One would think a space-based 4x game like Endless Space would have a Star Wars mod within at most a couple of months of being released(I'm counting the fact we had availability to this wonderful game in alpha). However, as it seems that either no coding/modding team has thought of/done it yet, I thought I might share some thoughts on what would make a good SW mod for ES. Please note that this means that these are my personal opinions, and this all speculation as to what would be needed for a successful Star Wars.



First off, while I think that a mod set in the time of the Galactic Republic has potential, I just feel that there is more EU content in the Galactic Empire-Era that would make generating ideas/heroes/techs that much easier. While you would of course need the Rebel Alliance(Based of Pilgrims in game) and The Empire(Based off the United Empire in game), I feel that it would be more fun to have a greater selection of Factions to choose from. My suggestions are:



-The Chiss(Based on Sophons)

Very much like the Sophons in game, they are located in a far corner of the Galaxy, and for the most part, cut off from the rest of it. They have a knack for taking the designs of other Civilizations and heavily improving them. They are a very intellectual, almost robotic people, and prize loyalty and shrewdness.

Starting Planet: Tundra

Possible Cons to including in mod: Not a whole lot of ship designs(much less pictures of their ships) have been described or depicted in the EU.

Possible Pros to including in mod: They have plenty of complex characters/admirals in the EU who would lend themselves perfectly to being Heros

A couple sample custom Traits:

Insatiable Curiosity (+20% science)

Cold Diplomats(-50% trade route bonus)

Advanced Engineering(+10% kinetics, beam and missile accuracy)

Colonial Phalanx(+15 Happiness if more than 3 ships are idled in system)

Bureaucracy(-10% Industry on systems with a population above 5)

Only Better...(+12% damage min and max against a fleet that includes a ship the same class as at least one ship in your fleet)

Cold-Blooded(Can settle Artic/Tundra without tech for -50%FIDS)

Isolationists(-5 happiness empire-wide for each peace treaty, -10 for each Alliance agreement, and -15 for each cooperation agreement)

The Redoubt(+50% Invasion Resistance)



-The Hutt Cartel(Based on Hissho maybe?)

We all know the Hutt Cartel from the movies, and they were force to be reckoned with in many Extended Universe novels and comic books(See Darksaber). Definite Addition

Starting Planet: I'm not sure what type of planet Nar Shadda was, but it should probably be Jungle or Terran, as it at one time supported a large enough population to cover the entire planet in one giant city, like Corruscant. To mix things up, I was thinking having their gameplay style based off of decreasing happiness to get certain bonuses, as well as fast expansion to negate inherent empire wide maluses.

Possible Custom Traits:

Oppressive Brutishness(+25 defense per population in systems with less than 40 happiness)

Cold and Cruel(+125 defense in systems with 0[Strike] Happiness)

Con Artists(+50% trade route bonuses, -10 happiness in systems with at least one trade route)

Bribery and Extortion(+100% dust and -25% industry in systems with less than 20 happiness)

Shoddy construction(-40% health on ships)

Mandatory Smuggling Spaces(-20% ship tonnage)

Start-up Investors(+150 dust at start, -40% FIDS for first 35 turns of game)

No Custom's Checkpoints(+3 movement on all ships)

Ruthless Businessmen(+25%FIDS in systems with 0 happiness)

Downright Evil(-20 Happiness, same as in game tier 2 Pessimistic trait)



Zann Consortium(Based on Hissho)

Homeworld: Terran

Traits:

Stolen Plans(-35% cruiser class cost)

Planned Heists(+1 movement, +1 sensor range on fleets with more than 4 ships)

Sudden Takeover(+24% invasion strength on fleets with more than 4 ships)

Untrained Admirals(-20% exp gained by Heroes from battle)

Ruffians(-2 happiness per pop)

Spread The Loot!(+20% Dust and +10 happiness empire-wide for every battle won for 2 turns)

Expert Repairmen(+3% HP healed in friendly territory/turn)

Black Market Connections(+100% trade route bonus)

Blockade Runners(+1 trade routes when blockaded)



The Rebel Alliance

Homeworld: Ocean

Possible Traits:

Relentless Dedication(+10 Happiness)

De-Centralized(No Expansion Disapproval)

Unclear Chain of Command(-6% max and min for every ship in fleet)

Stolen Equipment(+40% ship cost)

Tiny Fleets(-2 Command Cap on Empire)

Broken Sensors(-1 sensor range)

Oneness with the Force(-50% healing cost on Heroes)

Team of Heroes(Starts out with 4 heroes in Academy instead of 3)

Intensive modifications(+10% ship tonnage)



Galactic Empire

Homeworld: Terran

Traits:

Enormous Fleets(+3 Command Cap)

Zero Failure Tolerance(Same as Hissho's Death before dishonor, minus bushido bonus)

Selective Fleet Contracts(-20% Ship Cost)

Bureaucracy(-10% Industry on systems with a population above 5)

The Unforgiving Dark Side(+50% hero healing cost)

Superweapons(+30% ship tonnage on dreadnaughts)

Saddening Fleet Coordination(-1 movement speed)

Holonet Control(+2 sensor range)

Motivated Gunners(+15% accuracy on kinetics on fleet while hero assigned)

Martial Law(-25% FIDS in systems on strike)

Over-taxed(-25% FIDS if tax rate is over 40%)

Propaganda(+5 happiness empire-wide for each battle won for 5 turns. -2% FIDS empire-wide for each battle lost for 3 turns)



Others:

-The Ssi-Ruuk(Hissho)

-The Kiliks(Cravers)

-Coporate Sector Authority(UE)



What are your thoughts on what would make a good Galactic Empire-Era SW mod? I'm particularly interested in other ideas for custom traits. Please try to keep them reasonable, and hopefully balanced; they should be new, fresh ideas, yet not overly inconvinient to code