If you liked the Zenith of Fallen Empires (ZOFE) and the Ancient Cache of Technologies (ACOT) mod, you may have noticed that when playing both mods together there exist some oddities. This mod aims to remedy that to provide the best possible gameplay experience when playing ZOFE and ACOT.

For example once you acquire Dark Matter from ACOT you still can't build the Dark Matter capital building nor the Giga Fortress or the Aegis Complex. Also when becoming an Ascended Empire via the ZOFE mod, then some buildings still use the vanilla icons eventhough the ACOT icons look much cooler. Another mod that I also liked is the planetary shields mod but unfortunately building the ACOT shield buildings removes the pretty shield FX. So in this mod I added my own custom shield FX for both the Dark Matter and the Dark Energy (Sky Shield) installation to add the extra bling to your empire.

So if you sit in front of your computer and nod your head in agreement, then this mod is for you!


[List]

Added new types of Habitats for Fallen and Ascended Empires that specialize in production of Dark Matter/Energy and later even Stellarite. It comes with the decision to turn your old clunky habitats into the new fancy ones.

Added a complete building line of Stellarite and Phanon type buildings to grant you that extra oomph for your eyes and ego.

Added the ability to resurrect your dead biological leaders and even make them immortal in the process! (Requires Genetical Ascension)

Added the Chrysalis Protocol which allows you to immediately convert all xeno pops on your planet into your primary species for a price. (Requires Genetical Ascension)

Added Fallen/Ascended variant of the Juggernaut, called Warbarge, to both the Fallen Empires, Ascended Empires and Default Empires. Requires the Federations DLC

Added planetary shields for the Dark Matter, Dark Energy, Stellarite and Phanon tier shield generator. They can be toggled on/off via the ACOT mod menu!

Gated most of the sophisticated ZOFE and ACOT dark matter buildings properly behind the Ancient Palace for consistancy sakes. The dark matter and dark energy production buildings are still available to get you started.

Overhauled the ZOFE Fallen Empire starbase models. Each stage has its unique mesh now instead of the outpost model which was used all the way up to the star fortress level.

Reintroduced the Alpha Tier building variants for the Nourishment Center, Auto Forge, Dimensional Fabricator, Affluence Center, Master Archive and Class-4 Singularity.

Added the option to attempt to assemble the Precursor Databank yourself without having to steal it from another fallen empire or having to simp them until they like you enough to give it to you (Requires you to be an ZOFE Ascended Empire).

Added a new edict that allows you to eliminate all hedonism in your empire after you researched the alpha tier generator.

Fixed the ACOT bombardment FX not appearing on planets and added a lot more planets to be destroyable via Exterminatus or Annihilatus, including Gigastructural planets!

[/list]



This mod overwrites pdxmesh.shader so it's incompatible with any mod that does the same.

I added full support for the Event Horizon Offset Facility (EHOF) though.

Planetary Diversity is also fully supported to work with this mod.



Q: Can I run this without ZOFE?
A: Yes, somewhat. You will miss out some features though and also have no guarantees for it being bug-free, as this mod was designed specifically around using ACOT and ZOFE together.

Q: I like to ascend but I don't like the complete overhaul character and country change mechanic of ZOFE. Is there something similar in functionality?
A: Yes, the Dawn of Ascension (DoA)mod provides ZOFE like Ascension but without the country change. Which makes this less disruptive to your modlist.

Q: Can I run this mod without ACOT?
A: No. It will crash during the loading screen.

Q: Is this mod compatible with Gigastructures?
A: Yes. Most of its planets and habitats can now be properly destroyed by ACOT bombing stances.

Q: What is the correct load order of all related Mods?
A: From top (first mod) to bottom (last mod):
[olist]

Ancient Cache of Technologies

Ancient Cache of Technologies: Override

Ancient Cache of Technologies: Secrets Beyond The Gates

Ancient Cache of Technologies: Defines

Dawn of Ascension

Acquisition of Technology

Secrets of the Shroud

! The Merger of Rules 3.5

!!!Universal Resource Patch [2.4+]

[/olist]



Planetary Shields Mod mod_detail.php?publishedfileid=948359179

Planetary Diversity mod_detail.php?publishedfileid=819148835

Gigastructures mod_detail.php?publishedfileid=1121692237

Real Space: System Scale/Acquisition of Technology Compatibility Patch mod_detail.php?publishedfileid=2245219565

!Patch - Shader merge for ACoT, Gigastructures, Jump Gates and Real Space 3.7 mod_detail.php?publishedfileid=2118652645



Glavius AI mod_detail.php?publishedfileid=1584133829
Thanks to @Zipzopdippidybopbop for finding this:
- Causes default empires to gain alpha tier capital buildings after one month after game start, making them OP early game. You can use Starnet instead, which works just fine.

Spacedock: Adaptive AI Ship Design mod_detail.php?publishedfileid=1911748162
- Not creashing per so but it causes invisible OP components ("nhsc_chronocannon" etc.) to appear on auto designed ships for both you and the AI eventhough none such tech was researched ever.

Animated Synthetics Portraits Expanded: Reborn mod_detail.php?publishedfileid=1492025820
- I don't know how or why but this was the cause of some crashing in my recent game. Removing it fixed the crashing. However take this with a grain of salt. You may use this mod and it may work without crashing. In case you do encounter crashes, this could be the culprit.

The Zenith of Fallen Empires: Secrets of the Fallen Empires and The Zenith of Fallen Empires: Origins Messes with the balancing and progression of tech in AoT.