With 2.0 out, I started a new game with 2 NPRs somewhere out there, and two player races in two different home systems, unaware of each other and so far unconnected.
Humanity just got out of Sol, having stablized three of the four jump gates in Sol and jumped across each to see what bodies are in the new systems, when alien ships started showing up at the 4th, unstabilized gate! Communication has been established, and they don't seem hostile, but the Sol government is still in the awstruck phase of realizing we're not alone in the galaxy, and hasn't yet asked the aliens to respect their claim to Sol. That may or may not go well, since it seems likely that the alien homeworld may be right next door.
Then a scout ship investigating a perfectly habitable world in one of three newly accessible neighboring systems off Sol met a 2nd new alien civilization! Now humanity has at least one, possibly two immediately adjacent neighbors, and no idea what to do about it.
The Agothans, an aquatic species, are located in a system with another sizeable and near-habitable planet, which has been colonized and is in the process of being terraformer. While the planets have lackluster mineral resources, there is both an inner ring of asteroids at a typical distance and a vast outer ring of asteroids roughly 100B km in radius, likely a planet destroyed eons ago. As a result, there are several hundred asteroids, many with small but rich mineral deposits. The Agothans have identified three jump gates, but are waiting for another level of jump drive size efficiency before exploring outwards, while they focus on developing their new colony/sister planet and establishing a combat capability based on railgun fighters and small boarding ships.
