Roadmap March 2022 (Patreon)

Hey folks, I'm bringing to you a roadmap that shows the state of development of our mods today. I will walk you through every single mod you can see on the map below! Grab a cup of tea, it can be a long read!

Vanilla UI Expanded

Our programmer returned and released Vanilla UI Expanded. Make sure to snatch it from Workshop today! It's a great quality of life mod adding many interesting mechanics for UI customization.

Vanilla Backgrounds Expanded

A new mod that allows us to put our own images as the background image for both main menu screen as well as the loading screen. Vanilla Backgrounds Expanded is a mod that adds many new main menu and loading screen backgrounds inspired by RimWorld - all created by me for the purpose of Vanilla Expanded mod series. With mod options, you will be fully able to customize what backgrounds appear in the game, whether they cycle or not, and how long should it take for them to change into other backgrounds. Modders can easily add new BackgroundDefs which will be automatically picked up by our mod options menu. 

You can snatch the 4K backgrounds for your PC here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/145Ygg0Mqq3YeKqkf7CKvm-UJbMYS9EiZ?usp=sharing

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Classical

Unite the broken Republics against the common enemy. Stop the senators from squabbling and plotting against each other by completing a chain of missions to gain their favor.  Each senator on your side will provide you with more political power in the senate, as well as new technologies, regular tributes and a helping hand when you need it the most. 

What the brochure doesn’t mention is the fact that each senator on your side is a senator living under your protection, a pawn you need to care for and defend, as they are not always a skilled fighter. They do however provide you with unique perks that should make the life in the colony a little bit easier!

The mod is finished and is now undergoing testing.

Vanilla Base Generation Expanded

This mod is aimed at those of you who like to travel the world map and raid enemy faction bases. No more you will be met with 2 square buildings and a few turrets. Faction bases will now look different depending what the faction is - similar to how our Vanilla Faction Expanded mods add custom map generation. Tribal villages will now be irregular gatherings of huts and weak defenses, whilst outlander towns will be just that - towns, with many buildings you can hide behind!

Rim-Effect: Yahg

This mod will add a brand new, very rare species of incredibly strong, bloodthirsty aliens - the Yahg. You may know them from the Shadowbroker DLC for Mass Effect (which is now in Humble Choice for 12 bucks, go grab it!). The progress on the mod is still ongoing as we were busy with other priorities.

Vanilla Genetics Expanded

A successor to Genetic Rim, this mod is ten times bigger than we ever imagined it could be. The main systems are in place and we are just ironing out the smaller mechanics - such as implant, paragon animals and mechahybrids. After that's done, the mod will enter testing stage.

Vanilla Trading Expanded

A large mod overhauling the trading system and adding many new features, such as the Bank, Planetary news network, fluctuating prices, squeezes and crashes, loans etc. We are now wrapping up work on the Contracts mechanic, as well as the actual stock market element. Once that's done, the mod will enter testing. Please note this is not meant to be a realistic representation of the economy - I am not an economist, and I also don't want it to be realistic. It's simplified and almost arcadey, because it's a video game, and we don't need a corrupt market in the game to remind us how bad it is outside of it.

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Hunters

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Hunters introduces a brand new ultratech faction to RimWorld. Hunters do not represent any sort of galactic civilization or the government, but a megacorporation instead. Out there in the Core World, where people have achieved nigh-immortality already, sources of recreation evolved into new, twisted forms of entertainment to stimulate the hundreds-years old elite. Huntercorp represents one of such ventures for the wealthy.

Those with enough money can sign up to become hunters and take part in a wicked sport for the rich and degenerate. Their consciousness gets transferred onto a cortical stack - an ultratech device capable of containing a ‘soul’ of the person. Such a stack is then installed in a sleeve of the customer’s choice - of course better sleeves require more expensive, deluxe packages.

Huntercorp prides itself in having their ‘playgrounds’ on numerous rim worlds, where the communities are not as developed and don’t pose any real threat to the technology of the core worlds. Customers after choosing their sleeves get to travel to the Citadel, a luxurious resort out on the surface of the planet, protected by a kilometer high perimeter wall. They get to engage in ‘unique and fun’ activities, such as traveling around the planet and killing unsuspecting populace. Thanks to the power of cortical stacks, such travelers are not at risk of permanent damage - as even if the sleeve suffers heavy wounds and dies, a team of megacorp commandos is sent to extract the stack and bring it back to the Citadel.

Will you work with the corporation to give the rich people opportunity at making you suffer for the precious Huntercorp bonds? Or will you try and scale the wall, declaring war on the pinnacle of human technology?

Rim Effect: Turians and Gangs

Whilst the development of the RimEffect mods temporarily stopped due to ongoing situation, there has been some work done for Turians and Gangs. You probably noticed the Mercenary hiring system in Pirates faction mod - it's actually the same system we will use in Turians and Gangs. As such, I do believe the work on Turians is still going, albeit not directly.

Vanilla Psycasts Expanded

This huge mod adding over 200 new psycasts and overhauling the entire psycast system will obviously take hundreds of hours to make. The mod is planned out and the art for abilities has been done, we are just looking for programmers among our team that will take it on.

Vanilla Paintings Expanded

Similar to how we made Vanilla Books Expanded, Vanilla Paintings Expanded will add a new way to leave a mark on the world - your artists will now be able to create paintings that you can hang on the walls. Depending on the skill of your painter, the artwork will look different. Poor paintings will be stick figures, Masterwork might be Mona Lisas!

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Androids

Android tech has been outlawed in almost all respected societies in the galaxy - particularly due to the dangers androids present. Immitating humans to infiltrate and sabotage ultratech governments is not particularly a good look. Those androids, mostly eradicated now, ran away to Rim Worlds to blend among the people there.

With this mod, a new secret race will be added to your game. Awakened, unshackled Androids look and act like humans, so in most cases you won't be able to tell who's an android and who isn't - except when they start to bleed, and their internal parts begin to malfunction. You can also create your own Androids against the galactic law - but the process is very complex. Not only you will need to assemble a full humanoid android using numerous biocomponents, you will also have to put it through hundreds of hours of behavior programming for them to be even remotely useful. Such is the price for immortal pawns.

Inspired by games such as Fallout 4 and Detroit Become Human, and TV series such as Westworld, Foundation and more, this is what I believe could qualify as Vanilla Races Expanded.

Rim Effect: Memes and Structures.

The work on the meme and structures RimEffect mod hasn't started yet, but there is plenty of ideas rattling around in that head of mine. Generally, I want to add memes that make Rim Effect factions feel more thematic. 

Vanilla Vehicles Expanded & Vanilla Warwalkers Expanded

Work on those mods has been on hold until the Vehicle framework is released. Please do not ask me to prioritize them. I am not the one working on Vehicle framework, Smash Phil is. Until that's done, I literally CANNOT make these mods. Art for them is done. Nothing else is.

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Arkology

Contact a brand new megacorporation which wants to turn your Rimworld into an Arkology - a planet-wide nature reserve and safari park for their galactic audience. Watch as the planet slowly turns into a corporate world, filled with bureaucracy, franchising and licensing. Choose to invade the Arkology and bring an end to their operations on this planet, or team up with them for the generous rewards they provide.

In Vanilla Factions Expanded - Arkology, players will be able to engage in legal proceedings with a new Megacorp on various fronts. You will be able to help in creation of a brand new mega-biome called Arkology, which is a custom-made environment created for one purpose only - to populate it with bioengineered long-extinct species, tailored for customer satisfaction. Watch as the tourists flock into the park to witness these magical, legendary beings, and if you’re fortunate enough to have purchased a license to make them - watch their stock price go up.

Obtain one of the many Arkology franchise licenses to legally breed dinosaurs in your settlement. As they are born, be the first one to license them and earn huge rewards, as part of the profit from the Arkology project will come straight into your pocket. But you need to be careful. Corporate world is full of cutthroat plays, and you’re not the only colony on the planet clever enough to engage in corporation-sponsored practices. Fight AI-controlled opponents in various auctions, outbid them to gain licenses of creatures you’ve never heard before!

Or, chose to go against Arkology. The park is a great place to settle in, with unique, never-before-seen creatures replacing ordinary deers and boars. Hunt down Arkology tourists in guerilla-like warfare, taking away their precious valuables and money - after all, their insurance will pay it back. Be careful though, as surely Arkology has enough aces up their sleeve to lock you up for good.

Rim Effect: Cerberus

Work on Cerberus faction hasn't started yet. We want to use this mod to introduce a complex experimentation system using Reaper tech. 

That's it for this roadmap. Let me know what you think! I hope I answered all the questions and alleviated all concerns.