CC is really lacking the generic purely organic themed faction so I thought I'd throw out some ideas, perhaps inspire someone to run with it.

BACKSTORY:

The Apiarians (a play on the word apiary, which is a yard for bee-hives) would normally be completely disinterested in the gold industry, but for some reason some of the more advanced entities in the universe will happily trade this useless metal for what they call their 'excess' food (the fools). While the gold trade proves a lucrative endeavour for the Apiarians, they have begrudgingly agreed to avoid harvesting Trade-Star associated worlds. For how long Trade-Star can match the demand for food for the ever growing hive race is not yet apparent, and the Apiarians, as well any many other races, continue to develop plans for when the current arrangement is no longer viable.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:

I was actually going to draw some concepts but then I remembered I'm on a laptop with no external mouse, so you're on your own for that.

The typical Apiarian soldier, or Drone, can vary in height being either moderately shorter or mildly taller than the average coalition soldier. They have no mouth parts, as drones are highly expendable and their total lifespan does not usually exceed a few hours after metamorphosis. Should they for some reason survive an engagement, they are expected to return to a digestor and be recycled back into raw nutrients and biomass. Their large compound eyes provide them with good visual range and an appearance most humanoids find unnerving. They use their relatively short, yet powerful wings to propel themselves about in more of an assisted hopping fashion, though gliding is not out of the question. (Basically imagine your typical housefly, but 5 to 7 feet tall, bipedal, and semi-intelligent. They form the basic workforce for the Apiarians and while not strictly combat units, their biology tends to help them shrug off wounds most other entities would find grievous. Swarm tactics would be most effective if you plan on using Drones, but they are still more likely to be found within a hive or bunker as light guards or helping to mine gold.)

Other ground forces can include the much lighter Buzzers. These highly mobile scouts have a thin frame and much longer and more capable wings than a Drone, appearing almost as a bipedal dragonfly. This affords them a much greater benefit in the air and they can quickly dart about the battlefield, but are also rather frail and tend to disintegrate under even light gunfire. (These guys are the super mobile light fighting forces of the Apiarians. They can easily take to the air with their loud and powerful wings, and they are specially suited to avoiding damage from a high impact crash should they overshoot their mark. Expect them to pack automatic or sprayer weapons to pepper infantry from below, but perhaps also as snipers, their gift of mobility easily putting them in favourable positions.)

The Warrior, the larger cousin to the Drone, is a fear inducing sight on the battlefield. Gone are the large compound eyes, replaced with tiny, yet effectively protected eyes mounted on either side of a large armored head. Layers of chitinous armor protect the organs, and nothing less than sustained fire will damage a Warrior. Their wings are strong, but the Warrior is by no means mobile in the air. These wings serve more to soften a fall than let a Warrior take to the skies, and also provide crafty opponents with a softer carapace to breach if they can get behind it. (Think giant bipedal soldier/rhinoceros beetle. The heavies of the Apiarians, their chitinous armor pieces off in layers under a high volume of fire, allowing them to shrug off insane amounts of punishment until they finally collapse. These guys are heavy hitters and will pack the nastiest weapons the 'bugs' can figure out how to grow. Perhaps they could also be effective at crushing enemy units by a combination crouch and 'jump' with their wings, their horn a powerful weapon in close combat?)

Digestors are the assimilators of the Apiarians, and use their highly corrosive body fluids to serve the hive in a number of ways. More recently they have been seen eroding soil and processing gold to be traded away for foreign nutrition, but they still excel at their original task of breaking down organic and inorganic compounds to be recycled by the hive (something early Trade-Star negotiators discovered all too well). A digestor has no hands or claws with which to manipulate the world or defend themselves but their highly specialized mouth pieces can project a high pressure spittle of corrosive acid to break down walls or enemy faces. Their powerful jaws can also tear apart flesh, metal, and chitin in record time. (These guys are the miners and tunnelers of the Apiarians. They can also break down unwanted or near death actors [whether they are willing or not] and in doing so award the player a fraction of their value in gold. Unsuited for frontline combat, they might still be seen melting their way through bunker walls.)

WEAPONS TECH:

The Apiarians aren't really fond of typical weapons offered by Trade-Star, and tend to put their trust in organic devices they can grow themselves. Being masters of genetic manipulation their weapons vary greatly, and are often inspired by the defensive systems of lifeforms from harvested worlds.

Examples include:

Shard Rifle: An all purpose weapon designed after encountering an ambush predator with disposable teeth that attacked by delivering a hefty bite and dislodging sharp teeth in its prey. Running away it would wait for the teeth to cause internal injury as the prey attempted to flee, only for the predator to come back later and devour it in a weakened state.

This weapon propels low velocity shards of chitin, razor sharp on every edge. Striking a target causes immediate tissue damage but the real power of this weapon is revealed when the shard travels at just the right velocity to lodge in the target without over penetrating. Should this occur the shard will cause heavy internal injury, shredding the target from the inside out and causing damage over time (like a bleed effect, perhaps up to 10 or 20 damage for each shard embedded in the victim). This has a devastating effect on targets which rely on armor to protect themselves as it usually provides the perfect cushion to embed shards in. (Think SMG/Rifle crossbreed with the added benefits of damage over time on embedded shards. Low rate of fire and magazine size to compensate, but allows Buzzers to do effective raids on lightly armored forces from the air and retreat, letting the damage over time take its toll.)

Brain Bender: This horrific weapon is built like a sniper rifle, but its purpose is far more unnerving. Firing a long spear shaped organism at high velocity the target is the victims brain. Upon a successful 'mounting' (being speared through the cranium) the creature sets up shop, attaching itself to the nervous system and syncing up with the hive mind. The victim is now under the complete control of the hive mind and will respond to any commands issued there from. In response to encountering synthetic entities the Apiarians have learned just enough about technology to modify the launched organism to be compatible with CPUs (conveniently found in the 'head' of most robotic creations). Ronin are especially not fond of this device due to their lack of helmets. Coalition soldiers aren't much safer though, from a skilled marksman, and just as many have found themselves on the digesting end of well... A digestor.

Corrosion Gun: This weapon stores a measure of acid under intense pressure, and when fired releases the spray in a near gas form over a medium distance before it dissipates. This weapon is highly damaging at short range and low damage at medium range before evaporating into thin air, acting like an organic shotgun, and can violently turn anyone into so much waste (or nutrients waiting to be recycled).

Floater Launcher: This weapon propels juvenile spiderlings into the air at a high rate of fire. Each spiderling rapidly mixes a volatile compound of chemicals in its body after 'birth' which cause it to explode violently upon the slightest impact, firing shards of hardened chitin out like shrapnel. However if fired skyward, the spiderlings will quickly throw out a web 'parachute' and gently drift down, giving them ample time to mix even more of the deadly mixture within their bodies. Gliding spiderlings will explode with tremendous force compared to their siblings fired in a more traditional manner. This allows the wielder of the device to quickly seed the air with high explosives, making it difficult to navigate for dropships and providing a slowly descending demise for troops taking cover in craters or at the bottom of bunker shafts.

Bleeder: So named for the most common thing it is seen doing, the Bleeder is a combination shield and weapon used by Apiarians to bolster their individual forces if supremacy of numbers isn't proving effective. This mindless plate of chitin and flesh is a firm bullet sponge used to protect the wielder. As smaller weapons used in conjunction with shields are commonly damage in a hail of gunfire, the Apiarians have evolved the Bleeder to integrate a small shard launcher, protected by layers of flesh and chitin. This allows the Apiarians to return fire to a limited degree while remaining protected, but this firepower is highly limited and is generally only suited to wounding assailants and forcing them to take cover.

Spiker: This small weapon can be dual wielded with a Bleeder, but is easily injured by gunfire and tends not to last long. Typically a back up weapon for Warriors and Buzzers, the Spiker is a small weapon that appears almost like a honey comb when viewed from the front, multiple cells stuffed with spines. With an extremely high firerate the Spiker dispenses organically produced sharpened spines at high velocity and can cause terrible injury at close range and reloads quickly, beneficial since it has a very limited capacity before running dry. The spines lose velocity quickly and typically cannot harm targets past medium range, making it most effective as a quickly sprayed weapon up close and personal.

So if this receives attention I can happily provide more ideas or flavour text or whatever else you want. If you want to run with this idea by all means do so, I'd love to see it take off.

Bump because this mod deserves attention.

Just so you know, bumping without adding anything to the actual topic is heavily discouraged. Don't do it.

You know Dauss, you're a cool guy, and I'm going to try this.
If it weren't for your guy's bumps, I'd never be here. Posting again when I start working on it tomorrow. It's too late ATM, 10PM is not a spriter's prime.

The 5th of April is the dawn beginning of the spriting for the Apiarians.
EDIT: The 6th, possibly. I'm getting to tired with my own work.
#2 EDIT: Jesus. I'll get to it sometime.

#3 EDIT: Bam! April 10th! Starting off, sprites. I'll be posting more later after I'm done with 'em
Obviously I'm not really good but it's to be worked upon.

Sorry it took me so long to get back at you, my internet isn't a reliable constant at the moment. Thanks for taking up the idea.

Also, for the 100th time, realize I suck at spriting immensely and these are just starter sprites.
Also, it's cool Dauss.
You're very welcome, and by tonight I shall be making more weapons. I'm busy doing homework atm.

EDIT: Added more crap, going to start coding some of the weapons tommorow.

Sorry for the extremely long wait, but I'm finishing up the first actor, which is a Stealth thing of some sort. You'll see.



I realise possibly you want a more tanner color scheme.
Just trust me.

Looks very nice, however, I think you should add some kind of hive-dropship. I'm talking like, a large bee-nest type structure that, when provided with new bodies (Ronins, of course!), will use their biomass churn out Apiarians and weapons. Just an idea.