Megastructures

Version

This article has been verified for the current PC version (2.7) of the game.

Humanoid Empire constructing a Dyson Sphere

Megastructures are colossal constructions. Expensive and time-consuming to build or repair, these remarkable feats of engineering are nonetheless important wonders that provide large bonuses, demonstrating the technological and economic primacy of the builders' empire. All of them require unlocking certain technologies to be built.

Contents

Construction

There are three types of megastructures: gateways, habitable projects and galactic wonders. Systems can only host one galactic wonder. Habitable megastructures (habitats and ringworlds) can be colonized but will be irreparably destroyed if a crisis overruns them. Galactic wonders provide massive bonuses and cannot be destroyed by any crisis, but are limited to one per empire. All megastructures have a different textures depending on the empire that built them.

A construction ship is required to build the first stage of any megastructure. If the megastructure has multiple stages, the following stages do not require the construction ship.

Each megastructure is unlocked by researching the technology of the same name. An empire that conquers a system with a megastructure can use it, but if the construction was partial it will not be able to continue its construction without the required technology. Damaged megastructures found through exploration, however, can be reconstructed by unlocking the Mega Engineering technology.

There is no way to construct an additional Science Nexus, Sentry Array, Mega Art Installation, Strategic Coordination Center, or Mega Shipyard. You can build all of these structures, but only one of each. Other buildings can be constructed multiple times.

Bonuses

A few bonuses affect megastructure construction speed. These are highly desirable considering the great time requirements of such projects:

• Master Builders ascension perk increases the build speed by +50%
• Living Metal Mega-Construction edict increases the build speed by +50%
• Architectural Renaissance unity ambition also increases the build speed by +50%
• Using the Isolated Contingency Core relic greatly increases the build speed by +300% for 10 years

Gateways

Real scale of a Gateway

While exploring the galaxy, empires can find abandoned gateways that were once part of a massive, galaxy-spanning network. Reverse-engineered from encountered abandoned gateways, these megastructures require the Gateway Activation technology and can be used to travel directly to any other active gateway in the galaxy. Reactivation of gateway takes 2 years and costs 6000 energy and 2500 alloys. The Gateway Activation technology can appear as a research option as soon as a Gateway has been discovered and Hyperspace Slipstreams technology has been researched but the chance is very low. Owning a system with an inactive Gateway increases the chance for the tech to appear by 4 times.

When the first gateway in the galaxy is reactivated, another random gateway will also be re-activated along with it. As opposed to wormholes, both gateways must be owned by the same empire or two empires with open borders in order to be able to travel through them. Systems with gateways count as bordering for the purposes of diplomacy, so every opened gate increases diplomatic tension between all active gate-owners. Claims cannot be extended through gateways. Additionally, gateways are able to greatly enhance and simplify trade infrastructure.

Eventually, empires can build their own gateways by researching the Gateway Construction technology. Notice, that this tech requires having some civilization with an access to pre-existing gateways, so if gateways were disabled during galaxy creation it is impossible to build any new. Each system can have only one gateway, but black hole systems with an L-Gate can also have a regular gateway constructed. Gateways can be built in systems in which there is already a megastructure. The construction site is built in only 3 years and costs 100 influence and 2500 alloys. Upgrading it to a gateway takes 5 years and costs 6000 energy and 2500 alloys. Gateways must be built near the outer edge of systems, away from gravity wells.

Gateways can't be deactivated or destroyed once they are fully activated or constructed.

Habitats

Mammalian size 8 habitat

Artificial planets in all but name, habitats have 70% habitability for all species that can be built above planets. Habitats have a unique set of Districts distinct from normal planetary ones. Up to 3 Districts are shared among all Habitats, with a fourth one being available if the Habitat is built above a planet with a resource deposit. Its appearance is dependent on the builders' empire appearance. They still requires colonization but the colony develops 3 times faster on a Habitat.

Habitats come in 3 sizes. Construction ships can construct habitats of the first size, which can then be upgraded via a Decision once all District slots are filled. Unlike other megastructures habitats do not require a construction site and are finished in one go by the construction ship. They cannot be built on worlds with an anomaly.

Habitats can be researched and built by any empire if Utopia DLC is installed. Otherwise, it's only available to empires with the Void Dwellers origin, which requires the Federations DLC.

Size	Cost	Time	Housing buildings	Required technology
4	150 1500	1800 days	Gestalt Consciousness only	Orbital Habitats
6	1000	720 days		Habitat Expansion
8	1500	1440 days		Advanced Space Habitation

The Voidborne Ascension Perk increases their Habitability to 90% and grants them two additional building slots.

Multi-stage megastructures

Multi-stage megastructures are constructed in multiple stages that require the technology of the same name before they can be constructed or upgraded. They start with a construction site that provides no benefit, however each subsequent construction phase will bring increasing bonuses, culminating with the end of the megastructure construction. Habitats and gateways can be built in the same system as multi-stage megastructures.

It is only possible to build, upgrade, or restore one multi-stage megastructures at a time. The limit can be increased by +1 for each of the following:

• Master Builders ascension perk
• Architectural Renaissance ambition edict
• Level 5 Research Cooperative president

Multi-stage megastructures can only be built once per empire and can't be destroyed, except for the Ring World segments. Megastructures conquered from other empires as well as ruined and repaired ones found in the galaxy do not count against the limit.

Megastructure	Stage	Production	Upkeep	Time	Cost	Notes	AP	DLC
Ring World	Site	None	-5	5 years	300 5000	Cannot be built in systems with black holes or multiple stars Cannot be built if there are habitable planets, anomalies or stations present Unlike other multi-stage Megastructures an empire can build more Ring Worlds All segments feature +100% Habitability for each species, can build up to 5 unique Districts and have their own unique Designations If they are built in the L-Cluster the uninhabitable segments may have Nanites deposits Upon completion of the frame all planets are removed from the system Multiple segments can be built at the same time if the empire has the capacity to work on more than one megastructure simultaneously
	Stage I (Frame)	None	None	13.3 years	10000
	Stage II (1 Segment)	+1 Habitable Segment	None	10 years	10000
	Stage III (2 Segments)	+2 Habitable Segments	None	10 years	10000
	Stage IV (3 Segments)	+3 Habitable Segments	None	10 years	10000
	Stage V (Completed)	+4 Habitable Segments	None	10 years	10000
Dyson Sphere	Site	None	-5	5 years	300 5000	Can only be constructed around regular stars Cannot be built if there are habitable planets, anomalies or stations present Upon completion all rocky planets and moons in the system turn into frozen or cold barren worlds If the star has a mining station it is removed when the megastructure is completed If any planet has the Terraforming Candidate modifier it is removed
	Stage I (Frame)	None	None	10 years	10000
	Stage II (Partial 25%)	+1000 Energy	None	10 years	10000
	Stage III (Partial 50%)	+2000 Energy	None	10 years	10000
	Stage IV (Partial 75%)	+3000 Energy	None	10 years	10000
	Stage V (Completed)	+4000 Energy	None	10 years	10000
Science Nexus	Site	None	-25	5 years	300 5000	The final stage of a Science Nexus can be upgraded to produce 50 more Research through an event that has a 30% chance to trigger a short time after the Megastructure is finished
	Stage I (Hub)	+100 Research +5% Research Speed	-50	10 years	15000
	Stage II (Research Wings)	+200 Research +10% Research Speed	-75	10 years	15000
	Stage III (Completed)	+300 Research +15% Research Speed	-100	10 years	15000
Sentry Array	Site	None	-20	5 years	300 5000	Until finished the Sentry Array cannot see through nebulae As no system will have low intel level a completed Sentry Array will prevent space creatures from respawning
	Stage I (Sentry Hub)	+20 Hyperlane Scanner Range	-40	5 years	10000
	Stage II (Sentry Spire)	+40 Hyperlane Scanner Range	-60	5 years	10000
	Stage III (Sentry Aerials)	+60 Hyperlane Scanner Range	-80	5 years	10000
	Stage IV (Completed)	Entire Galaxy Hyperlane Scanner Range	-100	5 years	10000
Matter Decompressor	Site	None	-5	5 years	300 5000	Can only be constructed around black holes If the black hole has a research station it is removed when the megastructure is completed
	Stage I (Anchor)	+500 Minerals	-25	10 years	12500
	Stage II (Lensing)	+1000 Minerals	-50	10 years	12500
	Stage III (Boring)	+1500 Minerals	-75	10 years	12500
	Stage IV (Completed)	+2000 Minerals	-100	10 years	12500
Mega Art Installation	Site	None	-5	5 years	300 5000	The final stage requires the Ancient Relics DLC and is not available if the empire is Xenophobe or Fanatic Xenophobe A ruined Mega Art Installation will be repaired to stage 3 and can be upgraded to stage 4 as with the constructed version
	Stage I (Nascency)	+100 Unity +5% Amenities	-10	10 years	15000
	Stage II (Maturity)	+200 Unity +10% Amenities	-20	10 years	15000
	Stage III (Completed)	+300 Unity +15% Amenities	-30	10 years	15000
	Stage IV (Perfection)	+400 Unity +20% Amenities	-30	10 years	100
Strategic Coordination Center	Site	None	-5	5 years	300 5000
	Stage I (Hull)	+50 Naval Capacity +2 Starbase Capacity +4 Defense Platforms +5% Sublight Speed	-25	10 years	15000
	Stage II (Comms)	+100 Naval Capacity +4 Starbase Capacity +8 Defense Platforms +10% Sublight Speed	-50	10 years	15000
	Stage III (Completed)	+150 Naval Capacity +6 Starbase Capacity +12 Defense Platforms +15% Sublight Speed	-75	10 years	15000
Interstellar Assembly	Site	None	-5	5 years	300 5000
	Stage I (Locus)	+10% Diplomatic Weight +10 Opinion from all empires	-10	5 years	10000
	Stage II (Consul Ring)	+20% Diplomatic Weight +10 Opinion from all empires +1 Available Envoys	-20	5 years	10000
	Stage III (Forum Modules)	+30% Diplomatic Weight +30 Opinion from all empires +1 Available Envoys	-30	5 years	10000
	Stage IV (Completed)	+40% Diplomatic Weight +40 Opinion from all empires +2 Available Envoys	-40	5 years	10000
Mega Shipyard	Site	None	-5	5 years	300 3000	All ships start with 100 experience Can only be built around star, in one-star systems,and there is no research station/mining station on it. Once Complete can build Titans, Colossi, and Juggernauts as if it had Titan Yards and Colossus Yards
	Stage I (Framework)	+5 Shipyard Capacity +33% Empire Ship Build Speed	-10	5 years	10000
	Stage II (Core)	+10 Shipyard Capacity +66% Empire Ship Build Speed	-20	5 years	10000
	Stage III (Complete)	+20 Shipyard Capacity +100% Empire Ship Build Speed Titan, Colossus, and Juggernaut construction	-40	5 years	10000

Ruined megastructures

Ruined Dyson Sphere

A ruined version of a multi-stage megastructure can be found while exploring the galaxy, with the larger galaxies having a chance to spawn more ruined megastructures. Repairing them only requires the Mega-Engineering technology. If not yet researched, owning a system with a ruined megastructure also grants a x20 weight for Mega-Engineering to appear as a researchable technology.

While they upgrade from their broken to a fully functional state in one step, they do not count for any achievements. However, they do not count against any build limit for that particular megastructure either. Another megastructure may also be constructed in the same system as a ruined or restored one.

Ruined Megastructure	Time	Alloys	System notes
Dyson Sphere	7200	20000
Science Nexus	4800	15000
Sentry Array	4800	15000	Contains a Tomb World
Matter Decompressor	4800	20000
Mega Art Installation	4800	20000	Is always a trinary system
Strategic Coordination Center	4800	15000
Interstellar Assembly	3600	15000	Contains deposits on most celestial bodies
Mega Shipyard	3600	10000

Conquerable Ringworlds

Up to 8 ringworlds can spawn naturally in a game in various states. Damaged segments can be repaired with the Mega-Engineering technology for the same cost as finishing a new segment.

• 1 in the Sanctuary system. All 4 habitable sections are intact and each contains one pre-FTL civilization, none advanced beyond Steam Age. The system was abandoned by an Enigmatic Observer Fallen Empire but contains automated defense platforms totaling over 50k fleet power.
• 1 in the Cybrex Alpha system. It requires completing the Cybrex precursor event chain. The ringworld is completely ruined and requires repairs on each section.
• 1 in the Cybrex Beta system. It will only be revealed if the Contingency sterilizes 20% of the galaxy. A short time after the Contingency is defeated, the Cybrex will leave the galaxy, leaving the ringworld free for the taking.
• 1 in a random empty system if Utopia DLC is activated. It is completely ruined and each section requires repairing. If the Distant Stars DLC is activated as well the system has a 50% chance to contain an unique anomaly.
• 3 in the systems of the Ancient Caretakers if Synthetic Dawn DLC is activated. The ringworld in the home system has 3 intact and one ruined section while the other two ringworlds are completely ruined and require each section to be repaired separately. If the Contingency appears and the Ancient Caretakers awaken to defend the galaxy, they will also disappear like the Cybrex once the Contingency is defeated, leaving their systems free for the taking.
• 1 in the home system of regular empires with the Shattered Ring origin. 2 segments are ruined but reparable, while 1 segment is irreparably damaged.
• Each empire with the Shattered Ring origin starts in a ringworld system with an intact segment and two damaged ones. By default only one empire with the origin can be generated but force-spawning will ignore the limit.

Game concepts