Deadliest Alien!

[predxeno]

The aliens smelling fire theory makes sense.

[StrangeShape]

I'm pretty sure it's aware of Dallas before he used the flamethrower.

Dammit youre right. He started using it when he was already alerted of its presence

[SM]

A deaf man could've heard Dallas in that duct...

[StrangeShape]

A deaf man could've heard Dallas in that duct...

And yet it took time before the alien reacted. The "poor hearing" works here

[SM]

The poor hearing is entirely unsubstantiated.

[predxeno]

The alien could have just waited.  They aren't perfect machines, they could probably sometimes show irrational behavior like us humans.  We are only organisms, after all.

[SM]

Based on the tracker signal it wasn't waiting very long.

[StrangeShape]

The poor hearing is entirely unsubstantiated.

Its mentioned in the novelization, thats a starting point. I think it works. Dallas was talking and walking around in the ducts and there sure is some echo there. As you said, a deaf man would hear him, yet the alien wasnt alerted about his presence untill it got much closer. Then it stopped and resumed after Dallas used the flamethrower. In Aliens the aliens didnt even flinch when marines were walking around but started waking up when they used flamethrowers. The density in the air and the bruning smell mightve been what alerted them

[predxeno]

I'd say it could be the sudden change in heat temperature, and perhaps the sudden brightness of the flame.

[SM]

The poor hearing is entirely unsubstantiated.

Its mentioned in the novelization, thats a starting point. I think it works. Dallas was talking and walking around in the ducts and there sure is some echo there. As you said, a deaf man would hear him, yet the alien wasnt alerted about his presence untill it got much closer. Then it stopped and resumed after Dallas used the flamethrower. In Aliens the aliens didnt even flinch when marines were walking around but started waking up when they used flamethrowers. The density in the air and the bruning smell mightve been what alerted them

Could be any number of things.  Bad hearing seems utterly nonsensical.

[StrangeShape]

I'd say it could be the sudden change in heat temperature, and perhaps the sudden brightness of the flame.

Could be, but why werent they and the original alien alerted earlier?

[predxeno]

The EU material and the special features of AVPR seem to support the idea that aliens have echolocation.

I'd say it could be the sudden change in heat temperature, and perhaps the sudden brightness of the flame.

Could be, but why werent they and the original alien alerted earlier?

They were hibernating.

[SM]

The EU material and the special features of AVPR seem to support the idea that aliens have echolocation.

Which is somewhat limiting if you have to look through a window.

[predxeno]

I thought we were talking about the alien having bad hearing when tracking Dallas.

[MadassAlex]

We were talking about Alien senses in general. The last page or so has been a subdiscussion of that.