New Faction Name: Undetermined

Main Mechanic: Potatoes

Lore: (A suggestion. Work in progress) Not much is known about space potatoes and how they filled the stars, but what we do know is that a mad Endless scientist - Vadarhon - first created them. When one of his own baked potatoes became in contact with Dust, a new potato emerged in the laboratory - one with sentience and nigh indestructibility. Unfortunately, Vadarhon took things too far. Instead of celebrating his accidental accomplishment he became fixaited on making a little family of potatoe companions, juicing them with Dust. Not all survived; not all took to the Dust, until one day, they plopped out of the ground and rolled out of his laboratory in uncanny numbers, and onward to the stars... ...

Traits: Home World starts with Potatoes

Minor Faction:  TBD

Ships: Real low key, easy for the devs. Just a bunch of floating spuds that get increasingly larger, ie:

You know, nothing too demanding; the game is toward the end of its development cycle.

By the way, someone was wanting a truely evil faction before - everyone got all bantering back and forth about it in some thread and even Slow had to get involved - frankly, it kind of upset me because I thought "Hey, I'm trying to talk about serious game mechanics, and no one posts diddly squat in my threads, but here is everyone over here bickering about evil factions for beans!" But look, the potatoes can be the evil faction everyone all wants. It won't be hard. Will just craft around the idea. Work with it a little.

Like this. They look like a cuddly potato unless they smile at you:

LoL

So the potato faction has to be out of control. The mechanic should be trying to keep your potato hoard from destroying your own empire. Like these little devils are constantly driving you crazy - eating your Jadonyx (turning some of it into potatoes, selling your titantium to the pirates for useless dirt which they just sit in and don't work, you know). They start force building Potato system improvement in your building queue. Maybe they crack one of your planets in half. Lots of Potato events you have to keep dealing with. There needs to be a Dark Potato Lord who is trying to usurp your control of the potato population, and if you don't assert your authority, he'll start randomly declaring war on nearby FActions and running off with your potato ships.

Maybe we get to play as Vadarhorn himself. Now how cool is that? You get to be some Endless whose trying to keep on the down low, but all these dang potatos have gotten out of control. And you don't like Isyander, but you don't want to get his attention, because he'll come wreck you. That is, not until you are powerful enough - in control - to take your potato faction for some sort of domination of the universe - I don't know, I'll leave that to Slow. I'm sure he's working on it.

Now, the other factions leave you alone and run away because if their ships (and systems!), etc get near you, then potatoes rub off on them and they don't want to deal with the crazy potatoes. Also, they can trade their potatoes (the market kind) to you to keep you away, and you use the potatoes to keep your potatoes under control. 

So eventually, though, you become crazy powerful; the other factions just can't completely ignore you, they have to get their hands dirty. There needs to be the ability to rain down hail storms of potatoes on your enemy. You know that screen shot of Isynader when he's diplomatically angry with you? Well, if you've revealed yourself and attacked him with potatoes - then that video needs to show a hail storm of potatoes crashing around him constantly and his fist all clenched like "how dare you!"

Also, you have the most ridiculous Potato Carrier in the game. And Obliterator shots just get absorbed into it. 

The orbital bombardment animation will need to change.

Oh, and lore-wise, no one knows that you are an Endless. When they interact with you, they just see a bunch of emisaries of the potato hoard.

Some concept art:

 But with red and white stripes

 Dark Potato Lord trying to usurp

 Potatoes eat all of your Jadonyx special quest

  Diplomacy screen, but without the arms and legs. We don't need any more humonoids. Our guys use Dust to get around and talk.