Interesting thing I noticed...

[Umega]

Sorry about the small alien portrait, but I found him while watching the Stellaris pre-order trailer. The alien has horns instead of a boney crest. In the dev diary about uplifting and subspecies, it did say that aliens would gradually change thier physical appearence and turn into a new subspecies.

 

[ShaynaLynn]

Good find!

 

[ahhheygao]

Nice find and thanks for including screencap.!

Cynn God-Emperor: "Bah! what do these Menchiban Post-Cynn heretics need those horns for? Better reception?! What, are they gonna spear the native creatures with their horns? And what's this excuse about hostile environment? Let's see if their horns make them more resistant to my purge!"

 

[SolarGuy]

I actually wondered a while ago about the appearance of "genetically modified" species. If those can look different, maybe we'll also have cybernetic enhancements that are visible!
What would a Blorg with cybernetic implants and genetic modifications look like...?
And can those genetically modified people change themselves a second time, creating yet another subspecies that now looks completely different from the original main species?

 

[Solicitius]

I actually wondered a while ago about the appearance of "genetically modified" species. If those can look different, maybe we'll also have cybernetic enhancements that are visible!
What would a Blorg with cybernetic implants and genetic modifications look like...?
And can those genetically modified people change themselves a second time, creating yet another subspecies that now looks completely different from the original main species?

They evolved: give a kiss to the new Blorg ascendancy

 

[Zaku]

They evolved: give a kiss to the new Blorg ascendancy

Beautiful.
PDS should create the 'Handsome Squidward' race DLC.

 

[Solicitius]

It would be nice to know also, if as "Cybernetics eat your soul" the same is true for Psionics.
Does a spiritualist empire (with no access to cybernetic augmentation), get an aura around them? A third eye made of crystals?

 

[ashbery76]

That is pretty cool if true.Wonder what the human looks like.

 

[Solicitius]

That is pretty cool if true.Wonder what the human looks like.

Toll the Great Bell Once!
Pull the Lever forward to engage the
Piston and Pump...
Toll the Great Bell Twice!
With push of Button fire the Engine
And spark Turbine into life...
Toll the Great Bell Thrice!
Sing Praise to the
God of All Machines

 

[Mutori]

It looks awesome, nice find. That means that portraits are actually made from several parts which can change based on modifications, thus making it harder for modders, if they want to make portraits as cool as PDX's

 

[Gen.Schuermann]

Nice find and thanks for including screencap.!

Cynn God-Emperor: "Bah! what do these Menchiban Post-Cynn heretics need those horns for? Better reception?! What, are they gonna spear the native creatures with their horns? And what's this excuse about hostile environment? Let's see if their horns make them more resistant to my purge!"

I love your latent aggression - exactly how I play Civ

You killed my spearman 2000 BC? Prepare to die in holy nuclear fire

 

[Belty]

We all know the end point for the Post-blorg musicians.(and kazoo synths)

 

[Gregsplays]

Toll the Great Bell Once!
Pull the Lever forward to engage the
Piston and Pump...
Toll the Great Bell Twice!
With push of Button fire the Engine
And spark Turbine into life...
Toll the Great Bell Thrice!
Sing Praise to the
God of All Machines

In other words, Engage?

 

[exewon]

Toll the Great Bell Once!
Pull the Lever forward to engage the
Piston and Pump...
Toll the Great Bell Twice!
With push of Button fire the Engine
And spark Turbine into life...
Toll the Great Bell Thrice!
Sing Praise to the
God of All Machines

This brings a very strange question to my brain. Would the adeptus mechanus be materialist or spiritualist? It's kinda wierd since they're both very zealous and pious. While at the same time worshiping machines and the removal of flesh?

 

[Zaku]

This brings a very strange question to my brain. Would the adeptus mechanus be materialist or spiritualist? It's kinda wierd since they're both very zealous and pious. While at the same time worshiping machines and the removal of flesh?

They are fanatical spiritualist.
They don't actually know how technology works, they just worship it. Programming code is considered saint litany for them. Operating a piece of equipment is not done by logical thinking and solving the way it works, but by fanatical devotion to old manuals(holy books) and chanting to the machine spirit(writing program codes from those old books). They don't invent new stuff, they just scavange and rebuild(or improve in very rare cases) old pieces of wargear and STCs.
Even so, they belive so strong in the Machine God, that it seems to have an effect on the equipment they operate. This is not a hundred percent clear in the lore, but it seems like their devotion and fanatism improves the efficiency of these items. This may be because they actually mantain these well and input correct data and codes in them, but an other explanation may be that they create a psyhic effect with their worship.

 

[Exemplar Voss]

Neither. They're unhappy idiots, wandering around blindly in a universe they don't even vaguely comprehend. They observe the forms of ritual without understanding, wisdom or grasping the basic intent.
They're militant xenophobes, with a weird penchant for grafting bizzare mecha-tentacles onto everything.

 

[Solicitius]

Neither. They're unhappy idiots, wandering around blindly in a universe they don't even vaguely comprehend. They observe the forms of ritual with understanding, wisdom or grasping the basic intent.
They're militant xenophobes, with a weird penchant for grafting bizzare mecha-tentacles onto everything.

And this is why Hereteks are the only ones with at least some intelligence to question their faith. Even then, only two names come to mind: only two beings in all the Mechanicus with enough intelligence to matter and try to build something new. Sadly, the Universe is not kind to those who try to change it.

Koriel Zeth, mistress of the Magma City at the time of the Horus Heresy (she died choosing to oppose the Dark Mechanicum):
"It is my great regret that we live in an age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of people who try to."

And Nomen Ryne, who while being an Ork wet dream (He's for a free for all approach to weapons and tech), at least he's logic enough to convert the Inquisitor who tried to murder him (Cyyrik Scayl, now an Heretek himself).

Honorable mention to Etolph Cycerin: chaos fallen, but still intelligent enough to reinvent cyber warfare with computer viruses.