Stellaris

[Martok]

Which are the other things that Stellaris does better?

For me personally, those would be: 

1.)  Empire creation/customization
2.)  Exploration
3.)  Research
4.)  Diplomacy (but *not* War)

Obviously, these are all entirely subjective and/or a case of YMMV. 

Fully agree, there are just too many different tastes and preferences to have just one (space battle vs none; turn-based vs real-time; starlanes vs none etc.). On paper, Stellaris should be my ultimate 4x as well and i enjoy it a lot more than i did in the beginning but it's now a more than 200$ game that i enjoy equally to other 4x games that i paid 40$. It's a good game now (not perfect but a fairly good MOO copy) but don't really see where the additionnal 160$ went to. 

Yeah, cost is certainly an issue with Stellaris, along with Paradox's other grand-strategy titles.  Even with me being careful to not purchase anything for Stellaris unless it was 50% off or better, I've still probably spent $80-$100 on the game.  I do feel like I've gotten my money's worth overall, but easy to understand that some might feel that's just a bit much.   

All in all, i don't really have a favourite space 4x game right now and i find myself playing different games. In the last month, i've played the following games: Interstellar Space, Stellaris, Stars in Shadow, Imperium Galactica 2, GalCiv 3, Polaris Sector, Horizon etc. All good and different.

All good games, indeed.    Every single one scratches a different itch. 

[Martok]

And then this happened - not sure if it’s been mentioned yet

By the long war people for xcom - part shadow empire, part Aurora with graphics

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W2rv1NvINMU

It was announced a while ago, yeah.  Looks interesting, but I don't think the game is for me. 

[Anguille]

Which are the other things that Stellaris does better?

For me personally, those would be: 
1.)  Empire creation/customization
2.)  Exploration
3.)  Research
4.)  Diplomacy (but *not* War)

I agree these aspects are fairly well done, especially Exploration and Empire creation/customization. Research is ok but don't think it's better than in other games. The original Master of Orion in 1993 already had better options imho with 6 research fields instead of only 3 for Stellaris. Diplomacy is ok as well but other games like Imperiums: Greek Wars or Master of Orions 2 have fairly good diplomacy as well.

About the price. I don't mind if the end-result is indeed so much better than others.

[Martok]

Research is ok but don't think it's better than in other games. The original Master of Orion in 1993 already had better options imho with 6 research fields instead of only 3 for Stellaris.

I like Stellaris' partially "random" nature of research breakthroughs.  For me, it has the right mix of variability/uncertainty, whilst still keeping tech progression reasonably "sane" -- it's not weirdly random a lot of the time (such as you can run into with Pandora: First Contact). 

As for being able to research in only 3 fields at any given time, again I find myself oddly ambivalent on the matter.  I agree 5-6 would probably be better, but I'm still reasonably content with the current number of research divisions. 

Diplomacy is ok as well but other games like Imperiums: Greek Wars or Master of Orions 2 have fairly good diplomacy as well.

MOO2 is one game that I just can't get into, so I'll have to take your word for it.  i really do need to spend more time with Imperiums, though.  The last couple updates (which focus on diplomacy) have looked particularly good. 

[Anguille]

Research is ok but don't think it's better than in other games. The original Master of Orion in 1993 already had better options imho with 6 research fields instead of only 3 for Stellaris.

I like Stellaris' partially "random" nature of research breakthroughs.  For me, it has the right mix of variability/uncertainty, whilst still keeping tech progression reasonably "sane" -- it's not weirdly random a lot of the time (such as you can run into with Pandora: First Contact). 

As for being able to research in only 3 fields at any given time, again I find myself oddly ambivalent on the matter.  I agree 5-6 would probably be better, but I'm still reasonably content with the current number of research divisions. 

Diplomacy is ok as well but other games like Imperiums: Greek Wars or Master of Orions 2 have fairly good diplomacy as well.

MOO2 is one game that I just can't get into, so I'll have to take your word for it.  i really do need to spend more time with Imperiums, though.  The last couple updates (which focus on diplomacy) have looked particularly good.

Yeah, i also think Stellaris research is ok and better than the ones in Civilization games for instance (one tech at a time) but Armada 2526's research system was pretty cool too (just to mention another good example). It's just that i wouldn't say it's better than in some other 4x games. I just wanted to underline where Stellaris indeed is better than other available 4x games.

I never liked the artwork of MOO2 (except for the battles) and thought they were a regression compared to MOO1. Everything is dark, the races are too cartoony, the number of stars is less than in MOO1 (but have more than one planet), etc. I still prefer MOO1 to this day but i did have great moments with MOO2 as well because it did improve many aspects like battles or diplomacy (while introducing too much micro at planet level). I still think you should try to complete at least one full game (maybe a small map). By today's standart (and especially Stellaris), a game of MOO2 is over very fast (only some hours).

[ojsdad]

If I remember right, the problem with MOO2 was that the end game really wasn't all that challenging.  You could build a fleet of the smallest ships, 32,000 if I remember, and defeat whatever was thrown at you.

One thing I really like about Stellaris  is the ability to build giga structures.  That's one of the cooler things.  Especially with the gigastructure mod.  I'm not sure which other 4x games allow you to do that or the varity. 

[Anguille]

If I remember right, the problem with MOO2 was that the end game really wasn't all that challenging.  You could build a fleet of the smallest ships, 32,000 if I remember, and defeat whatever was thrown at you.

That would be MOO. You can't have a fleet with 32'000 ships in MOO2. Even then, it wasn't my tactic and i hugely had large fleets with the biggest ships.

[Martok]

So the dev team did a Q&A session on Discord a couple days ago.  There are far too many to post them all, but I've tried to at least include the more interesting ones, and/or those relevant to us here.  A number of questions were asked more than once (just phrased differently), in which case I've generally just posted the first time it was asked & answered. 

Question
Any chance for more unique events to be added?
Answer
Of course! We are always looking to add more events. For instance, there will be a few more that a player can randomly encounter as any empire coming up in the Lem update.

Question
With Become the Crisis, we got a new wincondition beyond last empire / score, and a new crisis. Are there plans for more winconditions and crises?
Answer
No current plans, but we think the idea of victory conditions like we added in Nemesis was fun. Doing it allowed us to explore the ideas further, so it makes it easier to explore in the future.

Question
The CORE Stellaris problem is a "technology rush" gameplay. All are tied to technology, but technology isn't tied to anything. My question is simple when technology will depend on the economy (technology require certain materials), buildings (specialised research labs -> only social or physic or engineering), or other way's to get science - like conquered worlds will give bonus science or steal technologies)?
Answer
We don't currently have any plans to add more specific resource requirements to technologies, especially ones that are very much rng-driven. But we are considering several different options for making a tech rush not quite as oppressive as it can be right now. No promises for now though.

Question
Are there improvements to UI coming? Specifically to add more keyboard shortcuts, so I can use a mouse and scroll wheel less. It’s really hurting my hand at times
Answer
Time and again UI comes up as something people want improved. I myself use tiny UI at home  How we're going to go about improving is up in the air but expect more on it.

Question
I heard something about possibly getting to pick Traditions beyond the default replacements. Any more information on that?
Answer
We'll talk more about the new tradition trees in detail after summer, but I can hint that Mercantile is one of them.

Question
Are there any plans to revisit piracy mechanics? Or potentially add some QoL like splitting fleets + patrols in the Outliner?
Answer
Nothing specific to talk about yet, but something we are discussing.

Question
Espionage has a great base, but feels a little empty currently. Are there plans to expand the number of Operations available for Espionage? And/or beef up the current ones?
Answer
Espionage is a new system that we added that is expandable through adding new operations. When deciding on what to work on next, we consider the different types of content that we have, and Espionage is one of the types of content that we could consider in future updates.

Question
Are there any ideas for new mid game and/or end crises planned or spoken of as of currently?
Answer
Without entirely ruling it out, something we have found with the variety of existing midgame and endgame crises is that maintaining them has been quite challenging. So, what with the complexity of the task of also adding a new crisis, at the moment our time is probably better spent making the existing crises work better.

Question
With the new Industrial District, it is easier for the AI to build up the Ecumenopolis Decision conditions. Are their any plans to make the AI actually use it?
Answer
Yes, we are hoping to address this in one of the Custodian team patches (probably not the first one, though)

Question
Who are the custodians and how is their team structured?
Answer
The Custodians are just members of the Stellaris team who are assigned to it, not anything outsourced, external etc. The QA team is a subteam that still reports to me for example. Structure right now resembles mostly the same as the Expansion team, however we are very much aware that framework will need adjusting for the more regular release cadence.

People on the Custodians Team are also not locked into working on the next patch either, it's a fluid environment and people can move around.

Question
With potential changes to/replacement of admin cap (fingers crossed), will bureaucrats just vanish from the game?
Answer
In my current experimental branch, bureaucrats are the Unity-producing jobs. Culture Workers are gone, and Priests or Managers are swaps of Bureaucrats where applicable.

Question
Are there any plans to adjust fleet compositions so players don't build anything but battleships with the best technology?
Answer
While I disagree that its only Battleships that are worthwhile right now, the fleet meta has become quite stale and especially Destroyers and Cruisers are underutilized compared to what we would like to see. We are considering our options in that regard, brainstorming, reading through feedback, experimenting. Don't expect a quick solution in the near future. It's a delicate issue and we want to actually fix it and not just turn the Meta-Wheel to the next stage.

Question
Is there any plans to introduce more proper logistics where resources actually have to make it to storage places/production buildings etc.?
Answer
as much as I personally love logistics I think that might be a bit out of scope for Stellaris. This is a game about exploring and conquering the stars, putting a logistic layer ontop of that might just result in drudgery.

Question
Outside of things recently discussed (ie. Admin Cap / Unity, Traditions), what do you feel is the most underdeveloped area of Stellaris with the most potential?
Answer
Managing and interacting with things like primitives or enclaves, or other "minor civilizations" within your empire is relatively undeveloped, but has a lot of potential.

Question
Will hiveminds will be reworked?
Answer
Rework might not be the right word. But they do deserve more unique content. Rest assured there are hive mind radicals within the devteam pushing for more love

Question
Do you think tall and wide should be equally powerful? Or do you think aggressive play should be more rewarding than a more passive strategy
Answer
balancing tall vs wide is kind of a minefield. Stellaris is a game where you need resources to expand, getting more territory with resources will always have an edge. But we are looking at more ways to make more passive playstyles viables

Question
Will we see lag support for larger games and galaxies? I’m quite tired of my game running 5x slower mid game
Answer
The work on improving the game's performance is very continuous in nature and something that we try to do when we get the opportunities. We've seen some performance improvements in the latest updates, and we're doing what we can to try to make it better yet in future updates. Especially since it's one of the goals for the new Custodian team!

Question
are there any plans to add more advanced tactics for fleets, like formations and specific ship roles to make each ship type more worthwhile in the meta? Formations are cool. Ask Ender Wiggin
Answer
No current plans. Personally its something I have spent some thoughts on, but there are several issues with Formations that make them very tricky to use in Stellaris. I haven't given hope up on them yet though, and even if they aren't the solution we need or will go with, its worthwhile to explore them internally.

Question
are there plans to add addiotnal scaling options for the start of game such as changing the speed of the galatic community, fed xp gain or the date for tech soft caps for fasters game?
Answer
We definitely want to revisit game setup options in the future as we see value in allowing the players to tailor their own experience.

Question
Both piracy and crime are systems are basically fully self contained, without any links or interaction to other systems. Any plans to connect them to each other and more outside systems?
Answer
I'd argue that Crime is actually quite deeply involved with planetary mechanics, but Piracy is indeed not where we would like it to be, both in impact and required player action. No plans for the near future though.

Question
Are you thinking about changing culture a bit so it will be more like in the other PDX titels but with ethics attached to them? Example: The empire x has a culture group and other subcultures can emerge out of them (far away colonies).
And could Religion play a role in intergalactic politics?
Answer
I very much like the idea of groups of pops belonging to different cultures. There's no current plans for changing that, but it's definitely been on my mind as something I'd want to figure out.

Question
will any other the older anomalies/space fauna outcomes be changed to give more options or interesting/random outcomes to shake them up for veterans who know them all extremely well?
Answer
An interesting idea! As it happens, my Content Design Lead did exactly that on one of the really old events earlier today, and it's certainly something that is on our radar for the future - though I'd stop short of making any specific promises in this regard.

[Bison]

Stellaris typifies my issue with Paradox games (and the Warhammer Total War games)…the DLC. I was considering getting Stellaris during the summer sale but good lord even 50% off it's over $100. So being a somewhat reasonable person, I think I will just get the core DLC. Ha! Paradox spits in my noob face while trying to understand the core expansions. It seems like a good space opera game but one that is not easy or inexpensive to start playing.

[Martok]

So being a somewhat reasonable person, I think I will just get the core DLC. Ha!

As good a plan as any.  Myself, I rank the various DLC in "tiers", like this: 

S-tier:  Utopia
A-tier:  Leviathans, Distant Stars, Apocalypse
B-tier:  Ancient Relics, Federations, Synthetic Dawn
C-tier:  MegaCorp, Nemesis, Humanoids
D-tier:  Lithoids
F-tier:  Plantoids


(Note:  I do not own the Necroids species pack.) 

It seems like a good space opera game but one that is not easy or inexpensive to start playing.

This entire comment is 100% accurate, for better or worse. 


Stellaris *is* a good space opera game.  Personally, it's the most fun I've had playing a game in years (since Birth of the Federation and the first Medieval: Total War).  It's obviously not going to appeal to everyone, but for myself, it's sucked me in in a way my cold, cynical heart didn't believe was still possible. 

However...  It took me over 6 months to really learn and get into Stellaris -- it doesn't have the steepest learning curve I've encountered (especially compared to other Paradox titles), but it's still up there.  Plus (as I mentioned earlier), I've forked out around $100.00 over the last 5 years, and that was whilst being careful to only grab DLC's when they were 50% off or better. 


It's ultimately all been worth it, but it does require a certain investment -- both in terms of money and time. 

[Anguille]

I think i am also a fairly reasonable guy and played the base game for many years. During the last year, i ended up buying dlcs (story packs) to improve the experience as the base game was fairly dull. As a diplomatic player, the most important for me was Federation. I am always waiting for sales but yes, Stellaris "complete" is the most expensive 4x around right now.

So it is possible to play the base game only and it's very often cheap during sales. If you like the base game, you can then decide to check specific DLCs (see Martok's list) to further improve your experience. If you don't like it, then you won't have spent too much money on the base game.

Stellaris is not the most complex space 4x around and is fairly easy to learn.

[ojsdad]

I really hate Gray Tempest. 

[Martok]

Dev diary 217 has been posted.  (Per Paradox tradition, there won't be more dev diaries after this until August, when the employees return from their summer holiday.) 



It's pretty light this time around.  Aside from posting the Discord Q&A transcript from last week, it basically talks about how the devs are organizing and responding to feedback with respect to the Custodians Initiative.  They also emphasize repeatedly that while they're looking over and considering all the suggestions that have been made so far, that there's no telling when -- or if -- they'll make it into a future update. 

It's ultimately all standard boilerplate, but it makes me wonder just how rabid the fans in the Paradox forums really are...   

[Martok]

I really hate Gray Tempest. 

Yeah, they suck.   

I myself was fortunate this time around -- I got the L-Drakes.  I managed to find & tame three of them (and almost had a fourth, but I was just a hair too slow).  Combined with the Hatchling I discovered after defeating the Ether Drake, I now have four dragons to help guard my star nation.   


On the other hand, the More Events Mod (which I installed about a week ago) spawned the Vazuran Hegemony as a mid-game crisis.  They have...not been nice. 

Without going into details, let's just say that I'm now going to take the Colossus ascension perk...when I wasn't planning to before.  I'll make sure they live *just* long enough to regret what they have done.   

[Bison]

Well I think I will pick up the "starter pack" bundle which comes with base game and 6 DLC (Ancient Relics, Apocalypses, Utopia, Distant Stars, Synthetic Dawns, Leviathans).

I guess my real question is what mechanics are lost without Megacorps, Nemesis, and Federations? Due to them being locked behind a DLC but still being used in the game by the AI or as a feature in your faction but you cannot use. This drives me crazy.