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RobCaswell — Trust me - I'm a robot!
Published: 2013-01-17 20:45:52 +0000 UTC; Views: 7516; Favourites: 71; Downloads: 227
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This is one of my oldest published Traveller images, but it's still a fave. It's a Hiver with one of its diplomatic robots designed for interacting with Humans. I was always a Hiver-junkie as they were probably the most alien of Traveller's major races.Ink on board w/ tone film.
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Comments: 40
Hey, chill!
Unless.... need some coolant?
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Great image! Really captures the Hiver physiology. And I can totally relate to you describing yourself as a Hiver "groupie". They have successfully manipulated
me into thinking that starfish are somehow "cuddly". Of all the aliens I've "encountered" in books, movies, TV shows, and (of course) myriad game worlds, none can compare to the Hivers.
I have pretty high expectations when it comes to life-forms from other worlds! Far too many Sci-Fi "aliens" are just "humans in rubber suits", with a few odd bumps or ridges, and usually with one emotion or personality trait exaggerated. "These aliens have a devotion to logic that borders on religion, while these aliens are ill-tempered and honor-bound". In case you can't tell, the endless parade of humanoid aliens in Star Trek that are fundamentally human is an old pet peeve...but even that setting managed to produce some very 'alien' aliens, mostly on the original series: the Tholians and the Horta come to mind...
Beyond physical appearance, most of the time some human culture is tweaked a bit and grafted on (the medieval Japanese seem to be popular), because its an enormous intellectual effort to create a genuinely alien culture and mind-set. Which is why I'm all the more impressed when a genuinely alien-looking race comes along that also has a very alien way of looking at the universe. My only regret is that I haven't yet had an opportunity to see a Hiver grace a movie or TV screen - CGI technology is certainly up to the challenge! For now, I must be content with the inscrutable Vorlons...
Hey, as a Traveller fan, maybe you can explain a piece of Hiver-trivia for me...
I saw the image in your gallery of a Hiver grav-bike, which was cool! I like the various Hiver devices that are designed for use with their oddly shaped "hands" like the guns that have a "ball" on them. What I have never understood, given their design aesthetic as expressed in their tools and building architecture, is why their spacecraft are portrayed as...flying boxes. I would expect a creature with radial symmetry to create something that...well, that was radial. At the very least, that had six sides (as they have six limbs, etc) I don't know, the blocky, sharp lines don't seem to fit with their physicality. I would expect something alot more "organic"-looking. What are your thoughts?
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My thoughts? The "flying boxes" weren't created on my watch 
If you look at the design work done by myself and Bryan Gibson before the GURPS stuff was done, their design is not boxy at all.... but more organic as you suggest. Maybe now I know why a good friend and dedicated Traveller fan told me not to waste my money on the GURPS alien books. My brain would have imploded when I got the Hiver design section
I'm with ya on aliens.... I'm not a big fan of the "guy in lizard suit" school or alien creation.
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This is why I love Traveller - its SF without the BS
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Well... without too much, for sure. It's less compromised than your average media SF
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Exactly - that is why I love it
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This robot is obviously designed for humans who already had a lot of alien-encounters.
however it in fact is more human than that really alien,...erm.....Alien
I like that dog-tag around its neck, a lot
What does it say? Can you remember?
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Oh, actually that's not a dog tag - it's a translation screen. You can see it a little better here. Note the back leg is typing on the back of screen [link]
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oh wow!
this picture is totally lovely!!
is that yours??
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Nope. That's an old friend of mine's, Bill Keith. These days he's mostly writing. [link]
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Oh no... I'm not sure who designed the look of the Hiver.... but my hat's off to whoever it is. I suspect it was Bill Keith. He designed some pretty great aliens
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oh,...okay. I thought it was yours
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I WISH!
Bill's a real talented guy. It's too bad he doesn't illustrate anymore.
Instead he WRITES - and writes - and writes! [link]
I forget how many aliens I've designed over the years, but none are as cool as the Hivers
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Hivers are really alien, I like them for that, you cannot compare them to other things
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Yup - they really stand out in the Traveller universe.
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Good old Traveller, I remember getting killed in that game....a lot.
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Heck, you could get killed even BEFORE you actually played!
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I remember LOL....Talk about a rough neighborhood. At least character generation itself was painless. I played a lot of I.C.E. stuff, and it took forever to generate a character in that system. God help you if you were rolling a high level one.
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Excellent
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Sounds like great paranoid headgame stuff!
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Indeed... Did all sorts of trickery... Framed them for an assassination attempt (even though they're the ones who saved the targets) and got them breaking into a research station to get them 'accidentally' exposed to isotopes the Hiver was sure was the key to understanding an Ancient site... if he only had some humans to test it with... oh wait... he does
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The master manipulators. Making Kkree eat meat is quite the accomplishment.
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LOL! Yeah, the Hivers were sorta repackaged Puppeteers in many ways. And I'm not complaining!!
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The Hiver are also an alien shape that hasn't been seen anywhere else. There are lion folk or dog folk or even centaurs in quite a few sci-fi adaptions but the Hiver are somewhat unique. A signature species of sorts.
I wish I'd have any talent at character modeling or even drawing. The Hiver would be a premier choice. *sigh*
A truly classic piece of Traveller artwork.
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This makes me want to dig into the Hivers again... maybe I'll reread the alien module this weekend?!
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That'd be an entertaining treat
I'm currently flipping through old 2300AD material.
Started with the Ship's of the French Arm Module and it's pure nostalgia
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I still love the Hivers. To my mind those are what great aliens should look like!
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Its a fave of mine, too! I have a print of it somewhere... I always envied your ability to draw Hivers. I could NEVER get them to look right...
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I'm not sure I ever saw you TRY to do a Hiver???
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That's 'cause the attempts always ended up in the trashcan!
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Excellent 'toon!
You use the various illustration effects so well. 
Well done!
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