The currently supported version of the mod can now be found here: https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3525488212

Hell yes

Just a heads up, I am currently working on a spiritual successor to this mod for the newest game version. It is going to significantly differ from this one as the pirates will no longer expand from their home system, opting to covertly infiltrate nearby empires instead to spawn fleets and steal resources. In addition, Criminal Heritage and Letters of Marque empires will have an option to maintain neutrality with the pirates they spawn.

The mod is still WIP, but I am aiming to release it in the next few days.

currently works for me in 4.0 with no empty pop ups so that's good.

Ill assume this will be updated within a year then given what was said below, or two years. Thats okay modding is a hobby not a profession.

@Nider001 Ik sorry I meant if anyone had tried it on 4.0 yet

@Markey, the supported version is written in both the mod's name and description.

Just confirming that this mod no longer works on 4.0 ?

Update soon hopefully?

@Zeizei Pumpum, I am taking a break from stellaris in favor of other games currently, but may come back to it in the future

@jtbush00, that mod seems compatible from the looks of it, but no guarantees as overlaps are possible

so u have plans for a 4.0 update?

I do hope it gets updated or just make a seperate mod and keep this 3.14

Will this mod work with Marauders in Action
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3377995402

@Haerzog, the outlaws already belong to different factions depending on which regular empire spawns them. I've been experimenting with turning particularly powerful outlaws into criminal heritage empires, but decided to scrap the idea, because it turned out to be a bit difficult to implement. I am taking a break from modding for now, but may explore this feature further in the future.

Can the pirates be broken into different 'pirate' factions? Any given group of outlaws would tend to be territorial, so they would eventually be their own population suppression. Perhaps at a threshold the pirate fleets should just convert into a genuine Bandit Kingdom civilization.

@Nider001, truly a delicate issue. Maybe it would work if the game auto-triggered a war between pirate faction and AI empire the moment pirates show up near their borders—or at least when they attack a starport in a system.
Just thinking out loud here though, I don’t really know much about Stellaris modding.

@dumbaq, this is a rather delicate issue from the balance perspective. AI empires do respond to outlaws on and near their territory if they have enough fleet power. AI is also much more aggressive against outlaws while it is at war with another empire (I've personally seen joint fleets liberate dozen or so systems in a row). Unfortunately, making AI less passive while at peace would require reworking it somehow, which is not something I am confident about doing.

It feels like this mod is a bit too harsh on AI empires. They often fail to respond swiftly or decisively when their star systems are taken— never hurry to reclaim or repopulate them. Losing mining stations can seriously cripple their development, yet even with a pirate fleet lingering nearby, they show little urgency in building up their military to push back.

Still liked mod as a player. Adds variety of challenges to the gameplay, though at times it makes games a bit too easy—since it significantly weakens AI empires. Also they can be easely cheesed and while pirates slowly nibble their borders, you can swoop in and grab those chunks without ever declaring war. Sadly, the your neighbors couldnt care less—you’d think they’d at least say something when you’re literally stealing their territory.

Shouldn't pacifist raise the chance out outlaws spawning? How would they prevent it happening? Historically, many isolationist countries (which I always thought the pacifist ethic represents) had problems with rampant crime

ahh, makes sense why it lagged/ crashed on me on the current update.

@does Azure Night Owl, yes it does (as long as your game version matches the one in mod description)

does this mod still work?

How much lag does this create?

Oh nice, good to know!

GE0, they already do. Having two different outlaw factions next to each other often leads to border skirmishes

Is there a way to have different pirate groups fight each other if they're in neighboring systems? Thinking along the lines of territorial disputes.

@[BRE] Virescent, my mod should not cause such issues (I've personally seen the Great Khan fleets destroy outlaws who happened to be in their way), so I can't really advice you beyond that. The mod should be safe to remove: the outlaws will no longer expand, research or move fleets, simply behaving like vanilla pirates instead.

Gigastructural Engineering & More (3.14)
Ancient Cache of Technologies
Ancient Cache of Technologies: Override
Ancient Cache of Technologies : Secrets Beyond The Gates
Ancient Cache of Technologies: Extra Defines and Changes
Acquisition of Technology
Ancient Empire 1.9 [Stellaris 3.14]
The Ancient Star Ship:Caliburn
Lawless Space
Dynamic Mod Menu [3.10.]
Precursor Selection
More Precursors
Forgotten History
Expanded Mods Base
Plentiful Traditions 3.x
AI can't research Orbital Habitats
! Casako's Framework & Modmenu
! Better Performance & Utilities
! The Merger of Rules 3.14
!!Universal Modifier Patch (3.14.)
!!!Universal Resource Patch [2.4+]

Hey there, I love the idea of this mod but it may have caused an issue where many crises like Marauders or Awakened empires are unable to leave beyond their borders (that applies to the Great Khan too) because every single system in the galaxy is forcibly locked for them. First I'd like to ask if I have a wrongly set modlist (I'll send my mod load order in another comment)? I'd also like to ask if its safe to remove the mod mid-save.

It would be cool, mechanics wise, if after the galactic marketplace was established, pirates from the outlaw sectors could raid, abduct a pop, and sell it on the market.

@RedRapture, the current outlaw behavior is more or less final (introducing new mechanics will mess with existing saves), but I am considering making an overhaul in the future

I like it. I especially like how the AI sometimes doesn't control their own outlaw sectors and they grow to be truly pirate controlled areas with fleet powers accumulating to the hundreds of thousands. Maybe add in something that has small raiding forces go out and attack nearby inhabited star systems to raid?

@prof_aaron, make sure your borders are protected with upgraded starbases (not outposts) as outlaws can't spawn in such systems. Arm Privateers operation outcome is an exception, but still tremendously prefers systems with regular outposts.

Could an option be added to make it so that pirates cant completely remove starbases and control over a system the moment they overtake it if my fleet is on the other side of the galaxy because it just means I can have my territory be built over by another empire who defeats the pirates any time a pirate randomly spawns

dont install mod if you dont want random pirates spawning in your systems without claiming them like vanilla pirates

@kirbcake, the trade routes are mentioned because I am reusing vanilla texts rather than writing new ones as said in mod description (they must be used wholly or not at all for each given pop-up)

The outlaw fleets start at around 800-1000 FP on PL1, 1600-2000 FP on PL2, 2400-3000 FP on PL3 and so on in equal increments. For example, the second screenshot in mod description shows a typical mid-game outlaw fleet on Captain difficulty. What I'm trying to say is the outlaw fleets should not be getting anywhere near 40k FP, unless you've achieved a combination of having massive pop counts, completing an ascension path (outlaw leaders copy your species' traits), playing on harder difficulties and letting said fleets get reinforced by stations for many years. At this point you should be strong enough to have fast-response forces (or at least mercs) on standby to minimize any damage from outlaws. Using defense platforms and bastion starbases is a valid tactic too, despite what you've said

@Winter i mean yeah but the popup talks about undefended trade routes and stuff, tf you mean? they are not spawning even remotely close to trade routes and can go as far as unclaiming systems with megastructures. I've lost multiple arc furnace systems and now an under construction ring world. Defending against the pirates is impossible at a certain point because the time it takes for them to travel to the system outpost is way shorter than it takes for ships to actually get there, and instead of just claiming the system total war style (or like vanilla pirates) they simply obliterate the outpost or starbase completely. it's ridiculous. Defense platforms don't really work once the pirate fleets start reaching like 40k.

explain the piracy suppression or something

@kirbcake - Sounds kinda piratey to me.

Cool mod in concept but all it really ends up doing is being annoying by randomly unclaiming your systems and forcing you to build the starbase again + all the resource stations.

I enjoy getting down to the nitty gritty of space.
- Nacho Libre

@perl, can't promise the mod menu integration, but for now you can change some variables to lower the difficulty as explained below

Is it possible to add a mod menu option for pirate difficulty? The AI really can't handle this mod sadly so I'd like to tune it down

Thank you for the directions. Great mod, greater timing.
Was localizing my mods before the big update and this is a great addition to my collection!

Playing through a save and I'm liking how this mod is forcing me and the AI to keep a military of sufficient strength or just stop expanding in a direction. Exactly what I was hoping for.

@MobiusRaptor, from a quick glance, it appears to overlap with my mod quite a lot, so likely not compatible

Any idea how this might interact with the Realistic Pirates mod (https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2752952962)? Realistic Pirates also spawns pirate ships and stations into systems, but they don't claim them to form an empire. However, the mod also triggers an event where a pirate fleet spawns and can capture one of your planets to form a separate nation.

@Kronosfobi, look for the text file inside common/scripted_variables folder. There are various values you can adjust there with explanations attached.

Excited to see where this mod goes.