or farmers to philosophers, why bother with other species? Thus, since they run when badly hurt, we shall say that fighting is more a nessecity for them than a way of life - these are mostly farmers who've trained themselves in order to protect their famillies. Physically speaking, they can run fast and jump further than any other species, and have very good hearing.
FAVOURITE WEAPONS: Unarmed (Rabbit's Feet!)

Wolves/Dogs
Wolves were already well defined in Lugaru: they fight to the death, never back down, never run for help and are impossibly good fighters. We can assume therefore that they are arrogant, considering themselves superior to other animals, and spend their whole time honing their skills or using them. Their society could only be the most basic one, since order and constant violence don't generally mix well, so in order for them to work as a civillisation Dogs could be added as their "peasant" cast, sherperding the flocks of sheep are the wolves' source of food and filling out their armies with disposible soldiers.
Wolves are very concerned about purity of their bloodline and not mixing it with the crude Dogs', but might well exercise a "droit de seigneur" and spawn bastard offspring. Despite their obendient nature, some Dogs might have started a rebellion because of this (this is all idle musing, since by the looks of it the team already have a good idea about Dog society). Both have good hearing and a good sense of smell, but bad eyesight.
FAVOURITE WEAPONS: Wolves = Claws, Dogs = Staves (Sheperds remember), Spears and Pole Arms (all 3 work more or less like a jo anyway)

Bears
I'd like to see Bears in Overgrowth - they could be a solitary enemy that won't bother you if you don't bother them, and can't run fast enough to catch you, but stand their ground and, towering above you like giants, are near impossible to dislodge. They are the only animal that wolves are cautious around, and genenerally only fight in numbers. Bears would have little interest in the affairs of other animals, living longer, slower lives and with nothing preying on them. Since Bears are omnivores, Rabbits sometimes offer to feed them in return for them helping to keep the Wolves at bay.
FAVOURITE WEAPONS: Bear Hug? Mabye two handed swords/axes/hammers, the emphasis being on being an slow but very powerful.

Rats/Mice
Rats/Mice are cowards - they'll immediately run if they don't outnumber you or have some sort of advantage. They lie in ambush, use thrown weapons, thrown sand in your eyes (blurs vision) and generally try to surround you and attack from behind - basically, they never fight you on your own terms. Rats are slightly larger and more agressive than Mice so Mice could thus be the thieves and Rats the brigands of the Lugaru world.
FAVOURITE WEAPONS: Clubs and Daggers.

Foxes
Foxes don't fight if they can help it (they're far too clever to get themselves killed) prefering to wheel and deal. They are however highly proficient fighters (think Jack Sparrow), and will resort to underhand tactics like throwing knives or dirt in your eyes or run if clearly outclassed (unlike Rats who's fear overcomes them, Foxes tend to throw dirt in your eyes and and THEN run). Foxes are like "Swag Men", said to bundle up unattended Rabbit children in their sacks. Nobody trusts them, but everyone trades with them despite their better judgement. Foxes would thus materialise the European peasants' steryoptype of Gypsies.
FAVOURITE WEAPONS: Cutlasses and Knives

Cats
Cats like to pick their fights, and if they don't feel like fighting they'll generally avoid it, so showing a little agression is often enough to drive them off for good. They also hate getting their paws dirty and will never enter water voluntarily. Taking a queue from the picture, I'd also suggest that they like beautiful things, are greedy, selfish, avaricious, arrogant, and practice a style of fighting that is all finesse and no brutality - the cats could have arrived after the events of Lugaru and taken control, convincing the Rabbits that they need the cats to organise them against the wolves, but really just stealing the sweat off their backs. They always land on their feet.
FAVOURITE WEAPON: Rapiers and fencing daggers


Tell me what you think,


William

Now that I think about it, I'm imagining a sort of "Knight Templar" race. In the sense that they punish evil to the extreme. Like in all those stories where the villain is actually trying to make the world a better place by destroying all evil forever but overdoing it and ending up evil? That's what I mean.

I think the rabbits would act like that towards the wolves considering what happened in Lugaru. Maybe the dogs are like that? I dunno.

As far as Gameplay, I think the dogs would be strong but slow, rabbits would be balanced, cats would be fast, rats would be weakest but stealthy and annoying while the wolves are the best out of all of them. Hence why wolves are the bad guys.

I think. Maybe cats are the bad guys this time. Well, the bad guys should be the strongest anyway.

I think. Maybe cats are the bad guys this time. Well, the bad guys should be the strongest anyway.

I rather dislike the notion of "good" and "evil" myself, but since this game is probably going to fairly linear like Lugaru, I guess it's unavoidable. Then again they already more or less aced the fighting part of the game the first time round, so mabye this time we'll be able to choose our fights, interactivity being, after all, what makes games unique. Of course, it's all too easy to break a perfectly good game with new features, and the recent GTA games, while undeniably full of tasty choices, have completely linear stories Also I'm assuming the player will be Turner, or at least a rabbit, and not one of the other creatures, even if this would be really cool (I'd love to see a game that visually represents smells, with rain and wind direction and so on influencing what can be seen).

I like most of that, Will, with a few exceptions.

Wilbefast wrote: Rabbits
...
Thus, since they run when badly hurt, we shall say that fighting is more a nessecity for them than a way of life - these are mostly farmers who've trained themselves in order to protect their famillies.

I don't see that running when badly hurt leads to that. I would think they run because they're intelligent enough to realise dying doesn't serve their purpose.

Wilbefast wrote: Wolves/Dogs
Wolves were already well defined in Lugaru: they fight to the death, never back down, never run for help and are impossibly good fighters. We can assume therefore that they are arrogant, considering themselves superior to other animals, and spend their whole time honing their skills or using them.

Arrogant, yes, feeling superior, yes. But I think for those reasons they wouldn't spend much time honing their skills, content to rely on their natural strength and speed. A brute force and ignorance approach. They don't run because they're not clever enough to understand they can be beaten. I imagine Ash was either a genius with his plan, or more likely being manipulated by someone else. Probably cats. The idea of enslaving everyone doesn't seem wolfish to me, but it does seem cattish, and someone with a suitably silver (raspy?) tongue (which also seems cattish) should be able to take advantage of the wolves' stupidity and convince them it was their own idea to begin with.

Wilbefast wrote:Their society could only be the most basic one, since order and constant violence don't generally mix well, so in order for them to work as a civillisation Dogs could be added as their "peasant" cast, sherperding the flocks of sheep are the wolves' source of food and filling out their armies with disposible soldiers.

They're natural born hunters... it'd be demeaning for them to eat critters bred for the purpose. What's a wolf that can't even hunt for himself worth? You may as well start munching carrots. They have no use for weapons, crafts, art, trade... no need for industry at all. The wolves don't really need to work as a civilisation, do they?

Wilbefast wrote:Cats
Cats like to pick their fights, and if they don't feel like fighting they'll generally avoid it, so showing a little agression is often enough to drive them off for good.

A cat shouldn't run unless it can do so without losing face.

i see olves as shepards but of like emus or turtles or something not of mammals.

i see a sorta templar type race ould definatly be the dogs.

imagine that the dogs wish to eliminate the wolves because they are evil and will be willing to go to any lengths to destroy the wolves.

for some reason i definatly see rabbits and wolves as allies.

i see rats basically everywere. every street corner trying to sell worthless items (junk weapons)

Ralok wrote:for some reason i definatly se rabbits and wolves as allies.

It... the... but... they... wha?

yes im fully aware of the obvious reasons why a dog and bunny wouldnt be friends. in fact my dogs favorite food is bunnies.

but some things have to be broken. everybody cant be everybody elses enemy. this isnt 40k

Not the wolves and rabbits. Maybe the rats and rabbits, maybe the cats and rabbits have an understanding, but the wolves and rabbits already hate eachother.

And while I agree that the notion of the world working in good and evil is silly, it's pretty obvious that the wolves are at least the most brutal of all of the races. The cats and dogs are willing to negotiate with the other races, but the wolves just kill when they're hungry.

Ralok wrote:for some reason i definatly see rabbits and wolves as allies.

Did you even play Lugaru?

Ralok wrote:i see rats basically everywere. every street corner trying to sell worthless items (junk weapons)

I like this idea.

dangit i see what happened now. my computer has this really really annoying spellchecker. and sometimes if a butcher a word or put to words together it will correct it into something

appearently dog clans got turned into wolves somehow

well im officially retarded. you guys can totally rip on me now. go ahead and make fun of me. i deserve it

HAHAHAH you really shouldn't give people on the forums that liberty, they'll use it in the future too.

Well, if it showed up as incorrect when you knew it wasn't, why did you change it to something ridiculous like that? Spellchecker lists of possible correct spellings of an incorrect word are meant to be used with the brain and common sense unit turned on. Also, spellcheckers should work on a per-word basis. Changing two words into one causes severe problems due to just how many grammar rules would have to be be included to make it perfect.

i can shorten what you just said.

ralok you have to be pretty damn stupid and a really bad speller. for something like that to happen.

and admittedly i am not the brightest of people.

Nnnoooo… Incorrect.

It was meant to point out that his spellchecker sucks and to ignore the fact that the spellchecker probably did it automatically in order to make this fact even more obvious.

Correct shortened version: I am an asshole and your spellchecker sucks.

Let's not get into an argue about who's the arsehole - we can all be arseholes: sharing is fun

Groveller wrote:I don't see that running when badly hurt leads to that. I would think they run because they're intelligent enough to realise dying doesn't serve their purposes.

Somebody has to be peaceful, because if everyone's destroying stuff and nobody's building it, you just get a whole load of corpses and no art, craft or architecture (which makes Aubrey sad). I think rabbits are the most appropriate choice for this role because the player is a rabbit generally action games have a you controlling a (wince) "good guy", and because in real life rabbits are probably the most civillised, colony (warren) based animals of the bunch.

Groveller wrote:Arrogant, yes, feeling superior, yes. But I think for those reasons they wouldn't spend much time honing their skills, content to rely on their natural strength and speed. A brute force and ignorance approach. They don't run because they're not clever enough to understand they can be beaten.

Ah, but aren't they exceedingly well trained in Lugaru? They're even better at reversals and spinning kicks than rabbits, and such skills doesn't generally stem from brute force and ignorance. I guess you can interpret the wolves tenacious nature as stupidity, bravery or fury just as easily, but at the end of the day they still do Kung Fu!

Groveller wrote:They're natural born hunters - it'd be demeaning for them to eat critters bred for the purpose. What's a wolf that can't even hunt for himself worth?

Unless they were actually stealing them. Then again, stealing's just as demeaning. Very good point, I still like the idea of Dogs as sheperds though, but perhaps they could sheperd for themselves. Their livestock would have to be sheep for the whole "Sheep-dogs" lark to work, but dumb, non humanoid sheep. Funnily enough though, Wolves, Bears and Dogs are all technically omniovores

Groveller wrote:A cat shouldn't run unless it can do so without losing face.

Have you ever owned a cat? Sure, they're proud but more than that they don't want to get hurt - killing is a game for them, and as soon as they stop enjoying the game (their prey fights back) they slip away in the most non-chalante, casual way they can manage.
Cats are carnivores however, so the problem becomes what do THEY eat? I hardly think the Rabbits would agree to be ruled over AND eaten, unless of course there was some clever trick, like you win the lottery, and your prize is an oil massage, with rosemary and pepper, and then a relaxing bath in a cauldron full of boiling water.

* * *

I've been thinking - perhaps Dogs could be a more civillised version of Wolves, just as Mice would be a less brutish version of Rats. Mabye you could have Hares too, as a bigger stronger version of rabbits.

Hares
Let's start with the hole March Hare steryotype: Hares are solitary adventurers, roaming the world telling tall tales, fighting Wolves and seducing Rabbit women, only to disappear before morning. They fight in a very playful manner, dodging a flipping around, making fun of you, until you slap them a few times at which point they start taking you seriously and either kick you into next week or bolt. Turner would definately meet and perhaps befriend a Hare if he was likewise wandering around.
FAVOURITE WEAPONS: Mostly unarmed with a few Staves (walking sticks) sometimes Swords.