I like the Civ5 city states. They add alot of options like stealing from them, trading ressources/bonus and general diplomacy. Also they can become quite deadly when fighting for a human who donates them alot of units. And the fact that sometimes you will begin a fight just over "possession" of a city state with another AI/player because he tries to bribe them and you don't want it.

Sometimes it makes an AI game much more fun to fight with Hanoi against Russia or to protect the neutrality of Zurich against invading Mongols. It is just the feel of fighting alongside a friend who isn't really competing with you.



I don't think that ES minor races should be too active/dynamic. That's for the AI to be. You can't expect a city state feature having better AI/more dynamics than the regular AI. The focus for those minor races should be in additional diplomacy/trade possibilities and more interesting strategic galaxy map arrangements.

Igncom1 wrote:
Word home dog!

Yes I am a house hermit not my first choice in life but my current arrangement involves taking care of two obnoxious and utterly annoying elderly folks over here in Aus so it's heavy computer use + take away kebabs for me

Geeks 4 Life, man! lol

Fresh_Undies wrote:
Yes I am a house hermit not my first choice in life but my current arrangement involves taking care of two obnoxious and utterly annoying elderly folks over here in Aus so it's heavy computer use + take away kebabs for me

Plenty of time for learning how to deal with the harsh and unforgiving realities of ES then, eh?

I agree completely with OP, and I personally want to see the Plocynus faction (of which the minor faction hero Burra Techseeker belongs) which is my favorite minor faction hero so far it is a faction already in the game, with some lore already to it with the addition of there already being Artwork of the race, this could be an easy implement.

I support the idea of minor races as a way to diversify both the game play and the lore and history of the series. As a big fan of x4 and Galactic Civilizations I and II, I know first hand that minor races can make things interesting.

Like Lord_Proteus said, this idea seems to come out right from the GalCiv saga and... I totally support it! I think is great to have many different, maybe even randomized, minor races across the Galaxy! They could be of use in many ways to me:



- (obviously) to conquer them

- to trade with them (maybe, like Civ5 expansions, they can give you unique resources)

- to ally with them for military reasons (as buffer states)

- maybe, they can also provide you unique techs, nothing groundbreaking of course

I feel having different, better AI personalities would be better than this.

After taking a break from Endless Space and doing some hardcore Civ V marathons, I've come to the conclusion that the City State system they've established is what Amplitude just needs base their version off of. New art isn't even necessarily needed, since the mechanics (missions, competition, donations, perks) alone make the game so much more interesting and fun.

HELLENIC LEAGUE TIME.

NPC races would help to add diversity and life to the galaxy as a whole. It would help to put more emphasis on military power early game as well, why bother colonizing an undeveloped system when there is a lovely world of "pacifists" who could use a new glorious ruler.

Talsar wrote:
As i read the first post i immediately thought of these "city-states" from civ. Having something like that could give some extra "spice".



But Igncom1 is also right. If you do a "half-assed" implementation of this without any connection to the universe and too much static ( i mean just because they are some "minor races" they don't have to be like the "city-states" always just doing exactly the same, staying at the same spot... probably a bit difficult to explain but i hope you get me. They have to be somehow dynamic).



So this is not only a technical thing it should be done very carefully from the narrative/story/creative side.

I think the city-state idea works. Maybe create a set limit of planets to colonize outside of there system. 3? Just to make it interesting and not stagnate cultures that take up space. Civ 5's civilizations are quite boring as they sit and do nothing. They do not even become a cold war force defending their space from everyone else, true neutrals.

Fresh_Undies wrote:


Yes I am a Sci Fan and geek

Word home dog!

I liked the addition of the City States in Civ V, and think that something similar in ES would tend to improve the feel of the game, and make things more interesting... So I would vote for something similar in ES...

I agree. I do enjoy being able to work with factions, usually minor ones, that are not actually competing with you to win the game.

Minor races are good because a) they give more life and diversity to the universe and b) they provide you with an opportunity to fight someone without any chance of total defeat.

Jack_Forest wrote:
Minor races are good because a) they give more life and diversity to the universe and b) they provide you with an opportunity to fight someone without any chance of total defeat.

Yep, who doesn't like crushing chanceless weaklings under one's boots... lol

n18991c wrote:
Yep, who doesn't like crushing chanceless weaklings under one's boots... lol

Well, remember Snathi from GalCiv 2? Their purpose was to give you someone to crush without any real consequence

This idea is good, I like it. But as some people already mentioned here, such minor factions should have a purpose. Personally, I don't like too much of the idea of creating sub-factions of the already existing factions and then call them minor factions. I would prefer more unique races for each of those factions. But this are just my opinions, though. These minor factions could act as pathetic enemies or minor traders, anything. I will simply love to have minor factions in Endless Space, as long as I have something to do with them (crushing them, maybe? :twist.

I like the idea of minor factions for the following reasons (especially the way they are implemented in "Star Trek Birth of the Federation"):

• They provide the possibility to get colonized and some how developed systems, just in case they join your faction (-> payment of FIDS).
• They block systems: That could influence the outcome of a war against some major factions, if you have not enough influence to annex them.
• They only spread in their own star system and they have more or less powerfull starships to terrorize major and minor factions around the galaxy, without invading systems.
• They have prejudices towards some major factions. That makes diplomacy sometimes difficult.
• If you dont like them, invade them, and live with the consequences, that the survivors will hate you a long time ^^.
  
  

I think these points could make the galaxy more dynamic.

The_Quasar wrote:
I liked the addition of the City States in Civ V, and think that something similar in ES would tend to improve the feel of the game, and make things more interesting... So I would vote for something similar in ES...

Stardock had various iterations this in GalCiv 2 and E:WoM.



They would have to offer something interesting in such a way that you'd want to keep them around and not take them over. Speaking of taking over, there has to be a better mechanic for that because you take over a system and take control of it. What happens to it's denizens? Do you quietly exterminate them, or assimilate them into your society?



I'd think that it might try to rebel and spinoff it's own empire or something like that.