Is this mod possible?

[Tacitus275]

Is there a mod that allows robots without Gestalt Consciousness?
I would love a Robot race that is a Xenophile...

 

[Ryika]

I don't know if such a mod exists, but in concept it is possible.

If you want to give it a go yourself, a very naive way to remove the restrictions would just be to edit:
common\governments\authorities\00_authorities.txt

Change the part ...

    possible = {
      ethics = {
          value = ethic_gestalt_consciousness
      }
   }
   random_weight = {
       modifier = {
           factor = 0
           NOT = { host_has_dlc = "Synthetic Dawn Story Pack" }
       }
   }

...to...

    possible = {
   #   ethics = {
   #       value = ethic_gestalt_consciousness
   #   }
   }
   random_weight = {
       modifier = {
           factor = 0
           NOT = { host_has_dlc = "Synthetic Dawn Story Pack" }
       }
   }

...(a # at the beginning of a line comments out - disables - the code) and you're now able to create Machine Empires that can choose Ethics instead of being limited to the Gestalt Consciousness Pseudo-Ethic.

Just be aware that this might, and likely will, run into some problems that I'm not aware of right now. Unlocking such things usually causes a lot of weird situations, so... at least turn off Ironman Mode.

 

[bobgrey1997]

Don't have to worry about Ironman Mode.
Changing any part of that file automatically locks out Ironman Mode in hardcode.

 

[Ryika]

You can still use Ironman Mode, you just can't get achievements while doing so.

 

[bobgrey1997]

Odd. Any time I use mods which change anything in Common or Events folders, Ironman Mode is completely blocked out (not that I care: achievements are utterly useless to me).

 

[Tacitus275]

This ought to be interesting.

 

[Tacitus275]

Well right off the bat. My robot pops were very unhappy. Had to demolish an alloy plant to build a holo theater.
The major problem is that my machine assembly building is not building pops.

 

[Teutonic_Thrash]

Here's a mod that allows to start as a synthetically ascended empire:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1762062219&searchtext=Machine

It also allows regular robot empires to become a synth-like empire during gameplay.

 

[Ryika]

Well right off the bat. My robot pops were very unhappy. Had to demolish an alloy plant to build a holo theater.
The major problem is that my machine assembly building is not building pops.

Yeah, I see the problem: The scripts don't recognize you as a Machine Empire, so Buildings and Districts are creating Jobs for Normal Empires as well as Machine Empires. That's because the scripted_trigger in common\Stellaris\common\scripted_triggers\00_scripted_triggers.txt that define whether you're a Machine Empire or a Regular Empire check for the Ethic (which you've changed to be non-machine empire ethics), not the Authority:

is_regular_empire = {
   NOT = { has_ethic = ethic_gestalt_consciousness   }
}

[...]

is_gestalt = {
   has_ethic = ethic_gestalt_consciousness

}

There's again a naive workaround for that, which is just to add the authority as an second exception. But because there's also the Fallen Empire Machine Empire archetype, you should probably add them as well, even though they should spawn with the ethic_gestalt_consciousness anyway. But better safe than sorry. What you end up with is something like this:

is_regular_empire = {
   NOR = {
       has_ethic = ethic_gestalt_consciousness
       has_authority = auth_machine_intelligence
       has_authority = auth_ancient_machine_intelligence
   }
}

[...]

is_gestalt = {
   has_ethic = ethic_gestalt_consciousness
    OR = {
       has_ethic = ethic_gestalt_consciousness
       has_authority = auth_machine_intelligence
       has_authority = auth_ancient_machine_intelligence
   }
}

After making these changes, jobs and planets work fine now, and the empire is properly recognized as a machine empire in the parts of the game that I tested. Other empires dislike my people for being machines, and for being xenophobes... and for being spiritualists, jeez.

But again, making changes like these can cause other oddities to occur. It's probably easier to just use a mod like the one linked above. Though, it's probably also less fun than playing around with things like these.

/edit: btw, I just realized that I forgot to mention that you should probably make such changes as a local mod, not by direct editing game files. If you're new to modding and need a quick introduction to creating such mods, this guide is very helpful for that.

 

[Tacitus275]

Well right off the bat. My robot pops were very unhappy. Had to demolish an alloy plant to build a holo theater.
The major problem is that my machine assembly building is not building pops.

This is a hard mod even on Commodore. It is hard in the way that you have a hard time making energy and mineral stockpiles.
The new required buildings eat a lot of the stockpile

 

[_Coulson]

Is there a mod that allows robots without Gestalt Consciousness?
I would love a Robot race that is a Xenophile...

there is a mod: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1762062219

 

[Tacitus275]

there is a mod: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1762062219

I want to play a synthetic to start but it is grayed out. How do you select them?