How Starcraft could work if it would be real - Page 9

We don't know this for certain. Seeing as how the Zerg are capable of space travel (refer to the cutscene in the original SC), we must assume that, while the zerg are affected by radiation to a much higher degree (it's space, they have to fly by something radioactive at some point), they are unaffected by it. Maybe their genetic composition is so volatile that any errors or mistakes caused by the radiation are assimilated into the makeup of the being in question or the being is capable of fixing the mistake quick enough to nullify the problem.

The Overmind, in fact, did not have freewill. He explicitly states (to either Kerrigan, or Zeratul in a memory, I don't recall) that he was consumed by a complete hunger to assimilate everything and create "perfection" (as also seen by the Protoss. The Xel'Naga were attempting to genetically engineer the perfect race, which was their offspring, the Protoss and Zerg. Theoretically, assimilation of the two together would create the perfect being, but thats more lore, then science, ^.^). Kerrigan's purpose, in taking over the swarm, was to give it free will, so that it might fight against the terror of the Dark Voice from deep space. The Overmind purposely died and gave the swarm to Kerrigan so that he might save the Zerg race that they might continue their goal and achieve "perfection", not because he wanted to save the universe or because he liked Kerrigan. He was following his biological objectives, as defined by the Xel'Naga.

If the Zerg are able to regenerate so quickly, than the overlord would be able to, given time, regain his abilities of creep spread and transport. Rather than through exhaustion, we can assume that the overlord already has the genetic information for the upgrades, stored within the "proto-hatchery" and any subsequent larvae. Upon "research" (read evolution, maybe even subconscious research, in the scientific sense), the overlord can genetically manipulate himself (not necessarily consciously), to create physical change that will affect his body. Instead of being the overlord carrying the hatchery, we can say it was the "hatchery that carried the overlord." In the campaign, we saw several biological "drop pods" that contained creep tumors and some units, it isn't impossible to think that the zerg can send a larger pod containing a proto-hatch, several drones, and an overlord to colonize a planet.

I like the idea, but the wording is poor. Rather than a biological carpet, we can state that creep is a sort of "skin", or "muscle", for the Zerg, vaguely similar to moss. Creep grows and coats the ground, potentially even creating roots that are capable of absorbing nutrients. Despite its ability to sustain itself, creep cannot extent past a certain limit without overexerting itself (like a muscle needs a point to attatch to on the bone). The creep tumor proves an "anchor" which both promotes creep spread and allows it spread further via allowing the creep to link back up to the parent hatchery and keep itself sustained past a certain distance from the mineral and gas income that keep it alive.

On a side note, heres something you didn't consider, move speed bonus on creep. As seen in the example above, creep could be considered a muscle, requiring an anchor to spread and get stronger efficiently. What we could propose is that the creep is capable of "flexing" itself, making itself tighter and tenser, and in some places looser. The control provided by the tumor and Hatch allows the creep to "flex" only in certain spots, for example, under the feet of certain units. Using their innate telepathic communication, zerg ground units could be capable of commanding the creep to flex and propel them forward when they walk.

Yes it is. Thats what the psi emitter was designed and built for, thats what the hive mind emulator was designed and built for, and thats what the psi disruptor from the first campaign was designed and built for. To modern science we could say... Well, this is a bit of a stretch, but it would be suitable. First the concept. Einstein proposed that there existed a quantum anomaly among certain particles in space. Among these particles, there existed a complete and definite link that allowed for instantaneous and complete control over both particles, while only having direct physical control over one, of the two. Example: Take two baseballs with this quantum connection. One of the baseballs happens to be on the other side of a field on the ground, while the other is in front of you, at your feet. Now pick up the ball at your feet. On the other side of the field, you would observe that the ball was also lifted off of the ground, with nothing to actually lift it. The ball on the other side of the field lifted because the ball you had, lifted. Were you to throw that ball, the other ball would follow the exact same pattern, also getting thrown, once again, by nothing.

Now expand this concept to space. It is possible that the Overmind, or swarm leader, has several of these such particles within its body, and is somehow capable of controlling them physically. Moving down one rung on the zerg heirarchy, the cerebrates have their own set of these particles. One of the particles goes directly to the Zerg leader, the Overmind. The rest go to the next layer of the rung, the Queen, which has its own set, one to the cerebrate, and the rest to overlords, and the overlords to the bottom rung, the actual units of the swarm. Using this model, we can create a tree demonstrating the control of zerg units. The physical movement of the particle could be interpreted by the body of the creature hosting it, allowing for instantaneous knowledge based on a language within ones own body.

By extending this idea, we can also explain why the zerg can only populate a planet to "200 supply". Scientifically speaking, these particles are incredibly difficult to find and are hardly understood in modern physics. As such, we can assume that the Zerg cerebrates, Queens, and overlords can only maintain a certain amount, simply due to the scarcity of this particle. Now take two planets, one in which the zerg conquers the planet in 200 supply, and one in which the zerg conquer the planet in 400 supply. The planet that conquers in 200 supply only spends 200 supply worth of resources AND only takes up 200 supply worth of the particle. The 400 supply planet consumes twice as much of both resources and quantum "supply", leading it to be half as efficient, and by consequence, half as perfect. As such, we can see the Zerg Brood viewing the 400 supply planet to be superfluous and a waste, why send 400 supply worth of quantum "supply" to one planet, when you could send 200 "supply" of a more efficient brood to two planets.

I believe that somewhere, it was stated that the zerg larvae actually do have all of the DNA of all of the races, buildings, and upgrades in the zerg race within them. However, the physical implementation of such a being utilizing all of this DNA at once would truly be horrific (see Overmind). Instead, we can see that larvae containing an abbreviated section of the DNA and only utilizing a certain portion to keep itself simple and alive (as a worm). The drone, in creating a building, "expands" upon the basic information that is already there. As an example, imagine an archive on a computer. To save space, the archive is small and compressed, but by taking time and using a pattern to expand upon information that is not explicitly stated, you can recreate the uncompressed end product. As such, we can see the zerg buildings providing the complete genetic code for the actual units, and upon their completion, they allow the zerg larvae to become the units using the completed DNA from the buildings. This is why the larvae can become any unit that it has the complete DNA code for, even without the need for a hatchery.

On the topic of "research and upgrades". It is not necessarily evolution that creates the wings or changes a lings claws to do more damage, that genetic information is already there in the spawning pool, but just needs "extraction" from the building. In its most basic form, the zergling is capable of physically altering itself by assimilating the completed DNA from the building upon completion of its "research". This is true for all Zerg units.

This is just a tiny tiff, but queens may not even have an instinct of self preservation. She may be physically dedicated to that task, and more than willing to sacrifice herself for the swarm. Self-preservation implies free will, and the only Zerg with that capacity that we know of is Kerrigan.