Hi Ernst,

I would suggest the best way to judge is to play yourself. Despite a lot of what you see in NH being my work, I am completely biased in favour of New Civilisations and of course I'd say it's the superior experience.

As a rule, I want to avoid defining what this project is in terms of the old mod.

So yes, give it a try and see if you like it. Most people seem to prefer it, and I hope you do too.

I understand. Thank you for your answer, walshicus.

pro st-nc: better resources, nanites for borg, ketracel white for dominion, better crew/manpower for ships and stations, borg can colonize, NO timecrystals, pergium, trellium-d, etc. better start options like borg temp. inc. or remans etc. and federation shipbuilding
bringing romulans, klingons, cardassians to federation let you research & build their ships, i like federation warbird - same for dominion subjects, better federation mechanics, much more & bigger shipsets, better admincap system ai dont expand so quickly

con st-nc: planet-building-slots are vanilla stellaris so only 12?, i dot now use a 36 building-slot-mod with bigger planetview

con st-nh: look pro st-nc,in earlier versions some times ai expand to quickly - only 1 colony/planet but up to 50 systems should not be possible

pro st-nh: look con st-nc

"planet-building-slots are vanilla stellaris so only 12?, i dot now use a 36 building-slot-mod with bigger planetview"

Not saying you're wrong here, since it's very much a matter of opinion and I respect the differences, but I am surprised that a lot of players seem to want more building slots. Personally I think it's better that they're restricted as it presents more of a choice to players, but I'm curious why some people prefer more.

Originally posted by walshicus:

I'm curious why some people prefer more.

It's because we not so secretly channel Veruca Salt, and we want it all, right now.

Admittedly, catering to this isn't necessarily the best choice...

I like them both. Each has strengths the other one doesn't have. These are my opinions, as mostly an Earth/Federation player:

• Game setup. It's fantastic that the hyperlane density and visibility are customizable. Sometimes I want to play a game tries to emulate Star Trek style warp travel with each planet connecting to its neighbors, but other times, I want a more vanilla Stellaris game where static defenses and chokepoints actually matter.
  
• Institutions. A neat interface where you can interact the mod specific stuff like the Federation Council is a much better alternative to interface spam at regular intervals.
  
• Districts. Despite its problems, the vanilla style district & building system is a clearer and more intuitive system to use compared to New Horizons' building spam based system with districts only granting modifiers. Also, I think the AI handles vanilla system better. Despite favoring and disfavoring certain jobs, the pops seem to refuse to move occupations in New Horizons.
  
• First contact. The good-neutral-bad first response when first getting a contact has an impact to gameplay, which I like. New Horizons still uses the old method of pick from three, but it doesn't matter system.
  
• Federation sectors. I think Federation members keep their homeworld, but cede their planetary systems to the player. More elegant solution than New Horizons' one where members keep their entire home system. In New Civilisations, there are no ugly holes in the map, and unchangeable trade routes don't funnel trade into member worlds instead of your capital.
  
• Terraforming. While it still takes far more resources and time to be really worth it, it's still more meaningful in New Civilisations than it is in New Horizons.
  
• Planet designations. New Civilisations leans more towards vanilla classification which is clear and intuitive, and makes seeing what each planet specializes in from the outliner easy.
  
• Mod compatibility (?). This is a bit of a question mark - and I haven't tested myself - but since New Civilisations aims to be a more vanilla-like in many of its core systems, I'd also assume it's more compatible with various other mods that are out there. There are ton of fantastic setting-agnostic mods that would fit right in into Star Trek, like more events, and more archeological stuff. That would add to the content playable in New Civilisations a lot. I also wouldn't mind seeing compatibility with more esoteric mods like Diverse Planets, or expanded Ethics and Civics (for minor empires). Whatever adds to the sense of mystery when you send out your science ships into the unknown helps.

• Tech tree. New Horizons has fantastic, flavorful and varied tech tree. I like researching different, individual models of engines, beam weapons or torpedoes or whatever instead of generic "Warp Drive Mk III" or "Phaser Beams Mk IV". New Horizons also has dangerous tech which New Civilisations doesn't have (not that the tech in New Horizons is that particularly dangerous anyway). I think the tech progression in New Horizons is a bit better as well. I encountered some weirdness like getting Quantum and Tricobalt torpedoes already when I only had TOS ships. New Horizons' era tiered tech progression seems a bit smoother.
  
• Ship design. I love fiddling with crew types and components and such. I'm not sure if delineating between crew types or component minutiae New Horizons added actually has that much raw gameplay impact, but like the tech tree, it adds a lot of setting flavor.
  
• The flagship system and Hero characters. I love having flagship that can explore new worlds, and still put up a fight. A ship named Enterprise running around, captained by Archer, Kirk or Picard is just great - part gameplay usefulness, part for the flavor. The flagship specific missions you can do are also fun. It's also great that you can pick if Hero characters begin as a Scientist or an Admiral, and where they move when they retire.
  
• Customized Traditions. I like that Major Empires have their unique Tradition sets. Since empires in Star Trek are more pigeonholed in their strengths and weaknesses, custom Tradition trees offer each empire a lot more variety in how to play the game, as each tree offers something useful for that specific empire, than the vanilla-style generic trees. Yes, I know races like the Borg have a custom Tradition tree in New Civilisations, but I'd love to see that expanded to more races.
  
• Interaction with the warp age minor species. Second contact and science conference missions are a good addition. They provide something to do for the science ships after exploration is done in addition of assist research.
  
• UI and art. New Horizons has full LCARS style UI for that Star Trek feel. And I also prefer the use of original rendered art instead of shots from the shows with Photoshop filters.
  
• Events. Haven't counted, but I think New Horizons has more events, which is always a plus. New Horizons has a bigger team working on it, so it's understandable.
  
• Special planets. The ability to designate special worlds like Memory Alpha or Resort World also add a bit of spice to the game. They're fun construction projects, almost like planetary Megastructures.

Now, having said all that, I encourage you to try both.

Thank you all for your contributions.

If you have any ideas about how to improve stnc you are welcome to join the discord and suggest them there :), link is on the steam page of New Civilizations

Originally posted by walshicus:

"planet-building-slots are vanilla stellaris so only 12?, i dot now use a 36 building-slot-mod with bigger planetview"

Not saying you're wrong here, since it's very much a matter of opinion and I respect the differences, but I am surprised that a lot of players seem to want more building slots. Personally I think it's better that they're restricted as it presents more of a choice to players, but I'm curious why some people prefer more.

I personally prefer 16 slots, as I use Dynamic UI Overhaul and a 4x4 grid just looks nicer. Plus, these are supposed to just be random buildings on a planet, and planets are supposed to be MASSIVE! Even if they're tiny! I really like the idea that a building slot opens with each city district, because then it feels like those cities are actually opening up potential industries, rather than just serving as housing districts past a certain limit.