Control:

[Jintor]

So: how do you think the Combine control their flying animals and striders?

Biological Implants?

Technological Implants?

Piloted via technology?

Mind of its own but genetically modified for the Combine?

What do you think?

 

[Marx! II]

Mind of its own, probably hooked up to a combine dispatch thing.
They're programmed to fight, 'trained' if you will, and more or less left to their own devices.

 

[Asknoone]

You mean the gunships etc? Well they are Synths, self replicating robots. In RTB it mentions how the combine forced their technology on them, so 'm guessing it's the sae way they control Combine soldiers.

 

[ríomhaire]

Manipulated evolution and mechanical engeneering. They have their own mind but are slaves to the Combine.

 

[eber]

kinda odd we had that discussion long before but no1 still knows it. isit a fact that they were once animals or are you just guessing ? in my opinion its weird to use creatures and implant them armour and guns. i think the combine have the technology to totally build them.

 

[Marx! II]

But you can buld a tank, it will not fight on its own.
You can put a pilot in, and risk losing a skilled pilot.
You can put a computer in, and the tank will not reason, switch plans, or be as flexible as the pilot.
Best of both worlds.

 

[Epsi]

Plus, if they're at least semi-biological, it means most of the construction work is done by the thing actually growing.

 

[eber]

But you can buld a tank, it will not fight on its own.
You can put a pilot in, and risk losing a skilled pilot.
You can put a computer in, and the tank will not reason, switch plans, or be as flexible as the pilot.
Best of both worlds.

i guess the combines have better AIs then humans :afro:

 

[Marx! II]

i guess the combines have better AIs then humans :afro:

Seven hours, all I'm gonna say.

 

[Jintor]

You don't need AI when you've got a brain whipped to obey you with all the cunning and inginuity and desperation of something that really, really wants to stay alive...

 

[Laivasse]

I don't think the Combine are completely omnipotent in controlling their forces. The soldiers shout orders and ask questions of eachother, so that indicates an individual intelligence - mind of their own, at least to an extent. Probably with partial lobotomies, behaviour controllers, as some people havesuggested.

I was also hunting through the sound files and heard references to "loyalty checks" on Combine troops at Nova Prospekt - could it be that Overwatch loyalty is not 100% guaranteed?? This is something that just does not seem characteristic of the Combine to me - it seems terribly sloppy to stake an entire operation on the trust of a subjugated race. You could speculate that these loyalty checks are used to verify the success of the "Combination" procedure. The Overwatch obviously undergo extensive bodily modification, as seen by that half-done soldier in Nova Prospekt - it's not just a uniform they put on. I still stick by the idea that it's practically impossible for them to rebel, but they have a high level of autonomy in their thought processes.

As for the synth, I reckon they're the same deal. I think they are self-aware, plus they seem to groan and hoot in pain when you deck them with rokketz. I definitely don't think they have their every move controlled.

 

[$kelet0r]

duh
Laivasse seriously everytime i read something of yours i instinctively smack my forehead, geez

 

[Laivasse]

duh
Laivasse seriously everytime i read something of yours i instinctively smack my forehead, geez

uh...thanks... ..?

 

[eber]

Seven hours, all I'm gonna say.

yep ,the 7 hour war only strenghtens my "theory" that combines have better technology ! you not understand it ? guess not ...

 

[eber]

You don't need AI when you've got a brain whipped to obey you with all the cunning and inginuity and desperation of something that really, really wants to stay alive...

its much more efficient to use a computers ai which is much better than that 1 of a simple creature. humanity is just at the beginning of making "ais", now look at how far the combines are. they must have already known much before they started to conquer other planets . now after they are in control of dozens of worlds they will definetely know how to build computers with ais that work perfectly savely.

 

[Marx! II]

Bur I think it's worth noting that as advanced as the combine are, it takes a great deal of technology and advancement to be able to mass produce a computer on par with a brain.
Whether they have reached such a point is obviously up for debate.

 

[kupocake]

I reckon Synths are just damn animals with lots of Firepower. Like the dogs of the rich guy's mansion - the Combine set them loose to clear out areas and do their best to not get in their way: The Transhuman combine always seemed to be doing a good job of getting out of the way of Synths and the Resistance fighter who says "This close to the Citadel they've turned the streets over to Striders" suggests that the Synths aren't really 100% controlled.

They're loyal to the Combine because when they float back to the Citadel, it's the Combine that repair them. Just like the rich guy who feeds the Guard dogs. There is also the probablity that if the Combine have helped make these creatures into part machine, they have some way of shocking them back into line should they fall out of line. Synths have some kind of animal intelligence - they're not simple vehicles that need pilots - but they're not so intelligent that they'd think about rebelling against their masters...

 

[eber]

Bur I think it's worth noting that as advanced as the combine are, it takes a great deal of technology and advancement to be able to mass produce a computer on par with a brain.
Whether they have reached such a point is obviously up for debate.

people also thought we would never break through sonic barrier , but we did.
do you really think the combines cannot do it after all they have done ?

 

[Antlion Hunter]

Bur I think it's worth noting that as advanced as the combine are, it takes a great deal of technology and advancement to be able to mass produce a computer on par with a brain.
Whether they have reached such a point is obviously up for debate.

What he freakin' said.

 

[Marx! II]

people also thought we would never break through sonic barrier , but we did.
do you really think the combines cannot do it after all they have done ?

Never said they couldn't, never said the haven't, just said that it takes time and resources, and is a terribly costly way to police an empire that supposedly spans however many billions of planets.

And for Kupoartist, are these just animals with graftes on guns, or have they got other advancements as well?

 

[kupocake]

And for Kupoartist, are these just animals with graftes on guns, or have they got other advancements as well?

Raising the Bar flags up the fact that we simply don't know - the line between machine and animal is blurred. They're either massively cybernetically enhanced, or it's "some kind of forced evolution".

 

[eber]

imo its more difficult to combine creatures with guns and armor than just building a thing that just has the usefull properties of such a creature.
i just thouht of what the gunship would do if it had to shit while a fight!?! would it just drop its poo onto the resistance fighters as some kind of biological weapon ?

 

[T.H.C.138]

SYNTHS

Dhabih Eng


Synths are self replicating robots that evolve,were created or taken over by the Combine and enslaved through their conquests and wars.

"When approaching the task of designing the Combines larger creatures,it was necessary to keep in mind that these lumbering war machines were possibly once organic creatures that the Combine had enslaved and converted during previous invasions.
Therefore we tried to incorporate elements that were neither strictly organic nor purely mechanical.
We didn't want to have giant alien creatures with armor atached or implants added,but instead tried to treat it as a forceful evolution of the characters imposed on them by the Combine rather than nature.
In the end, the designs intentionally blurred the line between machine and animal, in their appearance and more importantly their motion and how they reacted to the world around them."

-Dhabih Eng


so in conclusion: thats what VALVe has told us and thats all we know for now..

BTW page 88 of Raising The Bar is where I got all that from..

 

[eber]

i dont understand what it means , what are the synths now .. purely mechanical or just big bugs with guns in their faces ?

 

[Asknoone]

i dont understand what it means , what are the synths now .. purely mechanical or just big bugs with guns in their faces ?

Synths are not another race. Synths are, or were organic creatures but the combine enforced their technology on them thus making them Synths

 

[Marx! II]

Raising the Bar flags up the fact that we simply don't know - the line between machine and animal is blurred. They're either massively cybernetically enhanced, or it's "some kind of forced evolution".

Forced and directed, I could see that.

Now regarding your theory, how is it that a gunship can find its way to a rebel hideout, if it is but a creature in a shell?

 

[Laivasse]

Forced and directed, I could see that.

Now regarding your theory, how is it that a gunship can find its way to a rebel hideout, if it is but a creature in a shell?

They could be ordered to go there. Just because they are able to think and act on their own for the most part, doesn't mean the Combine don't direct them at all. Kind of the same idea as the Overwatch.

 

[Marx! II]

They could be ordered to go there. Just because they are able to think and act on their own for the most part, doesn't mean the Combine don't direct them at all. Kind of the same idea as the Overwatch.

Ah. So truly, our theories go hand-in-hand.

 

[Antlion Hunter]

This to me is kinda becoming like another 2 month old thread.Synth stands for Synthesised or something to that extent.Like when metal is synthed with some other object............

 

[PsychoBabelFish]

Like sticking an organic brain into a synthetic shell? For all the lateral thinking / tactical advantages that nature gives its processing units, etc. They do seem too organic in behaviour at some points, like the reeling in pain, and so on. At the same time, some component body parts, the shell and suchlike of an exploded gunship seem obviously designed by nature.