Stellaris Mods - Part Two - OMG, Omega! (Patreon)

Welcome to Part Two of this month's two-parter monthly report! Yesterday's post was all about Mass Effect Civilisations: Asari, outlining our short- and long-term objectives as we learn more and more about the upcoming Le Guin update and the enhancements it's set to bring to the modding architecture of Stellaris.

Today, I'd like to do the same for Omega. So I should probably get right to it before I end up writing another novel! WITHOUT FURTHER ADOOOOOOOOOO! >o<

Mass Effect Civilisations: Omega

First of all, allow me to reiterate the sentiment I expressed in the previous post. Our "civilisations" are designed to be more than just a collection of art assets loosely tied together by a common theme. They are also more than the sum of parts that comprise a prescripted empire.

It was actually Omega that spurred us to adopt this mindset. Before we started working on it, we were indeed mostly concerned with ships and portraits and treated mechanics and narrative as secondary features, cherry on top. However, as we continued to come up with ideas for Omega, we started to see the roleplaying potential of it. Imagining how fun it would be to have the Omega 4 relay be more than just a decorative fixture. How much more engaging it would be to be able to interact with the unsavoury and curious characters passing through the station a la Deep Space 9. And even how fresh and interesting it would be to challenge ourselves to play an empire that never settles a planet, living off space mining, artificial habitats, piracy and protection rackets.

The more we fantasised about the possibilities, the more it occurred to us that, actually, many of those things might be within the realm of possibility. At the time we started development, admittedly only some were possible to reflect in gameplay. Other ideas would have to be realised through narrative events, but even that was an exciting prospect! And as time went on, Stellaris became more robust and open to modding, adding helpful functionality and, at several points, even removing obstacles as we ran into them. We sometimes like to joke that we have a mole at Paradox who's secretly aiding the development of Omega from the inside. Sometimes, it really feels that way ~_n

In many ways, the fact that Omega's development has been so slow, has actually been a net positive, allowing us to upgrade the implementation of many fun things from make-believe message boxes to actual interactive mechanics. In the current version of the dev build, Omega 4 relay is a functional gateway through which ships can travel... not like it's a good idea, as soon the other side will be swarming with Collectors and other... dangers. If Stellaris 2.0 had never happened, if the developers hadn't been creative and bold enough to rip the old FTL system out and create a new one from scratch... Omega 4 would just be a glorified ambient object. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that Omega would be impossible to do right if it weren't for the continued evolution of Stellaris and the passion and willingness to take risks that Paradox developers have shown.

As you might imagine, Le Guin is no different. Everything that's coming with it seems like a match made in heaven for Omega, from something as simple as a modifier scaling the output of mining stations, to pop jobs, slave trade and trade routes. If we hadn't started working on Omega a long time ago, Le Guin would inspire us to do so!

But you're not here to listen to me fangirling over 2.2 all day. I think you're more interested in the details I promised. Fortunately for you, Princess-senpai exhausted her random tangent quota for the week yesterday... Okay maybe that's not quite tru- ANYWAYS!

Our milestones and core development objectives remain the same, but what Le Guin brings to the table is depth. Here's what we are hoping we will be able to do based on the information we know so far:

• Pop jobs and strata will bring so much flavour to the incredibly diverse population of Omega, allowing us to depict various groups you might find in a hive of scum and villainy, such as... gangs! Unemployed pops might end up joining gangs for safety, passively generating a lot of Crime and causing trouble, but then, depending on how you choose to govern Omega, you might choose how to deal with that problem in a variety of ways. Maybe by putting gangsters on your payroll and building "black market" facilities for them, they could produce "contraband" resources that could then be sold on the galactic exchange for profit? And that's only one simple way to take advantage of the job system! The more we discuss it internally and the more we learn from official announcements, jobs and custom resource economy seem to have near-infinite creative potential!
• Space mining development! At long last, it will be possible to scale the output of orbital stations with the addition of new modifiers! The implications aren't lost on us of course. This one tiny, tiny addition in the grand scheme of things is a CAPITAL-LETTERS-MASSIVE step towards making entirely spaceborne civilisations viable throughout the game! Our tentative idea for this is to create a playstyle-defining civic (along the lines of Inwards Perfection, Fanatic Purifiers, etc.) that makes the Omega-based Empire absolutely terrible at developing planets, counterbalanced by powerful bonuses to mining station output and habitat utility. It would guide the player down a certain path and create an experience that's totally different from most conventional planet-based civilisations.
• Decisions, which are set to replace Edicts, will be able to affect uninhabited, and indeed, uninhabitable planetary bodies as well! That likewise increases the viability of the planetless playstyle, and also offers an intuitive and UI-integrated way for players to interact with things such as modifying and expanding Omega, exploiting the Sahrabarik asteroid belt and much more!
• Aside from resource exchange via the Galactic Market, we also know that Le Guin will add slave trade in some form. Although we know nothing about it yet aside from "it's a thing", I don't think it's hard to imagine the potential of such a feature for an empire of plundering space outlaws n_~
• All of the above and more besides will also add many potential tie-ins for the Aria's Couch Simulator system I outlined in one of previous monthly reports. Events could interact with resources, pops and buildings, temporarily change the effects of Trade Value, interact with Crime and Stability. Basically, the more modifiers and units there are to mess with, the more creative we can get with the ACS events and their outcomes.

As you can see, Omega is probably the project that will benefit the most from Le Guin. There is so much potential to turn immaterial fluff into tangible, interactive elements of gameplay and create mechanics to support a playstyle that is true to the lore and unique to Omega.
Of course, as with anything that is still in development, nothing is set in stone, we cannot be 100% sure that all of these things will be viable or practical, but if even half of what we're hoping for comes true, that's still so much more than we're able to do within the confines of the current system. We love Stellaris <3 It's like... a self-improving, dream-fulfilling machine.

And we love YOU for your continued support and interest in our mods! <3 Thank you so much and please look forward to more fun things coming before and after Le Guin! In the meantime, have as much fun playing Stellaris as we do modding it!