[2023] Mod Highlights #5 - Like, Totally Converted

A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page here.

by MrFreake, chirumirushiroz​, rodahtnov​, gordon_cmb​, and idm7449​

Hello Stellaris Community, and chad-mod-enjoyers the world over!

Today we’re here to highlight some overhaul mods. From technologies, to government types, the galactic imperium, and traditions, this collection of mods might just have something that speaks to your inner swolefin!

Too much reading for a Monday? We’re also proud to feature Michael~ for the first time on Stellaris Official on YouTube, with a video highlighting these four mods:


Like this content? Subscribe to Michael~ on YouTube!

Without further ado, this first mod needs no introduction to just over 140 thousand of you, but in order to stop the ACOT fans yelling at us, we’re proud to present:

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Ancient Cache of Technologies by chirumirushiroz​


Features:

• New Technology Tiers
  
• New Ship Types Based on Fallen Empires
  
• New Planet Types
  
• New Neutral Faction that doubles as mini-crisis
  
• New Megastructures
  
• New Origins
  
• Reworked Armies
  
• New stories and lore

Summary:
Ancient Cache of Technology explores the stories of the ancient enigmatic precursors, including the Curators, the Fallen Empires and those that came before them. Behind their history lies many great secrets yet to be rediscovered.

The Fallen Empires thought they mastered the Enigmatic Power, their dark matter and energy weapons supreme. But for how long? What if an empire manages to rise and learn their secrets, what if they surpass the known knowledge of the past, and forge a new future thought impossible?

This mod introduces a large variety of new technologies based on the enigmatic powers. From ship weapons, to buildings, to armies or planetary decisions. Technologies are categorized into tiers, and there are event chains that each empire has to go through to acquire them...or steal them from the others.

Due to vanilla's lacking army contents, this mod also expands upon armies as well. Most importantly, the Hive Mind gets to have their own armies now (No more zerglings running home due to low morale)

Furthermore, the mod buffs the existing Fallen Empire worlds to be much harder to invade, with their home citadels now fully protected, their outlying planets now have proper FE-tier buildings and their armies now much harder to beat.

It also buffs and expands upon the Curator Order a lot, as well as adding an entirely new neutral leviathan-like faction who holds a massive starbase, waiting for someone to challenge them." I always liked how the Fallen Empire ships looked and the mystery behind them, but the base content and story of the Fallen Empires in the vanilla game left much to be desired, so I started by giving them more unique building looks, unique armies, then the mod gets larger until it reaches the current version.









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This next mod adds a little bit of everything, new authorities, civics, ascension perks, megastructures, all while going for the vanilla-like feel and balance:

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Stellaris Evolved by rodahtnov​


Features:

• 6 new authorities, with 3 more on the works
  
• More than 100+ new civics, including all playstyles and new types of civics (Origin civics, origin exclusive civics tied to your origin!)
  
• Expanded and customizable ethics for normal and gestalt empires
  
• Several new traits for al type of species archetypes
  
• Several reworks and adjustments to base features keeping the original appeal (reworked Arcologies, Habitats, Branch offices, Naval capacity, etc)
  
• Several additions to DLCs, filling the missing fantasy gaps (example: aquatic trait/civic for machines)
  
• New and expanded features in line with the original appeal and experience (Ai authorities processing capacity, hivemind rework, machine rework, etc)
  
• 6 new Tradition paths, built as an upgrade of some of the base game paths.
  
• Some new ascension perks expanding generally lackluster features (example: A starbase path to make starbases more feasible economically or as defense!)
  
• 8 new expanded ascension paths, including advanced versions of normal paths, mixed paths and more, with subpaths inside each path and unique mechanics, traits and lore for each one.
  
• New mid game megastructures and planet types.
  
• A lot of custom art in all features in line with the base game.
  
• And more coming soon!

Summary:

With Stellaris Evolved we intended to create a new set of tools to fill the gaps in the fantasy-creation agency process of players; a big emphasis has been put on empire creation and early game, and we are slowly expanding our horizon towards mid and late game.

• Readability and accessibility: We enhance features visually so they are easier to understand/read and there is no need to relearn the game; all is done in line with vanilla design.
  
• Diversity and variety: We try to provide all the tools possible to create diverse fantasies outside the stellaris reach, and we are constantly asking people, searching media, etc to enrich and expand! But always taking in mind player agency is priority, so we avoid bee-lining a fantasy!
  
• Compatibility: As a soft-overhaul we try to allow the maximum compatibility possible, and as such we design evolved as a foundation mod, adding some external code internally for compatibility and openly collaborating with other modders for it!
  
• Fun and accomplishment: This is a game and as such, having fun is a priority! We try to make all players feel satisfied and accomplished after a game, with also some balance in mind, so all type of sessions are enjoyable"

Inspiration
Originally this mod was gonna be a "gestalt only" mod; I love stellaris and my initial experience was playing gestalts, specially hives, and after some time detected they were a bit stale, so decided to start modding! And, with a non coding background, the start was pretty rough, but over time knowledge was gained, new techniques and wisdom were discovered and overall, a good experience was generated with the joy of creating people's love.

Has been a lot since then, more than two years, and features got expanded, things got reestructured and all goals needed to organise, but now we are a team of two (MrRoAdd, you are amazing!) and we are doing a lot of amazing things you will see now, and in the future!

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Ever just.. See an idea and go: “Wow, that is really cool.” Well, this next mod did that to me, and I suspect you might just have the same reaction, because it’s just that cool.

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Superstates by gordon_cmb​


Features

• Ability to form Superstates:
  
• * The Galactic Republic
  
• * Union of Socialist Stars
  
• * Galactic Processing Unit
  
• * Everlasting Hive
  
• * GalactiCORP
  
• * Universal Union
  
• Several new civics, events and unique flags for each

Summary
The Superstates are your go-to alternatives for the Galactic Imperium. If you want to expand your reach even further, but want to remain the Galactic Custodian, you can instead form a Superstate. Each one has its own set of civics, unique flags, events and even a set of resolutions will be available in future updates! The primary goal of this mod is to bring more variety and roleplaying potential to the game. Not every Custodian will want to proclaim an authoritarian Imperium, some will want to remain democratic, or strengthen their grip on the Galaxy further. The mod doesn't tell the entire story behind the formation of a Superstate or its possible dissolution later down the road, it leaves those details to the player's interpretation, making games more fun and enjoyable to play if you love democracy! On topic of loving democracy, you will still be able to form the Imperium, provided you want to and your Superstate is not as despotic (eg. The Universal Union). There can't be two or more Superstates at the same time, since a Superstate is a Galactic Hegemon. This empire is a diplomatic mastermind that brings the Galaxy ever so slightly towards total unification.

Inspiration
The inspiration behind this mod was the Imperium itself, or rather, how limited it was. Even if you play as a xenophilic democratic guardian of the galaxy - you MUST leave these values behind and become a dictatorial militarist if you want to lead the Galaxy. The game needs more variety on all fronts, and that's when the modders can help. That's why I create those mods, to promote variety, to promote roleplay and replay value.

This game is not merely a 4X strategy, it's a story generator, and a good story needs good tools to be made. Stellaris in itself is a great game already, it serves as a perfect platform for modding, and I'm extremely glad the developers are as kind as they are, they give us tools, they give us easy to understand code, and they constantly support not just the playerbase, but the modders as well.

Overall, I think, since the modding potential is so great, we need to take matters into our own hands and create the best roleplaying experience out of this game. This is exactly what I'm trying to achieve, this mod and Resolutions Expanded are basically a cross-compatible series of mods to improve on the Galactic Community, and I hope to see more mods like this in the future.
To all newcoming modders: Be yourself, and be the change you want to see!



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Our final mod for this month’s mod highlights takes a different approach to traditions, splitting the vanilla traditions up into sections, and allowing you to choose part or all of traditions, and combine them to best fit your playstyle:

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Forerunner - A Traditions Overhaul by idm7449​


Features:

• Forerunner overhauls all Traditions in the game with more compelling perks and choices, supporting unique bonuses for standard empires, machine empires, hive empires, Lithoids, Necrophages, and much more. Adding in total 11 Tradition categories, 60 Paths, and 198 new Traditions!
  
• A new way to gain Ascension Perks. Instead of gaining Ascension Perks from finishing a Tradition, gain them by pairing Paths. Choose the bonuses that are relevant to you and your playstyle!
  
• Redesigned layout and icons for each Tradition category, featuring the beautiful artwork found in Stellaris!
  
• Lightweight and compatibility friendly. Forerunner was designed with compatibility in mind.
  
• Clean implementation. No game errors.

Summary
Forerunner - A Traditions Overhaul is a complete overhaul of the game’s tradition system, designed to mirror the balance of the base game while introducing new gameplay options. It reworks existing Tradition trees with more compelling perks and choices in order to reinforce existing playstyles or create entirely new ones. Forerunner attempts to make every choice as meaningful as possible by focusing on a smaller selection of Tradition categories as opposed to a larger number with a varying degree of game balancing.

The new Path mechanic gives players increased freedom when it comes to pursuing Ascension Perks, by allowing Paths to be paired within a Tradition category or in between Tradition categories, letting the player define how their Ascension Perks should be obtained.

Will you remember your Heritage or will you Ascend? Forerunner introduces a brand new tradition called Heritage that serves as an alternative to Ascension Paths centered around remaining true to the empire’s identity (Ethics, Civics) instead of forging a new one.









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That’s it for this month’s mod highlights! I hope you’ve found something that will add some spice to your next playthrough, and thanks to Michael~ (subscribe to him on YouTube!) for doing the feature video this month.

Are you a modder who wants your mod featured in a future mod highlight? Fill out the signup sheet here[pdxint.at]!