The sheer detail that BioWare put into the world building of Mass Effect is one of the primary reasons why the game is universally beloved. The number of systems, species, cultures, and various technologies perfectly create a galaxy brimming with life. But also, these pillars create the perfect setting for a strategy game set in space.
That's perhaps exactly what the Binary Helix mod group thought when it created a massive mod which essentially put a Mass Effect cosmetic over Stellaris. Named Beyond the Relays, the mod introduces the entire Milky Way galaxy from the Mass Effect series to Stellaris (thanks, PC Gamer). This includes "381 custom solar systems, pulled from the in game Galaxy Map, references from lore via in game emails, Specter terminal messages, News Broadcasts, the books, comics, fanfics, Mass Effect: Paragon Lost, and the Spectre Expansion and Expanded Galaxy Mods for ME3."
Additionally, Beyond the Relays introduces a fully functioning Mass Relay Network, with Primary and Secondary Relays. The exhaustively detailed mod also includes every major species from the series, and even obscure ones from spin-offs and related material.
Lastly, the mod features three unique gameplay modes: "traditional Stellaris sandbox with each empire starting on even footing, a "Canon" gamemode starting shortly after the First Contact War, with each species starting with their lore accurate colonies, technologies, and fleets, and a third hybrid mode that will allow players to play as empires that are primarily event driven in the Canon map."
While the mod launched in November of last year, it received a new update this May. This update is the first step towards the mod's massive Eden Prime update. It introduces Prothean dig-sites to the starting empires, which include Alliance, Asari, Turian, Salarian, Batarian, Hanar, Volus, and Elcor.
"Something less visual but hopefully equally noticeable is our AI overhaul," said the patch notes. "As we began playtesting our internal builds of the mod it became clear that in order to get the AI to operate as we envisioned we would need to rework it heavily. With this completed you should be able to see the AI empires in your games acting more in line with how they appear in lore."