The Power of the Kuti: How It Can Help You Fold Your Way to Victory

The Power of the Kuti: How It Can Help You Fold Your Way to Victory

Alongside the Calatian Thunderbucket, which made its debut in Sea of Stars, the Kuti is one of my favorite starships in the entire Infinite Space trilogy. In fact, it has been that way since the very first game. The reason is quite simple: having it in your flotilla unlocks another option for traveling between star systems. While the same thing is true of the Hyperdrive, that item has been nerfed considerably - specifically, hyperdrive jumps always take a full year to complete, instead of just two months as in the earlier games - to the point that using the Kuti's special ability is now a much better option than previously. But what makes the Kuti so special? To find out, we need to take a look at its description.

Is this why the Kuti is arguably the most prized ally of all?

In the first two games, the Kuti was a Zorg Corvette, with similar stats to its Terran counterpart, but with a Gauss Cannon and Proton Phasor Beam as standard equipment. However, in Sea of Stars, it starts out as a Zorg Scout, which is smaller, lighter, and faster, but carries less armor and has only one hardpoint. It must be taken to the Zorg home system (which contains their homeworld, Loryx) if you wish to trade it in for a larger Zorg ship - either a Zorg Corvette (which costs 2 coins) or a Zorg Frigate (which normally costs 3 coins, but only requires 2 if a Zorg Corvette was traded in for it), with the latter only becoming available later in the game. Please note that the name Kuti refers not to the Zorg ship, not the helmsman who owns it.

The Kuti in action, helping to reduce the time taken to explore Sector Prime by folding space between two nearby star systems.

The best part about the Kuti, however, is that due to being crewed by a Zorg helmsman, having it in your flotilla allows you to travel between nearby star systems - up to 2 parsecs (around 6.52 light-years) - much more quickly by having the helmsman fold space between you and the destination. Given that a Zorg helmsman needs no more than 21 days to complete a fold, you will be able to complete the game much more quickly after you hire him. Best of all, this special ability has not only been present in all three games, but can also be used at any time as long as there is a star system or black hole within folding range.

In combat, it can be treated very much like its Terran equivalents, with some exceptions: the Zorg Corvette's weapons coverage is more heavily biased towards the front quadrant, and the Zorg Frigate's central turret not only faces backwards, but can only carry light weapons such as the Proton Blaster. At any rate, it is well worth trading a Zorg Scout for either of these ships, especially since the Zorg will become your allies if you encounter them while you have the Kuti in your fleet.

When traded in for a larger Zorg ship, the Kuti has the potential to become as effective a fighting machine as any of its counterparts from other factions. 

As an example, the loadout shown above depicts the Kuti as a heavily upgraded Zorg Corvette. In the playthrough from which this screenshot was taken, I retrofitted it with a cloaking device and a Particle Vortex Cannon, making it ideal for sneak attacks. The latter was particularly useful against Urluquai Deep Hunters, which the PVC could hit even if the Deep Hunter was cloaked. I even deployed it alongside a pair of similarly upgraded Terran Corvettes and, thanks to shrewd tactics, was able to wipe out several hostile fleets without much trouble at all.

The Kuti can become a powerful vessel in its own right, but has the potential to become nigh-unstoppable when teamed up with heavily upgraded capital ships from other factions.

In short, other allies may give you faster, more powerful, or tougher ships, but none of them are as useful as the Kuti when it comes to exploring the sector before the deadline. Moreover, after its default scout hull is traded in with something larger, it has the potential to become a devastating one-ship fleet if upgraded with the right equipment.

Thus ends my discussion on the Zorg helmsman's ship. More posts about the other allies in Sea of Stars are forthcoming. Until then, see you next time.

To Use or Not To Use: Are the Special Items Really Worth It?

To Use or Not To Use: Are the Special Items Really Worth It?

Of all the items you can collect in Sea of Stars, five of them - the Klakar Beacon, Limited Vacuum Collapser, the Chromium Gong, the Timeless Bauble, and the Melodium Conograph - are considered special items due to each of them having a unique effect when you activate them. All of them are highly valuable if sold to Haven Station in an intact state, and have the potential to change the outcome of the game. I'll start off with an item so powerful that its use will literally redraw the map of Sector Prime - the Limited Vacuum Collapser.

Throughout the entire Infinite Space trilogy, the Limited Vacuum Collapser has been one of the most prized items in the series, with a value of 1000 credits - a very useful amount in the event that you do not need to wipe out a large section of Sector Prime.. In addition to this, it can also be used as a weapon of mass destruction capable of instantly annihilating everything - spacecraft, star systems, black holes, and even nebulae - within five light-years. To use it, simply select its icon, click the button marked "Activate" and click "Yes" when prompted to activate the device. Then set the timer (which is measured in days) by typing in the desired number in the text box provided. You will then be told to evacuate any star system within the blast radius. Once the timer expires, the device will detonate, instantly removing everything from the map, as long as it is within five light-years of the epicenter of the blast.

Be warned: if your flotilla is within the blast radius at the time of detonation, the game will end. Ditto if Glory (the Terrans' home system) is destroyed by the blast. Thus, a Limited Vacuum Collapser must be used with caution. However, if detonated at the right place and time, it will guarantee successful completion of a quest as follows:

• In the quests to defeat the Kawangi Dreadnought and Primordius, the Collapser is highly useful, since the blast will simply wipe them off the map. In fact, unless you have a Chromium Gong in your cargo hold, it's your only option if your flotilla does not yet have the firepower to allow you to complete these quests via direct combat. Make sure the Kawangi are not too close to Glory, though, or you will have no choice but to defeat them the hard way, which is easier said than done.
• The Collapser can prevent the Pirate and Ravian Swarm quests from starting at all if the blast engulfs the system in which they can be initiated - unless that system has already been visited for the first time (apparently, attempting to board the abandoned Kestrel and then leaving without capturing the ship counts as a visit). Even if the quest has already begun, a vacuum collapse can still be effective if it destroys inbound pirate fleets or Ravian reinforcements - as long as Glory is not within the blast radius.
• Fianlly, you can stop the Urluquai Crusade from starting if you use the collapser to annihilate the Urluquai Station before it has been boarded. However, if the Sardions' destination (which is always an unoccupied star system) is destroyed by a vacuum collapser, you will no longer be able to get the Sardion Maximizer from them, although removing that system also prevents Overlord Slurqin's Urluquai crusader fleet from appearing. Speaking of which, it too is not immune to a vacuum collapse either. The Urluquai will still deploy a fleet towards Glory as usual if you wipe out their homeworld before delivering the Sardions to their destination, though.

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Here is an example of the Limited Vacuum Collapser in action. I had spotted a Yellow Kawangi Dreadnought inbound to the Tchorak home world, but even before its arrival, I had no hope of destroying it in direct combat, and hence was left with no choice but to activate the device.

By clicking "Yes", I unleashed wanton destruction on a galactic scale.

The next step was to set the timer - I chose 150 days knowing that such a value would give my flotilla a chance to survive the blast.

All that was left was to escape from the system at the epicenter of the vacuum collapse. And I did so - easily.

The result of a successful (and easily justified) vacuum collapse: the Yellow Kawangi Dreadnought has been erased from existence and the Glory system has been saved. For good measure, I triggered the quest again at a later stage of the playthrough, and with the help of Muktian forces, obliterated another Kawangi Dreadnought with a pair of fully upgraded Terran Destroyers (in direct combat to boot) - but that's another story.

In short, the Limited Vacuum Collapser has enormous destructive potential, but can bring your adventure to a premature end if you're not careful, so use it wisely. However, the next item is even more useful - if you know how to use it.

In contrast to the Limited Vacuum Collapser, an infamous tool for destruction, the Timeless Bauble is a device which grants the power of creation. Activating it will release Lord Fomax, who will ask you to request an item for him to give. Just enter the name of the item you want to acquire and press Enter. Most of the time, he will give it to you right away, but if an example of that item already exists on the map, or if you type in anything other than the exact name of any of the items you can find in the game, he will present you with a random lifeform instead. Interestingly, the very first game in the trilogy allowed you to acquire a rare device such as a Hyperdrive, Limited Vacuum Collapser or a Chromium Gong even if any of them already existed on the map. This became impossible from Weird Worlds onward, however, presumably to stop players from increasing their scores through such cheap means.

The description for the Timeless Bauble.

Click "Yes" to release Lord Fomax.

Now enter the name of the item you want - just make sure it doesn't already exist on the map.

To avoid the problem of not getting exactly what I want, I almost always use the Timeless Bauble to create a Nova Cannon, which can only be acquired using this method, but is by far the most powerful weapon in the game bar none. Occasionally, however, I deviate from this pattern by using the bauble to create a Graviton Disintegrator; like the Nova Cannon, it cannot be obtained by any other means. And sometimes, after activating the bauble, I ask Lord Fomax to give me a Limited Vacuum Collapser, but only when I am absolutely sure that it cannot be found lying around in some distant star system.

The result of successfully using the Timeless Bauble - a Nova Cannon is added to my inventory.

Simply for giving you an opportunity to use the Kawangi Dreadnought's main weapon against it, or indeed any hostile flotilla you encounter, the Timeless Bauble is one of the best devices anyone can find in Sector Prime. Before you use it, though, be sure the item you are asking for doesn't exist anywhere on the map - or you'll have nothing to show for your deal with Lord Fomax but a strange lifeform worth much less. The next item, on the other hand, is indispensable as soon as you find it.

The Klakar Beacon is almost a necessity when trading items during your travels through Sector Prime.

Throughout the entire Infinite Space Trilogy, one device has proven to be more useful than any other. That device is the Klakar Beacon. It allows you to swap an item from your inventory for one which is stored in the Klakar Frigate's cargo bay. After discovering the Klakar Orbital Nest at Kreee'ark, the beacon can even be used to transfer items from the Orbital Nest to the Klakar Frigate via your flotilla's cargo hold.

The beacon can even be used in combat to deploy the Klakar Frigate against enemy forces, but you will be forced to give the Klakar an item from your inventory if the Frigate survives the battle. If you refuse to hand over one of your items, they will simply jettison the beacon, rendering everything in the Frigate's cargo hold unobtainable for the rest of the game. Also, if the Klakar Frigate is destroyed, any subsequent attempts to use the Beacon will have no effect.

Personally I find the Beacon to be unnecessary in actual combat. Even if the enemy presence is very heavy, I would rather retreat from the battle, or simply attack the opposing force without any Klakar assistance, depending on how much firepower my flotilla has. I just reserve the Beacon for when I need to transfer items to and from my inventory away from battle. Even so, the mere fact that it can allow the player to trade items without having to visit the Klakar homeworld makes the Klakar Beacon essential for your adventure in Sector Prime. The next item, however, is far more useful in combat - as long as you know about its limitations.

If you are faced with overwhelming odds against enemy forces, the Five Fiery Furies might just be your best friend

Throughout the Infinite Space Trilogy, the Chromium Gong has been one of the most coveted items in the series. In the first two games, it can only be used once during a battle, but will destroy the most powerful enemy starship with just one shot by summoning the Five Fiery Furies. It behaves identically in Sea of Stars, with one major difference: it may shatter and become unusable after the first, second or third time it is used. Moreover, the Gong may occasionally miss its target if you activate a cloaking device just before you use the gong. Finally, using the gong outside of combat will have no effect at all, although it may still break as usual.

Even so, despite being nerfed for Sea of Stars, the Chromium Gong remains as highly prized as it has always been, either for use in desperate combat situations where there is no alternative whatsoever, or as a valuable piece of treasure which can be sold off at Haven Station for a hefty sum if your flotilla has enough firepower to destroy enemy forces all by itself. The last item on this list, however, is even more valuable, but is never worth using - except for obtaining a hidden achievement.

Why bother wasting a whole year by using a Melodium Conograph, considering how little time you have to explore every star system in Sector Prime?

Among the various items scattered across Sector Prime, none of them is as deceptive as the Melodium Conograph. It's worth 650 credits, but activating it does not provide any beneficial effects. Instead, it advances the in-game timer by a full year, which is a huge waste of time considering that you have 25 years of in-game time to complete the randomly generated quest and explore every star system in Sector Prime. However, you will gain the achievement "Dulcet Tones" if you use the Melodium Conograph for the first time. Apart from this, the Conograph is useless except for bolstering your finances when you get a chance to sell it.

And on that note, it's time to end our discussion of the five special items you can find hidden in the Sea of Stars. The next post will discuss how having a Zorg Helmsman in your flotilla can be incredibly helpful - if you can find it. Until then, see you next time.

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 47: Generations - a Car Design Retrospective

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 47: Generations - a Car Design Retrospective

The recently concluded Generations challenge gave users the opportunity to compete for points over several rounds by creating a lineup of cars spanning several decades (in some cases for more than a half-century), complete with brand lore (in a separate thread) to provide some backstory, and "sell" the cars in the U.S. market by submitting them at the rate of one car per round. At the end of each round, each user would be scored depending on how well-suited their car is to the segment in which it competes, with the overall winner being the user who scored highest throughout all the rounds.

While I did not enter this challenge for fear of having to expend too much time and resources to develop several cars and their associated lore, it did provide me with an opportunity to analyze the evolution of car design throughout the ages. As for the contest itself, it commenced several months ago with a round set in 1946 and was originally intended to continue all the way to the present day. However, due to work commitments, the host decided to end the series after the twelfth round, set in 1999, with the last four rounds being abandoned altogether. And now that the contest has ended for good, I am ready to take a look back on how car design trends in general have changed over time.

Before we start our discussion of the evolution of car design trends, I'll remind you that this post will only show vehicles which have actually been submitted into the Generations challenge - anything not posted in the corresponding forum thread is outside the scope of this post - and that all credit goes to their respective creators. We'll start off with an example of a late-40s car, the Vermilion Athena. Back in 1946, many carmakers were only just starting to switch their focus from military vehicles to passenger cars, hence the fact that early postwar cars didn't look too different from those which had been introduced just before the onset of war.

Here is what an ad for the 1946 Vermilion Athena would have looked like. Aesthetically, the Athena was little different from any car made just before the outbreak of war due to resource rationing and manufacturers only just having retooled their factories for civilian cars instead of military machinery.

However, the dawn of the 50s saw a surge of diversification in the car market, as the austerity of the war was swept away by a tidal wave of optimism. Manufacturers began putting more and more chrome trim on upmarket cars, and the 1951 LMC Captain Series 6 was no exception. This trend would continue for the remainder of the decade, as rival carmakers rolled out increasingly flashier offerings in an attempt to outdo each other.

The chrome-laden LMC Captain Series 6 embodied the optimistic spirit of the 50s.

For the 60s, carmakers began de-emphasizing gratuitous ornamentation in favor of cleaner, but still mostly curvaceous, shapes. Some manufacturers also began focusing on high performance as a selling point, especially in the American market where petrol was cheap and plentiful. The 1961 Erin Lagana perfectly encapsulated both of these philosophies - nothing in its exterior design left buyers in any doubt that it was a legitimate sports car, in case its excellent performance wasn't convincing enough.

Clean, uncluttered styling, stellar performance and classic GT proportions made the original Erin Lagana a truly iconic 60s sports car.

Later in the decade, muscle cars began to proliferate throughout the American market. These big, boxy beasts projected power and aggression with their high-displacement engines - usually overhead-valve V8s - lurking under their bonnets. They were also offered in vivid colors, such as the lustrous red on this 1969 LMC Seabeast.

With its big, powerful engine, imposing styling and blistering straight-line performance, the LMC Seabeast was a muscle car par excellence.

For 1973, thicker 5-mph bumpers (either integrated, or tacked on) became mandatory on all US-market cars, and the following year, fuel fillers were required to be on the rear quarter panel (for front-engined cars) or the front quarter panel (for rear- and mid-engined cars); the year after that, unleaded fuel and catalytic converters became mandatory nationwide. It was during this time that boxy, angular designs began to take over from the curvaceous shapes commonplace for much of the previous decade, as evidenced by the '73 Kimura Auburn, and they would become even boxier in the years to come - a trend which would not be reversed for nearly two decades.

An ad for the 1973 Kimura Auburn, showing its angular shape and bluff nose.

At around the same time, wedge-shaped, mid-engined supercars really began to catch on with enthusiasts. The LMC Scorpius was a prime example of the breed; its outrageous design, incorporating an enormous rear wing, a low nose with retractable headlights, and a steeply raked windscreen made it immensely desirable among wealthy customers.

Wedge-shaped styling was typical of '70s supercars such as this 1973 LMC Scorpius.

In addition, towards the end of the 70s, more and more cars resembled bricks on wheels, with straight lines, big bumpers and rectangular fixtures being all the rage. The Ardent Sentinel exemplified this design philosophy with its straightforward, but bland, three-box shape.

You'd struggle to find a more generic late-70s commuter car than the '79 Ardent Sentinel.

Wedge shapes and boxy profiles were still common in the early 80s, and it would be some time before they were finally replaced. The 1985-92 LMC Maladus M150 had plenty of straight lines in its exterior design, as did the 1987 RCM Regal, shown below in 4WD Touring Wagon Trim.

Many cars of the 1980s, such as the LMC Maladus M150 and RCM Regal, had very angular styling.

And so we come to the 1990s, the final era for the Generations challenge as a whole. Streamlining made a comeback in the late 1980s, and by 1994, straight lines had mostly fallen out of favor with car designers in favor of organic, flowing curves, as the Erin Scarlet MkII's smooth, almost windswept shape attests. Cars in general hadn't been this curvaceous since the 1960s, but the widespread use of integrated bumpers now made them look even sleeker than before.

The second-gen Erin Scarlet - a classic sports coupe from the '90s, when curves were in vogue for the first time in decades.

By the turn of the century, manufacturers began rolling out bolder, more dynamic designs, with more complex shapes for front and rear fixtures. Higher-end cars in particular tended to have more avant-garde exterior designs, whereas mass-market cars usually had more pragmatic shapes, with less (if any) chrome. The 1999 LMC Maladus M200, with its aggressively styled front fascia, was a case in point.

The turn of the new Millennium saw the proliferation of dynamic, avant-garde designs, with many existing models, like this LMC Maladus M200, being facelifted accordingly to keep up with the times. Its menacing visage would have been quite appropriate for the early years of the twenty-first century.

Unfortunately, this is where the competition ended. Not only was the host struggling to balance his duties of being an Automationeer with increasingly heavy work commitments, but some of the users who had entered simply ran out of company lore and/or were too tired to carry on further. This meant that the last four rounds - intended to be set in 2003, 2006, 2011 and 2016, respectively -  would never come to fruition. Even so, most users agreed that the Generations challenge was a resounding success on all fronts. 

That just about wraps up my design-themed retrospective on this engaging, lore-heavy challenge. Until the next post in my Confessions series comes up, see you next time!

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 46: Succeeding the Wankel

Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 46: Succeeding the Wankel

Fresh off a top-five finish in CSR 77, I was once again awaiting the announcement of the next round with great enthusiasm. When the rule set for it was finally announced, I was as eager as I usually was to build and submit an entry, but there was a catch: all submissions had to score a minimum competitiveness value of 110 in three different non-track markets in Gasmea. There was widespread opposition to this rule, chiefly for forcing unnecessary min-maxing, and it was swiftly abandoned. The maximum pre-markup price of $15,000 didn't do the round any favors either, nor did the total ban on car bodies available only as mods; after further protests, the budget was increased to $20,000, and all mod bodies (except those with an unusually low drag coefficient) were allowed back in. Only when the rule set had been finalized did I finally commence work on my entry.

For this round, I reimagined one of the cars I had made earlier, shortly after the UE4 version had debuted. That car was the Morton Sparrow, a small, light and agile sports coupe powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four. My initial version was the base model, with 250 horsepower on tap, and surprisingly good fuel economy.

The reimagined Morton Sparrow as originally submitted for CSR78.

However, after the host told me that price and fuel economy would not be among the judging criteria, I began debating over whether or not to submit a faster, more powerful version in place of the original build. After several days of deliberation, I finally pulled my finger out and did it. The resulting trim, the 2.0 RS, was submitted mere hours before the deadline. It had different front and rear fascias compared to the base model, as well as air vents on the front fenders, and was even shown in a different exterior color (Gamma Green Pearl instead of Bright Orange Pearl) for good measure.

The Sparrow after revision, now restyled and fitted with a more powerful engine.

Unlike the standard Sparrow, the RS offered a more powerful engine (300 horsepower instead of 250) and cost slightly more. Even with all the revisions I made, though, it remained eligible for entry. All I had to do now was wait for the results of this round to be announced.

Surprisingly, the host managed to fit the initial reviews and final results into just one post - an impressive feat considering that there were 24 entries this round, a 33% increase from the previous one. This time, however, there would be only five finalists, and my Sparrow was one of them. Ultimately, it finished no higher than fourth, but it would have had an even harder time convincing the client had I not revised it to offer better performance than previously. In the end, the win went to the H4 Evanto TS 4.5, an imposing shooting brake with plenty of power.

The winner of CSR78, the H4 Evanto TS 4.5. Big and brawny, with a dose of practicality to go with its sporty feel - what's not to like about it? Not much, actually.

And so, despite a shaky start, CSR78 finally succeeded in bringing a breath of fresh air: after two consecutive rounds with a strong focus on utility, the theme for this latest round provided a chance for users to build proper passenger cars - specifically, affordable sports cars with a modicum of everyday usability. There was, however, an exciting postscript to this round: shortly after the conclusion of CSR78, the host decided to give out an Editor's Choice award to the car which was most fun to drive in another game, called BeamNG.Drive (more on which later). The award went to the deep blue Ars Astaroth GX, whose AWD system ensured that it understeered slightly more than most of the other finalists, but was easier to drive. Next was the light blue Hawker Typhoon Mk3 (not to be confused with the WW2 fighter-bomber of the same name), which recorded the fastest lap time but was more challenging to drive, and in fact was just barely ahead of my Sparrow 2.0 RS in the final standings for Editor's Choice. Bringing up the rear were the bronze Evanto and yellow FAAL Coupe 25TFE, the latter of which was the cheapest and most economical car in the top five, but felt out of its depth at the Automation Test Track compared to its rivals.

The five finalists of CSR78 as depicted in BeamNG.Drive on the Automation Test Track, from left to right: FAAL Coupe 25TFE, Hawker Typhoon Mk3, Ars Astaroth GX (Editor's Choice Winner), Morton Sparrow 2.0 RS, and H4 Evanto TS 4.5 (CSR78 winner).

Considering how controversial the rules were before they were revised, I had more fun entering this round than I thought I would, and have absolutely no regrets about revising my entry after being made aware of what stats would be scored and which ones wouldn't. The next post in this series will take a look at another recently concluded challenge, but until then, see you next time.

Expanding the Sea of Stars: Why Some of Us Want To Fix Sea of Stars (and How We'd Do It)

Expanding the Sea of Stars: Why Some of Us Want to Fix Sea of Stars (and How We'd Do It)

As a longtime Infinite Space veteran, I have found my experience across all three games to be highly enjoyable, despite occasional moments of frustration. However, some aspects of the latest game, Sea of Stars, annoy me somewhat, even though I remain satisfied with the game in its current state. Specifically, some of the items featured in previous games are completely absent from Sea of Stars, and the consequences of these omissions are readily apparent. Moreover, reintroducing them would allow for the addition of more features and achievements to complement the ones which are already present. Finally, the game's ally system might need an overhaul. So, without further ado, here's how Sea of Stars could (and should) be fixed. These changes could be introduced by way of a game mod, which could fittingly be called Sea of Stars: Expanded.

First of all, Sea of Stars is missing some of the items present in its immediate predecessor, Weird Worlds. There are seven artifacts from Weird Worlds which did not appear in Sea of Stars. They are:

• Mantle of Babulon - allows one to negotiate with any race (except for the Tchorak, Tan Ru, Ravians, Pirates and Yellow Kawangi) as soon as one encounters them. Strangely, it appears in some supplementary material for Sea of Stars.
• Aethric Mirror - grants the ability to swap places with another flotilla, unless there are no lifeforms on board (which makes it useless against Primordius, derelict vessels, Damocles or the Kestrel).
• Zelulig Monocle - a high-value artifact, which, if implemented, could have a value comparable to the Marvelous Toy.
• Titanium Time Capsule - another artifact, but with a lower value than the Monocle, possibly similar to that of the other Time Capsules (Plastic, Golden, Platinum and Brass).
• Cenotaph of Rylex - another low-value artifact.
• Codex of Primordius - in Weird Worlds, collecting it would not start the Primordius quest (if it was present), unlike the Horloge of Primordius; also, it has a lower value than the Horloge.
• Alien 4D Sculpture - Essentially a scaled-down version of Sea of Stars' Zabnoth's Folly, without the property of containing two items, and fetches a high price if sold.

In addition, the following five lifeforms were also omitted from Sea of Stars despite having been included in both preceding games:

• Three-Headed Threep - taken directly from the Beany & Cecil cartoon episode "The Search for the Three-Headed Threep), it is dimwitted, pitiful and could possibly be enlisted as a servant.
• Six-Finned Bloater - a low-value lifeform with six radial fins, it is equally capable of living in the air and underwater.
• Wind Bag - described in-game as a "thin-skinned mustard-colored balloon creature which spends its entire life in the clouds", it stays aloft by producing its own helium.
• Snailopus - essentially a snail crossed with an octopus (specifically, the former's body shape and shell with the latter's tentacles where its head would be), it feeds on other creatures' life force.
• Clingon - a small edible legume with hooked spines, but of little use except for being traded for something else, and even then, it still fetches a low price.

Concept art of a Snailopus. If these things were common on the Weird Worlds of Infinite Space, then why are they missing from the Sea of Stars?

Although the Mantle of Babulon and Aethric Mirror were omitted from Sea of Stars, some players, myself included, want either or both of them to be put back in. The consequences of doing so would be obvious: with the Mantle of Babulon, you could once again be able to finish the game with a higher diplomacy bonus in exchange for having a reduced combat bonus, while the Aethric Mirror would bring back the ability to visit an occupied planet directly at the expense of not gaining any bonuses associated with encountering the flotilla(s) orbiting that particular planet. With both items absent, as is the case in the base game, aggressive play (as opposed to a diplomacy-focused approach) is virtually enforced, ensuring that combat will often contribute the majority of points scored during a 100% playthrough in which every star system (excluding black holes) is visited. This was not always the case in Weird Worlds, but reintroducing these items might lead to the addition of a new gameplay mechanic to Sea of Stars. I would call it an "aggression meter".

Here's how the aggression meter could work. At the end of a game, you'll see your total score, which includes your combat score and your diplomacy score. The former increases whenever you destroy an enemy ship; the latter increases whenever you make peace with another faction. Once both of these values have been finalized, the diplomacy score is subtracted from the combat score. If the result is a sufficiently high negative value, you will get a "Diplomat" badge, indicating that you preferred to negotiate with other factions instead of attacking them. On the other hand, a sufficiently high positive value will yield an "Aggressor" badge to show that you favored combat over diplomacy. Finally, a score in between these thresholds would cause you to acquire a "Neutral" badge, since you were equally adept at negotiation and successful in battle during your voyage across space. Given the fact that the aggression meter adds an incentive to try out all three play styles, it would be logical to add a trio of new achievements, one for each of the badges suggested above.

Another idea for this mod would be to revamp the ally recruiting system. Currently, it forces players to engage in combat against their will, and more often than usual, by occasionally not adding certain allies in randomly generated maps which contain their respective faction's home system. The opposite problem of recruiting an ally whose faction's homeworld is absent from the map is much rarer, but still occurs occasionally, and when it does, the ally's ship is always a Garthan ship. This isn't much of a problem if the Garthan ship in question is a fighter, but if the ship is a scout, it could be a hindrance at times due to the inability to trade in the scout for a larger Garthan ship. In contrast, in Weird Worlds, if an AI faction's homeworld appeared on the map, an ally affiliated with that particular faction will also be present. Moreover, if a faction's homeworld did not appear, neither would any ally ships affiliated with it. The proposed mod would fix all of these problems by reverting the ally recruiting system to how it was in Weird Worlds.

As for the Combat Simulator (a mode in which you can create your own custom battle scenarios), it would be left mostly as-is, with one exception. Currently the alliance system in this mode is based purely on the faction each flotilla belongs to. As such, if you create a scenario with an AI-controlled Zorg fleet, for example, the only way for a human player to be allied with that fleet would be to change the affiliation of the human-controlled fleet to Zorg. Weird Worlds instead featured a simple button next to each AI fleet; this button would be ghosted if the fleet was absent. Clicking on it would cause that fleet to be allied with the player, although AI fleets from the same faction as the one which the player had chosen were always allied with the player by default; on the other hand, AI fleets whose faction is different from the player's fleet would default to being hostile. I found this system to be slightly more convenient than the one currently in use; therefore, it would be very likely that the mod would reinstate it.

All of the ideas in this mod would make worthwhile additions to Sea of Stars in my opinion. However, I understand that some players would prefer to leave the game as it is right now, without the changes suggested above. To that end, it would be best to give them the option to toggle the mod off before starting a game. Even so, such a mod will open up some possibilities which were absent in the base game. That, my friends, is a nice way to finish off this discussion, so until then, see you next time!