ASM: Ethics and Research Priorities

Built and tested for the 2.2 update.

• Choices in government ethics affects research speed. Pick carefully!

Are you curious about why a pacifist star nation doesn’t prioritize prosperous, society-orientated technologies over war-like engineering monster ships? Ever ponder on the fact that a gestalt nation of robotic automatons is just as effective as a spiritualistic, xenophilic empire at researching colonial bureaucracy? Was there ever a time you wished for just a bit more strategy when it came to your ethics choices? If these sagacious thoughts have ever come to you (and bugged you, like they did me), then this mod might be for you!

This mod’s primary goal is to make science research a little more interesting and strategic, plus just a hint more realistic. This mod will likely only appeal to a niche group of players, but hey, that’s the beauty of mods! You pick those that work for your game and play style.

Every ethic choice now has associated research priorities in the form of country modifiers to engineering, physics, and society research. At the basic level, it is a +25% bonus to one of the three research areas and then a -25% penalty to another. At the fanatic level, it is a +50% bonus to one area and a -50% penalty to another.

• Militaristic – Bonus to Engineering and Penalty to Society. These governments prioritize defense spending for research and development at the expense of those advancements that could benefit the harmony of their societies.
• Xenophobic – Bonus to Physics and Penalty to Society. Xenophobic governments celebrate and reward the free-thinking research of their own citizens required for physics, but the state-sanctioned bias leads to slower advancements in society.
• Egalitarian – Bonus to Physics and Penalty to Engineering. The inherent freedom in egalitarian governments naturally lends itself to greater achievements in physics, but it is often unable to coordinate on large-scale, engineering projects and technologies.
• Materialist – Bonus to Engineering and Penalty to Society. Materialistic governments excel at engineering marvels and advancements, but often at the expense of the fabric of their own societies.
• Pacifist – Bonus to Society and Penalty to Engineering. Pacifistic governments often prioritize the health and well-being of their citizens ahead of engineering advancements.
• Xenophile – Bonus to Society and Penalty to Engineering. Xenophiles are masters at building connections and harmony within their societies, often at the expense of engineering advancements for war machines.
• Authoritarian – Bonus to Engineering and Penalty to Physics. Authoritarian societies excel at coordinating its populace to research and build engineering marvels, but they discourage the free-thinking necessary for physics advancements.
• Spiritualist – Bonus to Society and Penalty to Physics. Spiritualists take pride in their own cultural advancements, but their religious fervor often discourages the independent thinking required for breakthrougths in physics.
• Gestalt – +25% to Engineering and Physics, -50% to Society. Gestalt governments can coordinate relatively well for engineering projects and advancements, while their collective intelligence lends itself well to physics-related discoveries. However, their collective minds often stagnate any societal advancements.

If you prefer to have more specific bonuses/penalties that use the technology categories (e.g. military theory, new worlds, etc.) rather than the broad technology areas, check out my other mod, ASM: Leader Ethics & Research Priorities, which assigns bonuse and penalties to research speed based on the technology category. Do not use both together, as this may result in a malus of -100% for some technologies.

Altered Vanilla Files:

• 00_ethics.txt (allows to differentiate between the ethics for research)

• ASM: Reduced Station Clutter
• ASM: Ethics & Research Priorities
• ASM: Leader Ethics & Research Priorities
• ASM: Enigmatic Discoveries (Lite)
• ASM: Enigmatic Discoveries (Expanded)
• ASM: Artificial Wormhole FTL

Got feedback? Cool deal! See a bug or quirk? Let me know.