With this update, the second part of the Civilizations Cultures system is being introduced: Politics.
A civilization's internal politics now determine how it interacts with its different cultures, how its society is structured and how it approaches other civilizations.
The Vanity system also introduces the game first true antagonist: civilizations that completely reject the Creator and actively work against your influence. You may be able to bring them back by imposing some humility, or simply let other, more reasonable civilizations do the work for you by conquering the stubborn ones.
However, if you prefer a peaceful Universe where no one questions your dominance, the Vanity system can be disabled in the Sandbox Settings when starting a new game.
Politics
Added a new Politics tab to civilization information.
Civilizations can now have one of two government types:
Democratic
Autocratic
Democratic civilizations apply cultural trait bonuses proportionally according to the population share of each culture.
Autocratic civilizations apply the bonuses of their dominant culture across the entire civilization.
The Politics panel now displays the cultural composition relevant to the current government and shows the cultural bonuses currently affecting the civilization.
Autocratic government composition focuses on the civilization's dominant culture.
Civilizations can now autonomously change their government over time.
The Creator can attempt to influence government changes through Inspire and Demand actions.
Civilization Laws
Added four new political law categories:
Migration
Assimilation
Consumption Policy
Environmental Protection
Each law category contains three possible policies.
Civilizations can autonomously review and change their laws.
The Creator can attempt to influence individual law changes through Inspire and Demand.
Civilizations created from an existing civilization inherit its government and laws.
Vanity
Added the new civilization state Vanity.
Civilizations with sufficiently high Creator Antagonism may become consumed by Vanity.
A civilization entering Vanity can build a new special structure: Monument of Vanity.
A civilization remains in Vanity for as long as at least one of its Monuments of Vanity continues to exist.
The first Monument of Vanity triggers a critical Vanity crisis announcement.
Monuments of Vanity continuously:
reduce Creator Influence
reduce Creator Dread
increase Creator Antagonism
Multiple Monuments of Vanity stack these effects.
Civilizations consumed by Vanity reject Creator guidance.
Inspire and Demand actions against a civilization in Vanity are blocked.
Civilizations consumed by Vanity can gradually dismantle their own Creator's Halls as they reject the Creator's guidance.
Escaping Vanity
A civilization can eventually begin destroying its own Monuments of Vanity after Creator Antagonism has fallen sufficiently and the combined strength of Creator Influence and Dread has become sufficiently high.
Vanity ends only after the civilization's final Monument of Vanity has been destroyed.
Capturing a planet from another civilization destroys any Monument of Vanity located there.
Destroying a Monument of Vanity reduces owner civilization's Creator Antagonism.
Creator Powers and Vanity
Vanity blocks targeted Heavy Particle Collision casts against individual surface tiles belonging to the affected civilization.
Heavy Particle Collision can still be cast against the planet itself.
Planet-targeted Heavy Particle Collision now selects its impact tile independently, allowing a randomly placed impact to destroy a Monument of Vanity.
Vanity and Exploration
Some already-developed civilizations encountered for the first time through exploration may now already be consumed by Vanity.
These civilizations can begin with elevated Creator Antagonism and existing Monuments of Vanity, allowing Vanity to exist independently of the player's earlier actions.
Vanity can be enabled or disabled through Sandbox Settings.