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Hypertraversal Manipulation CLASSIC

(This is the classic version of the mod that uses megastructures. A new ship-based version that does all this and also lets you mess with hyperlanes in general is available as Hypertraversal Manipulation 2)

INTRODUCTION

Hypertraversal Manipulation is a mod that adds some tools for empires to create new systems connected to their space. Whether you're playing a pacifist who can't really go out and conquer to expand, an isolationist who'd rather not bump into those icky xenos, or you're just plain too lazy to go out there and fight for territory, this mod may be just the thing for your next playthrough!

Hypertraversal Manipulation is built to be lightweight and mod-agnostic. It adds only 4 (Physics) technologies and 2 megastructures in total to unlock its full capability.

HOW IT WORKS

You build one of two megastructures in one of your systems. Once the structure is complete, you fire off the device. At the end of the (relatively short) countdown, you then select which kind of star you want to connect to (limited by your technology and an additional cost for the more advanced stars). Presto! The structure is consumed and you have a brand new system ready to explore, connected to the system you built the structure in.

The difference between the megastructures comes in how you end up connecting your newly found system. At first you will only have access to the Dowser, which will connect the new system to your source system and up to two other neighboring systems. With time and technology you'll eventually unlock the Bore, which connects the new system with only a single hyperlane connection to its source system. This costs a bit more, but can be worth it when space is tight and you don't want your neighbors sneaking in on the new star you just went to the trouble of attaching to the hyperlanes.

THE TECHNOLOGIES

There are four technologies in total required to unlock all the features of Hypertraversal Manipulation.

Hypertraversal Manipulation Fundamentals gets you started with the basic Hypertraversal Dowser megastructure and the ability to connect to light/dwarf stars (G, K, M class). This requires Subspace Sensors technology to become available to research.

Hypertraversal Massive Attraction adds the ability to connect to massive stars (A, B, M Giant). This requires knowledge of the Fundamentals as well as Tachyon Sensors.

Hypertraversal Exotic Attraction rounds out the offerings with exotic stars (Neutron, Pulsar, Black Hole). This requires knowledge of the Fundamentals, Tachyon Sensors, and Dark Matter Drawing.

Hypertraversal Boring unlocks the ability to construct the Hypertraversal Bore, which will immediately be able to connect to any types of stars you have unlocked. This requires knowledge of the Fundamentals as well as the knowledge to construct Citadels.

All of these technologies are more likely to show up for research once you've completed their prerequisites by having completed the Discovery Traditions, by having chosen Technological Ascendancy, and by having a Physics Researcher with Spark of Genius, Maniacal, Particle Expertise and/or Field Manipulation Expertise traits.

Q&A

Q. What about Trinary/Binary/Really Weird Star Systems?
A. I may add Binary and Trinary system functionality later on, but one of the major utilities in this mod is being able to precisely select a specific star to meet a requirement, and doing that with those systems would require more effort and a lot more dialog options than I'm willing to mess with right now. As for the Really Weird stuff, this mod is designed to be vanilla-friendly and mod-agnostic to anything else already installed. I don't use things like Real Space, so I'm not comfortable messing with that kind of generation, and I have zero inclination to put in the effort for people to have multiple Supermassive Black Holes to spam Birch Worlds on. Sorry, but I'm lazy and those kinds of things really are limited for reasons I have no business arguing even if I had the inclination to do the work.

Q. Rare/Treasure/Leviathan Systems? Story Content?
A. Outside what I want to mess with. For a system generator with excellent goodies and additional story content, there's the Gigastructures EHOF. The systems, having a level of control on where they pop up, and having them show up in "real space" are the utilities and treasures of this mod already, and I have no inclination to scope creep it beyond that. I enjoy Stellaris as an engine for people creating their own stories and want this mod to enable that; when I feel like telling a story, I have other media I'm more comfortable doing that in.

Q. What's with the choices on techs?
A. For one, the theme of Physics techs allowing an empire to join "orphaned" systems to the hyperlane network is apt. For another, Engineering is bloated and mods tend to make that even worse. I stepped back from requiring Mega-Engineering for the Bore because you already get spammed with enough purple upon researching that, and because it doesn't cost enough to justify needing it anyway.

Q. Balance?
A. Systems require an individual effort in resources and time to generate, although this can be mitigated with megastructure build cost and speed. I wanted to reach a happy medium of utility and opportunity cost in adding this; if I make it too expensive, it's easy to fall by the wayside, particularly once someone unlocks something like the E.H.O.F. Ultima. Even without the Ultima upgrade, the E.H.O.F. can very easily just go "star printer goes brrr", but the added effort for Hypertraversal Manipulation has its rewards in providing earlier and more control, and in expanding your existing systems. I'd like to think this is a different, useful niche for some players as it is for me.

Q. Does/Will the AI use this?
A. No. I lack natural intelligence, let alone the artificial kind to spare. I have zero inclination, interest, or expertise in making the AI use these. "Challenging" AI settings already shove them full of resources, so it's not like they'd get much use out of them anyway.

COMPATIBILITY

This mod does not change any vanilla files. Zero conflicts.

Star system generation is based off the vanilla baselines. Anything that completely changes star system generation will make the systems generated by this mod seem rather bizarre. If you want it to work in that kind of framework your best bet is doing it yourself (something I am comfortable suggesting given I am a complete doofus and I managed this much).

CREDITS

Paradox Studios for this game we're all playing.

Everybody who worked on Gigastructural Engineering and NSC2. I'm horrible at learning by reading a sheet full of variables, but it's really easy when people write nicely parsed, generously commented work I can learn from. Thank you.