Hey all! Been a while since the last post, but exams are now fully over! I was just about ready to focus on Empires Expanded in full gear again to get ready for a release of 2.0 in July or so… and then the 2025 ModJam was announced!
The ModJam
Like in 2023 and 2022, I am participating in this year’s ModJam, though I didn’t expect it to be in the Summer this time around!
If you’re not aware, a ModJam is when modders sign up to all create mods with a certain theme/focus in the span of a given time. This year’s theme is Become the Crisis, so modders are tasked with becoming all-new Become the Crisis paths. Definitely a tall order.
There’s quite a lot of modders this time around, which is really cool for something as big as a BtC path! You’ll be seeing more information about the various entries (including mine!) in the modjam soon enough! Some of them seem really interesting, so do have a look once info is out!
This year, my entry is focusing on the eldritch side of Stellaris; a lot of other modders are doing similar, actually, but hey that’s how it works out sometimes. Hopefully each of ours will stand out!
Instead of having YOU become the crisis, in my entry, you are moreso helping this once-great entity gain the power it needs to become the crisis itself, in a way. You’re simply gaining the boons and rewards from doing so.
As a result however, you need to be careful not to anger the entity, the Architect of Ruin. Otherwise, you might be the one losing the game instead of winning.
I’ve never done fully custom UI in any of my mods before, though I have messed around with them at points. Hopefully this can give a bit of a peek into the mechanics around the crisis path!
You might think this is a Shroud-related entry, but it’s not! I’ve added a bit of lore to the story to explain various parts of it, but some of that will have to remain hidden until more info is revealed about all the modjam entries…
The Architect of Ruin was banished to The Veil long ago, and its your job to provide it sustenance to grow in power and break free. You will use new mega-structures, planet types, decisions, purging, factions and more to help it gain power, and break through The Veil.
The Architect of Ruin offered its services to us in exchange for simple requests. Fulfilling its requests granted us boons and gifts, and for the Architect, the minds of our people. But now, it’s changed. It seems more violent, more insatiable. Our people are no longer enough.
Are we simply its pawns, or its allies? To keep it satisfied, we spread its influence with war, espionage and propaganda campaigns. We are forced into conflict to simply obtain more bodies for the Architect to feed on. And we stand to gain much power from it.
Shall we utterly submit to it, or do we fight back? Or, can we turn this to our favour with sheer force? It is up to us to choose our path, but once we do, there is no turning back.
Update on Empires Expanded
So, as expected and as I mentioned before, my plans for EMEX during May/June didn’t quite work out as I expected, exams made me a lot more busy than I thought. However, I do have some information to share.
During this month, July, I’m going to be working on EMEX 2.0 as the ModJam will begin to wind down a bit. I can’t give any solid dates for devlogs/releases, but I expect 2.0 to be released sometime in August. I’d also like to get a devlog out sometime before then, maybe nearer the end of July.
I do apologise for another delay, but exams + modjam is not something I expected would happen, so I hope I can at least make it up to you guys by making a good modjam mod (and maybe even integrate/use some parts of it in a future update for EMEX? That’s right, the ModJam’s been EMEX v2.1 all along).
Here’s a bit of a teaser for the next devlog, to tide you guys over.
Description and text is still subject to change; anything highlighted in blue will be used as concept text, meaning you will be able to hover over it to see more information
You might think this means that this revamped origin will work like precursors do, but that’s not true! In fact, they will work in a pretty unique way.
Every few years, you will be prompted to choose a special event chain from 3 options. In total, there are 6, and they will be randomised to allow for different orders and outcomes each game. Each individual event chain has branching paths and alternative choices, too!
That’s all for today, been a while since the last one, so I thought I’d keep you guys updated.
I’m also planning on getting out an update to EMEX in the coming days to update some compatibility issues with other mods, and also to the Dimensional Wayfarer, since there have been some issues with it for Stellaris 4.0.
Thanks for coming by, see you in the next one!
-MadeinCanada
MadeinCanada's Site 