Hybrid Colony Designations Expanded

HCDX is a standalone companion (no overlap) to Hybrid Colony Designations – experimental where HCD is prudent, niche where HCD is mainstream. This mod introduces unique colony designations for edge-case optimization, thematic consistency, and play-style exploration. Built for modding connoisseurs, roleplayers, and fearless min-maxers alike. HCDX just goes a bit further.

• 20 new designation archetypes + 13 thematic variants:
  • Fortified Arsenal – Alloys + Planetary Defense (For Xenophobes, Isolationists, and turtles)
  • Biofoundry Complex – Food + Alloys (built with Catalytic Technicians in mind)
  • Tidal Commons – Food + Consumer Goods + Trade (specifically for Anglers)
  • Synthesis Sector – Advanced Resources + Strategic Resources (you already build this)
  • Industrial Cloneworks – Biological pop production (the one Paradox doesn’t want you to have)
  • Crystal Refractory – Miners produce crystals (somewhat inefficiently)
  • Sanctuary Beacon – Unity + a moderate biological pop bump. A galactic "Ellis Island".
  • Legacy Sector – When you’d rather just leave it be
  • …and more!
• Configuration Menu enables players to choose precisely which designations show up on their selection list
• Not just hybrids, anymore. These are tailored colony roles, each optimized around a distinct gameplay theme.
• Fully localized for: English, Español, português (Europeu), português brasileiro, Українська, Русский, 简体中文, Français, Deutsch, and Polski
• Works fine with a mid-game install. At least for me.
• Designed for compatibility and immersion in a vanilla+ setting

Because the galaxy doesn’t always deal in neat resource parcels – and sometimes, neither do you. Maybe you’ve got a planet with extra food districts, an alloy bonus, and nothing resembling a coherent identity. Maybe you just have a crazy dream. HCDX doesn’t judge.

Hybrid designations in HCDX are built for the odd ones. The mashups. The roleplayers with vision and the min-maxers with spreadsheets. These specialized archetypes give you meaningful bonuses for mixed or eccentric development – when your colony isn’t sure what it wants to be, or when you have something very specific in mind.

Perfect for empires that play tall, think sideways, or refuse to conform. Whether you’re chasing alloy output from a fortress world, consumer goods from a farm, or something you can only describe with hand gestures, these designations give you options where vanilla just shrugs. Everyone will find at least one designation that they’ll never be able to play without, again. And maybe five that makes them wonder what kinda freak would use something like that.

These designations won’t fix your strategic mess, but they will celebrate it, optimize it, and name it something stylish.

• AI empires won’t use these. That’s on purpose. Balancing for AI usage introduces more opportunities for unexpected consequences than something this niche could justify. That said, weighting for automated colony designation was implemented.
• Does not support automated build queues. I have not written an AI build plan for these designations. This is doable, but not currently on the project map. For now, only use this mod if you intend to manually set your build queues.
• Bonuses are balanced. These combos may be out there, but they aren’t cheaty. They are generally neither better nor worse than vanilla designations. Just different. Very different.
• It’s Complicated. Some of these have multiple prerequisites and triggered modifiers. If you aren’t in the mood for mystery, I’ve laid it out in a Google Spreadsheet[docs.google.com]. How Paradox of me.

• Not Iron Man / Achievements Compatible – This mod alters gameplay mechanics, which is its entire point.
• No DLC required – Designations from official DLC (like MegaCorp) will only appear if you own the corresponding content, but the mod runs cleanly either way.
• Required Mods
  • HCD and HCDX are independent of each other: There is no overlap. Use in any combination.
  • HCDX relies heavily on the Universal Modifier Patch.
  • For users of Planetary Diversity, there is a small patch, found here, that improves one designation.
• Vanilla-safe implementation – Does not overwrite any base game files. All designations are added via standalone scripted triggers, ensuring compatibility with Stellaris updates.
• Load order recommendations – Place below major overhauls (like Gigastructural Engineering, ACOT, or NSC). Place above UI mods or visual tweaks – they don’t interact with designations.
• Mod triggered effects may skip hybrids. Traditions or events from mods that reference specific designations (like how Adaptability gives technicians a bonus on Energy Designation planets) may not affect hybrid colonies unless manually patched by you or another modder. The vanilla ones, however, are baked in.

HCDX will be run with less restraint than HCD. There are literally thousands of colony modifier combinations possible (some more sane than others) and multiples beyond that of thematic variants. If one catches my fancy or has a constituency or an interesting narrative, I’ll probably eventually add it. I’ll trust the players to use the configuration menu to handle any problems with UI bloat. This mod is about fun and experimentation. If you have any good ideas, post them in the comments.

These suggested designations have made it into the mod:
Biofoundry Complex : CoolingRoom1644, Cyph the Terrible
Tidal Commons: Loose_Change
Fortified Arsenal: gadgetboy3
Mobilization Depot: alankraskow
Re-Education Camp, Bonded Plantation: Anton Rabe

HCDX is not for everyone. But if it’s for you… it’s perfect!

All of my mods – across all platforms and games – are released with fully open permissions. You are free to:

• Re-use, modify, or build upon any original scripts, graphics, or concepts
• Re-upload or redistribute them anywhere
• Rename or reattribute them as you see fit

No need to ask, credit, or notify me. These projects are just something I do for fun, and I want others to enjoy and remix them freely.