Crossposted out of the GURPS forum at sjgames - I got one response which clarified nicely the possible approaches I was considering. At this point the decision is made, but for the sake of looking at process sorting through the variables and potentials inherent in the system and identifying guiding elements for playing with the crunch I'm including the whole thing as steps along the way. I'm attaching GURPSLite for reference to the basic abilities, etc. and how they're used - some of the advantages and disadvantages I'm referring to may not be in there tho. If not I'll get back with specifics for them later. ("For informational purposes only" - I am not advocating any illegal act such as piracy by pointing out that safe torrents of the entire collection of 4th edition PDFs, from Fantasy to Spaceships, can be found online. . .)
[blockquote[me]Since the complete write-up and template for the race will be a long post as I look at the different game mechanic 'pieces' I'm considering, I think it's better to put them up for comment/feedback by themselves even though they're being looked at without the benefit of the broader context. (Once the various bits are ironed out I'll post complete templates for feedback '" so I'd appreciate if anyone can tell me how to put some of the longer flavor texts behind spoiler cuts before I get to that point. . .) Since GURPS provides the means of modeling different humanoid physiologies which weren't available to me when I initially worked out the races of my setting for DnD I'm incorporating a lot of new (at least as far more explicit) concepts for all of their physiologies '" esp. senses and other neuro-physical genetic traits. Since all 6 major mammalian races in the setting can interbreed (producing fertile offspring) I'm also bearing the effects of this in mind. Here in particular I'm taking into account that humans originated as the product of neolithic orkh and elf intermarriage. The two were essentially complementary opposites and most human norms reflect 'averaging' of traits canceling out extremes.
The Flavor
Overall, the Khurorkh seem hyper-aware of their environment compared to other races. Hearing and smell play some part in this, but their vision is the primary reason. One of the most significant aspects of orkhish vision is a physical structure to their eyes which emphasizes broad, encompassing visual perspective at the expense of some precision and acuity. Khurorkh see very well around them '" better in some ways than other races, demonstrating a remarkable visual awareness of their surroundings, but also with a notable absence of perception of fine detail. I'm considering reflecting this with an expanded application of the No Targeting limitation to Telescopic Vision. They get no accuracy bonus for aiming at any range, except the +1 from bracing a weapon for a turn as applicable. Called shots to specific hit locations with ranged weapons are beyond them without Zen Archery, which they invented to compensate for their very poor marksmanship. Even so, that skill is not very common among them. Khurorkh archery companies practice almost exclusively delivering volleys of indirect fire '" generally with crossbows, preferring power over rate of fire even among skilled veterans who could develop more rapid firing skills with bows. Ornamentation among them tends to be simple '" complex designs and fine detail give them headaches as they strain their eyes to focus (poorly) on them. Writing (in their own language) likewise consists of large carven or brushed pictographs '" similar to simplified kanji. Reading normal script is also very slow and difficult for them. Bad Sight is too severe for this and they are neither near nor far sighted '" but they display lesser effects of both '" their eyes simply don't focus well compared to other races at any range or angle. They do however have excellent peripheral vision. They never have difficulty seeing the forest for the trees, but they can't see the trees for the forest. . . They are extremely difficult to sneak up on or past undetected and sentries will notice such attempts further away in the dark than most others can in broad daylight, spotting motion and other cues very easily. At greater ranges they would be unable to distinguish between orkhs, elves and humans or between gnomes and halflings, and depending on individual build, could sometimes confuse a dwarf with any of the above. A sentry observing troop movements at a distance would have trouble determining what sort of armor they're wearing, and if there's insufficient light to glint off of it, even whether or not it was metal. They could tell that the troops were carrying some sort of polearm, or a sword and if it were too big to be a shortsword or too small for a greatsword, size of shields likewise without seeing any spikes or if they're actually bucklers until they were close enough to engage in melee. Any distinguishing unit markings beyond general predominate colors (e.g., the shields are green. . .) would also be too fine to make out.
The Krunch
(New) Quirk: Partial Colorblindness '" Most people display minor degrees of this, e.g., light yellow greens blending into yellow backgrounds. The portion of the spectrum affected is usually so narrow that they're unaware of this without taking a color test. Here I'm referring to the inability to perceive or differentiate a single, specific color portion of the spectrum from adjacent bands, i.e., greens look grey at whatever value the actual tint/shade a given example may have in black and white, or slightly blue or yellow with little color saturation nearer to either of those bands. At the extreme ends, reds or violets may become undetectable, that is, the inability to see into the infrared or ultraviolet bands actually extends somewhat into the normal visual color range.
Applying the No Targeting limitation to any advantages which expand the ability to make ranged attacks, I've modified costs where applicable by 60%. Since this also applies to vision within normal parameters I'm looking at a disadvantage of:
Bad Sight: Poor Focus: -10 pt; Apply an additional -1 to all size modifiers to vision checks at any distance, can't use an aim maneuver or specify hit locations with ranged attacks at normal distances. Cannot take advantages: Acute Vision or Microscopic Vision
Peripheral Vision: +15 pt (No Targeting, as above for extended visual field -60%): +6 pt
Telescopic Vision 3: +15 pt (No Targeting -60%): +6 pt
Infravision: +10 pt (No Targeting -60%): +4 pt
Net cost totals +6
Alternatively, would making Bad Sight: Poor Focus a -25 pt Disadvantage and eliminating the additional modifiers be better? The net cost actually stays the same but I'm not sure if that should eliminate the original Telescopic Vision modifier or if it should stay in place. If that is eliminated as well then cost goes up to +15.
In addition to the above I'm including for the race: Protected Vision, Nictating Membrane and Colorblindness: Violet. In the latter case, combined with Infravision, they are basically shifting their racial normal visual spectrum down a band. However, simply shifting the racial baseline for color as Kelly Pederson described in another thread with regard to light levels:
Quote:
There's already rules for this, in Fantasy. Basically, you can treat a different "light baseline" as a 0-point feature. Pick a darkness penalty, and establish that as your default. You don't take penalties at that level, but you take vision penalties the further you go away from that level, in either direction. So you could establish that orcs have a default light level of -3. When humans have -3 because of darkness, orcs have no penalty. But they take a -1 penalty to vision at either the -2 level or the -4 level, and so on.
seems a munchkin buy, since seeing in the Infrared band is far more an advantage I would think than not seeing the violet band is a disadvantage '" even if violet objects were essentially invisible. Elves BTW have ultravision and are colorblind in the red band. The genetic combining of the two traits resulted in humans seeing in the entire normal visual light spectrum but neither extreme. . .
Final net cost of visual template: +11 points (or +20 by 2nd alternative disadvantage costs and modifiers).
As a matter of pure flavor I'm considering vertical pupils like those of a cat.
Any feed back here would be appreciated.[/blockquote]
[blockquote[Molokh]I love your concepts/flavour. On the crunch, my gut feeling tells that you should make it a flat disadvantage (Bad vision of sorts), and only apply No Targeting to Telescopic Vision (because IRV and PV don't provide any targeting bonuses).[/blockquote]
[blockquote[me]Good point re: targeting bonuses, thanks. That hadn't occurred to me since I was thinking of those in terms of permitting target acquisition where it isn't normally possible and treating that as being equivalent to a bonus - then trying to limit them by negating the bonus that wasn't really there. . . This also points out why the limitation on TV should remain when making Poor Focus a broader higher pt value disadvantage. The disadvantage is a simpler - more elegant - mechanic compared to applying limitation modifiers to a bunch of different advantages. While the net points work out to the same thing in this example, if the race instead had 360 deg. Dark (or Hyper Spectral) Vision this would cost more than modifying the costs of those by -60%: 31 vs 26, but I don't think the 5 pts there significantly detract from the overall subjective (utility) value of the disadvantage under other conditions.[/blockquote]
From the DnD version currently in the wiki: "They are more aware of their environment than most. . .Low-Light Vision: twice as far as races w/out in moonlight, starlight, torchlight, etc. . . . +2 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks: khürorkh are very aware of their surroundings. Feat: Blindfighting: Khurorkh frequently combat subterranean enemies, so even though they haven't developed Darkvision, their awareness and training makes them skilled at fighting in the dark." In DnD I really couldn't give them infravision and still have the Pahrorkh see better in the dark (as a subterranean subrace) than they do. In GURPS there are actually about half a dozen different ways to see better than normal in poor or no light conditions - and some, like Night Vision, are further scalable.
File: 1225435389_541_FT0_gurps_lite_fourth_edition.pdf (//../../e107_files/public/1225435389_541_FT0_gurps_lite_fourth_edition.pdf)
I'm not totally comfortable with the GURPS system, so I won't make any crunch comments until I become more familiar with it, but at first glance you seem to achieve the desired effect.
For pure flavor have you considered rounded rectangular pupils similar to a goats? In the real world they have benefits similar to the Khurorkh.
No - I wasn't aware of the shape or visual similarity - sounds like a really good idea to look into, thanks! In playing around with how other races might see, hear, etc., I probably ought to try to dig up some shows on how animals see, hear, etc. from Nova/Discovery/Animal Planet and so forth. I don't get cable but a lot is on line. (History channel is often on in the lobby at work and has been hitting on a number of technological things that I've been kicking around. They're bookmarked now. . .)
I can't comment on the crunch as I have no experience with GURPS. However, I will say that your flavor is both intriguing and totally realistic. On a personal note I have myopia (nearsightedness). This means that at distance I cannot see detail. Like you were talking about, I can tell if someone is carrying a polearm, but could never tell you what type it was. So this meshes quite well. As an interesting aside that you may or may not realize (I not knowing if you have experience with nearsightedness) myopia has some odd side effects. It forces the senses to adapt to counteract for the lack of detail vision. My ability to read words on the side of a moving vehicle is all but non-existent. However, my ability to spot that vehicle coming by its movement, shape, and color is above normal. Getting to the point at hand, this goes quite well with your race with its low detail vision but high peripheral perception.
And that's my 2 copper coins. :)
Yup - my vision is the same (correctable fortunately) and has been since I was about 8-9 yrs old. I'm extremely tactile-kinesthetic as a result. GURPS usually scales these things - the more intense/powerful/severe the more points, but Bad Vision is set at -25 pts (one of the highest absolute values) and has some pretty severe effects (which you will easily recognize). There is no "I can read the road signs just fine but can't make out the bumper sticker on the car in front of me," or "I just need reading glasses." Colorblindness is -10 pts and is absolute - the world is in black and white. The biggest thing that I'm mulling about the colorblind quirk in the back of my mind is cultural ramifications where no one can see a certain color: how would that affect the culture's ideas about the world? I'm still trying to get a hook into the absence of violet, but with elves unable to see red blood will look black to them. What associations have they developed with blood and black as a result? Even more significant for them is the fact that the larger sun is reddish orange - they can't see much light from it - and during the glacial periods that is the only sun shining on the planet! (When they call those periods the Long Darkness or the Great Night they really mean it. . .) I need to check into correlations between visible color of stars and the amount of UV they radiate.
[spoiler[relevant and related alternative trait descriptions from GURPS Basic Set: Characters]360° Vision 25 points
You have a 360° field of vision. You have no penalty to defend against attacks from the sides or rear. You can attack foes to your sides or rear without making a Wild Swing, but you are at -2 to hit due to the clumsy angle of attack (note that some Karate techniques do not suffer this penalty). Finally, you are at +5 to detect Shadowing attempts, and are never surprised by a danger that comes from behind, unless it also is concealed from sight. Extra eyes are merely a special effect of this trait '" you can have any number of eyes, but the point cost remains the same.
Special Limitations
Easy to Hit: Your eyes are on stalks, unusually large, or otherwise more vulnerable to attack. Others can target your eyes from within their arc of vision at only -6 to hit. -20%.
Acute Senses 2 points/level
You have superior senses. Each Acute Sense is a separate advantage that gives +1 per level to all Sense rolls (p. 358) you make '" or the GM makes for you '" using that one sense.
Acute Hearing gives you a bonus to hear something, or to notice a sound (for instance, someone taking the safety off a gun in the dark). 2 points/level.
Acute Taste and Smell gives you a bonus to notice a taste or smell (for instance, poison in your drink). 2 points/level.
Acute Touch gives you a bonus to detect something by touch (for instance, a concealed weapon when patting down a suspect). 2 points/level.
Acute Vision gives you a bonus to spot things visually, and whenever you do a visual search (for instance, looking for traps or footprints). 2 points/level.
With the GM's permission, you may also buy Acute Sense advantages for specialized senses such as Scanning Sense and Vibration Sense. You cannot usually buy Acute Senses in play '" raise your Perception instead. However, if you lose a sense, the GM may allow you to spend earned points on other Acute Senses to compensate. For instance, if you are blinded, you might acquire Acute Hearing.
Dark Vision 25 points
You can see in absolute darkness using some means other than light, radar, or sonar. You suffer no skill penalties for darkness, no matter what its origin. However, you cannot see colors in the dark.
Special Enhancements
Color Vision: You can see colors in the dark. +20%.
Discriminatory Hearing 15 points
You have a superhuman ability to distinguish between sounds. You can always identify people by voice, and can recognize individual machines by their 'sound signature.' You may memorize a sound by listening to it for at least one minute and making a successful IQ roll. On a failure, you must wait at least one full day before making a repeated attempt. You get +4 (in addition to any Acute Hearing bonuses) on any task that utilizes hearing, and receive +4 to Shadowing skill when following a noisy target. To simulate the passive sonar used by submarines, add a -30% Accessibility limitation, 'Only underwater.'
Discriminatory Smell 15 points
Your sense of smell is far beyond the human norm, and can register distinctive odors for practically everything you may encounter. This allows you to recognize people, places, and things by scent. You may memorize a scent by sniffing it for at least one minute and making a successful IQ roll. On a failure, you must wait at least one full day before making a
repeated attempt. You get +4 (in addition to any Acute Taste and Smell bonuses) on any task that utilizes the sense of
smell, and receive +4 to Tracking skill. If you actually become ill when exposed to the odor of a particular substance, take the Temporary Disadvantage limitation (p. 115). The most common effect is Revulsion (p. 151), but the GM may choose to
allow other temporary disadvantages.
Special Enhancements
Emotion Sense: You can detect a person or animal's emotional state by odor. This functions as the Empathy advantage (p. 51), but you must bewithin 2 yards of the subject. +50%.
Discriminatory Taste 10 points
This talent functions in most ways like Discriminatory Smell (above), but enhances the sense of taste instead, so tracking is not possible. You must ingest a small quantity of the material to be examined; for a living subject, this means bodily fluids. This gives you an IQ roll to recognize the taste, identify whether a substance is safe to eat, etc. You can perform a detailed 'analysis' with a roll against a suitable skill (Chemistry, Cooking, Pharmacy, Poisons . . .). You get +4 (in addition to any Acute Taste and Smell bonuses) on any task that utilizes the sense of taste.
Hyperspectral Vision 25 points
Your vision extends across the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet portions of the spectrum. This integrated picture often reveals details that are invisible to those who merely possess normal vision, Infravision (p. 60), or Ultravision (p. 94). Hyperspectral Vision grants nearperfect night vision: you suffer no vision or combat penalties if there is any light at all. In total darkness, it functions exactly like Infravision. This trait also gives +3 on all Vision rolls; on all rolls to spot hidden clues or objects with Forensics, Observation, or Search skill; and on all Tracking rolls. If you possess Hyperspectral Vision, you cannot also have Infravision or Ultravision. This trait is essentially a higher level of both those advantages. Its game effects replace the specific effects of those traits. As described, this trait emulates realistic TL7+ sensors. The GM may permit supers to take the two special enhancements below. Neither is appropriate for real-world sensors!
Special Enhancements
Extended Low-Band: You perceive radiation below the infrared, allowing you to 'see' microwave, radar, and radio sources. This gives no special ability to understand radio signals! +30%.
Extended High-Band: You sense radiation above the ultraviolet, allowing you to 'see' X-ray and gamma ray sources. +30%.
Infravision 0 or 10 points
You can see into the infrared portion of the spectrum, allowing you to detect varying degrees of heat. This lets you fight at no penalty even in absolute darkness, if your target emits heat (this includes all living beings and most machines). It also gives you +2 on all Vision rolls to spot such targets, since their heat stands out from the background. You can follow a heat trail when tracking: add +3 to Tracking rolls if the trail is no more than an hour old. Infravision does not let you distinguish colors, and only allows you to judge the general size and shape of heat-emitting objects, including living beings (for instance, you might have trouble telling two people of the same size apart). Roll at -4 to distinguish
objects of similar size and shape. The GM may also require a Vision-4 roll to read by reflected heat. Sudden flashes of heat (e.g., a flare, fiery explosion, or infrared laser) can blind you, just as a flash of light can blind ordinary vision.
Cost depends on your capabilities: You can only see using Infravision, and are subject to its limitations at all times: 0 points. You can switch freely between normal vision and Infravision: 10 points.
Microscopic Vision 5 points/level
You can see details that would normally be invisible without a magnifying glass or a microscope. Each level increases magnification by a factor of 10: 5 points gives 10Â¥, 10 points gives 100Â¥, and so on. This magnification only applies to objects within 1 foot. Level 1 suffices for ordinary forensic investigation. Level 3 (1,000Â¥) is equivalent to the best optical microscopes. Level 5 (100,000Â¥) is comparable to an electron microscope, capable of imaging viruses. Level 6 (1,000,000Â¥) is on par with a scanning- tunneling or atomic force microscope, and can study an object's atomic structure.
Night Vision 1 point/level
Your eyes adapt rapidly to darkness. Each level of this ability (maximum nine levels) allows you to ignore -1 in combat or vision penalties due to darkness, provided there is at least some light. Example: Night Vision 4 would completely eliminate darkness penalties up to -4, and would reduce a penalty of -7 to only -3. Regardless of level, Night Vision only works in partial darkness. It has no effect on the -10 for total darkness (for that, get Dark Vision, p. 47).
Parabolic Hearing 4 points/level
You can 'zoom in' on a particular sound or area, and can filter out background noise from sounds of interest to you. Each level of Parabolic Hearing doubles the distance at which you can clearly hear any given sound (see Hearing, p. 358).
Penetrating Vision 10 points/level
Penetrating Vision (sometimes called 'X-ray vision') lets you see through solid objects. Each level of this advantage allows you to see through up to six inches of normal matter. You can just barely see the outline of the substance you are looking through '" not enough to impair vision in any way. Penetrating Vision automatically works in conjunction with all your other vision advantages (Infravision, Ultravision, etc.).
Special Limitations
Blockable: Some substance completely blocks your vision. Common substances, such as plastic, stone, or wood, are -30%; less common materials, such as brick or asphalt, are -20%; one specific material, such as lead, is -10%.
Specific: Your ability only works through one particular substance. Common materials, such as brick, metal, or wood, are -40%; uncommon materials, such as ice or adobe, are -60%; absurd materials, such as chocolate or silk, are -80%.
Peripheral Vision 15 points
You have an unusually wide field of vision. You can see a 180° arc in front of you without turning your head, and have 30° of peripheral vision to either side of that. This gives you a 240° 'arc of vision' for observation and ranged attacks. The figure above shows the arc of vision for a normal character (white) and for someone with Peripheral Vision (gray plus white). If you are playing with a battle map, you can make melee attacks into 'side' ('right' and 'left') hexes as well
as 'front' hexes '" although a onehanded attack to the opposite side (e.g., attacking your left hex with your right hand) is clumsy and considered a Wild Swing (see p. 388). You still cannot attack a foe directly behind you except with a Wild Swing. This also helps on defense! If you are attacked from a 'side' hex, you defend at no penalty. Even against attacks from the rear, your active defense is only at -2. Out of combat, you get +3 to all rolls to detect Shadowing attempts or
ambushes from behind, and the GM will always make a Vision roll for you to spot dangers 'behind your back.'
Special Limitations
Easy to Hit: Your eyes are on stalks, unusually large, or otherwise more vulnerable to attack. Others can target your eyes from within their arc of vision at only -6 to hit. -20%.
Protected Sense 5 points/sense
One of your ranged senses is protected against overload. It rapidly adapts to the most intense of stimuli, allowing you to function normally after a maximum of two seconds of impairment. You will never suffer permanent damage to that sense as a
result of excessive sensory input, and you get +5 to rolls to resist temporary damage and Sense-Based attacks targeting that sense. Protected Senses cost 5 points apiece. Protected Vision resists glare and eye damage from lasers, and lets Dark Vision, Infravision, and Night Vision adjust instantly from bright light to darkness. Protected Hearing protects against loud noises. Protected Taste/Smell filters out strong odors and tastes (but not toxins). The GM may permit other Protected Senses (Detect, Scanning Sense, etc.), with suitable justification.
Subsonic Hearing 0 or 5 points
You can hear very low-frequency sounds (under 40 Hz), such as the rumble of distant storms, the vibrations from incipient earthquakes, and the approach of stampeding herd beasts, armored vehicles, or dragons. This gives +1 to Tracking skill if your quarry is moving on the ground. Cost depends on your capabilities: You can hear very low-frequency sounds only: 0 points. You can hear very low-frequency sounds and other sounds: 5 points. Note that Subsonic Hearing is included in the cost of Subsonic Speech (below); you cannot take both traits.
Subsonic Speech 0 or 10 points
You can converse using extremely low-frequency sounds. This trait includes Subsonic Hearing, above. Subsonic speech is slow (half-speed), and even if the frequency is shifted into the normal range, subsonic speakers are at -2 to Fast-Talk and any other skill where versatile speaking is important. However, subsonic speech carries twice as far as normal speech. Cost depends on your capabilities: You can only communicate via Subsonic Speech: 0 points. You can switch between regular
speech and Subsonic Speech at will: 10 points.
Telescopic Vision 5 points/level
You can 'zoom in' with your eyes as if using binoculars. Each level lets you ignore -1 in range penalties to Vision rolls at all times, or -2 in range penalties if you take an Aim maneuver to zoom in on a particular target. This ability can also function as a telescopic sight, giving up to +1 Accuracy per level with ranged attacks provided you take an Aim maneuver for seconds equal to the bonus (see Scopes under Firearm Accessories, p. 411). The benefits of this trait are not cumulative with those of technological aids such as binoculars or scopes. If you have both, you must opt to use one or the other.
Special Limitations No Targeting: Your field of vision is broad and not 'zeroed' to your ranged attacks. You get no Accuracy bonus in combat. -60%.
Ultrahearing 0 or 5 points
You can hear sounds in the frequencies above the normal range of human hearing (20 kHz). This allows you to hear dog whistles, sonar, motion detectors, etc. You can detect active sonar at twice its effective range. Cost depends on your capabilities: You can hear only high-frequency sounds: 0 points. You can hear high-frequency sounds and other sounds: 5 points. This advantage is included in Ultrasonic Speech, below; if you have Ultrasonic Speech, you cannot take this as well (but don't need to).
Ultrasonic Speech 0 or 10 points
You can converse in the ultrasonic range. This advantage includes Ultrahearing, above. Note that many creatures find it intensely annoying or even painful to be within earshot of sustained ultrasonic pitches! Cost depends on your capabilities: You can only communicate via Ultrasonic Speech: 0 points. You can switch between regular speech and Ultrasonic Speech at will: 10 points.
Ultravision 0 or 10 points
You can see ultraviolet light (UV). Solar UV is present outdoors during the day, even under cloud cover, but is stopped by window glass or any solid barrier (earth, stone, etc.). Fluorescent lamps also emit UV. Provided UV is present, you can make out more colors than those with normal vision. This helps you discern outlines; spot trace quantities of dust, dyes, etc.; and identify minerals and plants. You get +2 to all Vision rolls made in the presence of UV, as well as to all Forensics, Observation, and Search rolls to spot clues or hidden objects. At night, a small amount of UV reaches the ground from the stars. This doesn't let you see in the dark, but it does let you ignore -2 in darkness penalties (cumulative with Night Vision). UV penetrates farther underwater than visible light. This lets you halve all vision penalties underwater (but in total darkness, you are as blind as anyone else). Cost depends on your capabilities: You can only see UV, and are blind indoors, underground, or anywhere else there is no UV, even when there are normal light sources present: 0 points. You can see both visible light and UV: 10 points.
Bad Sight -25 points
You have poor vision. This applies to all your visual senses: regular vision, Infravision, Ultravision, etc. You may be nearsighted or farsighted '" your choice.
Nearsighted: You cannot read small print, computer displays, etc., more than a foot away, or road signs, etc., at more than about 10 yards. You are at -6 to Vision rolls to spot items more than one yard away. When making a melee attack, you are at -2 to skill. When making a ranged attack, double the actual distance to the target when calculating the range modifier. -25 points.
Farsighted: You cannot read text except with great difficulty (triple normal time). You are at -6 to Vision rolls to spot items within one yard, and you have -3 to DX on any close manual task, including close combat. -25 points.
Special Limitations
Mitigator: At TL5+, you can acquire glasses that compensate totally for Bad Sight while they are worn. At TL7+, contact lenses are available. In both cases, remember that accidents can happen . . . and that enemies can deprive you of these items. If you are starting at a tech level in which vision can be corrected, you must take this limitation. -60%
[/spoiler]
Anyway, orkh vision is basically low-resolution panoramic as opposed to blurry or distorted - low res photos are still essentially clear - they don't look out of focus, they just don't register fine detail or permit you to focus sharply in on it. I've been also considering corrective lenses - optics are fairly well understood among Panisadore's academia, but are generally only available (as specific custom work) from a handfull of jewelers in the most major metropolitan centers - spyglasses, magnifying glasses etc. can be found in most decent sized cities. However, even if an orkh can acquire a pair of glasses - or even common generic optics, they still have to spend time (and points) to learn to use them effectively. This really means getting their eyes accustomed to the sharper, unnatural focus (they will reflexively try to compensate and restore the natural imaging, just like ours try to bring things into focus without our glasses) and developing new neural pathways in their brains corresponding to the entirely new sensory experiences - their brains aren't initially equipped to handle this new form of data which is simply part of early development among other species. In simple terms - give an orkh a spyglass and you'll just give him a headache. . . This is of particular importance to the actual mechanics of the Bad Vision disadvantage.
Sounds very cool. One thing though to realize though is that colorblind people don't replace a color they can't see with black. They replace it with a shade. So blood would look dark yes but it would probably have a deep grayish hue. A red sun would also give off visible light for them, its just that as all of it is red tinted things would get much more drab looking (dim colors and lots of grays and blacks).
When I was falling asleep I was thinking about something, the color Pink.
People see pink when near-infrared and near-ultraviolet wavelengths hit our eye at the same time. Since pink is the only color without an actual physical wavelength what our brain does is make up a color half-way between red and violet.
So, if one can't see red or violet, to me it makes sense that they wouldn't be able to see shades of pink ether, maybe they would get some new color.
Red- true - gray will vary by value (scale of white to black 0-10), red is actually, as a primary color, rather dark in value - blood will have a high value and quickly change to black as it sits, or close to it.
Not seeing red light - in this case they would be sort of night blind - that is, a large portion of the light around them is simply ignored by the receptors in their eyes - much like using filtered light to hunt/film nocturnal animals - to them the illuminated area look dark. When only Salistreah is present in the sky then elves would only actually perceive a small portion of the light from it - the rest of the spectrum is present so it's not going to be permanent night to them literally, just very dim. Filtering out the red tint cast upon everything they're going to perceive the other colors present in the world differently from other races as well.
Llum - can you point me to any links to explore this further? Looking at various races perceiving one or both of those "invisible" extremes would affect this even further than not perceiving the edge of the visible spectrum. I really need to find a good source investigating spectrum of light as opposed to pigment - two different color wheels.
Knowing how they see - a good graphics program might permit appropriate filtering to see this quite explicitly, would go a long way. Species would evolve with some very different assumptions and associations arising from their different perceptions. I suspect the association of the color white with death (and black with blood = life) would be reinforced among elves.
Hm, I think I'm going to ask for some assistance among the graphic wiz'es over at the Cartographer's Guild.
Sorry I had read an article on the subject, but I didn't bookmark it.
I tried a quick google search and didn't come up with anything, sorry.
Well the red thing I am getting from my old drama/videography teacher. My vid teacher was totally colorblind and I once asked her about that very question (if dark colors like deep red or blue look black). She said they were dark but not black, there was a difference between them and true black. She was also fully able to see in colored light. If she hadn't then she would have been in trouble (since filming in the dark school theater restricted you to red lights so you could see without messing up everyone's vision).
*deposits two more copper coins in snargs vending machine*
Since my last post I've been digging in WIkipedia - there are a couple of different things going on regarding what we're trying to model here. Most colorblindness essentially arises from variations in the eye's receptors which are of 3 types. The most common example seems to be in the red to green area in which people have trouble distinguishing them. They see the light - a critical point here - they just can't perceive a difference between the various wavelengths within a particular range.
(//../../e107_files/public/1225673478_541_FT56792_us_flag_color_blind.png)
(//../../e107_files/public/1225673478_541_FT56792_braeburn_grannysmith_dichromat_sim_.jpg) (//../../e107_files/public/1225673478_541_FT56792_braeburn_grannysmith_dichromat_sim.jpg)
The pictures show how a braeburn and a granny smith apple appear to normal color vision (distinctly different) on top, and below to someone who can't distinguish that portion of the spectrum properly - they see the light, but all wavelengths appear the same - essentially as you're teacher described.
(//../../e107_files/public/1225673478_541_FT56792_287pxspectrum_locus_12.png)shows the spectrum - the curved edge of the space below: red and violet are both at the 0 pt on the graph - extending beyond into the negative portion of either axis moves into invisible - ultraviolet or infrared light. This also speaks somewhat to Llum's comment about pink - there is no pink wavelength - the pink/magenta/fuschia range is blue and red light both present - or more precisely, a broad spectrum of light lacking the yellow/green wavelengths.
(//../../e107_files/public/1225673525_541_FT56792_476pxciexy1931.svg.png) but here we see the continuity of mixed wavelengths - all of them roughly equal as white in the center with the bottom edge showing varying degrees of red and violet mixed and adding traces of yellow/green is the spectrum shifts upward toward the center.
Messing with any of this essentially causes odd shifts on the colorspace, greying portions out and intensifying those which can be distinguished when mixing is occurring.
Seperately - since we're taliing about a progression of wavelengths which doesn't "circle around" - the red and violet ends don't have a transitionary phase that is crossed so that light shifts back into the other (the colorspace graph looks as if it does. . .) if the ability to perceive light at either end is eliminated, then things which only reflect that light, which cannot be seen at all - will appear black.
(//../../e107_files/public/1225673478_541_FT56792_srgbspectrum.png)
on the other hand the clack portions of this graphic which represent infrared and ultraviolet would not be black if you could seen in the respective wavelengths. Still wondering what that really looks like. Of course few colors are "pure" - any light reflected by an object in a portion of the spectrum which the subject's eye's can perceive will be seen - remove red or violet entirely and that pink zone will appear dimly like the unsaturated other end - you only see the light reflected in the color you can see. . .(sounds kinda obvious phrased that way. . . ) Most bees see into ultraviolet (including a "color" called "Bee Purple") but no red light - this is what I'm thinking of with elves (just didn't know until this afternoon that there's a real world example to apply to it). Evidently success of many flower species (pollinated by bees) and many bird species (with seemingly drab and indistinguishable plumage among both sexes) is actually dependent upon how they appear in the ultraviolet spectral range. Elves being able to see this fits unexpectedly well in the whole concept. For orkhs I'm shifting in the opposite direction and haven't encountered as neat and tidy an example to work with yet - nearly all infrared imaging is artificially color(cod)ed with visible spectrum colors for ease of data interpretation - they would not actually appear blue, yellow red depending on heat intensity. Wildlife blinds for nocturnal observation though give a good example of when someone cannot perceive a portion of the spectrum at all - night photos are shot using light which we can see but the animals cannot - hence it is dark to them and doesn't frighten them away, but we can see easily.
Another interesting side note about colorblindness as first discussed - certain camoflage patterns *don't* work on people with certain forms of colorblindness - the patterns stand out sharply as artificial. They learned in WWII that colorblind people could see things when studying color aerial recon photos that the rest of the team could not - certain patterns actually become more obvious rather than less.
That crazy wiki, you learn something new every day.
Nicely done, that was pretty informative, I like how you found a real-life example of the ultraviolet, I was really having problems with that.
What I thought it would be like would like having a permanent black light on.
Quoteremove red or violet entirely and that pink zone will appear dimly like the unsaturated other end - you only see the light reflected in the color you can see. . .(sounds kinda obvious phrased that way. . . )
Right that makes sense, but would they get a new replacement color, sorta an equivalent color linking the two ends of visible light (for that species), which is what Pink is for humans?
[blockquote[waldronate of the Cartographer's Guild]A race's sensitivity off the ends of the spectrum should effectively give them more colors to describe. The farther out you go, the more colors you get. If you're truly color-blind then all you get are shades, without even a concept of "color". Either of these has serious implications for cultural systems.
Here on earth we're very well adapted to the peak of sunlight. The sun's energy peaks at green and that's where our vision is most sensitive. If your star is red and your race has color vision then they will likely have a set of "colors" that humans would see as "red" or be totally insensitive to. Similarly, a race with a bluer star will probably tend to have their colors higher up in the spectrum, probably with an extra color or so in the UV and perhaps be missing a color or two in the red.
Color vision in humans follows a tri-stimulus model with a panchromatic base element. That is, there are three types of color sensors (called cones), each sensitive to different parts of the spectrum and one type of sensor (rods) that respond to the whole visual spectrum. Some things to consider:
(1) Color vision is slightly less acute than pure monochromatic vision. This result comes from the fact that cones are slightly larger than rods and from the need to mix cones of multiple types to get vision across the full spectrum range. If you need to add more types of "cones" to get farther out on the vision scale then visual acuity might decrease.
(2) Color vision needs more light to work. You can see this as light in the room gets lower at dusk. The world goes toward a grayer, grainier version as the world gets darker. Similarly, when you're outside looking at stars you're better off averting your gaze slightly to get the starlight to fall on the more-sensitive rods around the foveola.
(3) Light sensors are most concentrated at the primary focus of the lens get less concetrated the farther away from the center you get. In humans, the fovea is stuffed with cones, giving good color vision. There are fewer cones as you get farther away from the fovea and proportionally more rods. This means that your peripheral vision is lower acuity in both a spatial sense and in a color sense. The arrangement of light sensors works well at reducing the total amount of information that the brain has to process while still giving good results.
(4) Color blindness in humans tends to be more a result of defective cones of one or more types rather than the absence of those rods. People with color blindness may have somewhat lower visual acuity than someone with a full complement of vision.
(5) Visual predators tend to have a much greater visual acuity. In some species this acuity comes about by sacrifice of color vision. In others there are special structures to increase acuity (look at a raptor's eye).
As an aside, modeling color differences with a graphics program doesn't really "mean much" in absolute terms. For example, I can pull the IR filter off my webcam to get it to see farther into the IR spectrum. What I see on my screen is a strange pink image, not new colors as you would expect for a race that is actually sensitive to those parts fo the spectrum.
Mapping "new" parts of the spectrum into our "regular" part of the spectrum doesn't do much for me. Consider http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070505.html as an example. It's nice that they can assign X-ray parts of the spectrum to "blue", visible parts to "green", and IR parts to "red" to get a new image that tries to take advantage of your color vision. The result is somewhat pretty but seems to just be a curiosity.[/blockquote]
Yup, even if you make a camera that can see all over the spectrum, it won't allow you to see any new colors (since it is impossible for it to project those colors in a way you can see without false coloring).
true there - infrared is a good example - I wonder though about UV florescence - permanent blacklight poster world. . . There are a lot of natural substances that fluoresce under UV (the rocks & minerals section of most Museums of Natural History will have a decent display of this) while still displaying their visible colors, this just gets washed out by visible light, so can only be seen in a darkened room - this effect would probably be noticeable in broad daylight if you could see the light which causes it. For an interesting optical effect try wearing polarized (clear) safety goggles/glasses over polarized prescription lenses and look at the weird 3-D hallucinations this creates upon the surface a regular black asphalt street in afternoon sunlight.