New DLC

[Arioch]

We always make new mechanics part of the base game. The only thing that requires purchase of the DLC is to play as the new faction.

[zolobolo]

Yes, and I did really appreciate the fact that Tinker mechanics of harmonisation was tied into the existing pop mechanics and GUIs and no new menu points were introduced (that would be needed if not tied into the core game: looking at you Galciv and Stellaris )

But please be carefull: asteroid bases did not manage to take foot in the game as viable buildings, embarking to starbases is more micro then worth (and not used by AI) and Tinkers got streamlined into using rockets only due to their faction bonus of quickly regenerating ammo - please be carefull to only include mechanics that the new and existing factions can handle otherwise its not worth working on

I think the Tinkers DLC needs some tewaking to fix the above, but still love most of its new ships, the faction, the kinda unique building they have and the harmonisation idea+art (oh the art )

So really looking forward to your next DLC, it has a solid basis on the stable build, I can hardly wait to see how a new faction and terraforming will fit into the existing game

[Arioch]

Updated ship designs.

gardeners designs II 7.jpg (322.77 KiB) Viewed 36914 times

[evil713]

Looking at the image, are we seeing damage over time weapons?

[Arioch]

Looking at the image, are we seeing damage over time weapons?

Just ideas at the moment, but that's a possibility...

[zolobolo]

Yeah Toxins burning down armor every turn - love the texture and color of the Toxin cannon, very impressive can hardly wait to mount it

Nice lilac color - empire symbol is light blue/yellow right?
This lilac color is quite near to the Haduir colors, but the blueish empire insignia seems to not overlap with any of the existing empire colors.

Like the details on the War Cruiser - lots of windows everywhere on the ships maybe even too many

Transports are shaping up: I see they will be a unique design then like Phidi and not using the standardised containers (for empty transports)

Like the small assimetry on the texture and coloring for the station

[Arioch]

Like the details on the War Cruiser - lots of windows everywhere on the ships maybe even too many

Oscillating lights rather than windows. The only "windows" are the plexiglass spheres on the colony and transport... similar in concept to those on the Phidi and Orthin ships.

[zolobolo]

Also looking forward to the expansion to play on even larger maps and more facitons: like to play on huge maps with lots of empires so that the world seems vast and complex and the player not necesseraly the motor of all events (like two empires fighting a large battle with their vasals)

This is something that Galciv3 almost got right in my opinion

In SiS, the factions are very unique so duplicating them does not feel right + border colors and insignia make it confusing but if new factions are added I can generate larger maps with more factions withouth the fleets and borders being confusing

On the topic: please also extend the number of start on Huge map size with this one so all factions are accomodated per default - this a covnenience to not having to count and add the appropriate amount of factions. In case of star systems I usualyl play with +10% star systemes as the AI of course performs better with a solid amount of uncontested planets from the start

[SirDamnALot]

I've been away for some time, but I boot up SiS every now and then.
And I'm pleased that everytime, there is something new to discover
So if there is a new DLC coming, I'm happy to buy

The gardeners of Orion become a own faction/space barbarians ? Pesky littly hippies

[DDPD]

These look freaking great, Jim. When you're ready and able to, I'd love to formally talk more about this on eXplorminate.

Any chance that the one thing I harp on the most will be rectified (i.e. the lack of variety in color/more strategic map variations)?

I love that you guys keep plugging away at this game. It's seriously underappreciated.

[nathanebht]

Like the concept art. The spiky thing on the bottom is the drive?

Hadn't thought about adding one more race versus the map size. Playing with more than largest map's default 88 stars isn't bad on my PC. Might be a problem on a really low end PC.

I'd also like one or two more map types. A map with clusters of stars has been fun in other games. Each race starts in its own cluster.

[Ashbery76]

Is pops being happy going to have some purpose yet apart from stopping rebels?

[zolobolo]

So are the Adult versions going to take a long time to develop?

Would make sense as they need to go through several stages and would fit a defensive faction as their pops would be slow to build up but once they have populated a planet, they could produce more food and research then other pops (coin and labor does not seem to fit them just from a visual standpoint ).

This way the faction would need to be carefull in the beginning as they cannot expand quickly but would become more dangerous over time even if they are not expanding

It would also be kinda neat to protect your fledging colony of growing whatnots untill they reach their glorious endstage and become unstoppable space monsters

[Arioch]

All of this is still just concept, but the idea is that Adults must be manually metamorphosed from juveniles; it doesn't happen automatically, and there must be appropriate infrastructure (Cloisters, the custom Labs) present. Adults are sessile and produce only science and coin, and they're necessary to enable certain production (such as ships) on that planet.

[zolobolo]

All of this is still just concept, but the idea is that Adults must be manually metamorphosed from juveniles; it doesn't happen automatically, and there must be appropriate infrastructure (Cloisters, the custom Labs) present. Adults are sessile and produce only science and coin, and they're necessary to enable certain production (such as ships) on that planet.

Love it

If there is only a limited number of adults (2-5) required and preferable on a planet, that should also cut down on micro-mgmt
If not, then an endless production of adults might be the solution (unless the planet runs out of Juveniles and thus the production cycle is broken - hence the above seems more streamlined

If none is the case, an automatic tansformation might be better so the player does not need to babísit dozens of colonies and manage how many addults should be created. Since labor and food would still be required an automated transformation could be tied to pyramid of maturity layers, the lower layers always needing to outnumber the higher one by X amount of percent (e.g.: if you have a planet of 10 such pops, that would automatically transform Juveniles into Adults untill Adult pop reaches 2 pops - given that X=20%)