Hello! This devlog is a few days late, but I was focusing my work on getting Empires Expanded (and other mods) ready for the 3.12 Andromeda patch (alongside The Machine Age expansion). Like previous game updates, Empires Expanded updated to the current version of the game as soon as the update came out.
Anyhow, today we are discussing a new mechanic being introduced in Empires Expanded 2.0: civic synergies! Keep in mind, everything shown, including numbers and art, is not final.
My Purist Modding Philosophy
If you wish to get straight to the new content, you can skip this section!
Synergies have always existed in Stellaris, somewhat. All it is, really, is additional/different effects depending on a combination of civics.
All this new mechanic is doing is expanding them into a full feature mentioned in civics where necessary. I think the way they are integrated is clean enough to not be discernible from normal Stellaris if you unaware of the feature.
A core philosophy for Empires Expanded has always been to remain as close to unmodded Stellaris as possible, in terms of aesthetics as well as gameplay.
Now, in terms of gameplay, I’ve been restricting myself to only using existing mechanics and features in the game, for the sake of remaining loyal to the concept of “pure” Stellaris; but, I do think that new mechanics, if done well and blended into the game seamlessly, can still follow my principles of fitting into the game neatly.
Tl;dr – If you’re someone who plays EMEX due to matching vanilla Stellaris, don’t worry, this is still something I prioritise.
Intro to Synergies
Synergies provide additional (but sometimes alternate) effects to one or both civics in a synergy pairing. They are relatively small; players should not necessarily feel they MUST go for a synergy to get strong effects. Ideally, they are simple, extra effects to encourage certain playstyles or combinations.
The very nice thing about how this is done, is that as only the civic description is required for this information, ANY civic, including other mod or vanilla civics, can be made a part of a synergy without overwriting the civics themselves!
Currently, in 2.0, you will gain access to 19 synergies. Some are corporate/gestalt variants of one another, though even some of these have slightly differing effects.
We will have a look at a few below, but here is a comprehensive list below, if you wish to have a full look!
Click to view: Full List of Synergies
- Sovereign Nations + Supranational Council
- Defender of the Faith + Propagandist State
- Cliques of War + Hegelian Tyranny
- Seekers of Knowledge + Industrial Capitalism
- Machine Cult + Machinarchy
- Warmongers + War Industry
- Antique Appropriators + Cosmic Pioneers
- Eugenics Programs + Gene Cult
- Subversive Stratagems + Shadow Council
- Patrol Agency + Personal Weapons
- Splintered Hives + Council of Minds
- Research Driven + Global Relay Synapses
- Venator Hive + Voidswarm
- Nanomechanical Entities + Destructive Programming
- Integrated Foundries + Mineral Compositions
- Data Accretion + Open Source Software
- Antique Purveyors + Galactic Pioneers
- Subversive Syndicate + Criminal Syndicate
- Technocorp + Educational Institute
You will likely notice some new civics in there, as well as some with new names. We will go over these more in the future!
A Look at Some Synergies
Here is a look at the synergy between Sovereign Nations and Supranational Council. You may remember it in a more blurred state in the last devlog:
As shown, the player empire instead is able to create Diplomat jobs with the unique buildings provided by the Supranational Council civic. Where normally Planetary Councillor jobs turned Influence OR Unity into amenities, stability and more, Diplomats also produce Unity OR Influence, depending on their upkeep.
Basically, if they have an influence upkeep, they produce unity, and vice versa. This can be changed with the Execute Council Jurisdiction edict as previously.
—
Machine Cult and Machinarchy:
Eugenics Program and Gene Cult:
Industrial Capitalism and Seekers of Knowledge:
Cliques of War and Hegelian Tyranny:
… and that’s all for today! As mentioned, the way synergies are done are hopefully still able to maintain that feeling of pure Stellaris mechanically and conceptually, while adding something fresh.
As always, let me know what you think of these additions and changes in the usual places. Next time, we’ll be going over the changes to the origins mentioned back in devlog #11. Some of the additions are quite lengthy, so be sure to have a look!
Thanks for reading.
-MadeinCanada
MadeinCanada's Site 