Did You Know? Ur-Quan Inspirations
Yes it is very obvious that the Ur-Quan were inspired by catepillars, but has anyone ever wondered where that inspiration came from?
While Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford were working on the first Star Control, he was reading a National Geographic magazine where they showed a caterpillar hanging above a moth and grabbing it:
"I'd seen an article in National Geographic about predatory caterpillars in Hawaii. There was a picture of it hanging and grabbing a moth from above. I was fascinated by the concept of a creature that clung to the ceiling and hung over you."
- Paul Reiche III
After designing the Ur-Quan, he didn’t want them to be a simple evil race with a “kill them all” mentality, even though it can feel like it sometimes:
"Why would they [Ur-Quan] travel all that way, spend all that time and energy, just to blow you away?"
- Paul Reiche III
After brainstorming different possibilities, Paul wanted to give some kind of history that would reflect their species and way of life and he made them a slavemaster race.
And now you know!
Here’s a link to an online version of the book I read from, though the quality of the scans are very low by my standards: HIGH SCORE! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games 2nd Edition
