New Spoiler Race
C# introduces a new optional spoiler race - the Rakhas.
The Rakhas are the remnants of an ancient civilisation that once had colonies across the galaxy. Their populations were virtually wiped out and the tiny number of survivors have regressed to a primitive, tribal lifestyle, although they retain some elements of Trans-Newtonian technology. The Rakhas have no ships and are confined to planetary surfaces, with each remnant colony effectively a different race with potentially different levels of technology. These populations consist only of ground forces with no ‘civilian’ population and due to the ancient history of alien invasion the Rakhas will resist any invader. The Rakhas are large, heavily-muscled humanoids with skin colouration ranging from green to grey.
Their surviving technology is sufficient for Trans-Newtonian infantry and mechanised forces. Some Rakhas tribes will also retain STO weapons. The ancient Rakhas experimented with genetic modification during their final wars, so some tribes will retain genetic advantages for combat and all tribes will be familiar with warfare in the dominant terrain of their home world (desert fighting, jungle fighting, etc).
The Rakhas have wider environmental tolerances than humans and their colonies were generally created on worlds with large quantities of accessible TN mineral deposits. Therefore, the remnant tribes will usually be encountered on worlds with oxygen atmospheres that posses multiple accessible mineral deposits. There is a small chance that a tribe may have survived on a hostile world.
Orbital bombardment is an option to wipe out the Rakhas, although as the planets that Rakhas tribes inhabit will generally be valuable in terms of habitability and resources, any attacker may wish to avoid catastrophic damage to the environment.
Human NPRs
C# has a new option for NPR generation called Human NPRs. If this option is selected, when a NPR is generated (except for Starting NPRs) there is a one-third chance that a check is made to see if the NPR is ‘human’. ‘Human’ in this context is the species of the oldest population of the oldest player race. This is because you may want to play as a non-human race, or modified human race, and still retain the option of your species appearing as an NPR.
If the check is made and the system body is capable of supporting humans, then the species of the new NPR will be human. Human NPRs will generally be smaller (on average about half the size) of normal NPRs. You also gain +20 to communication checks when two races have the same primary species.
This option is to allow a campaign taking place in the aftermath of the collapse of a large human Empire. As the Empire, or one of its major populations, expands once again, human remnant populations may still be found in distant systems.
Surrender
An AI fleet may surrender to the enemy in certain circumstances. Generally, the fleet will have to be unarmed, badly damaged or not capable of fulfilling its mission and also be under attack from energy weapons.
In that situation, the fleet may try to evade, it may surrender or it may attempt to ram. The chances of each will depend on the Determination and Xenophobia of the crews. Certain spoiler races will not surrender.
When a ship surrenders the Overhaul Factor is set to 0.01, the same as a ship captured by boarding.
New Species Attributes
Each Species now has four new attributes, all of which default to 1.0 but have a low chance to be higher or lower:
- Population Growth Rate Modifier
- Population Density Modifier. This affect max population capacity, infrastructure
capacity and orbital habitat capacity. Some species prefer more open environments while some can accept higher population densities than normal.
3) Research Rate Modifier (increases or decreases research rate)
4) Production Rate Modifier (affects factories, refineries and shipbuilding)
Player-created Species can have custom values set. Also note this is at the species level, not the empire level. Empire modifiers to Research or Production are based on technology rather than innate ability.