Below is the canonical design guide for creating a hivorg. This guide contains all of the rules and guidelines for the species, as well as tips for drawing and coloring them. As long as you follow all of the rules in the guide, your hivorg is good to go! For free reference bases, go to the resources page.
The most recognizable part of a hivorg is its head, which is roughly shaped like a soccer ball. Most hivorgs have this head shape, though proportions can vary between models. Below is a reference of what a hivorg’s head looks like from all angles.
You may think all that geometric detail is a lot to draw, and you would be right. Thankfully, we can abstract the shape by just drawing a hexagonal highlight to imply that geometry. Below are simplified hivorg heads in a variety of color schemes and angles.
It should be noted that a hivorg can come in any color or texture that can be found on an artificial object. Additionally, the eyes are not a fixed color, and can change color and iris shape to fit the hivorg’s mood or any information they wish to display.
One of the advantages of having such a complex head shape is that it provides ample locations for attachments, such as antennae, sensors, horns, antlers, or whatever else the designer wants to stick to their hivorg’s head.
Below are some examples of attachments. These examples are provided as inspiration, you really can add anything you wish so long as it is not organic. For the sake of this guide, we are counting additional eyes as attachments.
You cannot just throw anything on a hivorg’s head and still call it a hivorg. Hivorgs are fundamentally inorganic, artificial alien beings.Below is a cheatsheet for what is not allowed on the head of a hivorg.
If you are creative, there are plenty of ways to get around the design restrictions. Below is a (rather goofy) diagram that illustrates some ways to get around the hivorg species’ design restrictions regarding their heads.
The hands of a hivorg are composed of a soft, plush substance, which serves to cushion the motors and wires within. This is covered in plates of a hard metal exoskeleton. The palms and fingertips feature rubberized pads to aid in gripping objects.
The feet are much like the hands in their construction, save for proportions, 1 fewer digit, a lack of a hexagonal plate, and a different arrangement of grip pads on the bottoms. The feet also feature a semi- exposed ankle joint.
The arms and legs of a hivorg are composed of standardized limb segments. These limb segments feature partially exposed hinge joints, armored elbows and knees, and ball/ socket joints that are completely obscured by soft material to keep them protected.
These standardized joint pieces can be used in both arms and legs. A hivorg can have any number of limbs and these limbs can have any number and combination of joints, meaning hivorgs may be plantigrade, digitigrade, or even have long tentacles made of ball joints.
The torso is, unlike the rest of the body, covered in a dense coat of synthetic fur. This fur surrounds hexagonal panels on the chest, back, and where a tail would attach. The abdomen uses the same soft, flexible material as the shoulders, neck, and elbows.
You could attach just about anything you could imagine to the back of a hivorg: extra limbs, weapons, tools, storage, fins, or nothing if you prefer. Wings are a popular choice, typically in the form of solar sails for flying through space or solar panels for power.
Hivorgs may also have tails, which often resemble the abdomen or metasoma of the arthropod the rest of the hivorg’s body is designed to resemble. These tails can give a hivorg extra abilities and/or additional storage for energy or equipment.
