Stellaris Mods - Progress, Revised Omega Roadmap and More Fun With Elves (Patreon)

Hai! And welcome to another apology for unannouncedly (is this even a word? well, it is now!) changing our plans. As you may have noticed, the Omega roadmap I promised to lay out sometime in June... still hasn't been posted. And as you might surmise from the title of this post, it has also undergone a little revision. Typical. I'm sorry! I should try to come up with some filler content in cases like this, especially considering how often this happens >.>

So because of the delay and lack of progress otherwise, I decided to merge the roadmap into the monthly update instead. But more on that later! As far as things that we HAVE made some progress on, I'd like to show off a couple new Elves of Stellaris portraits today, as well as take a look at some improvements the Lhûren have received over the past month.

But without further adoooooooo...

Mass Effect Civilisations - Omega

As I mentioned before, while laying out the roadmap for Omega, I came across a little issue that prompted me to reconsider it.

Originally, I was planning to work on the Omega upgrade process right about now, after having successfully set up the Tartarus system and the Omega 4 relay last month. However, it occurred to me that it might not be the best idea in the long term considering that the way habitable planets and structures function is very likely to change, possibly even be reworked completely if Wiz's PDXCon teaser is anything to go by.

As a reminder, this is the early prototype we were shown:

Personally, I'm ecstatic about the possibilities this model might bring to the table! A more abstract, tile-less, economic-sector-based system that also allows for adding flavourful environmental features (as seen on the right) would be A-MA-ZING for what we're trying to accomplish with Omega and other unique planets/habitats that Team Nessassity has come to be known for!

However, as with any teasers, especially ones that are (or were at the time it was shown) still in the prototype phase, it is still too early to plan our own development around the predicted changes. On the other hand, continuing to develop for the current system could turn out to be a waste of time in a few months.
Which means that the most optimal course of action for us at this time is to put the development of anything planet and pop-related on hold until we know the full scope of Paradox's plans. Hopefully soon? n_~

Thankfully, we certainly don't lack for work in other areas that desperately needs doing. As such, I have decided to juggle the priorities around and keep working on the Collectors, their assets, system and related events.

Oh... speaking of which, did I mention that the Collectors are shaping up to have custom-animated portraits? No? Let me just leave it here and say nothing more on the subject then, mwahahaha ≧∇≦

In any case, custom portrait animations are something we've been looking into for the longest time but never had an opportunity to put into practice. It's definitely breaking a new ground for us but once we figure it out, it will become a priceless asset in our arsenal! There's so many things we could do by creating portrait meshes from scratch rather than relying on the limited vanilla templates. Additional layers for accessories, more life-like animations, maybe even support for truly elaborate clothing and hair/headtacle styles! We have only scratched the surface so far but I can't wait to take a full dive into this!

Anyways, back to the topic at hand, I will post the revised Omega roadmap once we know it ourselves. With planets and pops suddenly becoming an unknown quantity, we must do our best to channel productivity elsewhere for the time being.

Elves of Stellaris 

Speaking of... actually I don't have a good transition for that >.< Let's just talk about Elves now!

Last month, I dedicated the entire monthly report to the Lhûren and showed off some of the work-in-progress assets. Today, I'd like to follow it up with a couple of recent additions and improvements!

First of all, you may remember this hair worn by the current poster girl portrait. I like to call it the Big Bun of Wuoom (for the depiction of Empress Wu Zetian it was taken from)

It was pretty! But we were seriously bothered by the slightly... helmety look of it. Like a very stiff wig that didn't actually look like it fit the head quite right when applied to our other portraits. So! We decided to adjust it a little and after a...

...few...

...different...

...iterations...

...we have finally arrived at the Big Bun of Wuoom's final form!

A Wuoom Rebun!

...

Okay, this may be a terrible name even by my standards BUT THAT"S NOT IMPORTANT! >.<# What matters is that the Lhûren's signature hairstyle no longer pokes at our OCD and looks pretty no matter who's wearing it!

So my next step on the road to world domination is to find a hairdresser crazy enough to put it on MY head!

...

Um... right, where was I?

Oh! Of course! Despite all the attention we poured into the Big Bun, Nessa still had enough modding mana left to conjure up three new phenos! One female:

And two new he-elves!

Don't these eyes just make you want to be pat on the head and told you've been a good girl and and... n-no? Just me? F-fine >.< What? NOTHING! I SAID NOTHING!

Strange feelings of warmth banishing endless loneliness from my cold, dead soul aside, THEY'RE SO PRETTY! <3 Now all they need is some equally pretty and ridiculously fancy hats that are next(ish) up on our agenda and which I can hopefully show off soon! n_n

And on that note, this is all for today! I'm not sure just yet if it's all for this month because now that my holidays have (finally) started, my schedule... is nonexistent and that's a very weird feeling I don't know what to do with. How does one... freedom? What do I do with all this free time? Welp. While I'm figuring it out and hopefully not succumbing to the sweet temptations of pool and ice cream... too much, thank you for your continuing support and for following our progress! Please stay tuned and have fun playing Stellaris and/or enjoying your holidays! <3