@Mindgamer: https://psteamcommunity.yuanyoumao.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2465577434

@georgiaboy4 Yeah, just not sure how quickly I will get around to it. Atm I am working on Orion system with guardian and some tech reward, maybe also Loknar with some nice fleet buffs.

Another plan is just renaming some in-game stuff for MOO flavour.. Like blue lasers, purple lasers etc to plasma beams, phasers etc. Not sure if I will dabble with adding new mechanics to them - too hard to balance

Longer term I am thinking of converting the L-Cluster into the Antaran pocket dimension.

There are plenty of ideas and none of them are above my ability to mod - it just takes a ton of time and I do not have too much of that. But I am invested in keeping this thing going as I play it regularly with my friend and we always go full MOO.

@Mindgamer: Harvesters are pretty strong, but my galaxy was united against them. Plan on adding more content from MoO 2 or 3?

Let me know if Harvesters are unmanagable now. I am not sure about the extra growth bonus given to them. Will be playtesting myself as well but last game they wiped out my mate in MP. Maybe the extra bonuses in addition to the AI fixes that came with Herbert are a tad too much...

Yeah, that's also a good idea.. will do that and perhaps more espionage discounts for them. Now that I know how to add modifiers directly to species I can do lots of this kind of stuff

@Mindgamer: An additional envoy...that's all. Thanks for your hard work!

What do you mean? I tried to give them some benefits of the espionage system - they have civics that give them more code-breaking. If you have better ideas, I am all ears.

@Mindgamer: Thank you for the response...how about having the Darloks access the Nemesis DLC?

Convert to their own with a 25% chance of escape or something. That gives them some growth but it would mean the Harvesters would have to keep conquering to not fall behind.

@Mindgamer: Do Necroids eat pops or convert them to their own pop?

Necros get a significant pop growth nerf. It does not rhyme well with the Harvesters for me. If I do it I will need to add some additional growth bonuses to them somehow to keep it at least at normal level.

@georgiaboy4 hadn't thought of that. Seems like a good idea. I will give it a spin and if it works out, I will change it. Probably at the same time as Aquatics come around for a Trilarian remake.

@Mindgamer: Do you plan on requiring the necroids DLC for the harvester and having the Harvesters use the Necroids playset?

Also, make sure that you set "IGNORE_PORTRAIT_DUPLICATION" to "YES"! If you don't, the Commonwealth of Man will not spawn, nor will any other human empire.

You are correct TurtleShroom, I will stop removing the default races with the next version. Plenty of other mods do that and it should be optional

It should not remove the old ones.

Updated for 2.5.1. Please let me know of any new issues with this version

Yeah, I don't think it is needed any more.. Been meaning to remove that link for days... Thanks for reminding me

Thanks for the mod!
The link to the mod that fixes the upkeep bug is broken, though.

Lithovore sounds really cool.. I might give this a try

(I'm going to subscribe to your mod and use it when the next Modageddon hits, until I can rebuild, LOL!)

I see the point of using MI and HM for Meklars and Klackons especially, to make use of those features. I did build them as each initially. Since the original Meklar were specifically cybernetic organics, I originally made them an assimilator empire. In the end though I thought that it made them too hated by everyone else, and there were so many traits from mods that fit them as organics that I just switched them over.

You should check out the Gwynn's Additional Playstyles mod. I used that one extensively with my latest MOO2 recreation. There is an option to make the Elerians true precognitives, another to make the Silicoid true rock eaters, etc. If you like I can send you a list of the essential mods I used with my builds. I do like that you've made a conversion using almost no other mods, though.

I like the idea of bringing in the Antarans, but I wonder if they might be used better as an alternate for the midgame crisis where aliens from another dimension come raiding random places in the galaxy. That IS a core game thing, right?

I made Meklars Mach. Int. just to make use of the features in the game and make them more distinct. Originally I even made them Warbots but that did not feel right so they are more neutral now. Klackons are also a hive mind to just add more variety. At least they are not a devouring swarm. For Darloks I am waiting for the inevitable diplomatic expansion pack and espionage system. Briefly considered Criminal Syndicate for them but...

Anyway if you ever get around to uploading your mod, be sure to post a link here as well.. I am sure others would like to see it

Thanks for posting.. The races require my Portraits and Flags collections. Actually this pack is the reason I made the other mods.

Your take on the races is real interesting. I would like to make my own races more special also. Maybe add a few traits and customize their AI-s a bit so that they would play differently from the vanilla personalities. Make the Alkari hate the Mrrshans etc. Haven't had the time yet through. Also pretty high on my wishlist is creating the Oroin system with ruins and a guardian. Maybe even a custom precursor chain (if it is possible). And maybe another option for the L-Cluster where on opening the Antarans come pouring out.

Because of the mods I have, I refocused some of the races. The Bulrathi are masters of ground combat, but I also played up their being ecologists, so they are good at that too. The Sakkra breed like rabbits and are individually dull, but I also geared them towards genetic engineering. The Mrrshan are rapacious gunners but also flamboyant artists (as hinted at several times in the series). The Trilarian... I focused on making them the masters of Unity, while the Darlok are masters of Influence. Both seemed to suit each race.

I also waffled heavily on whether or not to make the Meklar a machine intelligence and the Klackon a hive mind. In the old games, they had no problems living amongst the other races and integrating with them. In the end I found traits in mods that made them both "kinda" - the Klackon are comprised of multiple hive minds working together, and the Meklar begin with a cybernetic trait, but they are both normal organic species. I still wonder if the Klackon should just be a hive mind though...

I do find it interesting that we chose many of the same portraits! The only differences are the Gnolam (although I like the warthog - I used the purple sluggy "Ginufean" alien you can find in your portraits collection mod), the Psilon (I used what you are using for the Elerians - I know you are using the real Psilon from MOO2), the Alkari (I used the more hawklike base avian with the feathered frill), the Klackon (I used another base arthropod but I like your choice too), the Trilarian (I used the base mollusk with the Cthulhu look), and the Elerian (I used the "space elves" but later switched to the Dryad portrait mod because they are all female, and the Elerian are matriarchal).

Wow, this looks awesome! I went a little ba-nay-nays recreating these races on my own but I'm going to want to see how you put them together! I assume there are no other mods needed to make these work? I used a lot of mods for my take on them. It's one reason why I never looked into putting them up here - you'd need Planetary Diversity and Government+ and a few others.

Should be good for 2.2 now.

Will try to get this updated before years end.

update

Thank you for reporting. The bug was in the R27 Animated Portraits sub mod and is now fixed. Please let me know if you have any further problems

In all of the instances that the R27 Silicoid races are used there is no planitary preference. When selected as a custom race it does not activate the preference, nor when they are used from the template or included as an AI race, there is no planet preference.

I created a custom race using the Mod images.

Thank you for reporting. Did you create a custom race or use one of the ones added by the mod? Which one or what kind of race did you create? To fix the problem I need to replicate it and this means I need as much information as possible on how the error occurred in your game

I vave an issue with the beginning world. Even when I have selected a beginning world, I do not get a preferred world, and then all of the potential colony woulds are unavailable.