Expanded Machine Options
I recently bought Synthetic Dawn, and found machine empires to be a bit lacking. For one, robo modding has no advanced traits. You get all these extra points from ascension perks with nothing to spend them on. For two, assimilators just have to deal with whatever traits the species they assimilate have. They have gene modding, but no option to spend perks on improving it.
This little mod aims to correct that, while maintaining some semblance of balance to the unmodded game. The following changes were made:
Firstly, these four new traits have been added for robo modding. They’re available at the start, since there is no advanced trait mechanism for robots.
1. Enhanced Power Drills: +15% minerals for 2 points
2. Advanced Superconduction: +15% energy for 2 points
3. Overclocked Logic Engines: +15% research for 4 points
4. Uplink Repeater Protocols: +10% unity for 1 point
All of them have their own icon except Uplink Repeater Protocols, which is just a copy of the regular robot version (which machines can’t have) with the bonus reduced from 15%. With them the bonus trait points from the ascension perk can actually be useful.
Second, the tradition bonuses for Efficiency Algorithms and Harmony traditions applies to all pops – not just machines. So with the former your cyborgs will use 10% less energy too, and organic pops will eat 10% less food. If robots can be efficient with energy, surely they can devise ways to feed organics more efficiently too? With the latter, you get 33% robot build speed in addition to 25% organic growth speed if you’re servitor or assimilators – this is especially helpful for assimilators who want to focus on their cyborgs, who would otherwise not benefit from the machine building bonus at all.
Finally, the ascension perks for biological ascension can be taken by all those who have the prerequisite techs for it – namely, rogue servitors and assimilators. They do not, however, provide the tech for gene mod troops.
I was asked about compatibility. This mod overwrites the following default things:
Traditions:
Prosperity: trans-stellar corporations
Harmony adoption
Harmony: mind and body
Ascension Perks:
Engineered Evolution
Evolutionary Mastery
Thus it’s not compatible with mods that change those particular things, but should otherwise work with anything else.
Update 3/16/18:
It’s not exactly a machine change, but I noticed synthetic leaders don’t benefit from the harmony traditions once they ascend. So now synthetic ascended pops get the following tradition swap:
Mind and Body swaps to Self-Preservation Protocols – +20 leader age (useless to synths) exchanged with -50% breakdown chance (very useful for synths). This helps differentiate synthetic ascended pops from plain jane empire using synthetic leaders too, as now their ascended leaders die half as often as regular old synthetic pops.
Update 3/26/18:
Assimilators can get machine worlds perk. Why take away our options, Paradox? Assimilators have machine pops too!
Required DLC:
These DLC should be installed in order to use this item.
Stellaris: Utopia
Stellaris: Synthetic Dawn
Revisions:
Old revisions of this mod are available below. Click the link to download.
