As an homage to the awesomeness that is Foundation, I thought I'd whip up a little simulated Galactic Empire of my own in Stellaris. Cadet difficulty, no precursor races, no crisis events, and, to really simulate the galactic conditions of Asimov's imagined Milky Way, no pesky alien civilizations to get in my way. Of course, even with zero opponents as your setting, the game still throws those freakin' crystaline entities, mechanical ancient drones and space amoebas your way no matter what...oh and the odd pirates poppin' up here and there. No worries, with the massive advantages thanks to these settings, they're easily dispatched. Nevertheless, it took a while even at fastest speed.
As you can see, I snapped this screen grab above just as I claimed the final star system, Ampal Dir, a red dwarf way off on its own at the end of the farthest spiral arm. This total galactic empire was achieved in the reign of my sixth emperor who was randomly named by the game yet in my head I chose to know him as Cleon VI. The pic below shows more of that area, years earlier in game time, when my armada defeated the last bastion holdout of enemy alien scum at the Battle of Aiplade. We won't talk about our humiliating loss at nearby Versekyia years earlier.
Not sure why the game choses to not color in the core of the galaxy. And to draw it squarish like that? The game is getting a bit old despite the constant regular output of DLC which I refuse to buy.
Maybe I'll imagine the squared-off core to be the artificially-crafted realm of the banished robots that I, of course, outlawed after I forbade them. There they wait, quietly, patiently, until one day...