Alien Genetic Engineering [Biotech/Space]

[AlexanderHowl]

A question, have you ever used or faced aliens that have benefitted from extreme genetic engineering? For example, TL12 genetic engineering allows for IQ+4, Per+2, and Will+2, while the alien creation rules in Space allow for up to IQ 13 racial averages, meaning that an alien species that benefitted from TL12 genetic engineering could have an average IQ 17, Per 19, and Will 19.

If you have, how was the experience? Was it challenging? Overwhelming? Unfair?

[Flyndaran]

That makes a few assumptions that may not be true.
That aliens have human defaults, and that they choose to have a host of possibly contradictory yet perfectly engineered boosts.

To me, all those superhuman abilities sound closer to a plot alien than one that really needs a proper write up.

[Anthony]

TL 12 is plenty unfair with or without genetic engineering, but I would not assume high racial averages stack with genetic engineering (i.e. TL 12 doesn't actually allow IQ+4, it allows racial IQ 14).

[AlexanderHowl]

Originally Posted by Anthony

TL 12 is plenty unfair with or without genetic engineering, but I would not assume high racial averages stack with genetic engineering (i.e. TL 12 doesn't actually allow IQ+4, it allows racial IQ 14).

Why not? It is genetic engineering based on the alien's foundation, not a human foundation. You cannot use TL10 genetic engineering to give a horse IQ 12, just IQ 5.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Why not? It is genetic engineering based on the alien's foundation, not a human foundation.

Doesn't matter. A higher base IQ just means less room for improvement.

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

You cannot use TL10 genetic engineering to give a horse IQ 12, just IQ 5.

Eh, I'd be perfectly willing to let TL 10 genetic engineering give a horse IQ 12. A horse brain is slightly smaller than human and is controlling a larger body, so you'd need to do a bit of skull restructuring, but putting human-level intelligence in just about any SM-1 or larger animal is plausibly TL 10.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Doesn't matter. A higher base IQ just means less room for improvement.

I disagree but, I am intrigued to see why'd you'ld think so.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

I disagree but, I am intrigued to see why'd you'ld think so.

By the time you're engineering for +4 IQ, you've completely discarded the original brain structure and are just installing a custom biocomputer, with stats that are 100% determined by size and TL.

[AlexanderHowl]

That assumes that all brain tissue is equal, which is patently false. A genius biocomputer is 100× as capable as a normal biocomputer.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

That assumes that all brain tissue is equal, which is patently false. A genius biocomputer is 100× as capable as a normal biocomputer.

Well, honestly, genius computers shouldn't exist (in fact, none of Slow, Fast, and Genius should exist; the realistic range of computer performance at a given size and time is less than a single point of GURPS complexity), but ignoring that, all you're arguing for is that it's not just TL and size, price also matters. The original structure still doesn't matter.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by Anthony

By the time you're engineering for +4 IQ, you've completely discarded the original brain structure and are just installing a custom biocomputer, with stats that are 100% determined by size and TL.

Those are some interesting presumptions, now try it with only biotech.