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Dear Dakkaites,

This year I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) for the first time with a Warhammer 40,000 fic (a good way, I've figured, to get my feet wet before moving on to more original stuff). I'm not going to give away too many details on the work in question, but so far I can say that the antagonists of the story will be Tyranids. With this in mind, I have some questions for anyone who has read Black Library books featuring the bugs before:

1. Have individual species ever been described as making different sounds as others? Ie, I can imagine the Lictor would make a dry hissing sound, and Carnifexes and their ilk would make monstrous, dinosaur-ish roars, but what about Hormagaunts and Genestealers?

2. Seeing as there is no current model for it, how would you physically describe a mycetic spore? Ie, what do you imagine it looks like (aside from a "fleshy sac," which doesn't really help).

3. Do you think there's anything visible or tangible about psychic powers like Catalyst or Onslaught, aside from its affect on the Tyranid beasts? What about Leech Essence?


Thanks, if I think of any other questions, I'll be sure to ask them.

1. The little guys have been described making a "chittering" noise, so I guess alot of clicking and screeching.

2. The spore after reentry would have a blackened, cracked shell.

3. For leech essence, I could see a life force aura coming off the victim and being absorbed by the hive tyrant. The others, you could have a flare of light come off the tyrant.

I think of mycetic spores as rougly egg-shaped, with the rounded end hitting the ground, and the pointy end having something like the valves inside a heart that opens up and allows the creatures inside to exit.

Lord of Nonsensical Crap wrote:1. Have individual species ever been described as making different sounds as others? Ie, I can imagine the Lictor would make a dry hissing sound, and Carnifexes and their ilk would make monstrous, dinosaur-ish roars, but what about Hormagaunts and Genestealers?

Hormagaunts and Genestealers make insectile chittering I think.

I should note though, that Carnifexes actually produce a high-pitched scream. For this reason they are dubbed the "Screamer Killer".

That's all the advice I have on your questions, not sure on the others, though.

Void__Dragon wrote:

Lord of Nonsensical Crap wrote:1. Have individual species ever been described as making different sounds as others? Ie, I can imagine the Lictor would make a dry hissing sound, and Carnifexes and their ilk would make monstrous, dinosaur-ish roars, but what about Hormagaunts and Genestealers?

Hormagaunts and Genestealers make insectile chittering I think.

I should note though, that Carnifexes actually produce a high-pitched scream. For this reason they are dubbed the "Screamer Killer".

Screamer Killers are a specific form of Carnifex, the very original encountered, which used two pairs of scything talons and had a bioplasma discharge that is basically vomited. It got the name Screamer Killer from the shreik the bioplasma made when it discharged, it's not a general sound made my Carnifexes.

Id imagine a spore looks sorta like an egg, however i always thought of the shell burning off, and then the tyranids inside clawing their way through a fleshy-embroetic (spl?) type of skin layer. which is used to keep pressure inside the spore.

Doesn't FW make the spore?

DeffDred wrote:Doesn't FW make the spore?

No, there's never been any official mycetic spore model.

Actually, now that I think of it, I have another question regarding Tyranids. Namely: what do the discharges of their weapons sound like? In particular, I'd like to know about the sounds for fleshborers, impaler cannons, and barbed stranglers. Devourers, I imagine, make something of a buzzing noise.

Lord of Nonsensical Crap wrote:Dear Dakkaites,

3. Do you think there's anything visible or tangible about psychic powers like Catalyst or Onslaught, aside from its affect on the Tyranid beasts? What about Leech Essence?

I know that in the codex, The Doom of Malan'Tai is described as having arcs of cracking psychic energy bolting around it's head. I imagine when a Tervigon or Hive tyrant uses a psychic power something similar occurs, where warp lightning might surround the head/body of the tyranid organism.

Lord of Nonsensical Crap wrote:Actually, now that I think of it, I have another question regarding Tyranids. Namely: what do the discharges of their weapons sound like? In particular, I'd like to know about the sounds for fleshborers, impaler cannons, and barbed stranglers. Devourers, I imagine, make something of a buzzing noise.

I am trying to say this as maturely as possible, but I believe a lot of the weapon discharges would have a lot in common with......well, farts.

The new dawn of war has some niddy sounds. i didnt find them out of place when i was playing so that might be a good place to start.

Steelmage99 wrote:

Lord of Nonsensical Crap wrote:Actually, now that I think of it, I have another question regarding Tyranids. Namely: what do the discharges of their weapons sound like? In particular, I'd like to know about the sounds for fleshborers, impaler cannons, and barbed stranglers. Devourers, I imagine, make something of a buzzing noise.

I am trying to say this as maturely as possible, but I believe a lot of the weapon discharges would have a lot in common with......well, farts.

Basically this. They're not 'firearms'. They're objects being propelled by musculature through a lubricated tube of flesh. They're going to sound wet and gross.

Ha! I never thought of that before, that kills a bit of the terror of one of my favourite armies!

I imagine a lot of these answers could be answered by the DoW2 games.
Try looking at some Tyranid videos.
May not answer all of your questions, but the DoW2 games did a good job in general for the armies.

-Loki- wrote:

Steelmage99 wrote:

Lord of Nonsensical Crap wrote:Actually, now that I think of it, I have another question regarding Tyranids. Namely: what do the discharges of their weapons sound like? In particular, I'd like to know about the sounds for fleshborers, impaler cannons, and barbed stranglers. Devourers, I imagine, make something of a buzzing noise.

I am trying to say this as maturely as possible, but I believe a lot of the weapon discharges would have a lot in common with......well, farts.

Basically this. They're not 'firearms'. They're objects being propelled by musculature through a lubricated tube of flesh. They're going to sound wet and gross.

Some of them might sound like this, but some fire live insects, so I'd these types would make a buzzing noise like a swarm of insects.

Mr Nobody wrote:

-Loki- wrote:

Steelmage99 wrote:

Lord of Nonsensical Crap wrote:Actually, now that I think of it, I have another question regarding Tyranids. Namely: what do the discharges of their weapons sound like? In particular, I'd like to know about the sounds for fleshborers, impaler cannons, and barbed stranglers. Devourers, I imagine, make something of a buzzing noise.

I am trying to say this as maturely as possible, but I believe a lot of the weapon discharges would have a lot in common with......well, farts.

Basically this. They're not 'firearms'. They're objects being propelled by musculature through a lubricated tube of flesh. They're going to sound wet and gross.

Some of them might sound like this, but some fire live insects, so I'd these types would make a buzzing noise like a swarm of insects.

Except they're not self propelled. The only ammunition described as being anything other than a mouth/worm/etc shot at the enemy is the organism from the impaler cannon. A buzzing sound would come from wings, which the ammunition doesn't have (because it doesn't need them - why risk a killshot being spoiled by the ammunition grub seeing something tasty on the ground and redirecting itself?).

-Loki- wrote:

Mr Nobody wrote:

-Loki- wrote:

Steelmage99 wrote:

Lord of Nonsensical Crap wrote:Actually, now that I think of it, I have another question regarding Tyranids. Namely: what do the discharges of their weapons sound like? In particular, I'd like to know about the sounds for fleshborers, impaler cannons, and barbed stranglers. Devourers, I imagine, make something of a buzzing noise.

I am trying to say this as maturely as possible, but I believe a lot of the weapon discharges would have a lot in common with......well, farts.

Basically this. They're not 'firearms'. They're objects being propelled by musculature through a lubricated tube of flesh. They're going to sound wet and gross.

Some of them might sound like this, but some fire live insects, so I'd these types would make a buzzing noise like a swarm of insects.

Except they're not self propelled. The only ammunition described as being anything other than a mouth/worm/etc shot at the enemy is the organism from the impaler cannon. A buzzing sound would come from wings, which the ammunition doesn't have (because it doesn't need them - why risk a killshot being spoiled by the ammunition grub seeing something tasty on the ground and redirecting itself?).

I imagined it wouldn't have a mind, but the wings would help sustain flight, but this is just a personally theory.