The "Lost Colony" origin has potential yet untapped. While it gives us something to discover, it is always the same thing: an advanced (if possible, otherwise normal) empire of your species is waiting for you to find somewhere out there in the galaxy. It would be a more interesting experience if we truly did not know what to expect - your original homeworld might have been affected by...
Basically, it would be more fun to discover the fate of the original homeworld if it remained a mystery until it is rediscovered.
Sometimes the Commonwealth of Man should find that the United Nations of Earth are replaced by the Custodians of Earth, or that Earth has been reduced to a tomb world.
The only way to make the first happen right now is to force-spawn the CoE, which replaces chance with boring certainty, and the roachoid-infested Sol III cannot currently happen in any game where the CoM exists because that condition is currently hardcoded to force-spawn the UNE.
I also do not think it is even possible to have force-spawned rogue servitors "count" as the counterpart of non-hardcoded Lost Colony empires, the way it is with CoE and CoM.
If alternative outcomes for the homeworld are added, as per the above, it would be nice if we could name specific pre-made empires for each scenario that requires an empire design (if we don't want to leave it at "random design"). For the CoM, the prosperous unification alternative would be the UNE and the rogue servitor alternative would be the CoE.
We should in any case also be allowed to select the name of the homeworld and its star, to let us ensure that they align with (our headcanon behind) the species' name if we so desire.
Force-spawning an empire in possession of the named star would supposedly be a way to override the random outcome mechanic, for those who prefer a fixed outcome like now.
(a designated origin star name could also be used by the game to recognise force-spawned empires, with a different main species, as the stand-in for the origin empire - even if the alternative outcomes suggested above were not added to the game)
- tomb world-level disaster (post-apocalyptic empire, native inhabitants, or no inhabitants at all)
- rogue servitors
- determined exterminators
- necrophages
- invasion by an extraterrestrial civilization (system occupied by an advanced empire at game start)
- invasion by an intraterrestrial civilization (your species is now the secondary species on the original homeworld, which also gets subterranean features)
- revolt by genetically enhanced animals (your species is now the secondary species on the original homeworld, possibly also getting the servile trait)
- total planetary destruction (shattered, shrouded, black hole)
- global societal and technological collapse (regression to slightly pre-FTL natives)
- timetravel/timeshifting shenanigans that leave you finding the original homeworld back in the bronze age, the pre-sapient stage or an even more pristine state (possibly different climate)
Basically, it would be more fun to discover the fate of the original homeworld if it remained a mystery until it is rediscovered.
Sometimes the Commonwealth of Man should find that the United Nations of Earth are replaced by the Custodians of Earth, or that Earth has been reduced to a tomb world.
The only way to make the first happen right now is to force-spawn the CoE, which replaces chance with boring certainty, and the roachoid-infested Sol III cannot currently happen in any game where the CoM exists because that condition is currently hardcoded to force-spawn the UNE.
I also do not think it is even possible to have force-spawned rogue servitors "count" as the counterpart of non-hardcoded Lost Colony empires, the way it is with CoE and CoM.
If alternative outcomes for the homeworld are added, as per the above, it would be nice if we could name specific pre-made empires for each scenario that requires an empire design (if we don't want to leave it at "random design"). For the CoM, the prosperous unification alternative would be the UNE and the rogue servitor alternative would be the CoE.
We should in any case also be allowed to select the name of the homeworld and its star, to let us ensure that they align with (our headcanon behind) the species' name if we so desire.
Force-spawning an empire in possession of the named star would supposedly be a way to override the random outcome mechanic, for those who prefer a fixed outcome like now.
(a designated origin star name could also be used by the game to recognise force-spawned empires, with a different main species, as the stand-in for the origin empire - even if the alternative outcomes suggested above were not added to the game)
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