2.0 is (finally *drool*) around the corner, which means we can set our sights on what could come next. And, following Stellaris developement cycle, chances are good the next DLC/patch will focus on either Diplomacy, Exploration or a specific fluff topic. Therefore, I'll revamp and revisit my suggestion for Federations (which are on the official to-do list):
Federation Tenets:
To make federations more than just a multi-directional Defensive Pact with a weird fleet mechanism attached, and support all the various sci-fi tropy federation styles (from Star Trek to Ur-Quan Masters), plus allowing players to build their own version of whatever they like, I suggest to redesign federations and their functions whole:
Any empire can be in only a single federation at any given time, but being in a federation has effectively zero effects by itself. However, each federation contains 1-5 'tenets', which are abstractions of ideology, military, economy or politics, and together define what exactly this specific federation actually does.
The first tenet for each federation (aka, the one chosen upon foundation) is a special 'Core Tenet', which governs what the base premise of the federation is (i.e. an egalitarian election-based political entity, a economical agreement, or a military pact). A federation can obviously only have one of those core tenets, but any number of 'normal' tenets:
Alongside providing actual benefits (such as diplomatic agreements, or plain ressource boosts, or special mechanics), each tenet adds a specific 'goal' to a federation, which can then be used to determine whether the federation 'is working' or is 'falling apart' (after all, a federation is a diplomatic arrangement between multiple, potentially vastly different, races and empires).
This 'cohesion' is measured in a value I'll label 'Federal Integrity'. This value ranges from 0 to 100, and directly scales the benefits gained from the various tenets (i.e. if a tenet gives a '+10% of X' bonus, it does so at 100 integrity only; at i.e. 50 integrity, the bonus is halfved to +5% X and so on). Vice versa, Federal Integrity is gained and lost on a ticking (i.e. monthly) basis, depending on whether the federation's tenets are 'obeyed', aka; the tenet's goals met.
I.e. if you have a tenet focussed around mutual military defense, it might give you a bonus to starbases or military, but requires the members of the federation to actually defend each other, granting integrity on each won defensive war, with each loss (or declined call to arms) costing integrity.
If a federation is doing well and has a high (i.e. maxed out) Federal Integrity, it members can try to add a new tenet (as to who gets to decide on which is added, this would depend on the core tenet of the federation). This way, federations start out simple, but can grow in complexity (and strength, since each tenet adds a benefit) over time, but as well become more demanding from their members to comply with those tenets, potentially leading to instability and the decline of a federation: When a federations integrity hits 0, a 'crisis' occurs, and the federation may break apart (dissolve), have members forcibly ejected (due to their populace's demand?), be forced to abandon some of it's tenet or might even split into two federations to engage in 'civil war'.
An ultimate goal of a federation could be to achieve 'Unification', by establishing the full set of 5 tenets, and then staying at 95+ integrity for several decades (note that the process of gaining Federal Integrity for a new tenet should take 20+ years each, assuming the federation is 'flourishing', longer if it's troubled), which results in the federation and all of it's members being replaced by a singular empire with a special (and powerful!) 'Unified Federation' civic. (And, obviously, controlled by the player if he was part of the federation during it's unification.)
I could go into details in regards to specific tenets now, but I'll append that as seperate posts in this thread (as threadmarks) instead of cluttering up the core concept of this suggestion.
Please feel free to C&C, or come up with tenets of your own!
Federation Tenets:
To make federations more than just a multi-directional Defensive Pact with a weird fleet mechanism attached, and support all the various sci-fi tropy federation styles (from Star Trek to Ur-Quan Masters), plus allowing players to build their own version of whatever they like, I suggest to redesign federations and their functions whole:
Any empire can be in only a single federation at any given time, but being in a federation has effectively zero effects by itself. However, each federation contains 1-5 'tenets', which are abstractions of ideology, military, economy or politics, and together define what exactly this specific federation actually does.
The first tenet for each federation (aka, the one chosen upon foundation) is a special 'Core Tenet', which governs what the base premise of the federation is (i.e. an egalitarian election-based political entity, a economical agreement, or a military pact). A federation can obviously only have one of those core tenets, but any number of 'normal' tenets:
Alongside providing actual benefits (such as diplomatic agreements, or plain ressource boosts, or special mechanics), each tenet adds a specific 'goal' to a federation, which can then be used to determine whether the federation 'is working' or is 'falling apart' (after all, a federation is a diplomatic arrangement between multiple, potentially vastly different, races and empires).
This 'cohesion' is measured in a value I'll label 'Federal Integrity'. This value ranges from 0 to 100, and directly scales the benefits gained from the various tenets (i.e. if a tenet gives a '+10% of X' bonus, it does so at 100 integrity only; at i.e. 50 integrity, the bonus is halfved to +5% X and so on). Vice versa, Federal Integrity is gained and lost on a ticking (i.e. monthly) basis, depending on whether the federation's tenets are 'obeyed', aka; the tenet's goals met.
I.e. if you have a tenet focussed around mutual military defense, it might give you a bonus to starbases or military, but requires the members of the federation to actually defend each other, granting integrity on each won defensive war, with each loss (or declined call to arms) costing integrity.
If a federation is doing well and has a high (i.e. maxed out) Federal Integrity, it members can try to add a new tenet (as to who gets to decide on which is added, this would depend on the core tenet of the federation). This way, federations start out simple, but can grow in complexity (and strength, since each tenet adds a benefit) over time, but as well become more demanding from their members to comply with those tenets, potentially leading to instability and the decline of a federation: When a federations integrity hits 0, a 'crisis' occurs, and the federation may break apart (dissolve), have members forcibly ejected (due to their populace's demand?), be forced to abandon some of it's tenet or might even split into two federations to engage in 'civil war'.
An ultimate goal of a federation could be to achieve 'Unification', by establishing the full set of 5 tenets, and then staying at 95+ integrity for several decades (note that the process of gaining Federal Integrity for a new tenet should take 20+ years each, assuming the federation is 'flourishing', longer if it's troubled), which results in the federation and all of it's members being replaced by a singular empire with a special (and powerful!) 'Unified Federation' civic. (And, obviously, controlled by the player if he was part of the federation during it's unification.)
I could go into details in regards to specific tenets now, but I'll append that as seperate posts in this thread (as threadmarks) instead of cluttering up the core concept of this suggestion.
Please feel free to C&C, or come up with tenets of your own!
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