The Vitacorp, the Omegamatic and the Shikadi

[troublesomekeen]

I don't know where, when or to what length this has been discussed, but I've questions again and need your input.
As we know, the Omegamatic comes from the company Vitacorp. The Omegamatic is sold in pieces, all contained inside a giant box or something. (Assembly required, you know.) My question concerns the robots aboard the Omegamatic in Keen 5. Where do they come from? At first, I thought they came with the Omegamatic. But seeing as how the Omegamatic does not come in the mail already built and populated with security robots, Robo Red, Sparky and all the others likely come in a separate shipment from Vitacorp.
Where do all those robots come from? Maybe they don't come from Vitacorp. It mentions nothing about robots in the Omegamatic advertisement.
Since the Shikadi bought one Omegamatic from Vitacorp and assembled it, it's possible that they designed and built their own robots to patrol their newly acquired galaxy-destroyer.
Somewhere in Keen 4, it is said that the Shikadi have left behind dangerous creatures on Gnosticus IV for the purpose of preventing or delaying Keen from rescuing the red-robed Gnosticenes. So I guess you could say the Shikadi have experience populating environments. However, we do know a little of what Shikadi-Machinery looks like. Their ship looks very much like themselves, transparent and glowing with energy. There are no light-blue, energetic, transparent robots found in the Omegamatic. I'm saying that if the Shikadi built those robots, wouldn't they resemble (in at least some small way) the Shikadi Ship? Not necessarily, I suppose...

The Shikadi are working in close cooperation with Mortimer McMire, who is pretty much the smartest person in the universe. Mort knows that Commander Keen will try to stop the Omegamatic. He needs time to finish his Toast Star, ace a test in school, develop that Krodacian-mutation and Cybloog technology. Delaying Keen is always a priority for Mort (see Keen 6). So. Could Mort be responsible for the design and building of all these robots we see in Keen 5? You'll remember in Keen X, Mort is bragging about his robotic creations--including the Spark Mark II, which indicates Mort built the original Sparky, thought not necessarily. Mortimer may have just borrowed the design and upgraded it. Though Keen X is a fan-game, the idea of Mort being responsible for the creation of the many robots in Keen 5 still holds sway. He is known for making Android Dummies. And after all, who is responsible for all the robots in the Vorticon series?

So we appear to have three prospects: Vitacorp, the Shikadi, or Mortimer McMire. There is one matter that may tip the scales in Vitacorp's favor: Little Ampton. This service robot knows the ins and outs of the Omegamatic. And who would build a service droid accept for the corporation that made it necessary to have such a service: Vitacorp. It makes sense that Vitacorp sells a repair bot like Little Ampton with their huge product, the Omegamatic. However, Ampton's Wiki page decidedly says they're built be the Shikadi. The Shikadi seem to have a 'high and mighty' attitude about them. It's no wonder that they would build a lowly robot to do the lowly, troublesome tasks, such as "repair, monitor and adjust various machines."
Uh oh. It looks like we have a clear winner. Looking at the Keen 5 Creature list, the Shikadi Mine catches my eye. Does not such a name imply the Shikadi built it? Perhaps not! Shikadi Soda is found in Keen 4, and it is said that Shikadi do not drink or eat. Vitacorp is known for producing the drink Vitalin, so it is suspected that Vitacorp is responsible for various drinks and sodas. My point is, if "Shikadi Soda" is manufactured by Vitacorp, why not "Shikadi Mine"?
Another observation is the Volt-face. The supreme court almost unanimously agrees that that speedy, electric creature comes from the Shikadi. That means, along with Shockshunds and the very presence of Shikadi Masters themselves, the Shikadi are responsible for a bulk of the Omegamatic's population. Maybe all three prospects have a hand in what robots are found in the Omegamatic.

Dear Ceilick and Keen 9 team: I find it very interesting and quite mystifying that Vitacorp makes in appearance in Keen 9 -- and on Shikadus I of all places. Is there anything you can tell me about that? Why is Vitacorp located on the Shikadi homeworld? What were the issues that factored into that decision?

[Bernie]

dude commander keen isn't real

[Ceilick]

Dude this is the PCKF.

I believe it was Tulip who had the idea that Vitacorp was a Shikadi run institution. This was possibility I had never considered before and it seemed a good idea to bring Vitacorp back into the series in some form.

Originally, we had ideas for various assembly lines in the Vitacorp level for many of the different robots aboard the Omegamatic. Sadly due to limited space, this only played out into the Vitalin conveyor belt.

The question remains, though, that even though a Vitacorp facility is located on the Shikadi homeworld, is it a Shikadi corporation? Or perhaps whoever is behind Vitacorp has done some outsourcing.

In my own observations, I think there is a difference in design for some of the robots aboard the Omegamatic; some feel very much of Shikadi design (Shikadi Mine, Sphereful) while others don't (Ampton, Sparky, Robo Red).

It's also worth noting that unless the Shikadi were simply unable to design robots capable of navigating Gnosticus IV, they appear to populate things with non-synthetic creatures. Aside from the Shikadi themselves and their dogs, the following creatures can be found aboard the Omegamatic, presumably not provided by Vitacorp: Spirogrip, Shelley, Slicestars (referred to as 'crystaline beings'), Volte-Face, and Spindred (possibly organic, they're mentioned as bouncing 'angrily').

[Plasma Captain]

ACME (the designers of the Vorticon Mothership) and Vitacorp were likely just penned as throwaway gags with no consideration to implications in the story, so I doubt that there are any canonical explanations, but for the sake of discussion, I'll bite.

Firstly, based on the fact that the Omegamatic has huge halls and labyrinths specifically designed for defensive purposes, I would say that it is likely that defense droids would be provided as well. The living beings, on the other hand - perhaps less likely.

Secondly, Vitacorp itself: they make weapons of mass destruction (of an unfathomable scale), and also health drinks. Either this is just another joke of an ACME-like company that produces anything with wanton disregard for ethics, or Vitacorp is evil.

Finally, Mortimer McMire is the most intelligent known person in the Keen universe. Why would he need to rely on some mass-produced product for his schemes? The Vorticon Mothership, albeit designed by ACME, was clearly made in the image of the Vorticons, so it is the only ship of its kind. In addition, the Vorticons, being a peaceful race, would have had no need for a giant planet-destroying death ship. It existed because Mortimer wanted it. So then, did Mortimer persuade ACME to design the ship, or did he become affiliated with them somehow? It seems possible that, if he can convince entire planets full of people to follow his lead, then he can come into possession of a few weapon manufacturers.

Thus, I postulate that Mortimer McMire had a hand in designing the Omegamatic, and perhaps the robots aboard it as well.

[Levellass]

dude commander keen isn't real

YOU TAKE THAT BACK!


*cricks*

Think accessories, think global corporations, then turn the dial up to 11. I can, from a single company, place or online catalog order a deluxe doghouse (14 rooms!) then buy furnishings, dog toys, dog FOOD, medicine, and a healing crystal for pet joints.

I can order an inflatable castle, order a party, add some clowns, and get catering.

I can order a new garage, have a related company concrete my driveway and another related company give me power tools to fix it.


The robots within the Omegamatic are likely quite similar, if not made by a subsidiary then by the company or affiliate. The reason we don't see them on the Omegamatic advertisement is for the same reason the As Seen On TV adverts don't have the full blurb of the infomercial or the X-ray specs advert in your old comic books didn't mention they'd fall apart after two days and didn't involve x-rays.

The machines are laughably poor quality The Sparky attack by running into things for crying out loud, when is that ever a good idea? Robo Red is alright, but he's far too few and can't see ten feet in front of him.

Mort was gypped, they probably came if he ordered within the next half hour (Full FREE complement of defense and maintenance droids!) And he obviously didn't trust them since he added Shikadi, as well as creatures from their homeworld (Shocksund, Volte-face) not tomention Shikadi inventions (Their mines for example.)


Now what of ACME? And Vitacorp? Well ACME is, and has always been, a Vorticon institution, all products made and manufactured on Vorticon IV (From local and imported ingredients.) Vitacorp however is a pan galactic company (Giving name to their best selling drink, the Gargle Blaster.) that has subsidiaries not only on Shikadic III, but also on Korath II, the Ilsoap system and Earth, where they are known as Google. Some may ask how a company that makes health drinks can also make WMDs, to which I reply: Disney. http://www.cracked.com/article_18511_6- ... -know.html (Also again, Google, whose motto is apparently 'Don't be evil'. http://www.cracked.com/article_18540_5- ... oogle.html )

Being evil is something that naturally happens as corporations grow older, like increased body hair and Alzheimer's.

[troublesomekeen]

ACME (the designers of the Vorticon Mothership) and Vitacorp were likely just penned as throwaway gags with no consideration to implications in the story, so I doubt that there are any canonical explanations

You're probably dead-on about that. And I forgot entirely about ACME. Excellent points, Plasma Captain, Levellass and Ceilick. (Thanks so much for answering my questions about VitaCorp in Keen9!) I find myself continually reading this over and over. I must...devise some sort of story/plot...argh...ugh... *Keen 10: TroublesomeKeen's head explodes!*

[Levellass]

Bernie Madoff in: The Pyramid Scheme is Toast!

[lemm]

Madoff schemingly enters the Pyramid of the Ponsi

[Dr. Kylstein]

My perpetually barely-started mod was/is going to feature VitaCorp. The idea is that they sponsor a scavenger hunt to win a lifetime supply of Vitalin. The world map would be a HQ of some sort, possibly in space, but aside from possible detours to product research labs most of the action would take place in unrelated locales. I should have gotten more done by now, but making multiple large VGA tilesets is too intimidating.

[MoffD]

Madoff schemingly enters the Pyramid of the Ponsi

Did I mention I have an idea for a mod?

[Levellass]

My perpetually barely-started mod was/is going to feature VitaCorp. The idea is that they sponsor a scavenger hunt to win a lifetime supply of Vitalin. The world map would be a HQ of some sort, possibly in space, but aside from possible detours to product research labs most of the action would take place in unrelated locales. I should have gotten more done by now, but making multiple large VGA tilesets is too intimidating.

A point in support of minimalism!


Also, with Vitalin, wouldn't a lifetime's supply be infinite?

[Dr. Kylstein]

Also, with Vitalin, wouldn't a lifetime's supply be infinite?

I had speculated that it might lead to another mod with more Apogee-style handling of lives and hitpoints (i.e. infinite and more than one respectively.) That, or there's some fine print in the contest rules (there always is). I was actually considering making lives infinite in this mod as well, among other retcons and reinterpretations.

[Levellass]

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

* For the purposes of this document 'lifetime' and variants thereof refers to the lifetime of a mercurian snowflake creature or liberal Fox News presenter, whichever is shorter.

* Offer is not valid on any planet whose name does not end in a number

* Offer not valid on planets containing the letter 'e'

* Participants must not, at any time during the contest, convert carbon containing compounds into citric acid