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dczanik — The Lurg
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Published: 2010-11-18 05:51:04 +0000 UTC; Views: 8787; Favourites: 30; Downloads: 142
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Description
The Lurg. The Lurg are intelligent parasites that burrow in and grow inside its host. The size of the Lurg is determined by the size of its host. They travel in genetically engineered organic ships bred, grown and harvested for interstellar travel. The Lurg uses 2 electrodes to stimulate the muscles to control the Prawn. While looking quite vicious, the Lurg are actually quite intelligent and master manipulators.Based upon the box art monster of Star Control 2 as seen here: [link] I believe I'm the only person on the planet who has created fan art from the box.
The alien was supposed to be another artist's interpretation of the Ur-Quan. Typical of box art of the day, it looks nothing like the game art.
The Lurg was created for project 6014, a fan created sequel for Star Control 2 - The Urquan Masters (which you can download here: [link] ) I tried about 30 different aliens, when at 2am, I thought, 'Why not use that weird alien on the box?' And the next day the Lurg was born. Of course, we couldn't come up with a name until many weeks later. His codename was 'Arg'. My feeling when everything I was doing was getting rejected by the team.
The name 'Lurg' was one of the names on Star Control 1's copy protection wheel. Professor Zorg's Guide to Alien Etiquette which also provided the basis for many Star Control 2 aliens such at Zot-Fot-Pik, Slylandro, Orz, etc.
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Comments: 25
This is awesome! I really can't wait for 6014, the Lurg are amazing villains!
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Hah! Just played through the Alpha demo today, and it did indeed take me some time to realize why these guys were so familiar. Fantastic villains, really - both vicious AND smart at the same time.
I really hope the project is not dead...
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The project is not dead. You can see the updates here: [link]
We're moving right along with it! Lots of discussion on the storyline lately so it doesn't appear to be updated much. We have too many dedicated people on this project for it to simply die out. Thanks for the comments! I really appreciate it
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I love this take on the old box art, but I have some questions about the thing's biology. Specifically, why would a parasite have eyes and nostrils for breathing air? Do they leave their hosts for part of their life cycle? I assume they must, since otherwise I'm not sure how a parasite would evolve sentience; it doesn't take much brainpower to suck blood out of something's intestinal lining. Would you care to expand on their biology and evolutionary history?
Also, I'd love to see what the rest of the body looks like.
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In evolution, there are vestigial structures that are hold overs from an ancestral species. The ostrich has wings but doesn't fly. Whales have leg bones. The cavefish has eyes, but doesn't use them. Even humans have a tailbone (the coccyx), but no tail.
But I always imagined the Lurg started out as a smaller predatory species that learned to adapt itself to the biology of the planet, and became more parasitic. They're not born in the creature. They hunt it, and chew their way inside the creature.
Over time, they've learned to be just as good at genetic engineering as the Umgah. Those 'Joysticks' are bio-mechanical structures that send electrical impulses to the muscles. Despite what the Prawn wants, the Lurg controls it. So they use animals like the Prawn as a biological 'mech' suit. They're the ultimate puppet master. This is the only way it could compete and thrive on such a dangerous planet.
Of course, whether or not this gets changed remains largely up to the writers.
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So the eyes are mostly vestigial, but may serve a purpose during the larval stage. Interesting.
Once the Lurg enter a host, are they permanently bonded to it? If so, that would mean there's no changing your job; if you burrow into a space prawn, you're an astronaut for life. If you burrow into a planetside labor prawn, you're a construction worker for life. Etc.
What does the rest of the Lurg body look like? Is it a big worm, or something more distributed (like a parasitic Sacculina barnacle)? How much control did they have over their hosts before they invented their technology? Did they even "invent" their tech the way we do, or do they have a natural ability to manipulate the Prawns' DNA, and develop their biotech by experimenting with this natural power?
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No, they are not permanently bonded to the host. They can leave whenever they want to. Once they reach a certain size, when they burrow out, it usually kills the host. This has given them a casual attitude towards what they consider "Inferior Lifeforms". Their size is also greatly influence by the size of their host.
The rest of the body is more like a big worm. They're really not that mobile and rather slow, preferring to use their tentacles to swing around the giant trees of the planet where it's safer. Their predatory method usually involves attacking their prey from above (usually from trees) in a surprise attack. A lot of the time, the victim doesn't even know anything is wrong until the Lurg takes control.
They do not have a natural ability to manipulate the Prawns DNA. They've "domesticated" the Prawn by and other creatures through selective breeding. It's believed that they inherited some of their technology from another alien race (probably the Umgah). Being parasitic, they have learned from by seeing the world through the eyes of other alien races. They've used this technology to enhance their techniques and methods.
Despite the fact that metal ships are better suited for space travel and combat, they still prefer biological methods on an instinctual level. To counteract this deficit they usually attack in numbers and would rather manipulate others species to do the fighting for them.
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Thanks for the answer. That's all really cool.
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So THAT'S what a tumor looks like when it grows a face and limbs.
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"i have seen enough hentai to know where this is going.."
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Ha! 
Thanks a lot!
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That's... huh. I could identify most of the ships on the box, but the one with the circles with stuctures on top made no sense to me... until I figured out that was supposed to be a Spathi Eluder. Jeez.
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Yeah. I've seen some worse box art, but box art seemed to be much different from the actual game back in those days.
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Interesting I've never seen that version of the box before. The version I had always seen had what appeared to be a Thraddash on the cover.
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You're not thinking of the Star Control 3 box are you? [link]
There was a 3DO version that had two hands. [link]
As far as I know the PC only had one box version. I could be very wrong though.
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I guess you're right. my bad. That probably wasn't a Thraddash then since in SC3 they were extinct. oh well nothing else in SC3 made sense.
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I did make fanart, yet it was terrible, and I keep on forgetting to remake it and post it, oh well
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I have tried the game, it looks awezome. Not only captures the "Escence" of the original starcontrol 2, but also the stories and events looks quite interesting, good work!!
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I couldn't ask for a better compliment. Thank you!
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I always wondered about the monster of the box. They seem like interesting creatures.
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Exactly! That's why I wanted to put them into the game. There's a new demo released. Give it a try: [link] They're in the game, but you may have to do a bit of exploring to find them
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In the words of out current Governor, Thats one ugly motherfucker.
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Ha! Yes they are. They sound ugly too: [link] And they pilot organic ships called "Prawn". My little nod to District 9.
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