Mysteries left by Star Control II

This is a list of mysteries that are still open at the end of Star Control II.

Precursors

Mysteries related to the Precursors.

What happened to the Precursors?

From the Slylandro:

Joyous Lifting, who has a better memory than I recalls that the Shaggy Ones were described as being... worried.

They were always hurrying from place to place, seeking knowledge as though they were in a desperate search for some important secret some answer to a question that they never shared with us.

Sullen Plummet remembers that the last time the Shaggy Ones visited our world they came aboard a great circular starship, one even larger than your own.

They had discovered their Answer and were leaving to go somewhere and they didn't tell us exactly where 'somewhere' was.

From the 1998 IRC chat with Toys for Bob (Fwiffo is both Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III here):

<_Stilgar> Fwiffo- was it your intention to make the Orz the "bad guys" in StarControl 3?

<Fwiffo> In our rambling thoughts about SC3 we did seriously consider having the Orz assume a much larger and more ominous role, opposed to the return of the Precursors.

What is the purpose of the Rainbow Worlds?

From the Slylandro:

We were told the planets were... again this is confusing... organized (?) in some pattern which in some way alluded to the Shaggy Ones' ultimate fate.

From the Spathi:

We haven't been able to translate much of their writing, but we understand one fragment of text.

It mentions a sequence of 10 artificial `waste disposal sites' they built somewhere around here.

IDF races

Mysteries related to IDF races.

What happened to the Androsynth? Are any still alive?

From the 1998 IRC chat with Toys for Bob (Fwiffo is both Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III here):

<LordR-man> Fwiffo- What really happened to the Androsynth in sc2?

<Fwiffo> In regards to the Androsynth: They were snagged by the entity who/which projected its fingers into our dimension (which looked to us as the Orz.)

From a fan email with Fred Ford:

> Were ALL the Androsynth destroyed when the Orz came?

Perceptive lad. This was a leading plot candidate for our theoretical sequel.

Are there still Taalo alive?

From the 1998 IRC chat with Toys for Bob (Fwiffo is both Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III here):

<_Stilgar> <che`z`puf> Are the Taalo really dead, and when the Pkunk spoke of rocks that were awakened, did they mean the Taaolo?

<Fwiffo> The Taalo LIVE!

What are the Arilou's motives for messing with Humans?

Their motives are very obvious:protecting humanity Clue"We are trying to protect you from*them*.There are parasites lying there.They can't see you or smell you..."as a reply in fayalayalri about what did they do to humans Also the person who saw *them*said that*they* are parasites and they are found in Androsith/Orz space and the arilou said"you should not look for*them*because*they*can see you.You don't want them to see you,or to smell you.The Androsith showed themselves and now they are vanished."

What is the exact nature of the relationship of the Arilou with the Orz?

From the 1998 IRC chat with Toys for Bob (Fwiffo is both Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III here):

<Mephisto_> Fwiffo: What exactly did the Arilou *quickbabies* do to piss off the Orz so much?

<Fwiffo> The Arilou always *jumped in front*, which was both a physical taunt as well as a political one. They got to the humans first.

Other known races

Mysteries related to non-IDF races that have been contacted by the Alliance or are amongst its members.

How will the Ultron affect the Druuge and how did it affect the Supox?

From the Utwig:

The Druuge were only one of the few to benefit in this way.

Even now, they are puzzled by the way we rewarded them for the delivery of the Ultron to its correct place.

In twenty-four years, two months and three days they will all dance the dance of Jubilation.

Indeed, the Ultron has allowed us to fundamentally change the Druuge forever!

The Supox too received many benefits from our use of the Ultron.

They can testify to its power!

What is the connection between the Humans and the Syreen?

They seem to be physically compatible, at least to a certain extent.

Is the Ultron still in working order?

Are the events in the outtakes with respect to the Ultron to be taken seriously?

What happened to the neo-Dnyarri?

Did he survive as it is said in the out-takes?

Unknown races

Mysteries related to non-IDF races which the Alliance has never contacted, as far as the Humans know. These races may or may not be real races.

Who created the Mother-Ark that built the Mmrnmhrm and with what purpose?

Probably the precoursors

Who are the Keel-Verezy?

From the 2007 IRC chat with Toys for Bob (robot is Fred Ford, PR3 is Paul Reiche III):

00:28 <+Valaggar> Who are the Keel-Verezy? (At least give us a hint)

00:29 <+PR3> Keel-Verezy seem like some kind of horrible evil spirit that are invisible and can fly spaceships.

00:30 <+PR3> (furiously checking uqm.stack) But they are friendly... and evil. And invisible.

Does the Spathi's Ultimate Evil really exist?

From the 1998 IRC chat with Toys for Bob (Fwiffo is both Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III here):

<_Stilgar> <Spyhunter> Fwiffo: "How does an "Ultimate Evil" -race in an SC2 -style game behave when meeting the player?"

<Fwiffo> You mean the big carnivorous teddy bears on Spathiwa?

<Xxyl> I believe those were those "Evil Ones"

<_Stilgar> <Spyhunter> Fwiffo: "No, I mean the main enemy in the game. ;)"

<Fwiffo> Oh yeah. Well, I rarely paint someone as absolutely "evil" -- it's all a matter of perspective. What is interesting is why people (aliens) do things that seem evil to you or me, and what prevents us from doing the same.

The fact that Paul/Fred didn't recall the Ultimate Evil suggests that this is not an important plot point, but merely a product of the Spathi's paranoia. Fwiffo's description "[...] it lurks just outside the range of even the most sensitive, long-range detectors [...]" supports this idea.

If you go to the Spathi home world after it has been destroyed by the Korh-Ah after the doctrinal war is over, there will be a transmitter with a note taped to the side reading that it is the device that the Um-Gah used to trick them into thinking there was an ultimate evil. Probably an allusion to what is happening to the Illwrath, if you didn't figure that out earlier in the game.

Trivia

Things (presented as mysteries in the game) that may leave you wondering when you first find out about them, but which are likely not to be important per se in the big picture.

Why did the Melnorme's bridge turn purple?

The Melnorme offer to tell you this piece of information for 120,000 credits (on the PC version) or 12,000,000 credits (on the 3DO version and UQM), but it is impossible to gather this many credits, and their conversation tree doesn't include a response for this.

From the 1998 IRC chat with Toys for Bob (Fwiffo is both Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III here):

<Fwiffo> The Purple Bridge question, eh? How much is it worth to you?

<Deep-Reep> 120,000 credits

<ORZ> 120,000 credits

<Fwiffo> I promise here and now, that in our next SC project, we'll answer that Purple Bridge question to your ultimate satisfaction.

How is Frungy played?

From a mail by Fred Ford to a Star Control II player:

I think one of the reasons SC has endured is that Paul and I were conscious of hinting about things, but ultimately letting the game-player use his or her imagination to fill in the picture. Frungy is the poster-boy for this technique.

Why doesn't the Fot say anything?

From the 2007 IRC chat with Toys for Bob (robot is Fred Ford, PR3 is Paul Reiche III):

23:26 <@Meep-Eep> < Elerium> Speaking of which, does the guy in the back of the ZFP have any future plans? We all know he doesn't say anything, but I like to think of him as some super genius who sadly doesn't have the ability to speak.

23:28 <+PR3> He got fed up with the other two and has temporarily 'broken up the band'. You will need to get them back together, because as solo artists they suck.

23:28 <+PR3> (I mean the guy in back of the ZFP).