Stellaris - startrek
Jun. 18th, 2018 11:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackStellaris has a LOT of mods, they put a lot of effort into making lots of different aspects of the game expansible and creating a pool of enthusiasts. Like, in another game from the same people, Crusader Kings' "now you're playing Game of Thrones, yes with all the politics, good luck" mod :)
Mods can change all sorts of things based on a system of config files and plugins. You can add different races, different planet types, different events, different technologies, both from "create new thing" to "rejig balance to make game more like you like".
There's an actual startrek mod that makes it a startrek game. I know there are official StarTrek games, but they tend to focus on later series when the space seems mostly explored, but stellaris is more like the journey from "leaving earth" to "forming a federation with the other founder races" and "exploring the depths of space and seeing what's out there".
But even without that it's quite StarTrek-y. You discover random planets with poems carved on them by dead races, or abandoned multi-racial habitats floating in the upper atmosphere of gas giants. You send science ships out to explore the galaxy while you expand your holdings close to home. And you discover idiosyncratic squabbling alien races.
Space battles are quite visually impressive if you zoom in. There's not much small scale tactics, so the animation is mostly non-functional, but you can see a fleet of ships hanging in space being attacked by a vast space amoeba, or being circled by pirate vessels, with torpedos flying and lasers flickering.
It made me realise why StarTrek science/diplomatic vessels are packed with guns. Because you really might find anything out there, even if your aim is to randomly study cool stuff, you need a lot of effort to make sure you get back home again.
Mods can change all sorts of things based on a system of config files and plugins. You can add different races, different planet types, different events, different technologies, both from "create new thing" to "rejig balance to make game more like you like".
There's an actual startrek mod that makes it a startrek game. I know there are official StarTrek games, but they tend to focus on later series when the space seems mostly explored, but stellaris is more like the journey from "leaving earth" to "forming a federation with the other founder races" and "exploring the depths of space and seeing what's out there".
But even without that it's quite StarTrek-y. You discover random planets with poems carved on them by dead races, or abandoned multi-racial habitats floating in the upper atmosphere of gas giants. You send science ships out to explore the galaxy while you expand your holdings close to home. And you discover idiosyncratic squabbling alien races.
Space battles are quite visually impressive if you zoom in. There's not much small scale tactics, so the animation is mostly non-functional, but you can see a fleet of ships hanging in space being attacked by a vast space amoeba, or being circled by pirate vessels, with torpedos flying and lasers flickering.
It made me realise why StarTrek science/diplomatic vessels are packed with guns. Because you really might find anything out there, even if your aim is to randomly study cool stuff, you need a lot of effort to make sure you get back home again.