Wow. This project looks pretty intense.
Bill Cable from the Creature Cantina asked me to check up, see what you guys were up to, and offer whatever support we can muster.
I'm still doing my homework with these expansive forum threads and posts, and I'm very impressed.
If I could make a quick comment on the "native" species. I've seen a lot of conversation about what would look cool or what would look Star Warsish. I've also seen some pretty professional looking mock-ups. I'm wondering, however, if the project might take better advantage of thinking about how the terrain would define characteristics of the alien species, since the terrain seems to be the primary focus of so much of the construction process.
For instance, would having four-arms be an advantage in this environment? Would they help the creatures scale that mountain range, and manuever in the trees? Might they have two different sets of arms, one for climbing rocks, and one for climbing branches? Or maybe this becomes a distinctive trait for the different alien races...arboreal natives might have longer grasping arms, and the mountain variety have a set of shorter, more muscular arms, like grappling hooks? Could their faces resemble some kind of mountain animal, like a ram (giving a kind of bothan-esque look)?
Of course, the kind of mountains will also make a difference...
On a similar note, is anyone working on wildlife?
I hope I'm not speaking out of turn!