This mod improves how AI empires expand during the Space Stage.
In the vanilla game, AI colonization is slow, illogical, and often leads to empires merging together, making it impossible to maintain any kind of visual frontier between them. On top of that, the AI doesn't seem to care about spice types or the planet's terrascore, often picking the worst planet in a system to colonize.
This mod fixes that by making empires expand in a more cohesive and strategic way.
- AI empires prioritize nearby systems, expanding in clusters and avoiding isolated colonies.
- Empires favor systems with high-value spice types and/or habitable planets.
- When colonizing a star system, the AI will always pick the best planet available.
- AI colonization of star systems containing tribes and civilizations is configurable. When enabled, empires can only colonize these systems if they control the closest neighboring star system.
- The speed at which empires expand can be customized when the mod is installed.
- The radius around the player within which empires can expand is customizable when the mod is installed.
- Once an empire has no nearby colonizable stars, it will begin colonizing planets within already owned star systems. This behavior can be customized when installing the mod.
- Empires will terraform planets within their owned star systems. This behavior can be customized when installing the mod.
- AI avoids colonizing special systems like Sol, systems with monoliths, save file stars, etc.
- Includes an option to allow the mod to affect the player empire, causing it to colonize and terraform planets using the same rules as AI empires.
- The Grox and empires from other saves are not affected by this mod.
| Without the mod | With the mod |
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Both screenshots were taken after 1 hour and 30 minutes at fast speed.
- Requires UPE.
- This mod can be installed, reinstalled, or removed in existing saves.