The only thing I wasn't sure about was that the races in both DC and VDC are customized for MP, and have very little to do with the original races. After looking at the available options, I decided the best way to get something I'd be satisfied with was to do it myself.
I'm not an experienced minimaxer. My MoO playing ability is mediocre at best. Thus, I expect that the veteran community here will find most/all of these races to be very underpowered. Now, I'm willing to make some changes to beef them up a bit; all things being equal, I would rather have good races than bad ones. But ultimately, if I have to sacrifice some power to preserve the races' personalities, I'm willing to do so. I figure the worst weak races can do is make for a more challenging game.
Here's a list of my current race configurations. My reasoning is below each race, in italics. Input would be appreciated.
Pop Growth +60 seems to be the "base" growth in this mod, with "+0 growth" being equivalent to -50% in the regular game. The most prominent Alkari trait in both games was their evasive ability, so giving them a high ship defense seems necessary for personality. +20 ground combat is justified by their presumed high agility. Aquatic comes from being reptilian... Artifacts is stock MoO2, so it stays. I gave the Mrrshans and Bulrathi both Warlord, and I figured the Alkari are just as military-themed as those are.Alkari
Population Growth +60, Ship Defense +50, Ground Combat +20, Aquatic, Artifacts Home World, Warlord, Dictatorship
The pop growth flavor text says that higher growth races can be attributed to good physical constitution, which I figure the Bulrathi definitely have. The MoO1 Bulrathi had a particular focus on ecology (to facilitate their groundpounding), so that translates into both pop growth and the food production. High-grav is a must. Warlord fits the military style of this race.Bulrathi
Population Growth +100, Food Production +1, Industrial Production +1, Ground Combat +20, High Gravity, Warlord, Dictatorship
The main changes are all based around the shapeshifting ability. I figured a shapeshifter would have advantages in ground combat (camouflage, surprise attacks, etc.). Charisma, while not traditionally associated with the sinister Darloks, is something they ought to be able to achieve, simply by taking on forms that are conducive to good relations with other races. I think shapeshifting would lead to a lot of infighting without a Unification government, and the extra defensive spy bonus doesn't hurt any.Darlo(c)ks
Population Growth +60, Ground Combat +10, Espionage +20, Charismatic, Stealth Ships, Unification
Since the Elerians are a very humanoid race, I gave them a similar basic setup to the Humans, with different special powers. At one point I'd given them Charismatic instead of Large Home World, but didn't like that it gave them a better race bonus than the Humans in that area. Telepathic abilities would seem to be conducive to picking up information in espionage.Elerians
Population Growth +60, Espionage +10, Large Home World, Telepathic, Omniscient, Democracy
The idea here was to make them more like traditional fantasy dwarves. I think everything here is pretty clear in that light. Their home world is poor because it's already been extensively mined.Gnolams
Population Growth +60, Industrial Production +1, Tax +1, Subterranean, Poor Home World, Expert Traders, Lucky, Dictatorship
This is the closest layout I could get to the MoO1 Humans. They're superior in diplomatic abilities, as usual; the Trade bonus mimics MoO1. The Scientific Research also comes from MoO1, where they're rated Good in every technology field.Humans
Population Growth +60, Scientific Research +2, Charismatic, Expert Traders, Democracy
Think ants and you should be about there. High growth, compact industrial development, industrious workers. I lowered the industrial production per worker so I could give that ability to the Meklars -- simulating the MoO1 Meklar advantage, which made them, worker for worker, the most productive.Klackons
Population Growth +100, Industrial Production +1, Subterranean, Uncreative, Unification
+2 Production is as described above -- each individual worker is more productive than another race's workers. +1 Research because of their tech-dependent society. +10 Espionage for their computer abilities (a field that the MoO1 Meklars were good at). The rest are standard MoO2 fare.Meklars
+2 Production, +1 Research, +10 Espionage, Low-G World, Cybernetic, Tolerant, Dictatorship
More durable and robust than the Alkari, but not so much as the Bulrathi, so pop growth is in-between. Food production... well, I needed something that cost 7 picks. Maybe they get all that spare food from preying on wildlife, I don't know. Subject to change. The rest is pretty much normal Mrrshan; the ground combat bonus is for predatory skills. Luck because cats have nine lives.Mrrshan
Population Growth +80, Food Production +2, Ship Offense +75, Ground Combat +20, Lucky, Warlord, Dictatorship
Mostly the same as normal Psilons. Physically they're similar to humans. Psilons are intelligent and generally peaceable, and they depend on a research bonus, so Democracy is a natural choice.Psilons
Population Growth +60, Scientific Research +2, Low Gravity, Creative, Democracy
Intended to be a strong expansionist race. Food production is expected to go along with that. Warlord and the ground combat fit along with the expansionist theme (plus the other three "animal" races all have it too).Sakkra
Population Growth +100, Food Production +2, Ground Combat +10, Aquatic, Subterranean, Large Home World, Warlord, Feudal
I would have preferred to make it Lithovore/Tolerant, but that's not possible with the current pick costs. Since Meklars are tolerant, the crystals get to be lithovores. Hopefully this will make for a good expansion race, as in MoO1, but I'm not sure if I like this setup as much as the others. Subject to change.Silicoids
Industrial Production +1, High Gravity, Subterranean, Lithovore, Feudal
High pop growth and food production can both be easily associated with aquatic species. Trans-dimensional was the main notable trait of the original MoO2 Trilarians, so it stays.Trilarian
Population Growth +100, Food Production +1, Aquatic, Large Home World, Trans Dimensional, Dictatorship
On the off chance that anyone wants to play with this, just let me know and I'll upload a copy of the .lbx file.