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NeoDogs and You.

Heresiarch Grimm

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Heresiarch Grimm

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Since this information isn't commonly available anywhere, and some people believe that you can have them as a pet / become buddies with them / some other form of companionship / generally don't know what they are but assume, this post is being made to fix the information hole.

 

 

A Tl;Dr is supplied at the bottom.

 

What is a NeoDog?

 

A Neodog is a biomechanical organism that has been created from years upon years of genetic tampering and purifying from Canine breeds of Alsatian and Wolf. Once a Neodog pup is born, a Neodog handler is then selected and raises the young Neodog by hand for it's entire life. During this time, cybernetic enhancements are integrated with the animal such as sensory enhancements which boost their sight and sense of smell, a small radar-type device that enhances their ability to "Feel" things nearby and track movement and finally, most crucially, the cerebellum implant that is also surgically attached to the Handler's cerebellum that allows the two to communicate to each other silently and in a manner that allows both the Neodog and the Handler to process the other's sensory information (The Handler can "see" what the Neodog sees, for example).

 

Neodogs are also always fitted with an explosive designed to go off on either the death of the Neodog or its handler. It may also detonate if the Neodog is deemed a threat and has begun attacking friendly people or civilians of it's own accord.

 

Neodogs are intelligent enough (thanks to their genetic alterations, years of selective breeding and other Federation "inputs") to be able to talk, although they cannot pronounce B, M, V or P. They're also difficult to understand by normal people, though a Handler could understand their own Neodog perfectly fine.

 

Sounds cool, can I have one or say that I used to?

 

Absolutely not. There are a few major reasons as to why you would never, ever have a Neodog nor have had one in the past.

 

  1. Due to the hand raising of the Neodog by the Handler, the two form a special emotional bond that is incredibly hard to describe to normal individuals. This bond is responsible for enabling the pair to operate in their capacity as sentries, early warning devices, trackers and generally out on their own away from others. Because of this isolationist behaviour that comes with the job, Neodogs (and sometimes their handlers) are not outwardly friendly to anyone they meet. They may tolerate you much the same as a cat would, but they wouldn't enjoy your company that much. In addition, because of the factor of Neodogs requiring such extensive work to raise and maintain they are almost always assigned to highly critical operations where the chance of something not being detected cannot be taken meaning that a Neodog and its Handler are constantly redeployed everywhere and anywhere they are needed. You would not be in this unit if you had a Neodog.
  2. Thanks largely in part to the Cerebellum implant but also the bond mentioned before, the death of the Neodog has disastrous effects on the Handler. In the best case scenario the Handler slips into a coma and dies. In the worst case scenario the Handler survives the extremely traumatic experience of going through what the Neodog did when it died / was ripped apart / was burned alive, as well as having something the Handler was closely attached to being killed leaving them all alone, and is left in a near catatonic state of shock and pain for the rest of their life. Only on really rare occasions does a Handler recover from the mental damage caused by the Neodog death and, if they do, they would most likely be re-assigned to a new Neodog. If you had a Neodog that died, you would not be in the unit. You would be in permanent care or dead, or not in the unit after, during or before therapy.
  3. Because of the highly valuable nature of the Neodog in not just the tactical and strategic sense (Being able to detect sneaking Arachnids far before any form of Sensing equipment is incredibly useful) but also the financial sense, they are incredibly expensive and take an extensive amount of time to get right, which they don't always do. To put it into perspective, a typical marauder suit (the Aegis that we use on the server) is about the same cost as attempting to raise one Neodog. That's not taking into account that raising a Neodog isn't always successful as sometimes the Neodog may "break" and go berserk in active combat. Because of this, Neodogs are not sold on any form of market. Not even the black market. If you somehow do purchase a "Neodog" on the black market you have more than likely actually bought the puppy before any of the cybernetic attachments are surgically grafted and attached to the animal. You would have, in effect, just bought a well bred dog rather than a Neodog. There is no market in which you could purchase a Neodog, nor would you even be able to afford one if such a market existed.

 

Oh. Okay then. Can I say I saw one on R'n'R / A civilian station / a place that isn't an active warzone of a Campaign scale?

 

The answer to that question depends upon the place. In order of example, the answer is Absolutely not, No  and Possibly.

 

As mentioned in Part 1 of the wall of text above, Neodogs and there Handlers are getting shipped all over the place because they perform an absolutely crucial role in a lot of engagements and are always involved in some capacity on Campaigns. Due to the nature of the Neodog and the Handler, they wouldn't be left on a regular old R'n'R like you and your friends might go to. Instead, they'd probably be left in the aftermath of the Campaign for a few weeks to relax and unwind as they do their tracking jobs before being sent back into the thick of it.

 

As for the Civilian Station example, something as useful and vital to a mission's success as a Neodog wouldn't be walking around on a Civilian station. It might get shot, injured, stolen or lost. Instead, it'd probably stay aboard the ship with it's Handler. It's also far more likely that they would be on a Military station, but only to change over to another unit's ship for deployment to wherever they're going.

 

If you're on a Campaign however, there is an ever so slight chance you might see a Neodog and its Handler at a distance and an even slimmer chance that you might speak to the Neodog itself. This is because they operate either as sentries posted far away from the nearby units so they can keep watch for anything not-friendly that might take a stab at the Mobile Infantry or because they are tracking something through whatever terrain they are in. This means they are almost always positioned far away from you.

 

 

Tl;Dr:

 

You would only have had a Neodog if you were a Handler. A Neodog would not bond, nor really talk, to anyone that isn't the Handler. If you were a Handler, you would not be in this unit. If you somehow had a Neodog and it died, you yourself would be dead, in permanent care or otherwise not in the unit.

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Archer Queen Bug

Archer

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i ran an event involving K9 but due to the lack of content that can y'know, portray a neodog in gmod, it was a bit different than what you are thinking of.

reason i'm saying is, not only ICly it is hard to meet one, but OOCly there isn't a model to be used for neodogs except for wolfenstein dogs, which is the closest one. workshop lacks these models tho so oh well. 

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Rook Brain Bug

Rook

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1 hour ago, Archer said:

i ran an event involving K9 but due to the lack of content that can y'know, portray a neodog in gmod, it was a bit different than what you are thinking of.

reason i'm saying is, not only ICly it is hard to meet one, but OOCly there isn't a model to be used for neodogs except for wolfenstein dogs, which is the closest one. workshop lacks these models tho so oh well. 

You can always use one of the fallout creature packs. They have dog models that actually have working legs. 

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Heresiarch Grimm Tanker Bug

Heresiarch Grimm

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3 hours ago, Archer said:

i ran an event involving K9 but due to the lack of content that can y'know, portray a neodog in gmod, it was a bit different than what you are thinking of.

reason i'm saying is, not only ICly it is hard to meet one, but OOCly there isn't a model to be used for neodogs except for wolfenstein dogs, which is the closest one. workshop lacks these models tho so oh well. 

If you think this thread was anything other than why people wouldn't have Neodogs, have had Neodogs and would almost never see a Neodog, you missed the point of the thread.

 

2 minutes ago, Xalphox said:

Regular non-event neodogs will never be a feature on SSTRP. I have and will put up with a lot in the name of not stifling roleplay on the server, but this is one line I am not willing to cross.

A fact I am well aware of. This is not a proposal to say we should have them, it's a thread reinforcing and heavily fortifying the idea that we never will. Anyone and everyone who thinks that this thread is an attempt to add anything other than a solid understanding of what a Neodog is and why we never will have them, nor would anyone in the unit at any period of their life, is wrong.

 

The opening post serves only to fix the issue of people either not knowing what a Neodog is and treating the concept like a pet or to provide multi reasons why the MI in the 112th would never handle, own or otherwise interact with a Neodog past seeing them in the distance or on FedNet.

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Silly goose Brain Bug

Silly goose

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7 minutes ago, Heresiarch Grimm said:

If you think this thread was anything other than why people wouldn't have Neodogs, have had Neodogs and would almost never see a Neodog, you missed the point of the thread.

 

A fact I am well aware of. This is not a proposal to say we should have them, it's a thread reinforcing and heavily fortifying the idea that we never will. Anyone and everyone who thinks that this thread is an attempt to add anything other than a solid understanding of what a Neodog is and why we never will have them, nor would anyone in the unit at any period of their life, is wrong.

 

The opening post serves only to fix the issue of people either not knowing what a Neodog is and treating the concept like a pet or to provide multi reasons why the MI in the 112th would never handle, own or otherwise interact with a Neodog past seeing them in the distance or on FedNet.

but what if i found a model you could use...

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Rook Brain Bug

Rook

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21 minutes ago, Pilotfish said:

Grimm I think Xalphox has said in the past that we're not going to get Neodogs so I don't know what this thread is for. If you're looking to gather support I suggest something in the admin forums really.

It's something that people have been talking about in recent threads and on server. The posts by Xal you are talking about are really old and probably not known or remembered by most players.

 

Besides, it's good to know the lore.  

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