Alternate original seven faction mod

[Nexii]

If I had to rank them for power, it'd be something like:
Morgan (+1 IND/ECON is huge.  No Green's interesting but FM is fine, if you manage it right.)
Keepers (-1 MORALE isn't too bad, but the 125 rush means putting more to labs.  they were really good before, vote*2 & talent/4 are great)
Gaians (the %PSI is quite strong due to my native life cost rebalancing.  they start slow though and green doesn't help.)
Conclave (no real huge upside or downside.  interestingly in my set the only that can easy boom with Demo+Planned.  Fund/FM/Wealth is pretty good for them in either se set)
Labyrinth (doesn't start with the needed SEs. 0 ECON/-1 EFFIC isn't horrible but it is a significant downside.  in my set PS/Planned gives more probe/ind than sup/grow, so playstyle differs some)
Archons (the tech cost 125 I feel offsets a lot of their tech bonuses.  techshare 3 unfortunately only serves as a catchup & drones/4 is a fairly painful downside)
Sparta (+1 POL/MORALE is okay, but -1 IND is quite painful.  -2 COMMERCE makes sense but overall they just don't have much upside).

Though note I mod a lot of things - most notably SEs, ecodamage, and unit costing.  From top to bottom there's a decent spread but between each I wouldn't say there's a huge power gap.  Overall I'd say most of these factions feel weaker than the originals, much like my modded SE set.  Though of course it's all relative

I think of these factions Gaia and Labyrinth are the most interesting, at least for playstyle.  If giving Archons techshare, wouldn't +PROBE and reduced probe costs make more sense than -PROBE?  I'm thinking maybe boost up their stealing potential, and give Conclave the -PROBE.  Conclave could get something else like more +GROWTH.  Labyrinth needs a small boost, maybe some defensive combat bonus.  Spartans need a lot more.  Maybe something unique like a free unit ability like Deep Radar, and/or High Morale.  Morgan needs a little more downside, perhaps -2 PLANET.

I wonder if the fungus bonuses would be more interesting at +2.  +1 usually doesn't help a lot until very late.  Maybe something to explain more from a thematic POV.  Also noted a lot of the free techs were taken out, maybe give the other factions a tech they didn't have before?  It seems you're trying to represent most bonuses/penalties which I think is interesting.

[Dio]

If I had to rank them for power, it'd be something like:
Morgan (+1 IND/ECON is huge.  No Green's interesting but FM is fine, if you manage it right.)
Keepers (-1 MORALE isn't too bad, but the 125 rush means putting more to labs.  they were really good before, vote*2 & talent/4 are great)
Gaians (the %PSI is quite strong due to my native life cost rebalancing.  they start slow though and green doesn't help.)
Conclave (no real huge upside or downside.  interestingly in my set the only that can easy boom with Demo+Planned.  Fund/FM/Wealth is pretty good for them in either se set)
Labyrinth (doesn't start with the needed SEs. 0 ECON/-1 EFFIC isn't horrible but it is a significant downside.  in my set PS/Planned gives more probe/ind than sup/grow, so playstyle differs some)
Archons (the tech cost 125 I feel offsets a lot of their tech bonuses.  techshare 3 unfortunately only serves as a catchup & drones/4 is a fairly painful downside)
Sparta (+1 POL/MORALE is okay, but -1 IND is quite painful.  -2 COMMERCE makes sense but overall they just don't have much upside).

Though note I mod a lot of things - most notably SEs, ecodamage, and unit costing.  From top to bottom there's a decent spread but between each I wouldn't say there's a huge power gap.  Overall I'd say most of these factions feel weaker than the originals, much like my modded SE set.  Though of course it's all relative

I think of these factions Gaia and Labyrinth are the most interesting, at least for playstyle.  If giving Archons techshare, wouldn't +PROBE and reduced probe costs make more sense than -PROBE?  I'm thinking maybe boost up their stealing potential, and give Conclave the -PROBE.  Conclave could get something else like more +GROWTH.  Labyrinth needs a small boost, maybe some defensive combat bonus.  Spartans need a lot more.  Maybe something unique like a free unit ability like Deep Radar, and/or High Morale.  Morgan needs a little more downside, perhaps -2 PLANET.

I wonder if the fungus bonuses would be more interesting at +2.  +1 usually doesn't help a lot until very late.  Maybe something to explain more from a thematic POV.  Also noted a lot of the free techs were taken out, maybe give the other factions a tech they didn't have before?  It seems you're trying to represent most bonuses/penalties which I think is interesting.

Thank you for the feedback.

I think that the University/Archons should get techshare because their agenda is "Free Flow of Information" and that might involve the transfer of ideas and knowledge between the researchers of each faction. As such, the Archons/University automatically discover a unknown technology known by x other factions by putting together the bits of information recieved from each of the x factions. However, this free exchange of information system also leaves the faction vunerable to infilitration by enemy probe teams that want to access said information. Therefore, I think it could make sense that the University/Archons could get -1 PROBE. Also, the University/Archons have increased tech costs because they can want to pursue research unsupported and uninfluenced by any corportation or government because said grants often have specific strings attached to them.

[Nexii]

A more 'free low of information' / ethical Archons might not have the -DRONES penalty?  Or maybe +TALENT/4 and DRONE/4 (stratified society), though I'm not sure how that might play out.  I think that would put them about average, but then you probably want that penalty elsewhere.  Could go to Morgan.  Could give them +2 RES again also, but even then I feel they'd need a bit more.  I guess in the default SE set Fund aversion isn't so bad...in my set its more powerful at +2 SUP/+2 MORALE/-3 RESEARCH.  Still they do seem to lack a bit in upside.  Reduced hurry costs might be thematic too...thinking more for SPs they would be efficient?

A lot of this is how good they are relatively for a human player.  I think due to certain AI flags/playstyle it seems that aggressive/expansionist factions like Hive and Believers do better for AI. 

[Dio]

A more 'free low of information' / ethical Archons might not have the -DRONES penalty?  Or maybe +TALENT/4 and DRONE/4 (stratified society), though I'm not sure how that might play out.  I think that would put them about average, but then you probably want that penalty elsewhere.  Could go to Morgan.  Could give them +2 RES again also, but even then I feel they'd need a bit more.  I guess in the default SE set Fund aversion isn't so bad...in my set its more powerful at +2 SUP/+2 MORALE/-3 RESEARCH.  Still they do seem to lack a bit in upside.  Reduced hurry costs might be thematic too...thinking more for SPs they would be efficient?

A lot of this is how good they are relatively for a human player.  I think due to certain AI flags/playstyle it seems that aggressive/expansionist factions like Hive and Believers do better for AI.

I am currently testing to see how a +SUPPORT bonus interacts with his other bonuses. I have presently increased the Spartan MORALE bonus to +2. I am also considering giving Yang +2 Mineral production in Fungus while giving Miriam Immunity to negative SUPPORT effects.

[Nexii]

That could work - Sparta might need a little more still...maybe a military bonus or something like NODRONE /+2 POL.  I kind of like bonuses that encourage factions to go for their preferred SE like IMMUNITY, though that can be very powerful just on its own.  And unfortunately can make it so the faction has to run that SE all the time, like Yang with PS.  I guess it's always that trade-off, keeping with a theme against game balance.

+1 SUP for Yang with default SEs would be quite helpful, giving him +3 with PS.  Even in my set it would be very helpful since it'd give him +3 SUP with Fund instead.  SUP for the aggressive factions makes sense to me. 

[Dio]

Revised University Logo. Currently working on both the peacekeeper and hive logos.

[Dio]

I am feeling  with making a logo that looks good for the labyrinth/Hive. I have created this so far.

[Dio]

Which of these three variations do you think looks best?

[Buster's Uncle]

I'm not seeing a lot of difference.  6, probably.

Why the change from blue?

[Dio]

Your right, the background does look better blue.

[Dio]

Conclave logo.

[Dio]

Finished Version of Labyrinth Logo except for perhaps color. Should the grays be lighter and more metallic?

[Buster's Uncle]

Could be.

[Dio]

Edit: I do not think it quite up to par on quality.

[Dio]

For some reason the pupil on the eye of the labyrinth logo appear to be drifting towards the left even though it is centered in the eye. Is there an explaination and solution to this problem? It is most noticeable on the smaller versions of the logo but is present in larger versions as well.