As many of you have seen, Helios is just sitting in the galaxy map and all of the factions are there... but no Helios. I proposed this faction a few years ago and tried to do everything myself and it's just too much. I have a few POIs/OPVs that I have built but we need more. So, if an illuminati masquerading as a corporatocracy sounds of interest to you, let's make it happen. Here's the basics of the lore: Helios is the main trading & sales company of the Arkenian Republic. On the surface, they are an economic powerhouse corporation facilitating galactic trade. Behind the scenes, are trying to manipulate galactic events in secret to expand their control. They operate legitimate galactic trade but also will engage in black market trade, when the need arises. While they have a fully capable military, they prefer to not engage in open warfare with other factions as this is seen as an inefficient use of resources. Instead, they prefer to use economic coercion or clandestine operations to resolve disputes. For example, rather than engage an enemy in open warfare, they may stage a false flag operation between two enemies in an attempt to make them fight each other. This minimizes the use of Helios' resources and weakens two enemies rather than one. They also have groups of commandos called the Omega Teams which conduct intelligence gathering, assassination and sabotage. They aren't necessarily hostile to other factions that do not threaten their interests or agree to partner with them or if their goals are otherwise in alignment. But if another faction cannot be partnered with and other methods of coercion have failed, they will engage in open warfare as a last resort (Kriel, etc). It may be easy to view Helios as just being a normal "bad guy" but from their perspective, the galaxy is in chaos and the status quo is unacceptable. They believe that many galactic civilizations have proven that they cannot govern themselves and the notion of a "free" galaxy is foolish idealism but there can be peace through centralized control. Helios is led by a council of 7 directors. *** At the moment I have POI types divided up into 3 categories: corporate, residential and military. Each has a different aesthetic. Helios' home system will have 2 biomes. Their HQ is on the snow planet. This planet will contain most of the manufacturing facilities. There will also be a temperate planet where the Helios elites live (some workers live there too). Luxury residences and most recreation POIs should go on the temperate planet. Corporate office POIs should have lots of dark stone elements, sometimes wood floors. My inspiration for these has been the Palisade Bank from Deus Ex. See here if you are unfamiliar: https://deusex.fandom.com/wiki/Palisade_Property_Bank HQ (exterior) HQ (interior) Bank (exterior) Bank (interior) Residential POIs and places where the public would go (trading, recreation, etc) should have a lot of bright white. Inspiration for this came from a few places but has sort of a Star Wars Bespin interior vibe Arcology (exterior) Arcology (interior) Trading Station (exterior) Trading Station (interior) Military POIs should have a lot of concrete and gray steel. Touches of yellow to match the OPVs is fine too. Recruit Training Depot (in progress): Mobile Defense Platform Official Helios military OPVs/PVs Should be primarily gray but can have yellow highlights. Non military can be different if you want. After all, people drive all sorts of different cars. Shouldn't it be the same in space? They can even have weapons. Morrigan Command Ship (exterior) Morrigan (interior) Erinyes (exterior) Erinyes (interior) If you have an idea for something that makes sense for the faction and it doesn't fall within these lines, I think that would be fine. For example, I wanted to make a winery as a luxury recreation POI for the temperate planet: I attached an epb with sample rich text if you wanted to use the same signage for stores as what I am using in the trading station (you can make your own if you want), the Helios logo and the range targets that I am putting in military POIs. There is also an orbital mine in there but again, feel free to make your own. If a POI is designed for the snow planet, remember to texture it with snow. If it is designed for both planets, include one for snow and one for temperate. So far here is what I have: Bases HQ Bank Planetary Arcology Winery Apartment Luxury Apartment Bio Weapons Lab Farm Recruit Training Depot (in progress) Mobile Weapon Platform T1 Orbital Bases Orbital Arcology (in progress) PV Spartan PV OPV Morrigan (Command Ship) Erinyes (corvette class) Civilian Transport (in progress) Needed POIs: Residences (need a few more) Luxury Residences (temperate only) Recreation (I'm open to suggestions) Weapons Factory (snow planet) Power Station Military Fortresses of any kind Comm Station Storage Depot Transit Station/Spaceport T2/T3 weapons platform Needed Orbital POIs (I have none completed right now): Fuel Depot Trading Station Comm Station Also open to suggestions here as I don't have any orbital POIs built. Needed OPVs: Cruisers/Destroyers (the more, the merrier) Cargo Ship Message me if you have any questions or want the epb of anything I built.
More POIs. The farm is 95% complete. I might do some more texturing. The Recruit Depot is only 50% complete but you can see some of the exterior walls and general layout that I am going for. The winery is a unique structure but is an example of something that falls outside of the aesthetic of the other POIs. I think it is more important to make it look like a winery rather than fit the aesthetic of the other structures.
Some ships. I tried to make them look as functional as possible: on the command ship, crew have their own mess hall, officers have a wardroom, the quarters/common areas have that horrible looking carpet that you see on a lot of US Navy ships. Again, if you want to make civilian ships, feel free to make them look different if you want (even if they have weapons). I think it makes sense to have privately owned ships with different aesthetics.
