Proposed "Faction": Bringers of Oblivion--Aliens bent on destroying the GALAXY

[zeusalmighty]

The Bringers of Oblivion: An alien race that embraces a philosophy of nihilism committed to reducing all matter in the galaxy to a singularity

In sum, the concept is a faction appearing mid-way in a standard campaign, hostile to EVERYthing, that take over some planets (based on scale) and will over time develop a super-weapon to destroy the entire galaxy.

The appeal of this faction, to me, is that it would create a scalable threat to both the player and the AI. The aliens can bide their time, like the player, until they reach critical mass and reveal their true threat to the entire galaxy (a doomsday countdown begins based on scale) and lead to an alternate way to lose the game--Oblivion.

Lore would need to be fleshed out. Lots of possibilities

How this would affect Gameplay:
I envision this to be played in conjunction with any other in-game factions such as the Nanocaust without being indistinguishable from them. They would need to pose an ostensive threat to everyone and thus their actions would be noticed by the AI accordingly. Repercussions to follow; AI deals with emerging threat and is thereby exposed to player activities but, if unchecked by humans altogether, then the galaxy is destroyed by the "Bringers of Oblivion." Balance would be tricky but lead to very unique games.

That's all for now,
Would that I was competent in modding or I would do this myself (may be motivated to learn how just because of this game  ).

[WolfWhiteFire]

That might work if some modder decides to make it and Arcen Games don't mind including it in their game, which they probably wouldn't, because free extra content. I would imagine that there should be some encouragement to let them build up for a while in that whoever attacks the planet it is on and conquers it can steal the weapon, and over time make some modifications in order to make it more useful to them personally, whether it is the AI, humans, nanocaust (kind of curious how they would use something like that) or whoever else may be added to the game.

[BadgerBadger]

I think the gameplay idiom of "There's suddenly a countdown where a player has to go destroy something on a far-off planet and if they fail to destroy it there are consequences" is a really good one. The Dyson Antagonizer in AIWC is an example of this.

[Draco18s]

I'm sure when Badger's done with the nanocaust he might find this interesting enough to do himself.

* Draco18s teases Badger

[BadgerBadger]

I think my ventures into this space are more likely to be things like https://forums.arcengames.com/ai-war-ii-modding/cool-ideas-thread/msg215557/#msg215557

[zeusalmighty]

Thanks for the input.  I think the idea of having other sources of threat the AI has to deal with other than the player adds to the general tone of the game, it adds more realism to the concept that the AI is very powerful but also very preoccupied. Thus, making it really feel like the player  is exploiting the AI's perception of the player being a threat since its actually in-game fighting other threats.

[tadrinth]

Sounds similar to the Mining Golems from AIWC.  They don't destroy the whole galaxy, but they do destroy entire planets when successful (or at least render them uninhabitable). 

[zeusalmighty]

Given that these aliens are on a suicidal course for the galaxy, it would seem appropriate if this faction specialized in kamikaze ships.

This would also make them stand out from other factions in a meaningful way. Hypothetically, anyway.

[WolfWhiteFire]

Not really, kamikaze ships is kind of the Neinzul's thing, at least that is what I think, other people may disagree.

[TheVampire100]

Not really, kamikaze ships is kind of the Neinzul's thing, at least that is what I think, other people may disagree.

It's less Kamikaze and more "No, not the bees!"
Then again, bees are kinda suicidal.

[zeusalmighty]

I agree that there is some overlap, but imo they differ in other substantial ways. Thematically, I'm still inclined to think that this is a good faction to monopolize suicidal ships.

From a gameplay perspective they would need to act differently; this would need to be clearly different in terms of behavior. 

In the case of the Neinzul, the drones are essentially preserving the hives, so their actions are fundamentally pro-survival. They aren't really suicidal, maybe martyrs would be more appropriate. The Neinzul (and other factions) retreat in situations where the odds are unfavorable. Weakened ships attempt to flee when possible and recover.

The Bringers of Oblivion, alternatively, entail aliens that volitionally embrace the destruction of the universe; their individuals should reflect this attitude. Ships would hold their ground and only retreat in situations of overwhelming defeat. Furthermore, they are prepared to kamikaze near-death instead of retreating to recover.

I guess I just see this faction as a good justification to bring kamikaze ships in the game lol