I cannot believe a game over sixteen years old (MOO2) got another thing right that newer games completely overlook or just ignore.



When I conquer a planet of another race I want them to stay that race, not automagically convert to mine. While the game does give nuke morale explicitly declaring its because your not them nothing else goes forward.



As in, planet level bonuses and negatives need to be retained. If I conquer a Sophon I want a research power house! If I conquer a Hissho then I expect them to build better and stronger ships than I could. The only rule would be that colony ships generated from such planets would not transplant as that race, just to make it easy to code. I cannot imagine the fun there would be in having planets with multiple races but hey, a sixteen year old game did it, did they not?

This would definitely encourage more aggressive gameplay and earlier strategic invasion, sounds fun!

You probably want a mechanic like they have in the Total Wat games, then. When you take over a city, you get the option (usually, depending on game) to loot/exterminate the populous, peacefully occupy, or...hmm, I forget the third option, I haven't booted up Rome in a while.



Because, frankly, when I conquer planets I want that old culture gone. I just conquered a Pilgrims world? Yeah, any trace of those rebels to my great imperium are getting burnt away. A Horatio world? Well, that guy is just an embarrassment to humanity. An Amoeba world? What could I possibly want with a bunch of squishy things around?