Most Likeable Alien Concepts

The alien concepts I preferred best in ALIEN PLANET are at both ends of the spectrum.

The benign alien is best represented by the imposing but gentle Emperor Sea Striders, quite possibly the equivalent of the gentle whales back on Earth. These behemoths appear to have somewhat more than animal intelligence, quite possibly semi-sentient.

The opposite end is best represented by the apparently sentient, EO-SAPIENS, quite goofy and funny aliens but very entertaining. Here we have floating, talking, giant, airborne octopi-like terrestrials. They apparently exhibit no tools or technology. But one of Eo-sapiens knows complex air defense principles as taught at the U.S. Army Air Defense school. This flying octopus knows how to really chuck a short spear, which looks more like a big dart. He can expertly gauge trajectory, range, speed & velocity, and azimuth (direction) virtually instantaneously enough to completely perforate a swooping, fast-flying, organically jet-propelled Skewer bird. He never misses.
As intelligent as the flying, talking octopi are, they're evidently not insightful enough to recognize the flying photo discs are not dangerous.

It was smart for main probe spacecraft to carry 3 surface probes, since one broke up transitting through the atmosphere. But as it turns out, 3 was not enough. All 3 were ultimately destroyed. Earth designers and authorities should have provided back-up probes, even if of lesser size and capabilities. After all those decades of space travel, the main probe spance ship is now handicapped and limited to taking high-resolution photos of Darwin's surface.