Distant Worlds 2: Factions - Quameno and Gizureans

The Galaxy Expands! The second Distant Worlds 2 expansion brings two new playable factions – the introverted puzzle-solving Quameno and the numberless and ruthless Gizureans!

The Quameno mostly prefer to be left alone to focus on their research and their societies are often organized like war-time economies, but with a focus on research instead of military matters. They value puzzle-solving and the discovery of new knowledge above almost everything else, certainly more than distractions such as diplomacy, war or espionage. They also have a natural aptitude when it comes to energy technologies and because of the abundance of energy in their ships, stations and cities, they use energy fields where many others might use solid materials.

Their governments are typically based on a Geniocracy, which uses unique facilities such as the Enigma Maze to determine which are the most worthy to lead and the Transcendence Hub, a wonder which will trigger a singularity of sorts, which will free them from their physical limits and allow research to continue through eternity.

The Gizureans are legion, with an incredible reproduction rate, along with a ruthless focus on gaining and consuming enough resources to keep their burgeoning populations happy enough to stave off their tendency towards tribal strife. They also have a mysterious past, as the hive mind they once had was broken and a more limited shared consciousness is all that remains. They engineer their ships through partially organic processes, which allows them to be tougher, but their real focus is in their numbers. Gizureans tend to focus on numbers and tactics based on quantity in space combat, specializing in many smaller ships and large quantities of hive starfighters for their ships, stations and colony defense with the earliest access of any faction to planetary starfighter bases.

Each of these new factions also comes with their own special storyline and unique story locations, adding to the possible exploration events and to your knowledge of galactic lore. The Quameno will give you some additional insights on the Ancient galaxy and some of the mysteries the Ancient Guardians left behind, while the history of the Gizureans is connected with that of the Hive threat as well as the ancient enemy known as the Shakturi!

Quameno Unique Features:

• Geniocracy Government starts with better Research Labs and provides the largest research bonus of all government types, at the expense of other areas, including being unable to fund bonus colony growth. Also has the option for additional benefits whenever a research breakthrough or research critical failure happens.
• The Quameno also are the most gifted researchers in the galaxy, though their single-minded focus also means that they are limited when it comes to concurrent research
• Additional bonuses when they find new research locations or build new research stations
• Some temporary penalties due to distraction when treaties are signed or populations are unassimilated, preventing the Quameno from focusing as fully as they are normally able on their research puzzles
• Novacore Reactors, the best reactor in the game, along with Bubble Shields which have the highest Shield Resistance of all shield types
• The Transcendence Hub, an end-game victory condition wonder which allows the Quameno to transcend their physical forms
• Larger Research Stations
• Special exclusive Leader and Scientist Traits focused on Research
• Special conditional events Alien Distractions, Integration Studies, Puzzle Solved, Building the Future, A Piece of the Puzzle and The Answer reward them for thematic play
• Their unique story gives them an advantage when it comes to finding the new Ancient Guardian Vaults scattered throughout the galaxy and recovering the knowledge and artifacts within.

Gizurean Unique Features:

• Cell Hegemony government type is a form of limited shared consciousness, which includes some of the benefits and fewer of the disadvantages of a full hive mind. Starts with better sensors and command control, more inspiring characters and a generally reduced rate of luxury resource needs.
• Excellent at boarding combat and gain extra bonuses from salvaging and retiring captured ships
• Swarm Targeting systems make their ships more accurate the more ships there are in a fleet.
• Hive Hangars and Hex Armor allow them to build and repair starfighters more quickly and cover their ships with partially organic armor that is stronger than normal alloys.
• Hive Fighter Bases are available to defend their planets from the very early game
• Internecine Tribal Conflicts can hold them back at times and they will need to supplement their slower research through reverse engineering and conquest
• Larger Carriers
• Special exclusive Leader and General traits focused on improving their collective consciousness and increasing the size and resiliency of their armies
• Special conditional events, such as Waste Nothing and The Scouring, give them extra bonuses when retiring ships or conquering planets. The Rivalry event means that their characters periodically engage in power struggles to eliminate the weak and Breeding World allows them to choose to boost their own growth rate further by using other species as food.

Distant Worlds Returns!
Distant Worlds, the critically acclaimed 4X space strategy game is back with a brand new 64-bit engine, 3D graphics and a polished interface to begin an epic new Distant Worlds series with Distant Worlds 2.

THE GALAXY LIVES ON
Distant Worlds 2 is a vast, pausable real-time 4X space strategy game. Experience the full depth and detail of turn-based strategy, but with the simplicity and ease of real-time, and on the scale of a massively-multiplayer online game. The Universe is Yours!

Huge Galaxies with up to 2,000 star systems and tens of thousands of planets, moons and asteroids are yours to explore and exploit, whether peacefully through mining and diplomacy or by conquest! The complex process of generating a galaxy ensures that every new game will be different and the many galaxy setup options ensure incredible replayability as well as the ability to have your game be just the way you like it.

CHOOSE YOUR SIDE
Galaxies are so deep, fun and immersive that you won’t want to finish the game. Choose from seven playable base game factions which cover a wide variety of playstyles. Build, expand and improve your empire while playing through the storylines, with victory conditions or in an open-ended sandbox mode. Each galaxy is packed with life and activity. Encounter other empires, independent alien colonies, traders, pirates and space monsters. Explore star systems, asteroid fields, galactic storms and black holes. Discover evidence of civilizations long since past, uncovering secrets about the galaxy's troubled history...

CUSTOMIZE EVERYTHING
Intelligent automation allows you to tailor the game to your preferred playstyle and scale. Decide how much you want to control and which gameplay areas suit you best. You can limit your focus to just one ship or expand it all the way up to everything in a vast galactic empire. Let your advisors and the intelligent automation handle the rest!

BUILD YOUR OWN
A Built-in Game Editor allows you to fine-tune your own galaxy, adding or removing star systems, planets, asteroids, ships, star bases, space monsters or anything else. Modify the attributes of any empire in your game for the ultimate custom experience.

Extensive In-Game Help is included. Exhaustive, built-in, context-sensitive help is always only a single key-press away. Press F1 at any time for a detailed explanation of the current game screen, your currently selected item, and so on, or just browse the complete “Galactopedia”.

Tutorials are included to quickly familiarize you with all of the game elements and tools.

Best of all, these all combine to let you play the game your way: enjoy a quick, intense game in a crowded sector of space or take your time in an epic game spread across a vast galaxy!