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[CaptainArchmage]

Right, update on the situation so far (and bump):

I've probably got to the root of the issue on the issues from the 2.0.5 version... specifically I'll fix that by changing the name pack. Well, that was long ago.

For continuation, I'll either change version to 2.1 and hack in some of the "new stuff" (also editing the resources for the galaxy), or I will continue this on 2.0.5 just hacking the name pack to one fo the human ones. I probably can't continue this to the next version though... too many changes. If you have any opinions let me know but I'll probably bump this forward in between a week and a month from now (I'm personally expecting the new release of Stellaris towards Christmas or December depending on your timing - I'll probably start a new playthrough then).

Update! (25th October 2018): I'm making (slow) progress towards the goal of adding in the new content from distant stars. I can't guarantee it will work but it's worth a shot. Unfortunately, as there's no save editor for Stellaris I have to do this one manually. This is the last big version where I think this kind of "fix" will be feasible so we'll have to wrap up faster. When 2.2 rolls around there's going to be mayhem with the new planet designs, districts, and so on.

SOME of the deposits, I changed to make them compatible with the new generation criteria. I then realised we don't need to do that, we can just assign deposits and so I made the necessary changes to the notation. I haven't yet managed to fix the Awoken (there's apparently a new global flag that has to be set so the event never fires again for anyone else, and some of the specific robot tags changed).

I've managed to hack in a few of the new systems too, but I need to work out their hyperspace connections. I'm also going to fix some of the ship naming tags so they aren't "ISS" for some of the custom empires I put in. Otherwise we should be good to go, maybe, by Saturday (optimistically).

Update (26th October 2018)

More progress. I've decided to just copy in the L-gate systems from another save. I've realised a few things about the save file structure; I do not believe any of this is insurmountable. Much unlike Dwarf Fortress, which has a heavy procedural basis, one can edit the Stellaris save files directly and it has a logical structure... for those who are willing to learn them.

I'm going to say Sunday is more likely a completion day. The very last phase of the editing will involve fixing the hyperlane connections.

Update (28th October 2018)

I've fixed the megastructure, bypass, and wormhole numbering. Still got to fix the system links, events, and fleets where relevant.

Update (2nd November 2018)

I think most of the civilisations are fixed, along with the fleets. Still need to do the connections between systems but those will be finalised. I may add a few of the brown dwarf systems and ternary systems in if I feel like it. Still haven't fixed the awoken. Hopefully this will work when put together.

Update (3rd November 2018)

Because about 30-40 systems have been added. I have to rewrite all the connections. This is hard because I don't exactly have a view of the positions of the stars, but some of the stars were clustered together in the 2.1 save I'm copying them over and I've fixed those connections. I'll probably throw in up to three more special systems (with Guardians and dangerous stuff in them) and probably about five more ternary systems, stitch the hyperspace connections as best I can, and compile.

I also found the missing tech warnings are simply due to the tech not being needed anymore, and those resources can be collected right from the start.

Update (4th November 2018)

We're now down to the system connections. I ended up having to write some C++ software for automation. As noted previously, the direct save-file editing equipment available online is pretty poor for the intended purposes.

Damnit, no Aldar crystal systems were added.

Edit: I'm going to firstly try and get the save working again. Stellaris is unbelievably fussy in how everything's ordered and there are a lot of "malformed { tokens". I'm interpreting this how I go. It might well be another week before I can get this going. Still I've gotten it to load the starmap. I made ONE hookup of the new systems to the starmap, the rest is all crazy. But we're getting progress. So we've got that going for us, which is nice.

Edit 2: Civilisations are now loading again, but there's still malformed tokens. Probably have to just replace the broke tags in the old save and that's all I can do.

Update (10th November 2018)

Made a bit of a breakthrough. While editing on an older mac to create a barebones save, it seems like there are three different characters for " “ and ”. Some of those might have actually broken the save. Shockingly simple and hard to find, eh?

Well, unfortunately the non-barebones game is unaccessible to me, so I can't check it out. Oh well. Between this and fixing the connections, we're probably going to go onto the barebones save fix. Mostly, it's done. The technologies, as noted before, which concern several kinds of production, just aren't really important anymore. And that's where everything stands. I might jump into the save tonight if everything goes well, though I'd rather the work I did on fixing the other save doesn't go to waste (I can do a revert to the other save if things go well).

Edit: LATER THAT DAY

All the deposits are fixed as they were in the original save. Also, the Dwarven civilization will now use the Human 2 (Commonwealth of Man) names as a backstop, but I'll be naming characters more proactively. There's actually one star system where I need to rename the planets and whole system too, sadly. I won't be adding in any of the new systems until I figure out what's wrong on that end now, but I might add them closer to December.

Edit 2: That certain star system, and some other objects have been appropriately renamed. Suffice it to say, a lot of characters aren't recognised properly by Stellaris. I've confirmed the namelist works now, and all the unnamed leaders will be cleared once we roll over to 2220 in like three in-game months. At this stage, everything should be ready to go. Probably get to moving it on over the weekend.

[CaptainArchmage]

Due to the apostrophe errors only being in one location and around that tag (literally the wrong place), I've decided to advance the game using the barebones save for now. This is all fixed up to Stellaris 2.1 so we get all the new content that didn't require generation at the start of the game. I will let this progress maybe 5-20 years (so until 2225-2040) and then see whether it is worth it to add the new systems.

The day is 10th Limestone, 2219. The place: The office of Ral Undertrumpets, Boatmurdered 20069, Nir Kodor, Istam Anriz, Core Sector, Dwarven Star Imperium



After taking a short nap, because ordering the investigation of a bombarded planet is fucking exhausting, I wake up to a telephone call that the ship name database for the Dwarven language just got ported over to the human tongue. And that there's some kind of crazy ass linguistic change going on so ALL new names entered to the personnel roosters of the Imperium are now initially rendered in human. Apparently, our name database got wiped at some point by a hack, and that's screwed around with a lot of things. The good news is I can do manual renaming and I'll get around to fixing that sometime, but now is not that day.

Spoiler: Galaxy Map, Current State (click to show/hide)

To top it all, some kind of unknown computer virus hit the hyperspace map database and we've also lost track of the hyperspace connections (besides those I had recorded). That, or the hyperspace map of the galaxy was kind of... out of whack anyways. I don't know man, it seems strange that we had the whole galactic map recorded before we set out, and it gets kind of stranger.

Spoiler: Realistic impression of our DT experts (click to show/hide)

You see, the DT guys (that's Dwarfomation Technology) say that for a virus or hack to actually work, it has to be designed to work on our operating systems. That means other aliens can't just upload a virus designed for their operating systems to our own computers and fuck everything up, they have to have the operating systems we're using as well as the "processor architecture". And they've got to understand the communications protocols and all that rock music.


Sexy example of a computer virus used to disable an alien mothership, taken from an old alien invasion flick.

Rumours have been going around about the Citizen League of Ooth Nargai hacking our computers, as well as human rogues the Autocracy of Avadon couldn't get a lid on, and there's Turian sabotage. The trouble is, the hack was executed from a seriously obsolete version of Obsidian which was obsolete even BEFORE the year 2000, which is like the fucking stone age of computer technology. There's no way the aliens would be using that.

Spoiler: The Tinab System, Large Scale (click to show/hide)

The good news is now, two or threefold. Firstly, the scientists of House Lam went back over Gomath's data from scanning the Tinab system, and discovered a resource known as "Teldar Crystals". These are found on frozen worlds and are pretty durable. If we can get the technology to polish these crystals properly, our railgun systems could put a round clean through a Turian corvette. Of course we'd have to claim the Tinab system first, and construct the mining facilities. Second, the Tinab system has an enormous number of potentially habitable planets along with a "gateway". Most of these are not particularly hospitable to our kind; there is a low gravity savanna planet that falls below the minimum requirements, a massive alpine world we can just about survive on, an arctic world, and a tomb world. Could this system might have been the hub for some ancient galaxy-spanning civilization?



The strange news (which wasn't reported on earlier) is the Arctic world, Tinab Ia, hosts a species of pre-sapient mandrill-like beings known as the Oned'Qarak. With the right technology, we could uplift these "Mandrilloids" and integrate them into our civilization. This would greatly help our colonization of other cold planets.



Unfortunately, there is another reserve of Teldar crystals in the Othriga system, on a frozen world known as Othriga V, and that lies in Turian space. The system also has a high-gravity but energy-rich jungle planet which is a suitable colony world for us. Therefore, rather than advance construction of an outpost in the Ozololon system, it might be more prudent to discuss claiming a few Turian systems and fighting them in a space war; I calculate at the current intake of political influence, the process of claiming all border systems will take 21 months.



As to Gomath, he is currently carrying out an investigation of an anomaly in the Demon's Eye Nebula. We discovered this pockmarked planet, which is a Tundra world. Given that it has low gravity and is very cold, it actually falls short of requirements to colonize it. There are two noxious swamps present and a huge ass glacier. Nonetheless, it is not a "tomb world". I have been informed more advanced robots could probably establish a base.

Spoiler: Broken Timer (click to show/hide)

One of the updates to the computer navigation systems now allows us to calculate the arrival time. For it to work, I had to re-issue some commands to vessels, but it seems the DIS Enanzeg (read: Prim Tattoo) will take a whopping 460 days to cross the gulf to the other side of the Dwarven Star Imperium and the Unaria system, where a new starbase is desired after the inevitable conclusion of the war with Ooth-Nargai. As a result, I have determined it is better to build a new construction ship over there, and focus on developing the Meissa system. We will begin by building a research outpost around Meissa IIIa.



As to the invasion of Ooth-Nargai, that may need to be postponed to next decade. We had intended to take care of the matter during the election of the next Stratagos of the Citizen-League of Ooth Nargai, but unfortunately, due to the need for political influence we would have to wield to stabilize the region, it is better to leave it under military administration or wait for their inevitable surrender (or the disintegration of the regime itself).

3rd Sandstone 2219: The Claiming of Medgar, DNN News Flash



Breaking news! Our journalists at the Imperial Senate report His Imperial Majesty Urist III Ankosh has issued an executive order to claim the Medgar system for our own. It is believed in the event of war between the Turian Hierarchy and the Dwarven Star Imperium, this will allow us to annex the system for our own. Comments by Chancellor Urnbreath indicate that this is merely the first step in curtailing the advance Turian zealots across the Delta Quadrant, and that over the course of the next 20 months, we should expect to see claims laid on both the Orthriga and Molsir systems as well.

When faced with questions about the invasion of Ooth-Nargai, His Majesty indicated that an invasion force is amassed, but not expected to commence any landings before the end of the decade. Holding off on this has been a source of major criticism regarding Dwarven Star Imperium military policy, but it is now believed that the government of Ooth-Nargai will be facing collapse in a few years as civilian war exhaustion and slave revolts take hold.

21st Sandstone 2219



Today one of our agreements with Avadon just timed out. We were trading a mutual research agreement with them, along with three energy in exchange for two minerals. I will look into renegotiating the agreement, and with any luck we shall get a better deal.



Seems like Redbeard has a high opinion of the Dwarven Star Imperium.

11th Timber 2219



Construction of the Ferragon I facility is complete. We will now proceed to construct a mining station around Ferragon III, despite my reservations.

16th Timber 2219



The agreement with Avadon has now been reinstated for another 10 years.

1st Moonstone 2219



Given we're about six months out from having a third administrative tile full of useful workforce on the colony of Nitom Arkoth, I commissioned a new physics facility. At the suggestion of Dustik Kabegath, I have decided to call it the Sparkgear LXVIII Memorial Laboratory.

2nd Moonstone 2219



Great news! We can finally directly command another colony from the core sector!

Regarding future research, I have decided to order Lolok to focus on fleet research. One of the other alternatives was "Terrestrial Sculpting", but as it is, we need more fleet capacity. Terraforming requires us to command a larger amount of energy than we can amass in the near future. ETA on research is 58 months.

8th Moonstone 2219

The mining network upgrade on Ir Kodor has been completed, nudging up our mineral production to a whopping 68 megaurists/month. Our next building project will probably be a Gene clinic at Flamebanner. You may recall a few years ago the fortress (which has survived since the old ages) had been overrun by industrial waste, but a massive cleanup operation made the area fit for habitation.

[CaptainArchmage]

And so a new 00 year rolls around, and it's time for a new collection of logs. I will do these in the usual way: one post has block of five years of progress (character count willing), where all the minor updates for each year are contained within a single spoiler'd post. Following posts cover major roleplay, events, and so on, while all the updates go up by editing the logs until five years are covered.

I'll check the poll in a week's time, where you can vote to change this format. If we have results strongly in favor of changing the posting system (which might help bump this up to the top when there are new updates), then I will probably make the change immediately.

Also as of the 29th Opal 2220 update, I will be taking advice on renaming the Meissa IIIa research station after a dwarven engineer, preferably someone from a Let's Play (either the relevant bay12 forums resident, or fortress character). Any suggestions, please post in comments!

Spoiler: Beginning of Year Report, 1st Opal 2220 (click to show/hide)

Ral's Beginning of Year Report, 1st Opal 2220: Delivered to His Grace, Chancellor Urnbreath


Most esteemed chancellor, this is the current lay of the Dwarven Star Imperium. Twenty years ago today, we set forth from Istam Anriz to explore the galaxy. Today, my new year's report is as below.

Our finances are in reasonable condition, but our territory has not expanded due to political claims being laid on the Turian Hierarchy. For that reason, I have decided to call back the DIS Oilgear from the Nicor black hole, and will instead assign it to completing a refinery around the planet Regganus V.



A poll of various senators indicates we should aim to annex the Unaria system as soon as possible. However, this cannot take place for a while due to the claims being placed on the Turian hierarchy. As we have the chance to colonize another system within our borders without any bureaucratic overhead, I would recommend establishing a colony in the Howoz system. However, I believe Howoz IV is a better place to set down the colony, as Howoz III has little use other than farming. This would present a special challenge which would advance dwarven survival on savanna worlds.



Howoz IV is a massive planet, with plentiful food and mineral resources, along with a potential source of "alien pets" living around a quicksand basin. It therefore makes a far superior target.



In terms of fleet expansion, we will need to build more corvettes to take on the Turian Hierarchy. We should aim to utilize our full fleet capacity, and this will require an investment of between 1350 and 1430 Mega-Urists worth of minerals, or 20-22 months of production. The minerals budget for surface buildings this year will probably be at least 195 Mega-Urists, covering the Flamebanner Gene Clinic and a new mining facility on the Gaia world, Zansong Egath (which has already been commissioned). The minerals budget for building space stations will probably be about 180-270 at least. This will leave us enough resources to build two, maybe three, Urist-class or Locus-class corvettes.



In terms of hiring a general to lead our ground forces for the invasion of Ooth-Nargai, I have the new rooster. Alas, the names have been put in human due to the language update disaster of Limestone. I am leaning in favor of the second candidate from the top.

Spoiler: Nicol Ashok, 2220 (click to show/hide)

Log of Ral Undertrumpets, 22nd Opal 2220



Excellent news from Sidor Ia, where Professor Gomath Chancetome has finished investigating the anomaly. It seems that the inhabitants of the planet, who wiped themselves out with weaponry unknown, have left some of those weapons hidden on the planet. I have ordered the Professor to find the weapons. This could allow us to make major upgrades to our fleets, and for that reason I will delay commissioning new corvettes. The research will take 200 days to complete.

29th Opal 2220



The Prim Tattoo has brought our new engineering research outpost online. I have decided to expand mining capacity in Meissa next. Additionally, I will be taking advice from the Imperial Senate on renaming the outpost after a well-known dwarven engineer.

3rd Obsidian 2220



In order to crush alleged pirate activity in the Koria system, I have deployed Strike Force StarkRavingMad there. This deployment will take about 212 days to deploy, and we know thanks to the new ETA system Professor Gomath designed.

1st Granite 2220: The State of the Imperium



Loyal citizens of the Dwarven Star Imperium, the state of the Imperium, is as given above. Little over twenty years ago, our territory was confined to the Istam Anriz star system. Today, it covers a considerable space within the Delta Quadrant - a total of seventeen systems and five colonized worlds. Our population now stands at 30 units, of whom 25 are dwarves, 3 are the awoken, whom we saved from their databanks, and a further two are robots.

Our budget continues to grow, along with our production. In order to expand our capacity further, we shall fully develop the Ferragon, Nunki, Kodracca, and Meissa systems. To safeguard them, we shall crush the pirate menace that has come from the Koria system, and Strike Force StarkRavingMad under Admiral Rumred will bring these scum to justice.



The discovery of an ancient weapons system on tundra moon, Sidor Ia, will greatly aid our fleets in any conflict against the Turian Hierarchy. I have diverted, on the suggestion of the Core Sector Governor, Ral Undertrumpets, Professor Gomath Chancetome and his science vessel back to the planet. Within about 200 days, I expect to hear results on the search for the weapon system.



The Keid system is currently being explored by our new science vessel, the DIS Insectscoop, which is operated by the up-and-coming Vicecount Cim Ponderousdestruction. I trust the exploration of the "galactic east" shall prove fruitful.

We shall expand our claims upon the Turian Hierarchy's border systems, so that we may annex them if war ever comes about.



Lastly, I am proud to annouce the construction of a Gene Clinic at Flamebanner. I expect it to open in Opal of next year.

3rd Granite 2220: Not the State of the Union

Damn, I forgot to order Gomath to research that project. Oh well, at least we didn't lose much time.

14th Granite 2220

The Ferragon III mining station is complete, and our minerals budget is back up to 69, which is a new record (I think). The fleet consumes a bit more on the move.

Given the poll results, and the weekend being nearly over, I decided to switch to the new format. When the year's over I'll update the old post with a carbon copy of the year, but will generally post follow-ups here. Also coming are a few big posts on in-game events.

5th Slate 2220



Since we have enough minerals to build another mining station in Meissa, I've ordered the Prim Tattoo to construct one around the asteroid SP0-328.

I've taken about an hour to fix all the damn namelist issues. I'll go over each of the lists and explain who is who, from top to bottom.

...

1st Felsite 2220

Another month rolls around with some more minerals. Since we do not have the resources to order another station, and can no longer buy the minerals from our contacts without a ten year agreement, I have instead ordered a new hydroponic farm built on Ir Kodor.

As we had the energy credits to finally hire our general, I decided to select Cog Egardurad, or "Cog Oldbeard", to lead "Transport Fleet 1". Cog Egardurad was most recently serving as a Lt. Commander in the defensive armies of Boatmurdered, and is from an old family. Her lineage is traced back to both the Golden Age the Age of Myth or something like that.

Oh, and "Transport Fleet 1" is such an awful name. That's going to change when she arrives there in ten days.

11th Felsite 2220



TA-DAAAAAA!

15th Felsite 2220



Let's go!

22nd Felsite 2220



The Ooth-Nargai were preparing for an invasion for years. They were not, and perhaps could not be prepared for this. The six invasion armies, lead by General Cog Egardurad, have made landfall. Immense damage has, in the space of one day, been delivered to the "1st Shore Guard" of Celephais. As the Elder Things take losses, their garrison strength will progressively weaken and our odds of escaping without losing armies will increase.

2nd Hematite 2220



The invasion of Ooth-Nargai has been the focus of all the media attention over the past two weeks, but I cannot set myself aside from civilian matters. After all, the heart of the Dwarven Star Imperium is our massive industry and technological prowess. With 95 Mega-Urists worth of minerals available, I have commissioned a new mining outpost around the asteroid X9-21-12 in the Ferragon system. After consulting with the Imperial Senate, I will name the station after a worthy dwarf from present or past history.

Strike Force StarkRavingMad is 93 days out from the Koria system, and I expect them to make short work of the pirate station. The Dark Riders are outcasts from the Autocracy of Avadon. According to the latest intel, their membership comes from two regions of their capital world's main continent, Lynnaeus. The Dark Riders' leadership comes from a place formerly known as the Tawon Empire, where they were responsible for epic-level banking fraud. Most of their goons, however, come from the Kva, and were responsible for the lower-level criminal operations. It is believed we can not only salvage a reasonable amount of resources from their station, but also recover a significant amount of what the humans call "liquid financial assets". That's a fancy name for energy credits by the way.



This is the state of the invasion of Ooth-Nargai. With The Bad Apostrophe deployed, the six invasion armies have reduced the 1st Shore Guard to 1/3rd of its original strength, and the 3rd Shore Guard has been reduced to 7/8ths of its original strength. It appears the 2nd Shore Guard is making ready to back up the 1st in case they fall. On the front, the 3rd, 5th, and 6th Invasion Armies are down to 3/4ths of their starting strength, but casualties are relatively light. The 1st Invasion Army has not taken any damage of note, nor have the 2nd and 4th armies. Planetary analysis shows we are 10% of the way to potentially leaving major battle debris over the surface of the planet, but I do not expect that to happen. Morale among the Ooth-Nargai appears to be collapsing and the full occupation of the planet is expected by the end of Malachite this year.

3rd Hematite 2220

Construction of the Sparkgar LXVIII Memorial Laboratory on Nitom Arkoth has been completed. The lab will be staffed beginning next month. We are also nine months out from having a finished set of robots on the planet, so three months from now we will need to start building a new mining network on the planet.



In other news from the front at Ooth-Nargai, the 1st Shore Guard has finally been forced to retreat from their positions after they were overrun by the 3rd, 5th, and 6th Assault Armies. The 1st Assault Army is continuing to bombard them with mass driver fire, but otherwise this army is out of the equation until we deal with the 2nd and 3rd Shore Guards.



Finally, the Kodracca hyperspace point is getting busy, as Strike Force StarkRavingMad passes the Avadon science vessels ISS Azophi under the command of Psionics Expert Lucrezia Moretti, and the ISS Tradewind under the command of Hiroshi Yamashita.

15th Hematite 2220



General Oldbeard informs us that the 3rd Shore Guard has now retreated after being reduced to 1/5th of their original strength. While under mass driver attack from the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Invasion Armies, they will also be harder to damage until we can overcome the 2nd Shore Guard. After the fall of the 2nd Shore Guard, our armies will likely be able to begin their final assault on the capital. The 3rd Invasion Army is suffering from faltering morale, but has strong backing from the other armies, so I am convinced we can prevail with a minimum of casualties. Planetary damage stands at 28%.

17th Hematite 2220



News from the front: The 3rd, 5th, and 6th Invasion Armies have obliterated the 1st Shore Guard!

18th Hematite 2220



Due to the damage taken, Cog has pulled back the 3rd Invasion Army from the front. They are now laying siege to the capital, where the 2nd Shore Guard has holed up and entrenched themselves.

23rd Hematite 2220



The 3rd Shore Guard has been destroyed! General Oldbeard has now begun the siege of the capital of the Ooth-Nargai.

Meanwhile, Strike Force StarkRavingMad has made the jump to Kodracca. The Dark Riders will likely be engaged in Malachite or Galena. ETA is 71 days, but as that is the time to reach the star of Koria and not reach the hyperspace exit, I believe it is an overestimate.

1st Malachite 2220

The warmth of Malachite is here once again at Boatmurdered.



In news from Nitom Arkoth, the Sparkgear LXVIII Memorial Laboratory is now staffed and operating at full capacity. The colonists working the facility appear to have a considerably authoritarian bent and are fanatical supporters of His Imperial Majesty, which may be fitting considering the legacy of some of the Sparkgears. As of 1st Limestone I will be commissioning the new mining facility there, so we do not have any downtime.



We will be completing a mining facility on the Paradise-world of Zansong Egath this month, while the first robots there will be operational in ten months from now. A second mining facility is on the menu for the world.

Influence continues to rise, and we can lay claim on another Turian system at the beginning of the next month. I believe Molsir is the best system to add to our list.



The battle at Ooth-Nargai is entering its final phase. The most heavily damaged army is the 6th Invasion Army, but the 2nd Shore Guard will almost certainly be defeated in the next few days. This will leave eliminate the final enclave of the Citizen-League of Ooth-Nargai, and we can then force their Stratagos, Tulbigg to surrender.

6th Malachite 2220: The Fall of Ooth-Nargai



General Cog Oldbeard Egardurad reports that all resistance to the invasion has been crushed, and Ooth-Nargai is ours. Following the fall of the capital, mass rioting has begun against the Ooth-Nargai government, and it is believed that the Citizen-League of Ooth-Nargai may cease to exist completely within the coming days.

18th Malachite 2220

The Prim Tattoo has finished the mining station at the large asteroid SPO-328. The next task will be constructing a physics research station around the star, Meissa.

26th Malachite 2220

Strike Force StarkRavingMad has just reached the hyperspace point to Koria. Now we shall take on the pirate scum of The Dark Riders appropriately!

27th Malachite 2220



Good news keeps rolling in. Governor Ust Squeezedisloyal is now more experienced, and has become more of an intellectual. This will increase research output in her sector.

I am having The Bad Apostrophe recalled to the Ijaagin system, since they have installed an occupation administration. Unrest on Ooth-Nargai is now sky high.

[CaptainArchmage]

IN IN in OTHER OTHER other RELATED RELATED related NEWS NEWS news:

*ANNOUNCER ECHO INTENSIFIES*

We're currently favoring a change of the existing format on updates. I'm not going to call it now, because I'm expecting a few sexy forum members to chime in with their own "unpopular" opinions. But if we get like two more votes or three more votes in favor of changing the format, it's going to change.

Now back to the major RP schedule:

APOCALYPSE PAST

The place: The D.I.S. Joke Column, high orbit over the Tundra mooon of Sidor Ia. Unclaimed territory, Demon's Eye Nebula, close to the Galactic Rim. The date: 22nd Opal, 2220

Well Professor?

It can't be published right now.

What?!

I said it can't be published right this fucking moment, you get that?

But I thought-

Scientific papers require a large amount of bureaucratic overhead. Editing. Sexificiation. All I can give now is an informed opinion, backed up by enough other informed opinions to eliminate the "this is anectodal evidence" rebuttal.

Here's the situation: We're in orbit over a moon designated Sidor Ia. The dominant biomes are tundralogues. There is one massive glacier present, along with two noxious swamps. It has twelve administrative tiles worth of surface area. It has a considerably lower gravity than Nir Kodor, which renders the planet unsuitable for large-scale dwarven life. During initial scans, several locations came to our attention as having been subject to a considerable bombardment during the past - one that was certainly not of natural origin.

Your point being?

We believe a pre-FTL species, one which was particularly obsessed with the construction of large-scale weapons systems, and was also unable to control their violent impulses, wiped themselves out on this world. And we have the proof.

Hey Urist-
Fucking Armok's sake, this thing is heavy.

The two workdwarves carted a large stone through the automatic doors of the storage bay. The stone showed signs of abrasion, erosion, and numerous other physical phenomena that rendered it looking "old". Carvings were visible over the surface.

For Armok's sake, don't fucking deliver the damn thing upside down! Gomath growled.

Whatever ye say, boss...

Gomath pointed to the underside of the obelisk.

The alien writings on this side of the obelisk indicate that the species that once lived on this moon developed what they called "The Ultimate Weapon". Their survival instincts were apparently insufficient to dissuade their use, and they promptly left their planet under what would be best termed an "apocalyptic winter", which left their civilization in ruins. It states they stored several of the weapons underground, but they were unable to dissemble the weapons.

That does not make sense. Usually that kind of weapon use leaves long-standing radioactive isotopes in the atmosphere and-

It appear the weapons were not nuclear in nature. That is to say, the devastation kicked up a lot of dust into the atmosphere, leaving the planet in a poor state. However, there was no radioactive contamination. In my views the odds are very high indeed that the alien species had not even achieved spaceflight at the time. Given their demeanor, I would say the experts have not gone far enough - they had not even split the atom yet.

That makes no sense-

Did we not build Project Fuck the World centuries before we split the atom or even dreamed of leaving Nir Kodor? Did we not build Failcannon? What about the Minecart guns? Dwarven engineering has been a strength of our people since before the fortress of Boatmurdered was founded. We merely had the sense not to wipe ourselves out with these weapons. These beings did not, but their technology now has the chance to live on with our people!

I have... wait... I have a message for you from your colleague, Ral Undertrumpets, governing. He says to you to initiate a project to find that weapon. Do you think you can find it?

Find it? Did we not find Failcannon? Did we not find Boatmurdered? I'll add the project to the database for him to issue.

But are we not to carry out the investigation now?

He said add it to the special projects list. Not to run it out now. Proceed to the next world!

A little tl;dr of the new cast for Leader Candidacy, 2220 Edition:
GENERALS
Gadan Edtulsharul, "Gadan Grooveimpunity", Glory Seeker. Age 40, born 2179.
Cog Egardurad, "Cog Oldbeard" (Ira Upadhyay), Glory Seeker and Lt. Commander. Age 36, born 2183.
Limul Zuglarnônub, "Limul Shippunch" (Natacha Dragomirova), Charismatic. Age 36, born 2183.
Olon Cattendurad, "Olon Channelbeard" (Luis Rosario), Army Logician. Age 41, born 2178

Admirals
Razes Dakalis, "Razes Treekiss", Gale Speed, Age 49, born 2170
Sakzul Libashbakust, "Sakzul Axeurged", (name wiped) Aggressive, Age 36, born 2183
Nil Kifedsazir, "Nil Cruxbridge" (Pietro Pezzagilo), Trickster, Age 38, born 2181
Iton Ostathcatten, "Iton Esteemchanneled" (Selma Hebert), Fleet Logistician, Age 44, born 2175

Governors
Mafol Mozirasob, "Mafol Routedboards" (Abasi Thwane), Eager, Age 41, born 2178
Kivish Dedukistbar, "Kivish Manorrose" (name wiped), Intellectual, Age 37, born 2182
Itur Idosunul, "Itur Calldank", Environmental Engineer, Age 54, born 2165
Etur Zuntirlibad, "Etur Anvilpraises" (Bruno Grasser), Resiliant, Age 34, born 2185

Scientists
Tastrod Zodenshed, "Tastrod Houseorder", Field Manipulation/Superconductivity Specialist, Age 52, born 2167
Unib Dedukistbar, "Unib Manorrose" (name wiped), Biologist, Age 36, born 2183
Anil Vathezfevil, "Anil Virginmongrel", Eager, Age 53, born 2166
Obok Eturdarud, "Obok Boulderclimates" (Dan Young), Voidcraft Engineer, Age 40, born 2179

Note: I'm going to update this list further but there are issues in editing the post. It has become nigh impossible to do it from my windows system.
Nevermind, fixed. I'll do RP coverage of the new Leadership list, which doesn't seem to have been fully changed out. For those of you reading the front page - yes, heavy RP is scheduled this weekend. Clearing this in-game year is going to be time consuming.

[CaptainArchmage]

Another weekend rolled around and that meant more Stellaris! Well, should have meant that.

In other news, we have a release date for Stellaris 2.2 and Megacorp. I intend to get the Megacorp DLC. The release date will be 6th December, In the Year of our Lord 2018 / Year of the Toad 41, but unless I can do a quick update of the save file (protip: probably won't work) we'll be keeping this game on 2.1 until it ends. I'll be starting a new game for the Christmas period, probably, in 2.2.

Presenting here the RP take.

The Invasion of Ooth-Nargai: 15th Felsite 2220

"Um, General Oldbeard?"

"Go ahead."

"Lorbam Amugsheget, DNN news here. We have a question from homeworld-"

Lorbam consulted his tablet hurridly.

"Is it true that this strike group has been renamed to.. 'The Bad Apostrophe'?"

"That is correct."

"What was the reasoning behind this decision?"

"Core Sector governor's recommendation. A bad apostrophe is believed to have been behind the universal translator FUBAR lately, but it has been resolved. He thinks it is a good description of what our soldiers will do to our enemies."

"That is, cause a major FUBAR?"

"It is most important that the enemy FUBARs. That is precisely our goal here. Of course, we will aim to keep civilian casualties to a minimum."

The Fall of Ooth-Nargai: 6th Malachite 2220

"Alright, CEASE FIRE!"

The coilgun artillery, marked with the 2nd Invasion Army insignia, ceased the relentless bombardment that had been launching shells every 20 seconds. In the distance, the skyscrapers of Ooth-Nargai looked battered. Some were on fire. The Ooth-Nargai capital was a mix of flooded areas and shoreline areas, built over a network of islands.

"Hey Urist, what's up? Did we win?"

"Damn right we did Vabok, the 2nd Shore Guard has been destroyed by the 5th and 6th Invasion Armies in close combat. General Cog and the 1st Invasion Army lead the final charge."

"What now?"

Urist stared towards the sky. The system's star, known as Celephais, was low in the horizon, and the gas giant of [], which Ooth-Nargai orbited, was directly overhead.

"We're leaving now."

"Leaving? Now?"

"Of course. All resistance has been destroyed. The General says a security detachment will be arriving from Nir Kodor in a few days, to maintain order on this planet."

"What about the Ooth-Nargai?"

"I think they'll surrender soon. It's not like they run anything anymore."

"Phew. I was wondering how long this would las-"

"The invasion lasted about a fifth as long as long as I worked to expand a geothermal conduit at Nist Akath."

"Oh."

"But it wasn't nearly as fun as this."

Urist's grin went from Ear to Ear.

"The closest we came to this was planning a minecart demolition derby, and we were pulled out before that could even happen. Now let's break upon some river spirits."

The Surrender of Ooth-Nargai: 30th Malachite 2220

The light of the engines of The Bad Apostrophe was nearly the sole source of illumination of the spacecraft, in the depths of space.

"General Oldbeard?

"Go ahead."

"I have word from the occupation administration in Ooth-Nargai."

"And?"

"It appears revolutionary forces have brought the remaining administration of Ooth-Nargai to its knees. We sent them an option... and rather than face falling to the rebels, the leadership has surrendered to the Dwarven Star Imperium. We are victorious."

"Inform the home-"

"Already done, General. Unfortunately, the rump systems Unaria, Uwheron, and Lehmsa seem to be hanging right now. We don't have the political influence to claim them, which means they will likely become abandoned."

The Monarchist Initiative: 1st Galena 2220

Urist III Angkosh, Emperor of the Dwarven Star Imperium and newly crowned as the incarnation of the blood of the mountain dancing over the systems of Celephais, Immuthin, and Tue, slammed a *<<-plump helmet wine stained binder->>* full of documents on the table.

"Citizens of the Dwarven Star Imperium, and this includes the newly annexed citizens present on the world of Ooth-Nargai: as of yesterday, we have faced the complete surrender of the Citizen-League of Ooth-Nargai to the Dwarven Star Imperium. Our claims over the systems of Tue, Immuthin, and Celephais have been enforced in full."

Thundereous applaus broke out from within the senate. The chamber was packed to bursting with senators, reporters, tourists, staffers, janitors, and those who were "just passing through".

"And I may add that, as of today, the Citizen League of Ooth-Nargai has CEASED TO EXIST."

The applause and cheers intensified.

"However, this also means that both our rivalry is now non-existant, and we have no empire left to humiliate."

There was a confused silence.

"Due to the political difficulties in asserting our power further, the systems of Unaria, Uwheron, and Lehmsa have unfortunately been abandoned. Our occupation forces have withdrawn from there and those space stations have been left derelict."

Here, there was a shocked silence broken by a thunderous belch from His Imperial Majesty. The belch was echoed by other senators, and by chancellor Urnbreath himself, who stood behind the Emperor.

"Know, however, that we shall be back for those systems. Other claims hold precedence, but we shall be back for Unaria, and Uwheron, and Lehmsa, and also the systems of Keid and Gaibro, which the Ooth-Nargai were never able to attain hold over."

Again, thunderous applause and cheers broke out.

"Now in the midst of this improvement of our affairs, I should bring attention to the extant SCUM in the Koria system."

One of the senators stood up.

"THE SENATOR OF THE IR KODOR MAGMATIC ENGINEERING ALLIANCE" boomed out Chancellor Urnbreath"

"Do I have the assurances that His Imperial Majesty stands against the Lynaeous-born Tawon gangmasters and their Kva goons? Boo pirates!"

The senators started to boo.

"This Senate has EXACTLY MY GUARANTEE that the pirate scum, who have come from the criminal element rejected by the Autocracy of Avadon, shall be brought to JUSTICE."

The senators started to cheer.

"Strike Force StarkRavingMad shall have the matter under control later this month."

The cheering intensified.

"Now in order to reinforce the integrity of our civilization, we need to take measures to strengthen the forces that keep our civilization going."

The cheering still intensified.

"Our civilization is of course, based on the vast resources it commands. But of paramount importance is backing the long-standing political systems that supported it."

The cheering kept on intensifying.

"For this reason, I am founding the Monarchist Initiative."

[CaptainArchmage]

Due to the vote being 1-3 No to Yes to the change in format for a long time, I decided to start separating out the updates. I didn't get the 1-3 excluding my vote which I asked for to make an immediate change, and we're now 2-3 No to Yes to the change format.

As an interim measure, and with an affirmative vote but not an overwhelmingly affirmative vote, I'll put all of Ral's running posts in sequence as they are available along with RP, as well as updating the 2220 spoiler'd (but with Ral's content only, and without so many images).

30th Malachite 2220

Spoiler: The Citizen-League of Ooth-Nargai Surrenders (click to show/hide)

Victory! The occupation of Ooth-Nargai has been the final blow, ending the war. It only took 24 days for their government to come to terms with the situation. The rioting might have had something to do with it.

Spoiler: Results of the War (click to show/hide)

Unfortunately, we do not seem to have increased our influence as a result of this victory.

1st Galena 2220

Spoiler: The Monarchist Initiative (click to show/hide)

Today, in his victory speech over the Ooth-Nargai, His Majesty Urist III Angkosh declared the foundation of the Monarchist Initiative. They are an Authoritarian faction, and strongly back the Monarchy. It seems only fitting that His Majesty is leading this.

Spoiler: End of the Citizen-League of Ooth-Nargai (click to show/hide)

The loss of Celephais, which we had claimed, was the final blow to the Citizen-League of Ooth-Nargai. This star empire has now ceased to exist. Recalling occupation staff from Unaria, Uwheron, and Lehmsa has resulted in those systems being abandoned completely. Unfortunately, we did not have the political influence to claim them. We shall, however, build new starbases there when we can.



This is the current state of the planet of Ooth-Nargai. There are a total of 7 Shoggoth and 7 Elder Thing population units, and two happen to be in the process of growth. The Shoggoths were elated at being freed from their slavery under the Elder Things, while the Elder Things are now quite cranky about losing their slaves. After all, slavery is forbidden within the Dwarven Star Imperium.




We have given all the standard provisions to the Elder Things and Shoggoths, though the Shoggoths are not eligible for officership in the military, and the Elder Things recieve some extra funding to help research along. Urist III's executive order to give the Shoggoths and Elder Things citizenship and up their living standards was given on 11th Felsite, when the invasion was issued.

Ooth-Nargai has two areas of industrial wasteland, which will have to be cleaned up sooner than later. We will also need to colonize more planets or prepare for outmigration from Ooth-Nargai.

The additional population and the additional systems annexed to our empire has increased the number of starbases we can support to a grand total of five. This means we can manage the Celephais station, and comission another starbase.



I have used the large mineral surplus this month to start construction of the physics research station around the star Meissa.

The assault on Koria will begin tomorrow, as Strike Force StarkRavingMad has spooled up their hyperspace drives.

5th Galena 2220



Strike Force StarkRavingMad is on intercept course with The Dark Rider's space station. Today will be known as the day their fate was sealed!

9th Galena 2220



Our investigation of the Adar system is complete. Professor Dustik says there is nothing of note on the barren world of Adar IV, so he's moving to the next system.

14th Galena 2220

Spoiler: The fleet is engaged in combat (click to show/hide)

Strike Force StarkRavingMad has engaged!

28th Galena 2220

Spoiler: End of the Dark Riders (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Salvage (click to show/hide)

Admiral Rumred reports that The Dark Riders' Space Station has experienced critical damage in space combat. That's like the best kind of combat, right? Their surviving leadership will be extradited to the Autocracy of Avadon to face trial. Based on principles we have established with the Autocracy of Avadon, we will obtain about 100 Gigasankis of energy credits from the operation. The minerals salvage is entirely in our own hands, and has given about 180 Mega-Urists of minerals.

30th Galena 2220

Spoiler: A Meltdown (click to show/hide)

Reports show the derelict space station is undergoing wildcat reactor meltdown in several locations. Best stand clear.

4th Limestone 2220: Special Autumn Report

Aaaaaaand BOOM!

With the Koria system finally clean of the pirate scum, we might actually be able to install a colony on the third planet there. That is, if we can get the place scanned first.



The boon of minerals has brought us up to 324 Mega-Urists of minerals and the energy payout (or, "dividend" as the humans like to call it) has taken us up to 190 Giga-Sankis of reserves. This is sufficient to pay for two Urist-class corvettes, or one colony ship. Since we have enough energy overhead to cover another colony ship, I will pass one by the Imperial Council in the next few days.

While the Senatorial Committee on Extra-Terratorial Colonial Expansion vote, which was left for a couple of months, was unanimously in favour of building a colony in the Unaria system, we will not be able to take Unaria in the next year. This requires an extensive scan of the system under standard protocols, and imperial approval for a new starbase. Our political resources will be, for the next ten or more months, wrapped up in expanding our claims on the Turian Hierarchy. The three primary targets for colonization are Unatra II, Ecio II, and Howoz IV. I have decided to eliminate Ecio II (for now) and focus on either Unatra II or Howoz IV. The final decision will be made with the launch of the new colony ship a year from now.



I have also commissioned the mining facility on Nitom Arkoth. It will take about 6 months to complete, and should be online just after the robots are ready to begin mining. This also clears out our mineral stockpile completely.

The Sparkgear LXVIII Memorial Laboratory has become a focal point for the Monarchist Initiative. Some of us aren't sure whether that is a good or bad thing considering the history of everything labelled "Sparkgear".



The Autocracy of Avadon appears to be expanding their reach towards the Adar system, and the "ISS Africa" is heading there. Curious. Apparently, Africa is not a known continent on the Avadon homeworld or on any of their other systems. How they came up with this name is a mystery, though it may have been another database quirk.

12th Limestone 2220



The X9-21-12 Mining Station has been completed around the relevant asteroid in the Ferragon system. The only location left for development in Ferragon is the cold barren planet Ferragon IV.

14th Limestone 2220

Spoiler: The Mang System (click to show/hide)

The Mang system has two habitable plants inside it. Unfortunately, this system may be too far from Dwarven Star Imperium space to claim at this time.

In progress: Still got to do the dwarf leaders list. Got to do the RP on the outcome of the Ultimate Weapon project.

[EuchreJack]

Glad this is still alive!

[CaptainArchmage]

Glad this is still alive!

Thanks, glad to hear people are actually reading this. Though we have a views counter up there, it seems few are actually voting on things...

Once again, Stellaris: Megacorporation is out on December 6th. This game will continue using 2.1 but I'll start over with a slightly revamped Dwarven Star Imperium and there will be more species added. In particular, I'll be using the humanoids dwarf avatar probably. I might go into some detail as to what species I'll be adding but of the existing ones, some will be edited for megacorporation use. If 2.2 gets rid of the lag issues in the later game, which are a result of the current tile system, I might artificially inflate the number of systems and AI empires.

Once again, here's the base reasons I will not be doing an update of this particular from 2.1 to 2.2:
1) ALL the tiles are going away, and are replaced by a district system. Literally every planet would have to be revamped. It also changes roleplaying a lot.
2) The sector system is being replaced with an organic one. Hyperspaceography will set sectors, and those aren't in the current save file. It's a huge task to fix it. Might as well finish this game.
3) The victory conditions are being totally changed. Currently, it is conquest, 40% of planets as an empire or 60% of planets as a federation. After 2.2, it will be conquest or score at a specific game time, which is by default 2500. I'll rejig that for the new game but you can see why it won't really go in at current.

RP continues below. Expect something further on the defeat of the Dark Riders, which will be probably inserted into the correct location in my previous post from this one. An RP on the defeat of the Dark Riders is also included, note it happens sometime before "Apocalypse Now".

=====Apocalypse Now=====

29th Limestone 2220

The primary features in the landscape were snow, wind, a landing pad with shuttle present, and an excavation around which were several large large excavators. None of the excavators were active, however, but all the flood lights were. The floodlights illuminated a large open pit, around which could be seen a line of blue port-a-potties lining one side, and a pile of rusted corrugated iron plates lining the other.

"Damn, this wind howls like the blizzard men of old, oh hey Urist. Urist?"

The dwarf, leaving the port-a-potty, called out to his companion, who was surveying the contents of the recently-uncovered pit.

"Urist? Professor?"

Urist was standing, beaming as though he were a dwarf of old, who had just struck open a fresh vein of adamantine, next to Professor Gomath. The Professor's teeth were clenched in rage.

"Now that is a-"

DON'T SAY IT

"big ass cannon."

FUCK YOU

"Hey don't lose your shit this is a brilliant find."

THIS IS A DISASTER!

You should try some of this Ir Kodor 2217 vintage. I was saving it for something. It's-

THE CANNON IS TOO FUCKING BIG!

"really good stuff according to-"

HOW DID THEY BUILD THIS!

"Dorfvote."

IT DOESN'T FIT ON OUR GOD DAMN SHIPS! IT'S TOO BIG TO FIT!

Calm down, we can work ar-

DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH TIME IT TOOK TO FIND THIS?

ound thi- oh wait I just got a call-

IT WAS RIGHT HERE UNDER SOME CORRUGATED IRON SHEETS.

"Oh hey Nil-"

I'M ABOUT TO LOSE MY SHIT

"Professor? it's Ral Undertrumpet's Uncle Nil-"

HOW WAS THIS HIDING

-oh you've got a pirate problem? We've just got the solution right here let me pass the phone...

======BONUS: The Destruction of the Dark Riders======

Koria System, 9th Galena 2220: The Engagement

"ALL DECKS RED ALERT! Incoming battlefleet!"

"Impossible. Avadon has to jump through dwarven space to get here. We'd get an advanced warning from our agents in Zathmak and Stratal. Avadon's main fleet is in stardock, and the adjoining system of Durith is blocked by Amoeboid infestation. There's no chance whatsoever of them getting through. We should be safe here."

"Dark Rider One, the vessels are dwarven!"

"WHAT?!"

The masked Tawon commander, Dark Rider One, lept to the viewscreen. The omnitelescope attached to the asteroid clearly showed the seven-ship fleet exiting the hyperspace node and engaging an intercept course with the station.

"receiving transmission, patching it through now..."



"This is Admiral Rumred in command of Strike Force StarkRavingMad of the Dwarven Star Imperium. On behalf of the Core Sector; Governor Ral Undertrumpets; and in particular His Imperial Majesty Urist III Angkosh, the Magmatic Flame dancing on the systems of Tue, Immuthin, and Celephais, and Conqueror of Ooth-Nargai, you are demanded to surrender your station and criminal enterprises over to the Dwrven Star Imperium and the Autocracy of Avadon so ye piratical acts may be brought before justice. We are on intercept, this is your final ultimatum."

"VIEW SCREEN OFF!"

"Dark Rider?"

"We have to evacuate now."

"Evacuate? Now? The Kva Detachment does not evacuate. We will not yield."

"Then they will die!"

"Better that than die at the hands of the Kva upon Lynaeus."

"Ridiculous. The Fifth Pact's charter is clear. Cruel and unusual punishment is forbidden, and the death penalty shall never be enacted. If they're unlucky they're going to get years in the can, and we've got the financial leverage to-"

"You can't buy them off, Dark Rider One. The Kva. They take their stone code seriously and that's never gone away. Ever. The Autocracy of Avadon hasn't been able to curb their tendency to... off people in the old ways."

"You mean-"

"Any Kva who commit serious enough crimes on Lynaeus go into solitary confinement. That isn't a special punishment. That's a special protection. Most have new identities created for them by the courts and many voluntarily sign up for naval service or the 'off world corps'. If they survive that long. We signed up to fight. The Kva Detachment is ready to die here if needs be..."

[CaptainArchmage]

And so it continues. We can finally, after the heavy RP, get rolling with the game itself. We'd been stuck on 2nd Timber 2220 for a while now.

29th Limestone 2220: Apocalypse Now?

Spoiler: Swarmer Option, Rejected (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Laser Option, Rejected (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: We picked the Dwarfy option (click to show/hide)

Gomath just reported back from the Demon's Eye Nebula. He says the "ultimate weapon" has been found, and it's quite a brutal find. With a choice between upgrading our lasers to particle lances, upgrading our lances to "kinetic batteries", and devising "swarmer missiles" I went with the most appropriate option - the Kinetic Battery. These devices are actually much larger than we can field on any starship for now, save for the swarmer missiles. Of course, Professor Gomath isn't happy about that - he feels a bit overwhelmed by the find. However, I found an alternative solution in the interim thanks to Uncle Nil. We seem to be experiencing more frequent piratical invasions, and need to do deploy better defensive platforms. As it so happens, the Kinetic battery can be fielded on our defensive platforms, however, and could completely replace the existing "SWATJester" design. For reference, the particle lance would probably only be useful later this century, and would require an absolutely colossal battleship to use.



In completing this project, Professor Gomath seems to have also nearly peaked in prowess for now in his field, and has claimed his rightful place, absolutely ascendant over any other scientist in the Dwarven Star Imperium. He says he can probably increase his skills a little bit further, but anything beyond that would require modification to his body, or the discovery of new mental techniques which we do not currently have.



I have asked Gomath to stay on as the commander of the Joke Column at least until the Sidor system is explored. However, I have had multiple requests from the dwarven senate and a personal letter from Chancellor Urnbreath asking me to relieve him of command and return him to the homeworld, thus directing the research of our great empire personally.

2nd Sandstone 2220



Just after the discovery of the weapons, I found one of the Elder Thing populations on Ooth-Nargai, which had actually been liberated from slavery, would be best put to work at their temple. By making this assignment, I have been able to bring forward the completion of our next tradition goal by Moonstone 2221, which is a significant advance step. By adopting the Supremacy tradition, we will be able to command more influence from the Drumbeat of Victory Party, which is currently representative of 65% of our population.

2nd Timber 2220



Once again, the senatorial vote had a disgracefully low turnout. However, it shows senators want their updates delivered more on-the-fly. However, I will try to keep a compiled, stripped down version of events somewhere just in case people want the old format, it isn't an absolutely overwhelming vote though it was hovering around that level for a few days.

I have also expanded the Zansong Egath sector to include Wir Thosk. This is a minor political change as the system is research-focused.

In addition, we have laid down a claim for the Molsir system, which is under the sway of the Turian Hierarchy. It will not be long before our fleets must address the threat they pose.



Finally, I have ordered construction of a mining outpost around the cold barren planet of Ferragon IV. I will be putting out another request for naming nominations for this mining outpost - preferably of a great dwarven prospecting hero of the past ages.

3rd Timber 2220

Minor news, Ir Kodor's hydroponic farm was completed, so our food intake is on the rise. Another hydroponic farm, also to be staffed by the Awoken, is under construction.

14th Timber 2220



Today the Meissa Physics Outpost went online. Once again, I want to name this after a high-ranking historical dwarven scientist... if only I could get some senatorial input. Please? Pretty please?

I checked out several possibilities from Dwarven History, and came up with the following three. Of course, more nominations are welcome.
1. Dr. Motaval Solar Physics Station
2. Kogan Onultad Memorial Outpost
3. UristMcThunderguts Stellar Experimentation Platform
OOC Note: These are all forum members or characters proposed in some community games. I just went for eye-catching stuff using the search feature. Some of these were in short-lasting games. Nonetheless, there's a few metric fucktons of research stations to be built out in the galaxy.

The Enalzig will now proceed to the large asteroid PK-4-6759 and construct the final mining platform in the Meissa system there.



I've finished with the "Nilrimtar" design for starbase defensive platforms. That's "Hammercastle" to you, and honestly has nothing to do with Uncle Nil. Honestly. The thing has an eye-popping, jaw-dropping mineral cost well over that of a colony ship, and I don't know if we'll be able to get any out anytime soon. However, they may be useful on the frontier with the Turians.

1st Moonstone 2220



Today, I commissioned the energy refinery around Regganus V. After this is completed, I will decide where to send the DIS Oilgear. However, that will be a project for the new year.



I'm expecting the current engineering research focus to be completed tomorrow. However, I realize that we are falling behind in that field, and as a dwarf that is utterly shameful and undwarvenly. We have a vast amount of society research generation, and we have upped physics research considerably. For the rest of this year, as well as the new year, we need to up the ante on engineering facilities. I have started our efforts by beginning the much-delayed project to clean up industrial waste on Ooth-Nargai.



I intend to build an engineering research lab on the moon of Icum Illon in the Ijaagin system, but until we have the resources to do so, research in the field will be fine. Other locations where engineering research would be well conducted are the Battlefailed and Failcannon industrial wastelands on Nir Kodor, and Nitom Arkoth. Nir Kodor, however, is focused on other projects, and Nitom Arkoth lacks the population to engage.

2nd Moonstone 2220



Professor Bushos Muddlecharm announced today that her engineering research project was completed. We can now build both a mineral processing plant to provide a 10% increase to production on a planet (plus local mining yields), and a nebula refinery. We haven't penetrated as deep into the Demon's Eye Nebula and therefore won't be able to utilize the nebula refinery, but it could be useful later on if we make the location an economic hub. It's not like we need to secure the nebula against anything coming from outside the galactic rimjob, eh?

Spoiler: Engineering Research Projects Shitshow, Part I (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Engineering Research Projects Shitshow, Part II (click to show/hide)

I've asked Bushos to take over physics research from Alnis Crewblench, while Professor Crewblench will take on the research on afterburners. This is because Professor Crewblench studied rocket propelled minecart dynamics at the University of Sparkgear, so obviously he's the best person to run that. Completion is currently ETA 27 months, but by building more facilities we can probably cut that down. We'll have faster corvettes as a result, and the corvettes we currently have are slowing down the rest of the fleet. The other engineering projects would take too long, and we need faster corvettes on the quick.

30th Moonstone 2220

As the year comes to an end, I am preparing what would be my 20th New Year's Report. However, I realize I have to wrap up some loose ends - I haven't yet covered the leadership recruitment options we've had yet. Here's where everything stood at 5th Slate of this year.



These were the gubernatorial candidates. We're probably not going to recruit any in the near future, but I'll list them off.

Mafol Mozirasob, "Mafol Routedboards", is listed as "Abasi Thwane" due to the naming system clustertruck this year. She is an eager graduate of the Boatmurdered Academy, born in the year 2178.
Kivish Dedukistbar, "Kivish Manorrose", had his name totally wiped and I had to get it from him personally. He's an Intellectual, born in 2182. He turned down a fleet post to study at the University of Sparkgear. He has a polytechnical education, which is probably helpful for the role.
Itur Idosunul, "Itur Calldank" is an Environmental Engineer who wanted to lead from behind. Rumour has it he she studied at Breadbowl and took too much LDS or something like that. He was born in born 2165 and is getting on in years. Nonetheless, he might be able to help out with cleaning up sectors on some worlds.
Finally, Etur Zuntirlibad, "Etur Anvilpraises", listed as "Bruno Grasser", was a champion drinker at Sethatos College within the University of Archcrystal. He is only 34, born 2185. He is currently the record holder in known space for "most pints consumed in hyperspace".



These were the current candidates for leading a fleet. It so happens we may be starting construction on a new fleet in the coming year, so some of these fine upstanding citizens may be called in to run the new fleet.

Razes Dakalis, "Razes Treekiss" is currently the captain on the DIS Korthining Gale Speed. She grew up in the flarechannel slums, but was given a place at the Boatmurdered Military Academy. She was born in 2170. She is a veteran of the Ooth-Nargai war and values fleet mobility. As a result, she is close to the top of my list.
Sakzul Libashbakust, "Sakzul Axeurged", had his name wiped in the clustertruck earlier this year but I had his name in paper. He was born in born 2183 in the area of Towersoared. He's an aggressive individual known for drunken brawling, and has had several negative citations on his record. As a result of this, his rise through the ranks was stunted, and remained a probationary Lieutenant; nonetheless, when the DIS Gonggashkinem suffered a direct hit to the bridge, he was able to take command despite the loss of all officers superior to him. He took command of the vessel from the bar, and was able to keep on dealing damage to the Ooth-Nargai fleet. Additionally, he prevented further casualties, personally ensuring the escape of all surviving crew members when the was destroyed. This earned him several commendations, and he is at the top of my list for commanding the new fleet.
Nil Kifedsazir, "Nil Cruxbridge", listed as Pietro Pezzagilo, has a reputation for being a smartass. Born in 2181, he was naval support on the initial expedition which settled Ir Kodor. He was involved in the Battle of Celephais, in command of the DIS Ghost. His trickster approach saved at least the DIS Ghost, withdrawing the damaged vessel from combat.
Iton Ostathcatten, "Iton Esteemchanneled" (Selma Hebert) is a "Fleet Logistician", who mostly ran the day to day bureaucracy of Strike Force StarkRavingMad, though she was present at the Battle of Celephais. She was born in 2175, and studied bureaucracy at the University of Archcrystal.



These were the scientists.

Tastrod Zodenshed, "Tastrod Houseorder", a Field Manipulation/Superconductivity Specialist. He worked in a lab around the Moltenchannels nuclear waste dump, and was born in 2167. Another product of the University of Sparkgear.
Unib Dedukistbar, "Unib Manorrose", whose name was wiped in the clustertruck. A biologist with a ph.D from the University of Sparkgear, which he attended with his elder brother. Unib was born 2183
Anil Vathezfevil, "Anil Virginmongrel", the only candidate on the list to have attended the University of Archcrystal as opposed to the University of Sparkgear, she was born in 2166 and attended when the University of Archcrystal still out-edged Boatmurdered. Her specialization does not help her research, but it seems she was able to extend her life somehow. Not sure how.
Obok Eturdarud, "Obok Boulderclimates", listed as Dan Young, studied Voidcraft Engineering at the University of Sparkgear. She was born in 2179, and has experience working on spacecraft.



Lastly, these were the candidates for leadership of the invasion of Ooth-Nargai, and the 1st to 6th Invasion Armies, which as of now have been wrapped under "The Bad Apostrophe".

Gadan Edtulsharul, "Gadan Grooveimpunity", a Glory-Seeking lieutenant from the Imperial Guard. She was born in 2179. I chose to leave her in the Imperial Guard.
Cog Egardurad, "Cog Oldbeard" (Ira Upadhyay), another Glory-Seeking lieutenant from Archcrystal who had been sent to Ijaagin to keep order on the colony. She was born 2183. I chose her for leadership as she fit the role properly.
Limul Zuglarnônub, "Limul Shippunch", listed as Natacha Dragomirova, a charismatic lieutenant in the Imperial Guard. She was born in 2183.
Olon Cattendurad, "Olon Channelbeard", listed as Luis Rosario is currently a colonel in the Imperial Guard. By which I mean he runs the bureaucracy. He's a bit older than the other candidates, born in 2178. Obviously, I decided to leave him in his current role.

And there ends the year. Coming right up, new post with the new year's report.

[CaptainArchmage]

Reminder, you can vote on a name for the research and mining stations! Or you can suggest one.

Ral Undertrumpet's Beginning of Year Report, 1st Opal, Nicol Ashok 2221

Spoiler: State of the Galaxy and Budget, 1st Opal 2221 (click to show/hide)

This year saw some YUUUUUGE changes in the political layout of the galaxy. With the defeat of the Citizen-League of Ooth-Nargai and annexation of Celephais, this empire has been completed wiped out and all the denizens of Ooth-Nargai are now citizens of the Dwarven Star Imperium. We have lost control of the systems Unaria, Uwheron, and Lehmsa as we had no claims there, but we can probably re-take them in a few years. Our influence intake has taken a hit, because we no longer have an extant rivalry with the Ooth-Nargai due to their collapse. However, we took over all the resources generated on Ooth-Nargai, and are busy redeveloping the planet.

I had laid down some goals for mineral spending and fleet expansion, and we did manage to fulfil some of those objectives. The destruction of the Dark Riders' asteroid mining outpost in Koria gave a significant amount of minerals. We did not, however, build any new ships except commissioning a new colony ship. I believe this is a good idea, so we can go out and get more planets. Infrastructure development has moved along more than our military development.

In terms of budgeting, our food production and mineral production have risen but our energy intake has declined. This will probably be threatened further when our colony ship comes online, and if we expand our fleet capacity further. It is no matter, however. If necessary, I can order a new trade depot or off-world trading company at Ijaagin, which will boost income back up.

We are suffering from a shortage of engineering research, and that is quite frankly shameful. I have identified three suitable locations for engineering labs, of which we can probably develop two in a reasonable period of time. I have further identified three locations where we can build long-term appropriate research stations in space.

In terms of technological developments, we can now build mineral processing plants and nebula refineries. However, the major breakthrough was the discovery of the "ultimate weapon" on Sidor Ia, which allows us to build large kinetic batteries. Our technological development is sufficient that we can now openly make the Autocracy of Avadon and the Angaran Citizen Commonwealth protectorates if we could close the deals. I believe Avadon may be easier to sway, but we need more population on our end, as well as more firepower. The make the Angaran Citizen Commonwealth would require us to take Unaria and Qad Vhi, which would take at least 35 months of influence not including the current objective to claim the Turian systems. We would also have to subjugate them in a war.

I intend to move along with the construction of the new battlefleet, but not compromise too far on infrastructure. Additionally, we will be able to adopt a new tradition, and I am considering either supremacy or dominion. I believed supremacy had the upper hand, until I noted our ability to potentially vassalize entire star empires. We shall see what the future brings.

1st Opal 2221



As my first act for the new year, we'll be building a mining station around PX-4-6759. After this station is completed, the Meissa system's infrastructure will be complete.

12th Opal 2221

Construction has finished on the Gene Clinic at Flamebanner! Unfortuantely, we do not have a full population unit to work it yet, but we will as of Granite 1st.

In minor news, I have also ordered the cleanup of the industrial wasteland around Battlefailed and Failcannon, to make way for a potential engineering facility.

19th Opal 2221

I just got a report from Cog Oldbeard says that the Bad Apostrophe has landed in paradise. Enjoy shore leave!

27th Opal 2221

Gomath says the survey of Sidor is now complete. Onward!

1st Obsidian 2221

Since we'll have robots coming online in a few months on Zansong Egath, I've ordered a new mining facility built there.

12th Obsidian 2221

With the completion of the mining station around Ferragon IV, the system's space-based infrastructure is complete for now. The DIS Drillshadow will now proceed to Nunki and start building some much needed engineering research stations.

AAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's probably it for today. I'm going to have to reload some save games or do some "re-takes" to show the progress or layout of places and get those screenshots covered. The current save is 23rd Obsidian 2221, because something special came up and requires some RP to be written.

[CaptainArchmage]

So we got issued another project. This one could be helpful.

23rd Obsidian 2221: A Modest Request

Spoiler: Alien Specimen Procurement (click to show/hide)

Today, I got an unexpected visitor from the Museum of Exobiology - Etur Calldank, one of the gubernatorial candidates who did environmental engineering at Breadbowl. She (not he, as I noted in my previous journal due to being tired at the time) was recently appointed to the institution, which was set up as part of a joint effort by the University of Boatmurdered and University of Archcrystal. It seems His Majesty Urist III decided to set up some kind of exhibit on Nir Kodor, and we need to go out and get specimens of various alien wildlife. I'm not too sure whether it's a good idea to house them here, but we might get a lot out of the project anyways so why not.

Spoiler: Specimen Locations (click to show/hide)

The good news is just about ALL these specimens are found within Dwarven Star Imperium space. One is found in Avadonian space, which is fine. The remainder are found in Turian and Angaran space, but we'll probably get a lid on that too.



Target I: The Elusive Tarblac. When the first settlers on Ir Kodor probed the ocean depths with sonar, they observed the firist signs of these creatures. We'll need to send a few bathyscaphes and specialist equipment down to the planet to capture a specimen. As the Unatra system connects to Istam Anriz directly and is along a trade route, this we can arrange in short order if we can construct a science vessel to begin with.



Target II: The Mighty Tassargoid. We got word of this through hearsay coming from the Autocracy of Avadon. The creature is found on the jungles of the Angaran colony of Vi Sumat in the Wezen system, and thankfully that is several systems away. It is described as a cross between a sasquatch, a giant elephant, and a unicorn. Unlike the sasquatch of Nir Kodor, it has been responsible for the deaths of several Angaran colonists. To capture a specimen we will firstly have to take over the colony. Probably.



Target III: The Vile Orinthi. I did not know about these xenoanimals when planning the colonization of the Howoz system, but as a result I am glad I selected Howoz IV as the colonization target over Howoz III. The Orinthi are a minor footnote on the initial scans of Howoz III, but their behaviour has been observed on holomovies taken by spacecraft crews on inpromptu shore leave. Several tourists died taking selfies with the creatures, and that's how word spread through the space internet. They look like a cross between a dragonfly and an eagle. They are predatory in nature, and hunt in flocks. As Howoz is adjacent to Unatra, we should be able to capture a specimen. On Nir Kodorm however, they will have to be preserved in a properly protected biodome, however, since they are adapted to life on a continental world and therefore have an enormous potential as an invasive species.



Target IV: The Insidious Sniran. These creatures are found in the wild dune seas of Immuthin Ia, an uninhabited desert world. They were documented by the Citizen-League of Ooth-Nargai. They look like the giant desert scorpions of old (suspected extinct on Nir Kodor). It will be interesting to see how much similarity there is between the two species. We have the DIS Insectscoop nearby under the command of Viscount Cim Ponderousdestruction, and once he finishes scanning the Keid system we should be able to get this in short order.



Target V: The Malleable Goolantha. These are a strong herbivorous species living in herds on the steppes of the Tundra world of Nunki III, and are classified as "dangerous wildlife" for the same reasons elephants were back in the golden age. They are even more dangerous than giant elephants. A charging Goolantha can overturn or destroy armoured vehicles. Fortunately, this target lies in a straight line from Unatra and Howoz, so there should be no problems with the search sequence.



Target VI: The Wily Uddloran. This xenounicorn is found on the snowy wasteland of Zathmak III within Avadonian space. Unlike the unicorns of Nir Kodor, it is adapted to life in frozen conditions. The diet of this species is unknown. We should be able to direct a science vessel here sooner than later.



Target VII: The Ravenous Zulcor. Found in the dry canyons of Krakaum II, they are scavangers and opportunistic hunters. At least that is what we have heard from turian defectors and escaped criminals. Unlike the Vile Orinthi, due to the preferred environment they are unlikely to become invasive species on Nir Kodor but they are on the opposite side of Turian space. This will probably be the last or second-to-last sample we are able to collect.

I will not be diverting resources towards a new science ship immediately unless there is good reason, but rather will focus on obtaining the data from Immuthin by the DIS Insect Scoop. The Viscount's scan of the Keid system is almost complete.

1st Granite 2221: The State of the Imperium

Spoiler: State of the Union, Nicol Ashok 2221 (click to show/hide)

Today, His Majesty delivered his usual State of the Imperium address. This is where everything stands at current for the Dwarven Star Imperium. Compared to this time last year, we have 44 administrative units of population, of which 33 are dwarves, 3 are awoken, 2 are robots, 6 are elder things, and 6 are shoggoths. As of today, the first robots have come online on the planet Nitom Arkoth, and will be followed in two months by another unit coming online on Zansong Egath.

I didn't cover it at new years' but the Autocracy of Avadon did manage to take over the Adar system. I realize we might not wish to head off their expansion towards that end, as we are progressively becoming far stronger than they are, and we can eventually turn them into a protectorate. Not that I'm going to raise the issue for a while yet. On our own end, we are about 5 months out from placing the final claim on the Turian system of Othriga, after which we can get back to building more starbases.

The gene clinic at Flamebanner is now fully staffed, and new population growth is happening at Nist Akath. Meanwhile, the cleanup effort in the area of Battlefailed is moving along as planned.



This is the situation on Nitom Arkoth. The mining facility will come online in 5 days time, so no worries about mineral production there. Unfortunately, the robot units are not as good as dwarves at extracting minerals.



The last check indicated there were two suitable locations for building engineering labs on Nitom Arkoth, but instead I decided to set one down on Icum Illon, since we have the personnel to run it there. I haven't decided on a name for the facility yet though, and the Senate is once again advised to advise on one. Next month, I will be diverting resources to either a new set of robots or an engineering research station.

6th Granite 2221

Today, the new mining facility on Nitom Arkoth came online. The mines produce about 4 Mega-urists of minerals per month, and so our total income is up to 85 Mega-Urists per month. We have also finished cleaning up some industrial wasteland on Ooth-Nargai, opening up space for a new engineering lab there.

11th Granite 2221



The Oilgear just finished work on the Regganus V energy refinery, completing the infrastructure in that system. As sending the ship all to the coreward end of space would take too long, I decided to send them to Ecio and see where things stand when it arrives.

25th Granite 2221



The Mi-Go Conclave just expanded to the Fuye system. Looks like there are two frozen-but-habitable planets in there, and a lot of resources. One frozen moon contains some "terraforming liquids".

1st Slate 2221

I decided to set down another robotic population on Nitom Arkoth. Once again, this will take 30 months to finish building.

13th Slate 2221



Today, the PX-4-6759 mining station came online, completing the infrastructure in the Meissa system. The Prim Tattoo will now venture to Kodracca and start building the needed space stations there.

16th Slate 2221



I awoke today to an enormous amount of hubbub going on outside. It seems like the industrial wasteland around Battlefailed and Failcannon has finally been cleaned up, and the fortresses and surrounding area are fit for habitation. Twice upon a time, that feat was deemed impossible.

[CaptainArchmage]

A little update about what's been going on with this:



Asides from real-life issues, gameplay was cut short due to a major failure of desktop components, which took out the hard drive. Luckily for the game, the HDD is
1) Only likely to have suffered PCB damage, as it wasn't spinning at the time and did not suffer any major falls.
2) Justified for recovery due to other reasons™.

Unfortunately this will take time, again due to IRL stuff. Additionally, other components of the PC suffered damage and will have to be replaced.

I intend to get back to this game sometime but that's later rather than sooner.

Spoiler: Poll Results (click to show/hide)

Regarding the poll, there's a tie between the Kogan Onultad Memorial Station and Urist McThunderguts Stellar Experimentation Platform. However, Kogan Onultad Memorial Station was up for a long time before the second vote was cast, so I'd cast the tiebreaker for that. The Urist McThunderguts Stellar Experimentation Platform will be built, but elsewhere in the galaxy. That is, if and when I get the system back.

In the meantime, 2.2 is out and the bugs that came with it have mostly been pushed back or smashed.



Well, mostly. I will be starting a new save shortly in 2.2.6 (beta), either this weekend or next. If you want to see anything particular with the new session, let me know.

[CaptainArchmage]

"Shortly". I did write, "Shortly", or "next weekend" a few weeks ago and then spent most of my stellaris time dwarfing around with mods (my own and others) and when I finally got around to a good galaxy look (larger than normal) some of those got buggered up by updates to said mods. Then all the announcements about 2.3 came out.

I'm going to copy the current starting solar system into a mod. It will not give an unfair advantage due to being a standard result from "Unary I", but I'm using it because I created RP lore for each planet based off many dwarf fortress games and historic sessions. I don't want to have to do that again. I'd also created a number of systems for personal mods and forced them to spawn in the galaxy; these came from several sources. Mass Effect, Star Trek, Star Wars, Star Citizen, Homeworld, and Homestuck to name a few. Those should be easily updated with the new version. Relic worlds should be fun. Additionally, 64-bit means we can run larger galaxies and more AI without crashes.

My answer to "why not my favourite show BLUHHH?!", for when it eventually comes: I used mostly complete system maps which were available for the sources and minimised RNG fudge. For a lot of science fiction though, the entire systems aren't fleshed out because it isn't necessary. The system just shows up in one episode and you only get the overview of the system if the science officer bothers to check the system. In Stellaris, systems need the whole thing.

[EuchreJack]

Why not my favorite show Red Dwarf? 

[CaptainArchmage]

Update: New Let's Play will be started after June 4th. I will naturally be getting Ancient Relics, but it may take time for some mods to get sync'd up. I'm going to update my personal mods likewise, probably that weekend. There will be some recovery of the old drive... sometime... but realistically we might as well get the new one started, probably on a new thread (but let me know if you'd rather continue the new game on here).

Why not my favorite show Red Dwarf? 

Goddamnit EuchreJack, my current science fiction show to watch (note I'm watching in moderation, not binge) is Stargate SG-1 (first time watching). I'm picking out planets, might provide a few solar systems but probably provide better material for new relics; you might see SOME planets show up. Again, if it's just a single planet the RNG is fine. Complete or semi-complete solar systems also work, which is why Mass Effect and Star Citizen are such great sources because the maps and planet descriptions are just "there".