General Concept: An amalgamated universe in the style of the DC/Marvel Amalgam comics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalgam_Comics). I will be incorporating a variety of sci-fi sources (TV, movie, and video game) into this universe including but not limited to: Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, Wing Commander, and Star Control 2. This mod is also an attempt to add RTS elements to Transcendence as well as other features not present in the vanilla game.
General Plot: The Galactic Republic onced controlled the majority of the civilized galaxy, but when Palpatine (a.k.a. Darth Sidious) he dissolved the Republic and revived the Sith Empire. Many former Republic worlds rebelled, thus beginning The Great Galactic War. Several new factions arose during the early years of the war, most notably: The Colonial Alliance, which was composed mainly of human colonies which had previously had little contact with the Republic and refused to submit to Imperial control; The Federation Of Non-Aligned Worlds, which was composed of many lesser races, as well as some human worlds; The Dominion Of Shadows, led by The Shadows and composed of a number of slave races; and the droid armies of the Cylon Empire. The Alliance and The Federation joined forces, turning the tide of the war against the Sith Empire until The Dominion came to their aid. Meanwhile, all four sides were hampered by interference from the human-hating Cylons and numerous independant factions such as the Klingons, Kilrathi, and Centauri who used the war as an excuse to expand their territories. The war also saw a surge in piracy and other criminal activities. The war was ended after nearly a century by a series of technological plagues, beginning a period that would become known as The Blight Age. While some factions prosperred as a result of the war, the entire galaxy suffered during The Blight Age. It began when The Alliance saw an opportunity to end the Cylon threat by infecting them with a nano-virus. However, upon interacting with Cylon A.I.s, the virus mutated into ship-like colonies of nanites, dubbed The Nanite Blight (or Nite Blight), seeking out any source of metal to absorb and replicate more nanites. An even stranger event occurred when the Nite Blight infected a female starship captain with cybernetic implants, creating a new strain of the virus that used cybernetically enhanced lifeforms as hosts, thus giving birth to the first Borg Queen. The Borg expanded quickly and overwhelmed every race they encountered by destroying or assimilating them. They would have conquered the galaxy if not for a last-ditch effort by the humans to infect the Borg with a modified strain of the original anti-Cylon virus. However, like the original virus, it had an unintended and horrific side effect. Instead of eradicating the Borg Blight, it corrupted their programming. This new Blight, which would become known as the Zombie Blight, used the trace amounts of iron and other minerals in their host bodies to replicate. The host bodies became driven (and even animated after death) to consume living flesh in order to feed the insatiable hunger of the nanites, infecting their victims in the process. However, the threat of the Zombie Blight faded as living victims became increasingly scarce and Blight Zombies lost the intelligence to pilot ships. Thus ended The Blight Age. By its end, many races were wiped out entirely, leaving behind only ruins and scattered remnants of their technology. However, some small pockets of civilization still remained in the galaxy. You emerge into this devastated galaxy as the sole survivor of a ship that crash landed on an asteroid. Having grown up since childhood in the mostly intact and sealed wreckage with only droids for company, you eventually used them to rebuild the ship's damaged Work Bee (a small one-person craft used for construction and ship repairs) into a vessel capable of transporting you, some of the ship's equipment, and the remaining supplies off the asteroid, and with any luck allowing you to build a new life in what remains of the galaxy.
Current Factions
Major
~~~~~
Sith Empire - The Sith Empire is a classic monarchy. Though their politics and goals change with each Emperor, their emperors are always Sith Lords, an ancient ruling caste with dark and mysterious powers.
Colonial Alliance - A loose alliance of human and alien colonies of the Old Republic that joined together to rebel when Darth Sidious took over the Republic and revived the Sith Empire.
Federation Of Non-Aligned Worlds - The Federation is an alliance of mutual protection, trade, and research consisting of many independant worlds and species, including humans.
Interstellar Confederacy - An alliance of mutual protection, trade, and research consisting mostly of non-human species.
Star League - Another alliance of mutual protection, trade, and research consisting mostly of non-human species.
Trade Union - The Trade Union is a vast alliance of mutual protection and profit. Though there is often infighting and sabotage among the member corporations, they are completely united in their defense of each other against aggressors, rival non-TU corporations, and anyone else who would interfere with their business and profits.
The Hegemony - A collection of slave races ruled by a council of several dominant species.
Shadow Dominion - The Dominion is ruled by a manipulative species of 6' tall black-shelled telepathic crustaceans resembling a cross between a crab and a preying mantis. The Shadows attempt to manipulate and eventually enslave any race they encounter.
Borg Collective - The Borg are a collective of species infected and assimilated by Borg Nanites. They attempt to assimilate any race they encounter in their drive toward perfection.
Independant
~~~~~~~~~~~
Civilian - Civilians are a sub-faction of most major and independant factions. Attacking civilians will negatively affect your relations with civilians in general and will also affect your relations to varying degrees with other factions (the Federation for example would deplore attacks on any civilian targets regardless of their parent faction, the Romulans would only care if you attacked Romulan civilians, pirates would cheer attacks on any civilians, and the Borg would not care).
Chmmr - The Chmmr are actually three races - the Chenjesu (a crystalline lifeform), the Mmrnmhrm (sentient robots), and the Chmmr (a combination of the Chenjesu and Mmrnmhrm).
Cylon Empire - The Cylon Empire is an alliance of sentient-hating machines and artificial intelligences led by The Cylons. While humans are often the focus of their anger, they will attack any sentients they encounter.
Klingon Empire - Klingons are a species that finds honor and glory in combat. While they hold honor above all other values, they are highly territorial and easily offended.
Romulan Empire - Romulans are a manipulative and territorial species of near-humans. They have a heiarchal society with a clear division between upper and lower castes. They are intelligent and devious, excelling in sabotage and subterfuge.
Cardassian Union - Cardassians are cunning and suspicious, with a militaristic society,strict government control over information, and unquestioning obedience to authority due to the general lack of personal rights. Cardassians tend to be predatory in nature, like wolves, always seeking a dominant position in social gatherings, but place a high regard on family, with equal devotion to their parents and c hildren.
Kilrathi Empire - Kilrathi are a feline species of warrior-hunters who value cunning and courage while despising those they perceive to be cowards (which is almost everyone).
Centauri Empire - While they have a highly developed sense of honor and duty to their emporer, the Centauri are also conquerors with an inflated sense of superiority.
Syreen - The Syreen can best be described as "space amazons". It is unclear why, but they produce no male offspring but are genetically compatible with most near-human species. While they enjoy physical contact with males (both martial and sexual), they consider them to be inferior. Their bodies emit pheromones which attract males of most species and they are naturally charming with seductive voices. The Syreen are also natural warriors.
The Hutts - The Hutts are not a single organization, but a general term for the many Hutt-led criminal cartels.
Pirates
~~~~~~
Currently there is only one set of images for all pirates, but I will eventually add different colored versions for each pirate clan. Pirates may also be encountered piloting stolen civilian or military ships.
Black Sun - One of the largest and most organized pirate gangs.
Orion -
Papogo -
Kiowan -
Jincilla -
Chirichan -
Reavers - Reavers are despised even by other pirates. They are mentally unstable cannibals who eat their captives and salvage every piece of captured vessels.
More details to come soon....
I've used random name generators before, but mainly for inspiration.
