: I was playing Marathon 2 a while ago, and a funny thought struck me in the
: Citadel of Antiquity levels. The S'pht are (and, judging from some of the
: terminal artwork that we see) always were a flying or hovering race.
: However a species that can float would have no need of staircases, yet we
: see staircases in the Citadel and in other S'pht ruins. The elevators
: would also seem unnecessary, though its possible that they were used to
: transport material to higher levels, since it doesn't look like the S'pht
: would've been able to lift very much. Admittedly this does seem a bit
: crude for the S'pht. Also in some of the ruins, its likely that the Pfhor
: retrofitted them with staircases and elevators to make things easier for
: themselves. But there weren't any Pfhor stationed in the Citadel... So
: were staircases thrown in for the sake of convenience, or is it because of
: some ancient Jjaro conspiracy? ;)
If you had to explain it you could say the elevators are for transporting freight or anything else the S'pht didn't want to lift with grunt labor. Also something to consider, the higher a S'pht lifts themselves from a surface the more energy it would probably take. Stairs could be way for them to save energy by staying only a small distance above a solid surface. You see *fudge fudge* the S'pht didn't have the full-3D technology to build ramps. Just a thought.
Gary Simmons
the Battle Cat