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[Dazs]

Hiver Swarm is a non player enemy AI faction designed to be aggressive invaders and can colonize systems. An insectoid race that uses high tech bio-cybernetics to grow their living ships. Their home world is found in deep space and their relations range from inhospitable to hostile for all factions. Their exclusive living hull designs (seen below) allow them to regenerate their hulls in combat and to be tougher made than the average factions' making them a challenge to fight. They use custom made drones, energy pulse weapons and missiles (also seen below) but have been known to use captured Corvus ships.
They are vengeful toward the player and will become hostile on sight, you have been warned.

New game required to have them appear in the sector

Note: see the optional files if you want to have them appear in Nexerelin's Random Core Worlds option(disabled by default)

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Requires
Nexerelin, LazyLib, MagicLib

Recommended
Ruthless Sector

Adds Remnant fleets to hyperspace that will intercept Hivers, and you

The following briefing contains the known history of the Hivers since they appeared in the sector.

Spoiler

NOTE: This information is cleared for admiralty use and distribution only. If this document has come into your possession outside of protocol 25 then you must destroy this document and report immediately to your unit intelligence officer for enhanced debriefing.

In the year 189, the Core Worlds were surprised by the appearance of a new star system on the comm network. The data received described lush, habitable planets and incredibly productive industries at the very furthest reaches of the sector. The Persean League dispatched a grand trade fleet, along with an official diplomatic mission. By the time the scattered, broken remains of the League's fleet made it back to the orbit of Kazeron, two new systems were broadcasting along with the first. Garbled attempts at communication arrived soon after, and the hostility of the new worlds was made very clear.

Despite attempts by the survivors of the first expedition to warn them, the Hegemony understood this to mean only one thing: AI. A new fleet burned its way to the edge of the sector, designed to both survey the new systems and eradicate their inhabitants. What followed was a months-long fighting retreat from the jump points of Zesketet to a lucky slipstream that ferried a battered contingent of frigates and support ships back to the Core.

Spysats seeded across the new worlds by mercenaries traveling dark told of comm relays and sensor arrays built from the gutted hulk of a Domain mothership. Great hives towering over the land, covered in an unending chitinous swarm. Innumerable species of sapient insectoid, all working together as a multiplanetary eusocial colony of immense scale.

Debate persists as to where the Hivers first originated. Galatia Academy sees their preference for human-habitable worlds and repurposing of Domain-era salvage as evidence of a pre-Collapse terraforming project gone horribly awry. Philip Andrada himself has proclaimed Tunguska Station as proof of alien origin from beyond the sector. Meanwhile, the Church of Galactic Redemption struggles to reconcile the insects with their own human-centric view of creation.

For the moment, the average inhabitant of the Core Worlds does not see the Hivers as much of a threat - they are simply too far away to worry about. For now.

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Peek here for the lineup of ships and weapons in the base mod

Spoiler

Lineup of the ship weapons

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The mod comes with an all mechanical looking alternate ship and weapon pack for players that prefer not to have bugs on their screen

Peek here for an image of all the mechanical replacement ships and installation instructions if you install the optional "Replacement Ships.rar" found in the faction folder

Spoiler

Included in the RAR is an alternate weapon pack that fits more in line with the replacement ship graphic design

To install the alternate pack, unpack the Replacement Ships.rar over your Hiver Swarm folder and accept overwrite. This will install both the ship and weapon pack. If you only want one or the other then you would first need to unzip into a temporary folder, delete the subfolders you do not want (data/hulls, data/variants and graphics/ships to delete the ships or data/weapons and graphics/weapons to delete the weapons then re-zip and install as above or just move the folders manually if desired

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Meet the Hivers (portraits)

Spoiler

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The mod comes with several optional files that can be enabled before the start of a new game - below are the various instructions also found in the RAR as README

Spoiler

NOTE: for the options that requite editing use Notepad++ or a java complier. If you make changes with standard notepad or some other editor it may mess with the Java code.

The mod comes with two optional files that make Ships and Weapons purchasable and available at the Arms Dealer for players that play as Hivers or just want them at the Arms Dealer.

Spoiler

-Find a file named purchasable_ship_data.csv located in data/hulls - If you delete the current ship_data.csv and rename the optional file ship_data.csv it will make all Hiver ships purchasable and available at the Arms Dealer
-Find a file named purchasable_weapon.data_csv located in data/weapons If you delete the current weapon_data.csv and rename the optional file weapon_data.csv it will make all Hiver weapons purchasable and available at the Arms Dealer

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To disable their blueprints from dropping in salvage or as loot

Spoiler

-Find a file named special_items.csv located in data/campaign and delete, rename or move it - select the file named nodrop_special_items.csv in the folder, rename it to special_items.csv and you are good to go

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The mod comes with three optional files that make Ships, wings and Weapons unrecoverable for players that prefer not to have Hiver Technology in their fleets

Spoiler

-Find a file named unrecoverable_ship_data.csv located in data/hulls - If you delete the current ship_data.csv and rename the optional file ship_data.csv it will make all Hiver ships and their BP unrecoverable
-Find a file named unrecoverable_weapon.data_csv located in data/weapons. If you delete the current weapon_data.csv and rename the optional file weapon_data.csv it will make all Hiver weapons unrecoverable
-Find a file named unrecoverable_wings.data_csv located in data/hulls. If you delete the current wing_data.csv and rename the optional file (unrecoverable_wing.data_csv) to wing_data.csv it will make all Hiver wings unrecovera

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The mod comes with an optional file that lowers weapon prices to base vanilla levels. Good for players who do not want high value loot and/or expensive manufacturing costs

Spoiler

-Find a file named vanilla_weapon.data_csv located in data/weapons. If you delete the current weapon_data.csv and rename the optional file weapon_data.csv it will make all Hiver weapons base value set to vanilla standard

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Instructions to make them a playable faction

Spoiler

As stated earlier by default the Hiver faction is unplayable but if you follow these steps you will be able to play as a Hiver with a fully functional market. You will be on good standing with the Hivers however the faction itself will remain enemies with all other factions. As the player you will have some factions that are neutral to favorable as well as several enemies. Each step is modular and it is up to you what level of functionality you would like. For example. if you just want to flag them as playable so they show up on random core world mode but want them still hidden on the intel tab and don't care for the portraits being used then just enable the first change.

From the mods tab in you Starsector folder go to Hiver Swarm\data\config\exerelinfactionConfig\HIVER.json and open it with your editor. Navigate to line 3 "startingFaction":false and set it to true, and save. Now go to Hiver Swarm\data\campaign and open rules.csv and delete lines 27-31 see below spoiler for the lines to delete if you are unsure:

Spoiler

hiver_cmsn_askForCommissionOpt_disable,PopulateOptions,"$isPerson
Nex_Commission personCanGiveCommission
!Nex_Commission hasFactionCommission
$faction.id == HIVER","SetEnabled cmsn_askCommission false
SetTooltip cmsn_askCommission ""The Hivers do not take in outsiders.""",,,

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To enable the Hiver faction to show on the intel tab: Go to Hiver Swarm\data\world\factions\HIVER.faction and open it with your editor on line 14 you will see "showInIntelTab":false,  change the false, to true, and save the file.

Follow the instructions on how to make their ships and weapons purchasable (above)

Lastly to enable the Hiver playable portraits shown below when you make a new character: Go to Hiver Swarm\data\world\factions\ - now the tricky part, you will see a file named xxplayer.faction - rename that to player.faction - Sorry to make it so difficult

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Instructions to manually adjust the difficulty level of the mod

Spoiler

There are a couple different ways to manually modify the mod:

Go into the mod folder data\config\exerelinFactionConfg and open a file called HIVER.json with an editor. If you do not have one you can download notepad++ it is free and easy to use and automatically recognizes Java code.
Once you have that file open and ready for editing, navigate to:
   Line 21 "invasionPointMult":1.25 and lower the number to lessen their invasion fleets. If set to 0 it will disable their invasions all together.
   Line 58 "colonyExpeditionChance":1.75 determines their chance to sending a colony mission. Lower it and they will be less likely to be picked by Nexerelin to start a colony.

You can also open data\world\factions and open HIVER.faction the same way:
At lines 259-261 the composition of their fleets are set to max so lower those 5's and it will effect the strength of their fleets and officers.
At line 264 "aggression":5, determines how aggressive the faction will be in invasions and expansion and 5 is the maximum. Lower that and they will be less aggressive.
At line 327 "canBombard":true, enables their ability to saturation bomb, set that to false and they will no longer.

If you feel uncomfortable making these changes manually I included an optional ZIP in the main folder called Vplus.zip that has preconfigured settings for a vanilla plus gameplay with few faction mods.
Just extract Vplus.zip into the mods folder and overwrite the main files.
   -The files in Vplus.zip lower their aggression, halves the invasion and colony fleet frequency, lowers their officer & ship quality, the number and size of ships in a fleet, and turns off saturation bombing.
NOTE: If you want to revert back to the base settings you can either make backups for those files first or you could just reinstall the mod.

There is an optional Hard Mode that increases Hiver ship and wing stats by 20% but makes them unrecoverable due the OP nature of the change:
First navigate to data\hulls and delete the hulls folder. In the mod folder you will see a ZIP labeled "Hard Mode hulls" and extract that into the data folder, essentially replacing the former hulls folder you just deleted.
Note: This can be done mid game but only newly generated Hiver ships will have the new hull mod

Lastly, there is sadly no way to specifically delay Hiver invasions but before you start a new game you can go to the "mod settings" button that LunaLib adds on the top left of the game menu.
Scroll down to the Nexerelin button, select the "fleet and battles" tab and look for an option "invasion grade period". The default is set to 90 which equates to 90 in game days until any invasions occur.
You can use that slide bar on the right and increase it up to 1825 days which is 5 years. Enter the # of days you feel you need to prepare before invasions occur.
NOTE: this will effect ALL faction invasions, not just Hivers. For example, if you set it to say 365 days it will delay ALL faction invasions for 1 in-game year after game start.

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Instructions to enable them to appear in Nexerelin's random core world setting

Spoiler

When you start a new game and get to the screen to enable random core worlds, go to option 4)faction settings then 1)Enable/disable factions. A screen will appear on the right and depending on how may faction mods you have installed you may have to scroll down but look for HIVER. It will be disabled by default, just press the Enabled button and go back. The game will remember this setting for this game only and you will need to do this each time you start a new RCW game.

You can enable them for RCW permanently but be aware this will also make them a starting faction so do not do this in a normal Corvus sector game.
From the mods tab in you Starsector folder go to Hiver Swarm\data\config\exerelinfactionConfig\HIVER.json and open it with your editor. Navigate to line 3 "startingFaction":false and set it to true, and save.

A note about adding Hiver Swarm to your Nexerelin game that has Random Core Worlds enabled:
I do not recommend enabling them in RCW because Hivers may be a threat in the early game but due to a lack of trading partners, random planet/placement negatively affecting the Hiver economy, and everyone being at war with them basically permanently, the Hiver faction will become starved of resources, begin to lose worlds and not be much of a threat to anyone. On the positive side, it makes them a source of easy to obtain valuable salvage and some early game XP.

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Peek here for spoilers on their tactics - no really, do not read unless you do not want to figuring out how to face them yourself

Spoiler

Hiver ships are high tech in nature with good shields, heavy armor and regenerating hulls. Their weapons do general damage with no bonuses to shields armor or hull but they swarm targets and the accumulative damage makes short work of weaker or lone enemies. Their smaller ships regenerate much faster than the larger ones and will wolfpack until they take about half damage then fly away to self repair while the larger ships keep you occupied. Also, their fleets will swarm if you attack a fleet in their sector and there is another fleet nearby. Approach fighting them tactically with a fleet that can handle these threats. I do not recommend you stick around for too long, take your salvage and run to come back repaired.

Update: 09/20/22 found this on reddit and it is great advice for those who are struggling:

By Candelestine on reddit

Yeah they'll take over your sector, you have to actively beat them back if you put them in. They're a straight-up villain faction, not balanced against the others at all.

Their weapons in particular average under .5 flux/dmg efficiency, so their sustained firepower is pretty unrivalled. Their torpedos are also broken as hell, regenerating torpedos for 5 ordinance pts is just ***. Put five on an Eradicator and laugh at everything.

They are beatable though. High armor strats work well, and DO NOT SKIMP on pd. You gotta crank that *** so you can stop their torpedoes, which is mostly how they get through armor.

Their drones are also extremely deadly, if you see a swarm coming at you, treat it like a proper battlegroup of ships, do not treat it like normal carrier wings. They will wreck you.

On the whole they're on par with Remnants, imo Remnants are actually a touch harder, but they're certainly beatable if you strategize around their strengths and weaknesses.

Oh yeah, weaknesses. Don't know if you noticed, but their ships are pretty slow. All of them. High turn rates though, they spin around quick. But top speed? Mediocre at best.
 

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Why oh why?

Spoiler

My inspiration for this mod started when I was selecting ships for my faction mod, Junk Yard Dogs and came across these great sprites on Spiral Arms II. I was originally going to make them a sub-feature in JYD with a mini lore of them being found derelict ships from an unknown race while mining in deep space. The more I spent refining that mod, which led to time spent on my second mod Ore Refinery, the idea laid on the scrap floor. Well I am also a huge fan of Kerebos production's Sword of the Stars game series and it hit me to make them an enemy faction based on the Hiver faction in that game. Their lore and ship setups are loosely based on those Hivers but this is a Starsector version confined to the rules here (sorry no gate tech).

I made the mod nonplayer because the ships are overpowered compared to standard. They are not as difficult as Remnant Ordo fleets but a mid game challenge for sure. Their ships are capturable but I did set a chance for them to shatter. I do have the bare bones structure to make them playable still in the mod so I could test them so if you really want to you could follow the instructions above and make it playable but that is not in the scope of my release idea.

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Credits

Spoiler

Alex for making this wonderful game!
Dandilion, Tecris, Xenoargh, HELMUT and Protonus for allowing dreamers with no art skill to use these sprites on Spiral Arms. (which I shamelessly bashed and re-colored for a consistent look)
Portraits used for the Hivers in game are from SWOTS, permission was given to non-profit fan made mods for that game.
Vayra for her modding tutorial that helped so much as well as the guide makers on discord.
The MutableShipStatsAPI page (Alex again I assume) giving me the inspiration to use getHullRepairRatePercentPerSecond on the Hiver ships.
Ty to the Beta Testers / Suggesters: 6chad.noirlee9, Deageon, Arthur_The_Ok, MapleDaddy__ TTV, grinningsphinx
A huge TY to Hyperion505 for supplying several high res versions of Spiral Arms sprites
An extra large thank you to HuginBlar for spending dozens of hours collaborating on ideas and sprite overhauls
A cheer to KMS who helped me with the Hiver lore and wrote the briefing on the forum page
Trylobot and Deathfly for the ship and weapon editor that allows a clueless ape like me to code.
Multiple thank you notes located in the changelog to all the people who have helped me along the way - thank you!

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If you enjoy my content, please consider buying me a coffee to keep me going! on Ko-Fi!

Current Changelog

v1.1.4 - Save compatible
   -Added the HIVER crest to the LunaLib & TriOS menus
   -Fixed an oopsie on my part making some Hiver ships unrecoverable by default in the previous update

   

Past Changelogs

Spoiler

v1.1.3 - Save compatible with v1.12
   -Added a new optional Hard Mode as suggested by TheSAguy, when enabled it does the following:
      -Adds a built-in hullmod to all Hiver ships and wings that raises multiple stats by 20%
      -Increases the fleet pts of all Hiver Ships by 20% - Used for when two AI fleets clash in the campaign to determine fleet strength calculations
      -Makes all Hiver ships and wings unrecoverable - Way too OP to be in a player's fleet IMO - Weapons are still lootable as they are not changed
   -Added instructions to the forum OP and README located in the mod ZIP on how to enable the new Hard Mode option
   -New hull mod icon provided by Tesser - TY

v1.1.2 - Save compatible with v1.11
   -Changed the numbering system for the mod versions going forward using the standard decimal format - example this update would have been 1.12 and is now 1.1.2
   -Added instructions on how to change the difficulty level of the mod to the README file and Forum OP that outlines all the optionals
   -Added Sundog's Ruthless Sector mod as a recommendation on the forum OP since it adds Remnant fleets in hyperspace that will intercept Hiver invasion fleets, and you
   -Added no_drop and no_sell tags in unrecoverable_ship_data for the Caelifera, Scarabaeidae, Gangis and Creatonotos -TY Joejoemyo for noting my oopsie
   -Added a new optional file to make wings unrecoverable - Instructions to enable it is in the README and forum OP - TY Joejoemyo for the idea
   -Added instructions to the README and Forum OP on how to manually adjust the difficulty level of the mod
   -Added a ZIP with pre-configured setting files that are intended for a more vanilla plus playthrough with few mods enabled for players who do not want to do the above manual adjustments - instructions in the README
      -The files in the ZIP lower their aggression, halves the invasion and colony fleet frequency, lowers their officer & ship quality, the number and size of ships in a fleet, and turns off saturation bombing
   -Added instructions to the README and Forum OP on how to delay invasions using the LunaLib mod settings for Nexerelin on the game menu - Note, effects ALL faction invasions      
   -Updated the version checker to the latest version of Starsector
   -Updated the replacement ships ZIP to the current version of the mod (1.1.2)

v1.11 - Save compatible with v1.10
   -Increased the max flux by 50 and flux regen by 100 on the Princess - Noticed it was struggling to maintain fire while watching Butter Baronet's videos
   -Increased the range of the Ommatidia to 200 - Though mainly a credit reward trophy weapon it was not working on some ships due to boundary lines
   -Renamed the Replacement Ships Zip to the current mod version (1.11) - Sorry for any confusion, I missed that last time in 1.10
   -Updated to 0.97a

v1.10 - Save compatible with v1.09
   -Changed all Hiver tankers and freighters to civilian hulls - They will not be deployed in combat over military ships now - TY Uther Phobos for making the point
   -Widened the boundary lines on the Calopteryx and Carabidae - Fixing an issue that could case a crash in rare instances
   -Adjusted the default ship roles of several ships - This effects a ship's chance to spawn in a formed fleet and should field a better mix
   -Increased the range of the Medium Rizokis Laser to match the range of the light - They are generally used in conjunction on the variants

v1.09 -Save compatible with v1.08c
   -Updated the working version to RC-10
   -Renamed the asteroid fields in Zesketet -TY KDR_11k for noticing and letting me know I left placeholders
   -Added the Fragmentation line of weapons to the alternate pack -TY Zalpha for letting me know
   -Widened the shield arc and boundary lines on the Scarabaeidae -TY NaitNait for informing me
   -Widened the shield arc and boundary lines on the Scarabaeidae Alternate - TY Kreo for providing screenshots
   -Changed the version of the alternate pack to match the current version of the mod
   -Went through every ship in the alternate pack and redefined the boundary lines to be more detailed - Fixing my previous sloppy work, sorry about that
   -Went through every ship in the main pack and fixed some issues with the boundary lines, cantering and shield arcs - details matter in an investigation
   -Fixed an issue with the alternate Meloidae loading the incorrect graphic
   -Centered the mounts on the Snipper - noticed they were misaligned when I was fixing boundary issues
   -Changed the verbiage of the README to clarify which files are the optional files - Ty Richared for sticking with it until we drilled it down
   -Changed the compression of the mod and the "Replacement Ships" file from RAR to Zip - A popular request that I received for my other mods and it is a more widely used format

v1.08c -Save game compatible with v1.08b
   -Updated the forum OP and in the RAR README file with instructions on how to make them appear in the sector when random core worlds is enabled - TY eidolad for the idea
   -Added the required libs for the mod to show in the mod menu - Ty KDR_11k for letting me know I oopsied that
   -Added an optional file that lowers weapon prices to base vanilla levels - Good for players who do not want high value loot and/or expensive manufacturing costs
   -Updated the RAR README and forum OP with instructions on how to activate the new optional file - TY NasaBrindle and KDR_11k for inspiring the idea

v1.08b - Not save compatible with prior versions
   -Added a blacklist for stelnet that prevents Hiver ships and weapons showing up - Jaghaimo is working on a commodities blacklist and I will add to it once released
   -Updated the mod to work with 0.96a   

v1.08a -Just a quick hotfix for a potential issue, Save game compatible with 1.08
   -Changed a couple ships that had the Ommatidia (eyeball) weapon set to hidden to turret/hard point - Ty ruddygreat for letting me know it could cause a problem
   -Added two Ommatidia to the Lucanidae for symmetry with the ship image

v 1.08 - Save game compatible but if you have a captured Hiver logistics ships with Militarized Subsystems on it you want to remove it before installing or it may get wonky
   -Changed the percent Hivers will use logistics ships as part of their overall fleets - I've noted an overabundance of tankers and freighters - ty mllhild for the heads up
   -Changed supplies/rec and supplies/mo form 14 to 24 on the Cerambycidae and the Scarabaeidae -  14 was higher than an Atlas but they are beefier
   -Raised the fleet points of all Hiver ships by 10% - Correctly calculates their strength when used in AI vs AI battles based on their stats/loadouts vs vanilla ships
   -Removed the block on Hiver patrols remembering patrol data - Makes their home systems a little more dangerous
   -Reduced the value of the Ommatidia weapon by 25% - received numerous complaints that even though it is a trophy it was still too high a value
   -Removed the civilian tag from all logistics ships to give them more teeth - Hivers are a militant empire it makes sense lore wise that everything they do is martially focused - Ty mllhild for the suggestion
   -Replaced the ship and alternate ship images on the forum with a larger format - you no longer need a magnifying glass to see them in all their glory
   -Re-arranged the forum page and organized subsections under spoilers for easier navigation between the various mod optional features

v1.07 -Save game compatible but if you started a new game with 1.06 then a new 1.07 game required if you want them to invade, sorry folks I made a boo boo
   -Added the built in mod Delicate Machinery to all Hiver phase ships - It is pretty standard for phase ships and gives them a bit of a nerf
   -Raised the deployment points and supplies used per month on the Crabby and the Eyes - when going over the phase ships they were a little low
   -Raised the phase cost and upkeep on all Hiver phase ships - Reduces the time they can stay in phase and heal
   -Raised the fleet costs of all the Hiver Phase ships - They will be less used in their their fleet deployment - TY Madbadger2 for helping balance the phase ships
   -Lowered the chance of Hiver AI fleets having combat freighters instead of combat ships
   -Greatly reduced the price of the small Hiver weapons - Still higher than Vanilla but this will balance the "payout" when looting since they are the most frequent drops
   -Fixed a mistake with the naming of the alternate ship pack RAR - I forgot to change it from 1.05 to 1.06 last update, it is now correct at 1.07
   -Fixed a mistake on the Princess alternate - Accidently placed a small in the medium slot and vice versa - TY Bloodbath for noticing it and letting me know
   -Added a method and instructions on how to make their blueprints not lootable as salvage to the instructions on the forum and in the README - Ty Volsungare for giving me the idea
   -Reverted the following changes made in 1.06 due to some unforeseen consequences, sorry:
      -By taking them off the market it gutted their economy and essentially pulled their teeth, apparently they could not trade with each other to afford invasion fleets
         -Initial Hiver markets no longer show up on the StelNet commodity market
         -Initial Hiver planets no longer initially show as owned on the sector map
         -Initial Hiver planets and stations are no longer the target of vanilla quests
   -Deleted the instructions on the forum OP and in the README for re-enabling their markets since this update does that by default - again sorry for the hassle

V1.06 - v1.05 save game compatible but some changes (marked) require a new game to take effect
   -Fixed a issue with the old weapon BP still being available - when I divided them up I forgot to delete the original that had them all together
   -Added mining stats to the Hiver frag beam weapons
   -Added mining stats and salvage gantries to the following ships: Carabidae, Burrower, Weevil, Chalcosoma, Lucanidae, Chinavia, and Viridula
   -Added the above ships to the list of randomly picked ships to add to a mining fleet - TY mllhild for pointing out that they lacking any mining features
   -Added an additional line to the above ship and weapon descriptions indicating that they serve as mining assets
   -Added several ships to the SCY amity blacklist - I never updated it as I added ships to the mod, woops
   -Added all of the Secrets of the Frontier factions to the list of factions in the HIVER_gen java file that are set to Vengeful - mllhild made a good point that they needed to be added
   -Added integration with presidentmattdamon's Take No Prisoners mod - Lowered the chance of capturing a Hiver officer and they will now send a vengeance fleet if you do
   -Changed the flag to "punitiveExpeditionData" "vsFreePort" from false to true - yea they really don't like anything Corvus do they?
   -Changed the stations used by Hiver planets from low/midline to high tech - I initially had them use ballistics but later decided to go full high tech but forgot to change that - Ty WENth100 for noting it- New game only
   -Changed the descriptions for the Hiver planets and made them more lore friendly - TY Cgoober for calling out my lazyness
   -Increased the size of Hiver Nexerelin vengeance fleets dispatched and the the length of time they spend searching to 2x - They now love you long time
   -Added the new weapon BP's to a player's starting inventory if they use the optional file(s) to make them playable and start as them - New game only
   -Initial Hiver markets no longer show up on the StelNet commodity market - Numerous requests and finally untangled it -Thanks to Histidine, Alex, Dalton and Lukas04 for helping me figure it out - New game only
   -Initial Hiver planets no longer initially show as owned on the sector map - They will show when discovered by the player same as others - New game only
   -Initial Hiver planets and stations are no longer the target of vanilla quests - Note: this and the above two notes do not effect planets that Hivers conquer - Ty to Madbadger2 for being a sounding board and keeping me sane - New game only
   -Added an additional optional file and updated the instructions in the README file and on the forum OP that would revert the above three changes for players who want to see their markets
   -Added a note to the instructions in the README file and on the forum OP regarding the optional BP only works when installed before a new game start
   -Fixed an error with the optional weapon no-drop file - TY Volsungare for noticing it and letting me know

v1.05 - v1.04b save game compatible
   -Corrected a mistake with the Calopteryx requiring 58 DP to deploy and is now 38 as intended - TY Paragon Bane for brining it to my attention
   -Changed the description of the Eyes - TY st0mpa for noticing that I had not changed the text when last modified it from a capital ship to a cruiser
   -Added descriptions to the asteroid fields in Zesketet - TY Wojmistrz for noticing they were missing and letting me know
   -Added the Phase Field hull mod to the Crabby and Eyes - TY st0mpa for let me know  - now they can better sneaky sneak!
   -Added the hint "HIDE_IN_CODEX" to the Chalcosoma and Cerambycidae - must have missed that when I added then last patch oopsie
   -Fixed three mistakes in the Replacement Ships RAR and it will now work correctly for all ships - TY Bloodbath for noticing it and helping me correct the errors
   -Added two new requested phase ships:
      -Creatonotos - Phase Capital - A terrifying sight to behold as it phases in and out of reality. Imbedded powerful energy emitters can devastate it's enemies before needing to phase out to recover.
      -Gangis - Phase Frigate - Able to sneak into enemy formations and phase into reality to emit a powerful EMP burst and unload it's energy weapons on it's disabled prey.
   -Increased the deployment cost of the Mantis battleship from 12 to 18 - was little too low for it's loadout
   -Added both versions (main/replacement) of the two new ships to their respective all ships images on the forum OP
   -Added a direct download link to the Version file that mod managers can use to auto-update - Ty Timid for showing me how
   -Added a direct download link to the forum d/l link that bypasses the google drive preview - one less step to get to the good stuff

v1.04b - Just a minor tweak - v1.04a save game compatible
   -Added optional ship and weapon csv for players who would like them to be purchasable and available at the Arms Dealer - TY herkul121 for letting me know
   -Updated the instructions on the forum OP and in the README to include how to activate the above option

v1.04a - Just a quick oopsie hotfix - v1.04 save game compatible
   -Fixed the Swimmer's engine exhaust being misaligned - Noticed when I captured one and decided to go through all the ships for similar errors:
      -Widened the boundary lines on the Aphid, Calopteryx, Gnawler, Katydid, and Snipper
      -Better aligned the engine exhaust on the Aphid, and Scorpifly
      -Weapon placement alignment on the Caelifera, and Silverfish
      -Centered the shield on the Cerambycidae, Ceruchus,and Moth
   -Fixed an issue with the weapon BP not working correctly - Ty Ensign vjhc for taking the time to help diagnose it, you're a captain in my book

v1.04 - 1.03 save game compatible
   -Lowered the cost of all Hiver weapons by 50% - TY alaricdragon for noting that the risk/reward for loot as a total salvage was still too high on the reward end
   -Increased the range on the Ommatidia from 80 to 100 and the damage from 1 to 2 - More of a sellable trophy than a weapon but with the price drop I buffed it a little
   -Starting with the new lowered prices as the base, I increased the cost spread between small medium and large weapons -TY steve1592 for making the case
   -Added the tags "no_dealer, no_sell" to all Hiver ships and weapons to prevent them from showing up under the Arms Dealer - TY Paragon Bane for pointing this out
   -Changed the hostilityImpactOnGrowth flag from false to true - Yes let the hate flow through you
   -Removed Hiver weapons from the Industrial Evolution blacklist - Forgot to remove it when I made the BP learnable - Ty vjhc for pointing it out
   -Added a README file in the RAR that details how to activate all the optional files included
   -An apology to the players who asked for Hiver commodities to be omitted from Stelnet - Spent several hours and asked multiple people to no avail, hopefully next update

v1.03 -Sort of save game compatible - Your 1.02 game will load and work but a new game start is needed to load the faction relation code changes
   -Replaced the following Hiver ships with organic looking versions for the default lineup:
   - Beetle, Caelifera, Catcher, Cerambycidae, Ceruchu, Chalcosoma, Cleridae, Crabby, Emperor, Eyes, Deathfly, Hornet, Lucanidae, Moth, Prince, Scarabaeus, Scarab, Silverfish, Snipper, Viridan, Viridula 
   -Replaced all the Hiver drones with organic looking versions for the default lineup
   -Replaced all the Hiver portraits with higher resolution versions and added two new ones (One male and One female)
   -Replaced the Hiver BP with a cleaner version
   -Big Thanks to HuginBlar for your collaboration and team work in making these new sprites over the last two months and for all your work!   
   -Widened the firing arcs of the Prince's medium turret mounts from 60 degrees to 75 degrees to accommodate the new placement on the updated sprite
   -Re-sized the Lucanidae to be more SS compatible - The original sprite I used from Spiral arms was huge and it was a good time to address it
   -Added a second Ommatidia mount to the Eyes for symmetry on the updated sprite
   -Slightly darkened the details on the Princess to be more in line with the other ships - essentially it doesn't shine as much now
   -Changed the settings for Hiver relations using the code generously donated by Harmful Mechanic - essentially if a faction ever reaches neutral with them it will automatedly reset to vengeful- TY HM!
   -Deleted some unneeded code that could potentially cause a small memory leak - old code from a previous version that I hadn't removed in 1.02 my bad sorry   
   -Added a line of Fragmentary damage beams (sm,med.lg) to the Hiver Lineup of weapons - Ty steve1592 for the suggestion noting they lacked a frag weapon
   -Broke down the Hiver weapon BP into four different packages by missile, pulse, plasma and beam - Makes their full weapon lineup harder to obtain
   -Added the new beam weapons as well as the Ommatidia weapon to the prism freeport blacklist
   -Added two new light beams to the Allsup interceptor and one to the Katydid fighter
   -Added a new drone, the Meloidae - It is armed with one medium and two small beams it is specialized for hull depletion
   -Added a new destroyer sized drone carrier, the Scarabaeidae - Carries four of the new Meloidae and is designed as a close in ship with one large, two medium and two small beams
   -Designed mechanical analogs of both the new drone and the drone carrier for the replacement ships RAR
   -Renamed the Beetle to the Mantis - the old sprite was oversized and the new one doesn't look like a beetle at all
   -Added the new drone and the drone carrier to the Prism freeport blacklist
   -Updated some ship descriptions and added descriptions for the new ships/drone and weapons
   -Updated the ship images for both the standard layout as well as the Mechanical version on the forum OP - take a peek!
   -Added the portraits to a spoiler linked image to the forum OP - I am so happy with the higher resolution versions I wanted to show them
   -Added a Comsec Declassified lore entry to the forum main page - TY KMS so much for writing it!

v1.02
   -Lowered the armor of the phase ships Eyes and Crabby by 20% - deathkahhn on discord made a good point that it was tedious to fight them
   -Finished a complete mechanical ship alternate pack RAR - A huge TY to by Sparranova on discord for submitting base and part sprites which were a great help!
   -Added a weapon sprite alternate pack for players who want a complete aesthetic included in the replacement RAR - TY again to Sparranova for their work!
   -Added UAF to the list of mod factions Hivers are set hostile to - Saw some complaints on discord regarding the relations
   -Re-made the Alternate Pack image found on the forum OP with the new sprites and added the new weapon pack image as well

v1.01 - 1.0 save game compatible - Note: If you have any captured Hiver ships that have been replaced in this patch in your fleet they may need to be re-armed
   -Raised the energy per shot of the Svreraxx Bio-Plasmic Catapult from 192 to 230 as a balance change - TY sevhern for noting it's efficiency was too OP
   -Increased the supplies/rec and supplies/mo of every Hiver ship by 15% (rounded up) - This will lower the amount of ships Hivers can deploy at once
   -Increased the fleet points on the Emperor from 55 to 60 - Being one of the strongest ships in the game it deserved a little more
   -Added a file named unrecoverable_ship_data.csv located in data/hulls - If you delete the current ship_data.csv and rename the new file ship_data.csv it will make all Hiver ships and their BP unrecoverable
   -Added a file named unrecoverable_weapon.data_csv located in data/weapons If you delete the current weapon_data.csv and rename the new file weapon_data.csv it will make all Hiver weapons unrecoverable
   -NOTE: If you retain the current ship_data but use the new weapon_data then weapons can still be recovered from wrecks and salvaged wrecks but not as salvage themselves
   -Increased the OP of the Catcher by 5 and changed one of the small mounts to medium
   -Increased the OP of the Princess by 20 and changed four of the small mounts to medium and added 2 Ommatidia mounts to the front
   -Replaced the sprites and data files for the Aphid, Beetle, Burrower, Carabidae, catcher, Chinavia, Chrysopidae, Lacewing, Mantabee, Princess, Silverfish, Swallowtail, Swimmer, Viridan and Weevil ships
   -Replaced the sprites and data files for the Allsup, Flyter, Gnawler, Katydid and Scorpifly drones
   -*A HUGE TY to Hyperion505 for supplying the high res versions of the above Spiral Arms sprites*
   -Replaced the vanilla weapons on the Flyter with Hiver ones - Made that drone before I made the hiver weapons
   -Halved the value of all Hiver weapons - Island makes a good point that individually it was a reward but as a whole loot haul it was a bit much
   -Increased the size and explosion radius of the Xrrymm-type Hive and Launcher Istkrrtc-type Hive missile sprites to be more visually hefty - Island made the point that they looked like pop-guns
   -Widened the sprites for the Xrrymm-type Hive and the Istkrrtc-type Hive in order to fit the larger missiles made for this patch
   -Hiver Xrrymm-type Hive and Istkrrtc-type Hive now properly render and fire all their missiles - Been meaning to fix that   
   -Lowered the hit points of the Scorpifly from 1800 to 1500 and armor from 450 to 400 - Island made the point that it was on par with a destroyer and this puts it just above the Flyter
   -Increased the range of the Ommatidia from 60 to 80 - gives it an actual chance to engage fighters
   -Added a new light cruiser, the Caelifera - the Hiver fleet lacked a light cruiser and with the increase in overall fleet supply use it fills a niche role
   -Added the new ship and all updated sprites to their respective images on the forum OP

v1.0 -.99 save game compatible - Note: IF you have a captured Cleradie in your fleet it may need to be re-armed
   -Increased the deployment and supply use of the Burrower from 3 to 23 - typo on my part TY Bonisagus for noting it
   -Increased the deployment and supply use of the Viridan and Crabby to 9 - noticed they were set low as well
   -Fixed an error with the Cleradie using the Crabby variant as it's standard loadout - Must have been an issue for a bit sorry about that
   -Replaced the Ommatidia weapon mounts on all Hiver ships that had them - there was an issue with looting them - TY Bonisagus for pointing that out
   -Added a missing weapon on the Calopteryx standard loadout - noticed it when I was replacing the Ommatidia
   -Fixed a misaligned turret mount on the Hornet - It was facing backward instead of forward - idk
   -Added Ommatidia mounts to the Moth - If a Hiver needed eyes it was this one
   -Added Ommatidia mounts to the Viridula - For the cuteness factor
   -Did a spelling, grammar and punctuation check on all Hiver asset descriptions - woo wee it needed that
   -Added the Ommatidia to the list of Hiver "knownweapons" - in case that was causing an issue since it is not on their BP
   -Updated the replacement ship pack RAR to 1.0 - you will need to re-install it if you are using it
   -Added the Ommatidia to the list of blacklisted weapons from from Amity's Freeport discount trader is you are using the SCY mod - Love SCY but no eyes for them!

0.99 -0.98 save compatible - some changes will only take effect in a new game
   -Fixed an error with the Queen's Tech being BioTech instead of Bio Tech - TY alaricdragon for noticing it
   -Reduced the range and damage of the Ezkepren-type Hive torpedo -received numerous concerns that the Gnawler was too OP and making the game less fun
   -Added additional tips on how to fight Hivers under the spoiler tags on the main page - TY to Candelestine for their writeup on reddit
   -Reduced the turn rate on the Emperor from 40 to 30 - Saw a discussion on Discord that made some good points regarding its size vs nimbleness
   -Touched up the graphic on the Princess giving her darker green highlights and tinting the weapon mounts - Sort of stood out how bright she was
   -Touched up the graphic for the Chinavia, Lacewing, Viridan, Viridula, Silverfish and Aphid by darkening the tint and sharpening the lines - Same reason as above   
   -Added a new EMP "weapon", Hiver Eyes - They are mounted on each bio-metal style Hiver ship - More of a high value sellable than actual useable weapon, also adds a little cosmic horror
   -Replaced the Pristine Nanoforges with Corrupted on all Hiver planets with the exception of their capital, Vilani  - Should satisfy the multiple requests to tone down their fleet production
      -Note: The above change does not effect fleets that are already in game so will not be as noticeable in a saved game
   -Added the UNBOARDABLE AI tag to the Beetle so they cannot be recovered like the Emperor and Queen - I felt that it too was a tad too OP to put in player hands
   -Added the no_drop UI tag to the Beetle, Emperor and Queen to prevent their blueprint from dropping during exploration missions
   -Updated the folder used in the replacement ships RAR to match the current folder 0.99 - Should have been doing that since 0.95, my bad
   -Remade the forum OP ship image to reflect the graphic changes made this update
   -Made a separate image on the forum OP that shows the lineup if you use the replacement images - Again something I should have done a bit ago, ah well better late than never
   -Added a message on the forum OP that the mod is not recommend for use in Nexerelin's Random Core Worlds option - It really weakens them and defeats their purpose

0.98 - *Should* be save game compatible - *I did not have an old save to test against
   -Increased the price for the Swallowtail and Princess Heavy Cruisers to be inline with other Hiver Ships - Good catch by 5ColouredWalker - TY
   -Changed the Tech Tree that Hiver ships and weapons are listed under from High Tech to Bio Tech
   -Removed the shields on every Hiver drone and increased their HP by 20% - I believe this will address OP complaints while interacting with their bio hull better - this *should* bring them in line and more manageable
   -Added a flag to the Emperor and the Queen to be UNBOARDABLE, meaning that they cannot be recovered - These two are OP living ships and are meant only for Hivers
   -Raised the price of every Hiver weapon by 100k to reflect tier above average status - Ty gentuff for the suggestion
   -Increased the probability that a Hiver ship will explode to 90% - *Should* make their ships, based on this stat, to be in the worst shape if recovered
   -Lowered the combat readiness recovery per day by 1 for each hiver ship - slows down their recovery if they are fleeing a battle, doing a hard burn or coming out of a storm
   -Added a missing description for the Krrakt Thermionic Exiter weapon
   -Added a missing description for the Cerambycidae capital tanker
   -Added a new ship system Bio Energy Focus - Similar to High Energy focus but longer lasting and more charges for a higher flux use plus it glows a nice Hiver green when activated

0.97 - Save Compatible with 0.96 however, The Rizdet system change will only take effect on a new game start
   -Moved the Rizdet star system to be clustered with the other two Hiver systems - due to the aggression fixes in the last patch it no longer needs to be so far away
   -Increased the flux per shot of every Hiver energy weapon by 10% - Ty derrzzedd for making the case their weapons were a bit too OP
   -Decreased the ammo count of the Istkrrtc-type Hive by 3 and the Xrrymm-type Hive by 4 - A needed fix for their damage
   -Reduced the speed of the Beetle, Carabidae, Queen, Emperor, and Lucanidae by 10% - These are the larger tankier Hiver ships that with their armor needed a little nerf
   -Added hostile flags for Iron Shell and HMI - TY gufiu for noticing those two factions were too close to neutral
   -Changed the percentage of hull that the BIO Hull mod kicks in from 90 to 95% - Will kick in faster and repair more

0.96 -Save compatible with V 0.95 -If you have them set to be playable revisit the instructions on the forum OP - I recommend a new game start to take advantage of all changes 
   -Added a "Buy me a Coffee" tip link to Ko-Fi on the forum OP - By no means do I expect anyone to use it but it was requested by travhill20      
   -Added some lines to the code to better integrate Hivers in the picking of colony fleets in NEX
   -Added some code to better interact with NEX so that Hivers are more aggressive in invading the sector (you have been warned) - Ty so much Histidine for all your help!
   -Added new custom greetings when a player encounters a Hiver fleet or attempts to interact with a Hiver planet
   -Increased the range of the Krrakt Thermionic Hyper-Exiter PD from 350 to 400 - minor range increase to make it more competitive
   -Increase the speed of the Istkrrtc-type Hive from 225 to 325 - Allows it a better chance of reaching it's target
   -Increased the armor of the Scorpifly heavy drone from 325 to 450 - With it being unshielded this change will allow it to survive a little longer vs PD weapons
   -Added the Cerambycidae to the Hiver blueprint - Was incorrectly added to the high tech bp by mistake
   -Removed entries in unused columns on the ship hulls - Just removing some bloat that I though was needed when I started the project
   -Removed the nanoforge from each instance of light industry on Hiver planets - Learned that it was unneeded when fixing JYD so another small bloat removal
   -Changed the instructions on the forum OP on how to make the Hiver faction playable - The code changes made the previous way obsolete

0.95 Save Game compatible with version 0.9
   -Replaced the Hiver crest graphic with a better quality one
   -Received some requests to add more Hiver ship graphics to the alternate ship pack so I made replacements for the Aphid, Chrysopidae, Lacewing, and Lucanidae
   -Replaced the ship sprite for the Cleridae freighter with a cleaner version - Same graphic just less saturated
   -Replaced the ship sprite for the Viridula tanker with a less blurry version - Darker tint with some minor changes
   -Added a new Super Freighter to the Hiver lineup, the Chalcosoma - With the new colony added in 0.9 I felt they needed a large well defended freighter for their long distance trade fleets
   -Added a new Super Tanker to the Hiver lineup, the Cerambycidae - Same reason as above but for fuel
   -Added a new small energy weapon to the Hiver lineup, the Krrakt Thermionic Exiter and gave it a custom shot
      -Based of the vanilla IR pulse laser but does 10 more damage per shot, has a longer range of 700, a higher energy per shot of 70 and an additional chargedown of 0.1
   -Replaced every vanilla IR pulse laser equipped on all Hiver ship variants with the new Krrakt Thermionic Exiter
   -Changed the projectile of the Krrakt Thermionic Hyper-Exiter PD to the new custom shot I made for the Krrakt Thermionic Exiter
   -Added a glow effect to the Krrakt Thermionic Hyper-Exiter PD   
   -Added a turret image and glow effect to the Krrakt Thermionic Hyper-Exiter PD - The base image was a bit too large for a turret mount
   -Added a glow effect to the Svrerresh Bio-Plasmic Launcher and gave it a custom shot - Previously used the vanilla pulse laser shot
   -Added a glow effect to the Sverrtrrsx Bio-Plasmic Caster
   -Added a glow effect to the Xhezek Thermionic Sling - seeing a pattern here yet
   -Fixed and error in the Hiver weapons to prioritize - Added a missing entry for the Ezkepren-type Hive torpedo
   -Added turret mount images to the Deathfly and sharpened it up a little, also added missing Biological Hull mod - Just cleaning it up a little and noticed the missing hull mod
   -Added turret mount images to the Princess and sharpened it up, also added two missing small weapons on the variant
   -Fixed and error with the Scarabaeus not being added to the Hiver medium blueprint
   -Added the four new replacement ship sprites to the side by side comparison image on the forum OP
   -Re-made the ship sprite image on forum OP - replaced the above changed images and added the two new logistics ships(bottom of the image)- The old image was being cropped on smaller monitors
   -Added a Hiver emoji to the SS discord, you can now show your love Hiver style - Ty to Timid for suggesting it and Avanitia for adding it!

v0.9 - Save Game compatible however I recommend a new game since the new system requires a new game start to appear - Also, if you currently have any of the ships listed below in your save game fleet, you may need to refit them
   -Increased the % that the Biological Hullmod will kick in from 75% to 90% - Received some feedback that it needed a tweak
   -Added a new Hiver system; Rizdet is located on the map at the diametrical opposite of the other Hiver systems which should force Hiver fleets to travel the map to reach each other but still far away from normal traffic
   -Added yet more code flags to make Hivers aggressively hostile - An ongoing process that I am sure I'll nail down eventually
   -Increased the supply use and deployment points of the cruisers Prince, Catcher and Eyes from 15 to 20 - Brings them in line with other cruisers
   -Changed the loadout of the Scarab by removing it's offensive missile mounts and replacing them with more small turrets for defense - it is a freighter after all   
   -Increased the OP and the flux on the Eyes phase cruiser and added a second medium turret to bring it more in line with similar ships
   -Added a new logistics cruiser, the Ceruchus is well defended with PD mounts and equipped with a salvage & survey suite - Their fleet lacked these logistics - Essentially a heavy Apogee
   -Added a new destroyer, the Scarabaeus is primarily an energy weapon powerhouse for it's size - Essentially a beefier Sunder - The Hiver midweight class was lacking 
   -Updated the sprite for the Emperor - Same graphic just less saturated
   -Replaced the sprite of the Twinblaster weapon - the previous sprite was a blurry mess
   -Updated the sprite for the Twinpd weapon - Same graphic, just darkened a little    
   -Replaced the graphic used for the Scarab - Replacing one of my early blown up blurry messes, I swear I'll get them all eventually
   -The above graphic changes and additions are reflected on the Forum OP picture
   -Added a secondary RAR file to the download called "Replacement Ships.rar" that when extracted over the base mod will replace 11 pixel and data files for the biological looking ships (see below)
      -This is a request I have received from several players and the number one complaint regarding the "bug" sprites that I see on discord
      -The added RAR makes no other changes to the mod and can be ignored if you want to keep the original sprites
      -The replaced ships are the Beetle, Calopteryx, Crabby, Eyes, Flyter, Moth, Prince, Scorpifly, Snipper, Swimmer and the Viridula - Added a graphic to the mod main page showing the side by side differences
      -To enable all these changes, first install the base mod then open the "Replacement Ships.rar" (found in the Hiver Swarm base folder) and extract to your mod folder (same as any other mod)and accept overwritten files
      -To replace only some of the old sprites then install the mod as above but extract the "Replacement Ships.rar" to a dummy folder. Select the files for hull, variant and ship graphic you want and drag these to your HIVER folder and overwrite
      -To revert back to the original sprites, delete the HIVER mod from your mod folder and extract the base Hiver RAR to your mod folder. You can ignore or delete the Replacement Ships.rar file

v0.85a - Save Compatible from 0.85
   -Raised the break point of all Hiver ships to 60% for the smaller up to 90% for the larger to make them less recoverable
   -Raised the base cost of all Hiver assets by ~25% to make them more of a prize and more expensive to rebuild- TY vcuaoiwk for this and the above idea idea
   -A code update to fix a compatibility crash when using Linux - TY Phantasia for brining this to my attention   

v0.85 - 0.8 Save Compatible however most changes require a new sector generation and will only take effect on a new game
   -Tagged all Hiver ships to no longer be able to be spit out by the machine god during an Industrial Evolution sacrifice event - Big thanks to SirHartly for adding a tag to allow this - will take effect on the next Indi Evo update
   -Reviewed every major modded faction config and set Hivers to a higher percentage to be picked for colony evaluation - Best I can do to force them to be picked other than writing my own custom colony code (sadly way beyond my abilities)
   -Increased the distance Hiver fleets can travel to find a colony planet - Should cover the map
   -Installed Alpha Cores to run all Hiver Star Fortresses - Being a high tech civilization it is on brand plus it gives their planetary defense a little more teeth
   -Tweaked the Hiver planets to produce more fuel - Fuel was a limiting factor in their production of ships and fleets, this will hopefully increase their Invasion and Colony fleets in campaign mode
   -Increased the Hiver invasion chance a little to spur their growth
   -Increased the size of Hiver invasion and vengeance fleets - Makes them more of a threat
   -Added the tag that if the Hivers are used in Random mode they will get a bonus Orbital Works and Fuel production to give them a decent start in that mode 
   -Fixed an issue with the Zesketet background image causing a crash. - Essentially I changed the name of the sector but not the image - Ty to Omega_DarkPotato for the crash report

v0.8
   -Added Version Checker integration
   -Renamed Homehive to a Hiver name - Will only effect new games since SS only assigns system names at game creation
   -Hiver ships are no longer searchable in the codex - TY gentulf for this and the above suggestions
   -Added a Industrial Evolution black list making HIVER assets not available at the requisitions center industry
   -Added a Blacklist to exclude all Hiver ships, weapons and wings from SCY's Amity's Freeport discount trader
   -Added the ability for all Hiver missiles to be immune to Diable Avionics' Derecho ECM system - see below
   -Added the ability for all Hiver missiles to be immune to Arma Armatura's Karma hacking - I feel that Hiver weapons are too alien to be effected by these two mod's abilities
   -Changed Hiver relationship status to all from Hostile to Vengeful - enter their systems at your own risk!
   -Changed the ship system of the Queen to Targeting Feed  -More in line with the Queen being a back line command ship
   -Changed the ship system of the Calopteryx to Recall device - More in line with the Calopteryx being a highly mobile strike carrier  - TY to grinningsphinx for this and the above suggestions
   -Changed the weapon type of the Calopteryx from energy to synergy and added Expanded missile racks as a built in mod. Also reset the Standard refit to reflect these changes - Gives it more flexibility
   -Changed all ship weapon mounts from hidden to shown (Turret & Hardpoint). TY Namesarethings for brining this discord discussion to my attention and guiding my research into the topic
      Did this for three reasons:
      1) As hidden mounts they could not be disabled which made them a little too hard to overcome
      2) By converting some of the hidden mounts to hardpoints they gained the benefit of having lower recoil
      3) What self respecting cyborg wouldn't want to show off it's shiny?
   
v0.75
   -Added a blacklist for the Hivers that exempts the Hivers adjusting reputation if a player uses the Ruthless Sector mod
   -Added more AI tags to the faction ID that limit their chances of showing up on missions
   -Added all their weapons and ships to a blacklist preventing them from showing up at the Prism Freeport
   -Added HIVER to a faction blacklist preventing them from interacting with Varya Bounties
   -Configured all options for HIVER to flag false under the conditions for bar events when a player has the Starship Legends mod

v07a - quick hot fix - 0.7 save game compatible
   -Re-drew the boundaries on all Hiver hulls - Read a comment on discord that if player owned Hiver ships with hidden weapon mounts are equipped with non-Hiver weapons there is a small chance it may go out of bounds and cause a crash.

v0.7 Save Game Compatible - New game start needed for rep level changes see below
   -Lowered the starting and max possible relationship with Hivers to Vengeful - Essentially they hate you personally now and will do so to perpetuity - **This will only take effect on new game starts**
      Reason: Read a couple comments of players "working the system" and making them trade partners which is very op since their economy is very strong and not on brand
   -After some testing I decided to increase the dps of the Twin Blaster from 300 to 600 and energy per shot from 95 to 85 - it is essentially two medium pulse lasses (300 dmg and 40 energy) on a large mount
   -After some consultation with Histidine, I increased the range that Hivers will look for colony planets - This will help but overall it is a matter of how many faction mods installed that determines colony change %
   -Upgraded the Hornet's ground support to advanced groud support - ty to grinningsphinx for the suggestion
   -Increased the break probability of all the unarmored living ship variety of Hiver (Calopteryx, Crabby, Eyes, Moth, Prince, Snipper) to make them less recoverable
   -Removed the above list from the Industrial Evolution whitelist which disables them from being reverse engineered
   -Lowered the deployment points of the Emperor from 90 to 70 -It's dps was lowered by fixing the OP error on the Twin Blaster so it seems more balanced
   -Added a new torpedo weapon- grinningsphinx pointed out that the Hiver bomber was underpowered with the MIRV plus they lacked a torpedo so voila here it is!
   -Replaced the MIRV with the new torpedo on the Gnawler bomber drone and reduced the wing count from 2 to 1
   -Increased the EMP damage on the two plasma weapons - 100 to 125 and 200 to 250 respectively
   -Swapped out missile mounts on some of the ship variants with the new torpedo mount
   -Renamed all Hiver weapons and added custom description as wrote by grinningsphinx - At this point thank you just does not seem enough for all his efforts for this mod but TY just the same    
   
v0.6
   -Changed the faction colony behavior based on feedback. They will now look for standard colony planets instead of industrial and I increased their chance to send a fleet from 1 to 1.5 -let me know if you see a difference
   -After reading numerous discord comments about the Twin Blaster being overpowered, I looked over the code and realized I made a typo and fixed it
      The charge up and charge down were set to 0.05 instead of 0.5. I intended it to be 300 dps not 3000, my bad
   -Changed the graphics of the two beetle ships adapting Protonus's designs after receiving a private messages that they were too disturbing and reading discord comments that they were too different from the other ships
      FYI: the Emperor is also a Prontus adaptation so he's not so lonely now
   -The Cleridae has been redesigned from a frigate to a destroyer and to not only be a tug for the Hivers but also a good small pd ship which they lacked and is now armed with 7 pd mounts and 1 small missile
   -Added 2 small hard point missile mounts to the Scarab giving it a bit more teeth
   -Replaced the graphics of the two beetle ships with the new ones on the picture posed in the OP
   -Fixed some code and naming left over from when the Hivers were part of my JYD mod
   -Took a posted suggestion from Tipnick on my JYD mod and going forward the mod tab and RAR updates will have version numbers
   -Added text descriptions to all the Hiver weapons, ships and drones. Not my best work but I banged it out this morning for this patch, I'll probably update them later - Feel free to give me suggestions!
      At least there is no more lazy boilerplate "Very little is known about Hiver ships. They are bio-cybernetic in nature featuring high tech weapons and living heavy armor."
   
v0.55 oopise edition
   -Quick hotfix:
      Essentially I accidentally assigned JYD SRM missiles instead of HIVER MIRV missiles on the new Scorpifly drone (fixed) and it you do not have JYD installed it would kick a fit - ty Futanagatari!   
v0.5
   -Added a new heavy drone - the Scorpifly is a heavily armored drone equipped with 2 MIRV missile launchers, 1 Spitter and 1 Twin PD - TY grinningsphinx for the collaboration and great name!
   -Added a new large Drone Tender - the Lucanidae is heavily armed and comes pre equipped with 6 drones including 2 of the new Scorpifly Heavy Drone - you have been warned
   -Fixed the AI tags for the HIVER wings, they should fight more intelligently now
   -Added 2 new ships that fill in missing utility ships for people who play as HIVERS:
      small tanker - the Viridula  - I'm pretty happy with the kitbash, hope you like it
      small combat freighter - the Silverfish - a beefier analogue of the hound but high tech with weak shields
   -Increased the fuel capacity of the Swimmer to 1400 and designated it as a medium/large tanker
   -Increased the range of the Spitter from 750 to 800
   -Added a Cryosanctum to Chozanti to supply Harvested Organs to the Hivers
   -Removed Harvested Organs from illegal wares and added Hand Weapons - They do not have hands after all
   -Increased the % that the Biological Hull hull Mod kicks in from 50% to 75% - Ty grinningsphinx for that last minute callout
   -Added the Biological Hull hull mod to all HIVER fighters and drones - sort of of an oversight I fixed when I was tinkering with it
   -Added images of the three new ships and the new heavy drone to the op link

V0.45
   -Reworked the HIVER economy to be less cheatery by limiting industries to standard and adding an additional settled planet to each system to compensate - TY MapleDaddy__ TTV for the suggestion.
   -Added new patrol fleets to each HIVER system to cover some blind spots
   -Added a mine laying system to the Beetle - Ty grinningsphinx for the idea to add Hive mines
   -Added an emp system to the Snipper making it a more effective pd ship
   -Adjusted the Queen's standard variant to use all its OP
   -Reworked the ship systems of several ships. They can now do more than microburn and high energy focus. TY grinningsphinx for the suggestion
   -Changed the Crabby to a Phase Destroyer
   -Changed the Eyes to a Phase Cruiser - It's eyes now glow in the dark oOoOoOooo spooky!
   -Changed the weapons on the Katydid to be more in line with Hiver high tech
   -Added a new troop transport ship the Hornet - TY grinningsphinx again for the suggestion, hope you like it I'm pretty happy with the kitbash
   -Added a new Tug utility ship the Cleridae
   -Added images of the Hornet and Cleridae to the op link (bottom) - The two beetles are holding hands how cute

v0.4
   -Fixed a typo with the long range blaster. Now uses 175 flux per shot - TY grinningsphinx for pointing out that OP mistake
   -Added a new Heavy Cruiser, the Princess. Heavy armor and hull with 2 small missiles as well as 5 medium and 3 small energy mounts
   -Added image of the princess to the op link (bottom)
   
v0.35
   -Made changes and tested to ensure compatibility with the latest version of Starsector
   -Fixed an error in the starting blueprints graphics when you flag them as playable
   -Added 16 Hiver player portraits that the player can enable if they choose to make them playable - see forum OP for instructions
   -Added two Hiver specific interaction images for their planets
   -Each Hiver planet now has a market that will only sell Hiver ships
   -Hiver Military markets sell Hiver weapons as well as other Corvus energy and missile weapons
   -Added detailed instructions on how to make them playable to the forum page
   -Hiver ships will now remain in dark running even if you are commissioned with them
   -Lowered the price of the Chrysopidae and changed the class from destroyer to heavy frigate
   -Increased the size of the Crabby and Deathfly to be more in line with other destroyer hulls

v0.3
   -Added 5 new Hiver specific BP packages that can be found when looting any area a BP pack can be found, for example a research station
   -Added the new BP packs as start items if you enable the mod to be playable
   -Added some functionality code to the Hiver wing AI
   -Fixed a mistake with the Scarab being accidentally flagged as a JYD ship
   -Ran a spell check on every text file and fixed several errors in spelling/grammar

v0.25
   -All Hiver weapons and Ships are now blacklisted for the Prism Freeport and will not show up for sale
   -Disabled the Hiver blueprint package so it should now not show up as loot. - may cause a crash if you have it in your inventory
   
v0.2 New Game Required
   -Added new hull - Scarab - Medium Freighter
   -Greatly increased the credit value of Hiver weapons as a reward for salvaging them (assuming you do not use them)
   -Reworked initial Hiver system to be more self sufficient
   -Added a secondary Hiver system for inter faction trade
   -Increased patrols in both Hiver systems
   -Set Player relations to Inhospitable (just a little above hostile) - you can visit their systems and view their assets but one wrong move....

v0.1
   - Initial release for review, testing and constructive criticism.

[close]

[6chad.noirlee9]

Great idea making a mid game threat that could scale to being late game threat via conquering of systems.
I would advise making the "clearly a giant insect" ships impossible to recover, and perhaps kitbashing some of them into pirate ships, and maybe a high tech version or two.
Just my thoughts.

[Dazs]

Thanks 6chad, always nice to get your feedback. All the ships in this mod are high tech, if you capture one you can install beams and the like. I just went with custom pulse energy and plasma weapons for lore and flavor. The largest ones, Emperor, Beetle and Queen all have a decent shatter chance and due to their deployment costs they would be rare sightings and probably never in the same fleet. That should curtail hunting down a fleet of them but I am reluctant to disable their recovery entirely so as to appeal to as many players as I can. You can always decide not to recover but I do get your meaning.

As to kitbashing them into pirate ships that would be tricky and stay within the Hiver lore. Ok getting nerdy now feel free to TLDR Yeet out:

Wars are common among Hivers and the Hiver military impulse is generally driven by population pressure or the urge for supremacy. Because each Hiver princess can produce countless offspring per year, the population of Hivers in any one place can spike very quickly leading to intense competition for space and resources. A hive under pressure has limited options: either they can flee, cull their own population or eliminate the competition.

I envision this faction of hivers as one of those offshoots that fled a larger swarm and established a new home for themselves in Corvus. In SWOTS he fastest a Hiver fleet can ever go is 0.99C, or 99% of the speed of light. Any fleet could see them coming so Hivers cannot perform pirate actions, and in fact will never unlock Commerce Raiding (the SWOTS version of pirates). OK I know those limitations are from another game but I do my best to establish a lore in my mods and keep it consistent.

[Deageon]

I'm gonna throw this on in my next playthrough and see how it feels to encounter these guys, but do they operate like remnants in that they have certain outskirt systems marked with beacons to tell players where the danger is? Also, perhaps they could drop loot and such to help reward players, not /too/ much but y'know, profit motivates.

[Dazs]

They are not as prevalent as Remnant but they are aggressive and will attack on sight. I have them currently set up in one system on the edge of the map but I have not added a beacon because there is a note not to add any assets to the storm as it slows down the game. Essentially they are set up to behave like a faction, they will defend their system, send out scouting fleets, look for systems to colonize and eventually send a colony fleet to do so. I excluded them showing up on the Intel tab but their system is named and on the sector map. You could find them by opening up the map and looking though all the stars for a new one but I would not suggest going after them until you have a good fleet. They are meant to be a mid level challenge but do not wait too long because as time passes they will expand.

As to special loot, currently their ships are pretty OP and they have custom weapons/wings that could be useful. Remnant have the advantage of dropping cores that are useful in many ways but the main difference is the Hivers only have the one system unlike Remnant that are everywhere on the edges and farmable. Adding a custom asset or commodity that only the Hivers have as an additional reward would have to be carefully thought out. I will give it some thought because I do want this to be a rewarding experience and any suggestions knowing those limitations would be welcome.

[Arthur_The_Ok]

About the custom asset/comodity: since they're so difficult to kill, killing them would grant the player swarmer heads and/or living ship parts, that could be traded for credits or reputation with other faction

[Dazs]

I can see your point as well as Deageon's . At this stage I am unaware of how to enact that but that hasn't stopped me from releasing three mods now from a start point of ignorance lol. I just polished up JYD and pretty sure Ore Refinery is at the stage of completion so I'll do a deep dive and see how I can improve this mod. It may not be this (at least at first) but I'm sure I'll come up with something.

As always, thank you for the inspiration!

[6chad.noirlee9]

I'm sure you know but in case you dont there is a misc modding questions thread that is active that alex also reads and responds.  The discord folks are also known to be spectacular in regards to helping people solve problems.

[Dazs]

Yes I do use the unofficial discord at times and I use all the resources on the forums. I tank you for the tips however.

@everyone - I am sorry to say I cannot recommend you expect this mod to be working as intended at this stage of development. As I was implementing 6chad.noirlee9's suggestion about adding custom commodity drops (which I think I have done) I went after the hivers and was dismayed that their system was in decline. All the assets were there but the fleets were pathetic. I made myself friendly and looked at their worlds and they lack several commodities they need in order to grow. What I hadn't considered when making them hostile to all is that they have no opportunity for trade and growth.

I will keep the mod up in its current state but I will be posting a warning on the OP and working on making this what I envisioned

[Dazs]

v0.2 released - New game required for all changes to take effect - See changelog on OP or game files for details.

@Arthur_The_Ok -  I had made some progress on your suggestion for custom drops but in the process of testing it, I had to stop. I had relied on testing the mod before release mainly while I was commissioned with them and had not realized they were extremely hobbled once I made them hostile to all. So long story short, I had to remove the code I put in for the custom drops and totally rework their economy. As a consolation prize, I greatly increased the value of their weapons so if you are a ballistic user and do not have much use for energy weapons, you can at least benefit credits wise.  Not saying I won't follow up with the suggestion at some point because it is a good one and I would like to take a crack at it but whoah, creating a workable inter-faction economy more work than I knew.

Mad props to Alex for making this game work as well as it does!

[Dazs]

Also, To all:

I added some tactics / hints to the OP if anyone is having difficulty with them. I tested attacking them with quite a powerful fleet and it was some of the most challenging combat and came away bloody. I wouldn't suggest going after their ships or systems until you are established and can afford to loose some capital ships.

I set them to inhospitable to the player so you can scout their systems but not trade with them. I have their faction capped so you cannot increase your reputation with them. You want their sweet stuff, you gotta pay to play

Have fun, and let me know what you think. This is still a test release (now a working one) and I am always open to suggestions.

[6chad.noirlee9]

A shame about the hiccups but this mod is quite promising and I'm excited to give a go at annihilating the xenos scum

[Arthur_The_Ok]

I should've asked this a long time ago, but does the mod work with Nexerelin's random core worlds function?

[Dazs]

What a great question, I had not considered testing that. Soooo the answer is um, sort of.

Did a round of testing and here's the results:

• First round played as JYD with random - Could not find the Hivers in any settled system
• Second Round flagged Hivers as being able to show on the Intel Tab, played as JYD - They neither showed up on the intel tab nor could be found by me
• Third round flagged Hivers to be playable and started a game as them - they did appear in game but as I was flagged as a player, the faction's relations were reset to mine and they were neutral to many factions.
• Fourth round I left them playable and intel tab on and started as JYD - The Hivers were given 4 worlds in 2 systems and on the intel tab they were shown to have numerous enemies that when I played them were neutral so I am making the assumption that their hostile to all flag is in effect. I flew to one of their sectors that they shared with HMI and Independent and damn it was party city with door prizes and a piñata. Wrecked fleets everywhere, scrap galore and quite a fight for the system going on. I didn't last long as I was flying a starter ship but yea I can say with those changes in the code they will work in random core but random is random and you may wind up with them as neighbors

Now although there is the bare bones in the mod to make them playable, I did not envisions them in that role. However, although I do not play random core I am sure others do so below is the steps to make them playable and to enable them to show on the Intel tab. - Spoiler tags for those that do not want that knowledge:

Spoiler

First off, use Notepad++ or a java complier. If you make changes with standard notepad or some other editor it may mess with the Java code. From the Hiver mod tab in you mods folder go to Hiver Swarm\data\config\exerelinfactionConfig\HIVER.json and open it with your editor. Super simple, I made the first line of the code as the playable flag so set "playableFaction":false, to true, and save.

Now to set the intel tab: Go to Hiver Swarm\data\world\factions\HIVER.faction and open it with your editor on line 14 you will see "showInIntelTab":false,  change the false, to true, and save the file.

[close]

Congratulations! If you make those changes, you can now be a Hiver (sadly you will have to use a standard portrait as I have the custom Hiver portraits set for Hivers only) or play against them. This works on standard core worlds too. However, I would not recommend it in random mode as they do not have the advantages of the curated systems I designed to give them a booming economy and thus large fleets. This would make them easier pickings as pretty much every faction hates them and will eventually wipe them out. But to each their own just know you void the warranty by doing so

[Arthur_The_Ok]

Another thing: is Prism Freeport supposed to sell Hiver weapons? I have a screenshot of Hiver weapons on the High End Market, but I don't know how to put it here