This will describe the logic behind a lot of my changes and some of the more subtle details you might not notice in a playthrough. But in doing so, I will likely have to spoil some of the magic, so it’s up to you if you want to read further.

Economy:
The game economy is much more fleshed out and should feel alive. Some factions might sell items cheaper due to slavery or what crops grow in their region. Hive races sell ceramics and buy technology. Shek don’t care much for trade, but do like animal trophies. The United Cities likes luxury items. Holy Nation and the Swamps sell cheap fabric. Even the price of houses in cities is different from faction to faction.

World states have an effect on the economy. If a town takes damage from war, the demand for luxury goods might be replaced by a need for building materials and medical supplies. If a town is taken over by an opposing faction, its economy will likely struggle for some time as well.

Individuals have needs as well. Many characters will go shopping. Especially in towns. Everyone makes different amounts of money and has different shopping behaviors. Each noble has a different shopping list and schedule. Some are more secluded and less willing to go out in public than others. Some days they may wish to buy food or drink. Other days may be clothing or trinkets. NPC shopping has been designed to be less predictable and organic as well as tell stories. An escaped slave will have little to know money, but also a desire to buy food, tools to break chains and clothing to change their appearance. Citizens of the United Cities have more money, which makes opening a shop in one of their towns more desirable. Because of this, housing prices are much higher within that faction.

The value of items and how some are crafted has changed to shift some gameplay. First aid is increasingly difficult to craft, making it a money sink for players longer into the game, but also a potentially high income source later on. Ores are less valuable, encouraging the player to start an industry if they wish to create an income from a non combat source. Some trade items, like Luxury Goods, have had prices adjusted to make running a caravan squad more worthwhile.


Combat:
You will burn through first aid kits until you level up Field medic, making early game combat extra dangerous.

Weapons and armors have been tweaked all around. I made adjustments to items that were too strong or not worth using, so you have a wider range of options. NPCs have a wider range of equipment they carry with them, as well as new behaviors like using splints. There are more ranged opponents in the world to cause problems as well.

Some animal stats are changed to make them more of a threat/use or fix issues myself or others have encountered.

Some “End Game” and named opponents pose new challenges and offer new rewards. Some characters have different meitou class weapons, including a couple that are not in vanilla. Some are now masters of a specific weapon class (level 100) and defeating them will give you access to unique training research for that weapon class with no cap.


Camping (nomadic life):
More camping items right at the start offer some much needed conveniences. Automate cooking and storing dried meat. Sit down around a campfire. Place an animal feeder for your bonedog. Living discreetly is a little more comfortable, but you will still need to build an outpost to do research, farming and industry. I’ve included a prisoner pole that can be placed in camps, but you need to buy the blueprint from slavers.

Outposts:
I’ve included a lot of popular quality of life changes for outpost building and maintenance. Item storage counts are increased and there are more storage container types to help organize things and streamline production. I’ve also added some missing items like a complete set of hydroponics for each crop. The vanilla rain collector now works similar to Moisture Farming mods, so is actually useful everywhere.

Defensive walls and gates are stronger now. There are some tiny fixes to buildings and structures as well.

World building/Lore:
I spent a lot of time looking up the game’s lore and backstory before making any changes. And in some cases made neat little improvements. For example, NPCs should identify southern hive characters as hive race instead of human. Some race/subrace stats have been changed for game balance, but I kept it as close to vanilla/lore as possible.