Horatio is one of my favorite factions and I am pleased to see Price of Perfection restored with the recent patches.

When Horatio was first announced for Endless Space 2, I wasn’t excited. Then I watched the faction trailer, saw some of the ship designs and artwork, and played the faction. I loved it all.

I don’t know if the devs keep too vigilant an eye on the ES2 forums, these days, but I’ve always had a question about Horatio’s redesign:

In the first game, Horatio’s aesthetic was rather androgynous. Some Horatio declared themselves female, some male, while others seemed unconcerned with sex or gender.

For Endless Space 2, Horatio, as far as I can tell, seems or presents as entirely male. I don’t know if the Horatio reproduced sexually in the first game but the implication in game 2 seems to be that all of them are clones. Full stop.

Was this aesthetic change made to make non-binary identities seem less other? Less non-human, less alien? I personally feel that the decision to make Horatio present as male in all cases makes him feel more threatening; it narrows - in a way - the image of “perfection,” which increases how much all others must change in order to conform to it, whether they be spliced or culturally assimilated.

I also noticed that, at the end of Horatio’s intro cinematic, his silhouette matches the Horatio of the first game. Is this a simple homage or reference, or is it meant to suggest Horatio hopes to transcend his own, current identity? Or is this simply how he wants his followers to see him, or is this how they actually see him? It’s a fine detail either way, and I would love to know if anything was meant by it, thematically. I assume, at the end of the day, that Horatio doesn’t identify as anything but Horatio and that no other identity could contain all the glory that is Horatio.

But why did you, the creative team at Amplitude, decide to make this change? What in Horatio's gameplay, story, or design made you commit to such a dramatic artistic change? Furthermore, what makes the Horatio of ES2 a, presumably, better represention of that artistic vision? 

Hi Tengujin,

Thanks for a very good question on an extremely important topic – Horatio’s perfection.  As you explained, it’s true that the representation of Horatio evolved over time.

In ES1 Horatio was purposefully ungendered, or at least not obviously masculine, as we wanted to leave the question of their gender open to discussion. Given the idea that the search was for a universal beauty, we saw no particular reason to favor one end of the gender spectrum over the other. The idea was more that the physical expression of Horatio’s ideal of perfection was androgynous, rather than “without a gender”, if that makes sense. The hero portraits in particular were also done in a style that was less photorealistic, so it was easier to make portraits that left some aspects open to interpretation.

For the representation in ES2, we kept (generally) Horatio as a slender and fine-featured but only slightly androgynous figure [other than the one Counselor hero who does look a bit like a rugby player :) ].  However, we were pushing along the lines of a people created identically in the image of their leader, and that leader did originally express themselves more as male than female. As a result, the more photorealistic images of Horatio that you see in ES2 tend to be masculine/male rather than feminine/female.

However, in the future, who knows what form Horatio’s search for perfection may take, and where on the wide spectrum of gender expressions they may end up? As the evolution of ES1 to ES2 shows, Horatio’s search is not yet over...

-Slow

I enjoy elements of both visions of Horatio. I prefer the skull shape of new Horatio, I think. I like the swept back, "intentional-cranial-deformation" look more than the simple egg shape of old Horatio. I liked the way the old ships were built around spheres, but I also really enjoy the "space-sea serpents" vibe the new ships have. I can't remember if the interiors of old Horatio ships were shown, but I love the gilded and mirrored aesthetic of the new ships. That every Horatio has a mirror wall in front of their work station is brilliant and hilarious. I appreciate the divine/religious figurehead appearance of old Horatio but I think I prefer the supreme scientist/emperor of ES2. I would love to see what a more androgynous Horatio faction would like with the newer design aesthetic. It feels odd to miss androgynous Horatio out of a desire for roleplay flexibility, since that kind of diversity is sort of the opposite of Horatio's ethos. Horatio may reserve the right to adjust his perfection in whatever manner he likes, but that particular perfection better be good enough for everyone else, haha. Diversity is well and good, as long as all that diversity is Horatio. I... think I agree that old Horatio invites a broader role-play perspective, but I'm not sure. The old look may have suggested or invited this attitude but underneath the surface, Horatio is a rather draconian figure.

I do love the idea of Horatio's form changing with certain splices, at least those of the major factions, but I understand this would be time-consuming to implement. Imagine a Riftborn Horatio, made of some organic metal, with sata cable tentacles and other oddities. Vodyani dust forms, Hissho wings, Craver eyes. I know Horatio is meant to have a particular look, no matter how he improves, but it is fun to imagine these chimeric versions of him.

Thank you, Slowhands, for your thoughtful response. It is a joy to discuss the most important topic in the universe with you. 

That Horatio could manifest differently when Horatio next appears is an exciting thought.