The official submission thread is here: https://empyriononline.com/threads/npc-factions-call-for-papers.92373/ You will need to fill in all the applicable categories in a stand-alone post solely for the faction. While this is the template, the designation is referred to as the Faction "Card." The form and explanations are as follows: Name: The name of your faction. Title: Most factions will not have their name as their title or how they are referenced in Andromeda. It will likely be some kind of combination of the civilization/government/economic/philosophical types listed below. Sub-faction Titles: It is very possible for a massive interstellar star-strutting species to have sub factions of various kinds and types. Ex: The Zirax have "houses." Sub-faction Names: See "Sub-faction Titles." Species Type: Reptilian, Mammal, Crystalline, morphic, Avian, Mollusk, etc. Be sure to added descriptions about locomotion - bipedal, qudraped, others. Civilization type: See below for further description(and please read it!); list your civ type here. Government type: See below for further description(and please read it!); list the government type(s) here. Economics: See below for further description(and please read it!); list the systems of economics here. Philosophies: See below for further description(and please read it!); list the dominant philosophical approaches here. Foundation: List as "founded" - star date. When did things start? Religion: IF your faction has a religion, list its type and name here. See below for further description. Location: Does your faction reside in a nebula? Regular solar system? Multiple solar systems?(multiple solar systems might seem impossible but I am hoping you are a creative bunch and you could surprise me.) Main Planet: Name of origin planet(this could be "lost to time" or some similar mechanic so describing things as "unknown" or "Lost" or related is acceptable. Please to do not leave blank. Main Planet Type: Desert, Volcanic, Ocean, Class "M" i.e. Terran, Rogue, Gas giant, etc. Short Summary: Further Description: Relation to Zirax: Relation to UCH(Terrans/Humans): Relation to Potential Neighbors: If you, the player, gets together with another player(or players) and decide to create a series of factions together, please make sure to add that here. Example: https://empyriononline.com/threads/npc-factions-call-for-papers.92373/#post-387537 --------------------------------------------------- Civilizations Because we Terrans have not had any interactions with species out and about in the galaxy yet, we can only reference those we have experienced here on our own mother Earth(Terra) and those we have imagined - usually stemming from a comparison to or drawing from natural systems. I will list a few to get us going: Republic Republics are often described as a government type in literature or academia because it's founder/visionary Plato existed in a time before vast world spanning countries and empires. I have read Plato's The Republic and other treaties and will humbly submit that it/they work better as a civilization type. Simply put; the republic sets forth to try and examine the duality that a species could potentially exist in - that the members are very similar yet likely possess differences as a result of the various evolutionary forces(a property of Nature that Plato also did not know about) and then sets about trying to form a union that sees to the need for governance and tries to form a just way of providing for both the common good and the needs of the differing types of of groups. Examples of government types the republic is compatible with: Democracy, Meritocracy, Plenocracy(bit of a stretch to consider this a government.) Examples of government types the Republic is NOT compatible with: Autocracy, Plutocracy, theocracy. Oligarchy Oligarchies are an evolution of the past purist forms of Feudalism. They are a civilization who's government, philosophies, and economics lay in the hands of a small number of groups, families, or individuals. Usually delineated by wealth, the distinction can also be via familial inheritance(i.e. name.) or class. Examples of government types the Oligarchy is compatible with: Plutocracy, Theocracy. Examples of government types Oligarchies are NOT compatible with: Autocracy, Meritcracy. Dictatorship A civilization whos form of government is an Autocracy, Economics is despotism, and philosophies are totalitarian and authoritarian. It is the oldest form of civilization and the simplest. NOT to be confused with Imperial rule or Empires. Note: similar to Imperial civilizations the challenges and complexities of managing a vast interstellar civilization means they(the dictatorships) probably would not last very long and would evolve into a Oligarchy, but it is possible. Imperial(Empire) A civilization whos form of government is an Autocracy, economics is despotism, and philosophies are totalitarian and Authoritarian AND chooses to expand, conquer, and occupy is Imperial. This Civ. type is your classic Space Empire. For reference, the Zirax are more of a Oligarchy than Empire but still call themselves an Empire. Constitutional Monarchy The Constitutional Monarchy recognizes a need for a "lightning rod" for their respective peoples or groups to look to, but actually places the real power, government, and economics into a legislative group, usually democratically elected. Examples of government types the Constitutional Monarchy is compatible with: Democracy, Meritocracy Examples of government types the Constitutional Monarchy is NOT compatible with: Autocracy, Theocracy, Plutocracy. Hive Mind A Hive Mind is typically referenced as a "evolved" ant colony. The species has a central lifeform that other less sentient lifeforms receive orders from. The less sentient lifeforms are typically specialized. The Hivemind is not compatible with any form of government, economics and likely draws from the philosophies of the totalitarian. Gestalt Consciousness A Gestalt Consciousness is a civilization thats sentience is singular, but derived from the interaction of many sentient minds. This interaction is likely facilitated by a connection of some kind. Collective Consciousness A collective consciousness is a civilization thats sentience is singular but derive from the FORCED interaction of many sentient minds acting towards a common goal. Needs a connection of some kind. --------------------------------------------------- Governments I will get us started with a few governments: Democracy A Democracy places all the laws, foundation, and chief abstractions of power into the people directly or whom the people elected to lead them. Typically legislative in nature, but direct democracies have been tried. Fundamentally requires election mechanisms. If that mechanism breaks down a democracy can very quickly devolve into a plutocracy, Theocracy, or purist Meritocracy(Aristocracy.) Meritocracy(Aristocracy) A Meritocracy(or Aristocracy to the Ancient greeks) places all the laws, foundation, and chief abstractions of power into the people deemed to have the most merit. The potential for this government is vast, but the weaknesses and potential pitfalls are equally vast; the people considered to have the most "merit" do not necessarily need to have the most ability, it could be derived from prejudice. Also, there is a very powerful incentive generated by meritocracies; to deny or deprive its citizens so that still other citizens can seem to have the most merit(denying education is the best example.) Autocracy An autocracy places all the laws, foundation, and chief abstractions of power into one lifeform. Theocracy A Theocracy places all the laws, foundation, and chief abstractions of power into whatever individual or group a religion or religious text dictates should have it. Plutocracy A plutocracy places all the laws, foundation, and chief abstractions of power into whomever possesses the most amount of wealth or position. Wealth could mean physical objects for barter or currency. A plutocracy is typically an extremely inefficient form of government but it should noted that if the individuals in possession of the wealth favor something said society can rapidly develop along those lines(art, sciences, industry, etc.) Plenocracy This is a bit of a stretch, but this government places all the laws, foundation, and chief abstractions of power into the hands of whatever individual or group promises the best chance to get an excessive amount of currency, goods, or power into the hands of all its citizens. Very likely paired with Hedonism. Often confused with Democracy and Socialism. --------------------------------------------------- Economics Simply put; a system of economics is the study of the distribution of "goods and services." Civilizations rarely only have just one type and those types very likely fluctuate over time. I will get us started with a few(the most controversial first): Capitalism The system of distribution of goods and services orients around how to manage, store, and acquire more of a civilizations currency. Is typified by reducing everything in said Civ. to a representation of that currency. Despite the vilification, this systems capacity to abstract is quite powerful, but can also be intensely unjust. Ex: Polaris. Socialism The system of distribution of goods and services orients directly around the needs of the lifeforms in the civilization. Socialism can struggle with pioneering and invention, but excels at managing challenges, maximizing existing technology, and survival. The peoples of a socialist society are likely very happy. Communism The system of distribution of goods and services is in the hands of the various groups or communities in a society as a reflection of the diversity of evolution. Theoretically ideal as the founder espoused theories of continual revolution to force the resources to said groups/communities, however the over promotion of revolution also leads to constant break down and devolution into despotism or feudalism. Environmentalism The system of distribution of goods and services orients around a compatibility with the natural systems of a world. The potential of this system is quite fearsome, BUT also supposes that some form of education is always present(even oral tradition,) is being maintained by most of the civilizations members, and the resources for invention are accessible. Is typified by very high inventive prowess if those resources are not accessible and the members of the society have the resilience to stick with the system. Ex: A hunter that understands that if they over-hunt an area all the food will be gone. Ex: Germany circa 1998 - present. Despotism The mirror of Autocracy but in economics: The system of the distribution of goods and services is in the hands of one lifeform. Is always paired with an Autocracy or Theocracy. Can be very, very efficient, but also very, very cruel, terrifying and unjust. Is the polar opposite to socialism; the members of a despotic society are typically very unhappy. Ex: China. Feudalism The system of distribution of goods and services is in the hands of a small group of families, individuals or groups. Societies/civilizations are usually somewhat aware that despotism means horror(even if it is by oral tradition) so the point that most systems of economics devolve to(if they devolve) is feudalism. Hedonism The system of distribution of goods and services orients around excess and consumption or possession without limits. Usually paired with the form of government plenocracy and is the sister to the form of economics Capitalism. Is the opposite of environmentalism and conservatism. Is often confused with the philosophy Libertarian and the form of economics consumerism(which is not a thing.) Is a system that is usually intensely destructive to a civilization and pushes it well past is limits. Ex: Rome before and during its fall from a Republic to an Empire. Ex: The United States of America circa 197x/198x - present. Fascism A system of the distribution of goods and services around a prejudice and the projection of power surrounding that prejudice. Fascism was first termed by Mussolini and I know that Mussolini wanted this to be more of a government type, but like my reference to Plato and the Republic, this really works better as a system of economics. Just my two cents; I think Mussolini was a **** and did not really know what he was talking about but he none-the-less created a horrifying monstrosity(I am defining fascism based on its actions not its words.) Think of Fascism as a broader umbrella of which Racism, sexism, and other separatist prejudice are a part. Ex: Nazis Germany. Tradionalism A system of goods and services around the traditions and familiarity of a society. Often confused with Conservatism(or should I say, that it is most often confused in America; if others reading this from around this amazing globe of ours do not have this confusion in your country, do not worry this was a reference to American politics.) Fundamentalism A system of goods and services around fanatically adhering to the fundamentals of a philosophy, religion, or set of behaviors. Conservatism A system of goods and services concerning the conservation of resources. Note: Conservatives are often confused in the United States with Traditionalism, and thus receive the notoriety that they resist advancement or development. However, it is inherently conservative to advance a society in the short term even if it means greater expense, as long as the longer term yields more efficiency/less resources. Ex: Promoting Solar and wind generation of electricity is inherently conservative. Militarism A system of goods and services that orients around the establishment, upkeep, and use of the military. Ex: The "military Industrial complex." Pacifism A system of goods and services that orients around the prevention and mitigation of violence. Ex: Trade routes are a pacifist ideal/approach. --------------------------------------------------- Philosophies Philosophies are many and varied. These are a few that usually show up with respect to governments and economics. Also, it should be noted that something like environmentalism is both a philosophy AND a system of economics, but it is redundant to list both. I will list a few to get us started. Egalitarian A philosophy of equality. Usually found in and around Democracies and Constitutional Monarchies. Ex: The Constitution of the United States. Libertarian A close cousin of the Egalitarian - espouses a philosophy of the examination of the morality of consent, coercion, and harm. Ex: The Author Jon Stewart Mill and his book "On Liberty." Ex: The Constitution of the United States of America. Totalitarian The philosophy of the totality of a commodity, currency, populace, or ideas existing or being in possession of the civilization or government or system of economics. Ex: The bank Goldman Sachs possessing a monopoly of aluminum in the USA. Ex: Monopolies in general. Ex: A Military dictatorship where one person has total control of the military. Authoritarian The philosophy of who or what should have authority in a Civilization. Governments and economics are often described as "authoritarian" in a counter-intuitive fashion - they are authoritarian precisely because no one can or is allowed to consider or discuss who has authority. Ex: Well... there are sadly quite a few to choose from... Utopian The philosophy of eliminating all poverty, inequality, hardship, and conflict from a society while trying to strive towards a continually improving and developing civilization. Ex: Star Trek The Next Generations "Federation"(really should be a republic) is a Utopian society. --------------------------------------------------- Religion This is pretty simple. Choose whether or not the religion is monotheistic or polytheistic and then start to take a swing at what possible religious texts, myths, and allegories the religion might have. A religion that chooses "science" as its basis is mono-theistic. Fanaticism could be an important element. It is also possible for the society to have moved past religion. If you can, briefly state that in the template. --------------------------------------------------- How to use The way this all plays out is in the title of your faction Ex: The Democratic Republic of the He'nintar; and how you write the backstory/description of your faction. If your faction is hedonistic, that should be reflected in its practices, description, and story. How did it become Hedonistic? Is that an important part of the species history? What actions or aspect make it excessive? Likewise, if it is a hivemind, it should not act as a dictatorship but might have trouble interacting with a society that distributes its resources as opposed to focusing them. The three - Civilization type, Government type, and Economics work together to form a cohesive entity. IT SHOULD BE NOTED: The faction you may want to create does NOT NEED TO BE EVIL. Or Despotic. Or Tyrannical. It could be peaceful, but subjugated by the Zirax. Perhaps it is a newly formed Alliance of Republics that is desperately trying to fend of the Zirax. It is also critically important that you create your faction based on what lore is present with respect to the Zirax Empire and other fixtures that are in Andromeda created by the developers. This will likely mean that some re-writes are in order over time, but take heart! That is part of the fun and you will likely further your factions by doing so. Also note: If you are creating a scenario like say, Ravien's Eden, you can make up whatever you want, but the template will likely still be helpful. The Template is ultimately the most important part of this post. I will also update things; add/subtract depending on demands. I will post those changes down here with the dates. Next post are some faction helpers with respect to how and what kinds of buildings to create allong with other possible tips. Updated 2/23/2020 - Added Militarism, pacifism, Utopian and added the final notes about not needing to create a faction that is malevolent. In addition, touched up a phrase or two for better clarification and added species type, a note on locomotion, main planet type, and the Card description at the top. Updated 3/9/2020 - Added link to official submission thread and and example from that thread. Updated 3/14/2020 - Found a spelling error. Added a note to Conservative. Updated 7/21/2020 - Expanded Hedonism to be the opposite to both conservatism and environmentalism. Also removed "wonderfully awesome player" because at the time of writing this, I was feeling a touch churlish. Also found and additional "that" in pacifism.
Each faction should have(at the outset of their introduction, or over time): (Priorities, the items needed so that they can be added to a planet, are colored in green + six others to start.) - Housing - Residential building(s) - be sure to think about possible educational needs. - Food Production - Self-explanatory. - Temple - if your species is relgious these could be important, so be generous. - Research center/base/outpost; + to lab deco, - to defense stuff. - Cloning Facility - Data Center - Power stations - Although each individual complex still needs its own power. - Defense - I, II, III etc. Some could be more "police" or civil order themed buildings. - Generic Outpost - Similar to the Epsilon Outpost. - Command center - Self-explanatory - should be larger, more imposing, heavily defended. - Freighters - They could be "themed" in different ways - some more for food/organic, others military transport, others ore, etc. - Planetary vessels - Some factions would be more civilian, some more militaristic - Drone Base - Should be mean. - Drone Carrier - Also, should be mean. - Hangar - Trading station - Both planetary and in orbit. Should be "nice" and include ATMs and armor lockers. - Factory - Refinery - Oxygen, fuel, explosives - explosives could give a "Bang" - Storage - Oxygen, fuel, explosives, etc. - Communication center - Similar to Epsilon Comcenter - Relay Station - Spaceport - Transportation hub - Think; a place for alien SV's and HV's to return to. - PV base platform - Should not have anything built above the landing platform. - Space Combat platform - Is a larger space station like entity. - Space Defense Platforms - Things like armed satellites. Should vary in size from single gun to multiple. - Armory - Gotta have a place to store weapons when not in use. - Vehicle port - Generic Support - Repair/replenishment station - If this feature gets added, then this building will be the rally point. - Unique building - Biolab, Factory, Mine, Bunker, etc. Needs to be a dungeon experience. See next post for size class requirements. - CV patrol Vessel Additional organizational points: - They each have a symbol or faction indicator at some place on the structure. - In addition, ideally each structure should have its own color pallette and ore common set of solors themes for reference. One such good exmaple is JRandals Kriel set: https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=1864433416 which uses the common colors of purples and blacks while simultaneously maintaining a consistent usage of deco. - They should have the "lived in" or "Occupied" feel - labs, storage, bunks, etc. I want to say again: To be considered for addition to a planet/game, a set must include the "green" high-lighted items, and six additional structures, minimum.
A finishing touches and reminder checklist for your factions related stuff (Hummel actually wrote this and I copy + pasted.) Make sure ALL doors, ramps, hangar doors... are set to 0000 Excluded from this rule: Doors that are attached to sensors or set up with a code that the player can find elsewhere. These doors/devices REQUIRE a non-default name, so the reviewer can easily spot those. Make sure all MEDICAL and other Equipment is set to 0000 Make sure all benches, beds and any seating opportunity is set to 0000 as well If you have a Constructor or Food processor set to 00o0 make sure you ASSIGN a container for in and out AND make this container available via 0000 as well! If your POI has shield, make sure it is saved with the SHIELD-button set to ON (Same for O2, Power etc) To save everyone some hassle, please run the -clearpivot command before submitting a POI until further notice (Currently there is no ETA for this to work automatically, sry). What means go to CREATIVE: Run 'prefabinfo BA_YourBaseName -clearpivot' Spawn BA_YourBaseName Overwrite BA_YourBaseName to save the -clearpivot Make sure: Your POI does not exceed class size 17/18 for standalone POI (not spawned in a compound; Example: AbandonedMiningBase > Dungeons for the most; Space and Planet.) Your POI does not exceed class size 5-8 for compound POI ( like smaller auxiliary buildings that are grouped around a main building; see Polaris group compounds for examples.)
You should at least provide a "Faction Card" (see first post) as everything you build around it in terms of how DETAILED your factions lore is basically on you (Government, Civilization, ...). More important are the requirements for the TECHNICAL implementation for an OFFICIAL integration to the game: REQUIRED: - Orbital Patrol Vessels: At least a Corvette and Frigate Class (will detail that later; see also Polaris Faction Ship lineup) - At least ONE POI that serves as your factions "HQ" (This might then be used for the Base Attack Mechanic; Can be dungeon style) - At least half a dozen different POI ( planetary ) that fit certain themes ( Defense Stations, Powerstations, etc > see Zirax lineups) - 1-2 space stations (Note: if you make a faction that only lives in space, then your focus should be on this area with POI) - All of your designs need to be easily recognizable as YOUR faction. It needs to differ I will write an own blog post on that topic as soon as we are coming closer to that topic .. but as the creations and ideas take time, it is a good idea to think about this early on.
PS: You should possibly ALSO spend a thought, which "kind" of species your Faction belongs to: Human. Homanoid. Insectoid .... Mollusk At least as a suggestion and consideration (for the addition of new NPC models later / in the future )
Good thought, will add. Will also add these. In addition I am kicking myself that I forgot to add Pacifism and militarism to the types of economics and Utopian to the philosophies. I will add and update tonight.
Extra notes on POI building: The console command: setdevicespublic BuildID# Door ... can be used to set all of a structures doors to 0000 instantly. This can also be used on other lockable device types like Container, Medical, Constructor or FuelTank. But don't use it on anything but the doors. If you use it on containers players will be able to loot your POI's containers without incurring faction penalties. Which is a no-no. No free stuff. Bad. POIs don't need to be legal. You can stick illegal blocks onto them for special effects using copy+paste. Thrusters on spacestations, HV drills on BA mining POIs, HV turrets on Bases. Shield generators are especially good for lightly shielding POI with an HV or SV shield generator instead of POI/BA shield generator. You get a weak 6-8k hp shield instead of a big 150k hp shield like a drone base. POI shields once downed to 0 don't regenerate, so those small shield generators make perfect damage buffers on mid-level military targets.
PS: If you create a faction, maybe consider with TYPES of planets they should belong to (Temperate, Arid, Barren, etc pp)
/updated - Added Militarism, pacifism, Utopian and added the final notes about not needing to create a faction that is malevolent. In addition, touched up a phrase or two for better clarification and added species type, a note on locomotion, main planet type, and the Card description at the top.... Might want to place more emphasis on the "card" being the designation and the template is the template for the card. All good thoughts. I added the extra "reserve" posts for this exact sort of thing but I suspect a "POI" How-to is probably in order. Perhaps I will type one up later.
Heya Scotsman! So I am not sure if you saw Hummels post but he is planning to open up more faction related functionality as we get closer to ALpha 12 and then after. The place or thread where you will post might refer back to the template(also referred by the dev's as a "card") thread that created or it could be its own. What I would encourage you to do right now is to select the general forums or the creators area and start a post where the first is the faction card and then add a second or third post that has "- reserved -" in their body for you to post BP's to. At the end of the first post make sure to create a link back to this area so that players know where you get the format. Then change the steam flag of your BP's from private to public so that others can see and utilize them. This will get the creative juices flowing and you can then have players come along and ooh and ahh at things. Once the official thread is set up you will have to convert things if it is significantly different than what I typed up here(which I doubt) or Hummel/Taelyn/someone else can move your thread to the specified section/area. Hope that helps!
