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Wargaming => 4X Gaming => Topic started by: bayonetbrant on May 08, 2020, 01:02:15 PM

Title: Stellaris
Post by: bayonetbrant on May 08, 2020, 01:02:15 PM
https://www.strategygamer.com/articles/stellaris-2-7-wells-patch-notes/
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 09, 2020, 04:56:26 AM
Yeah, I checked out the patch notes yesterday in the Paradox forums.  (Note:  New Paradox forums now include option to show dev posts only.  Very handy!)  Looks pretty damn good overall.  I'm especially interested to see the rework to space creatures and edicts. 


In fact, I am -- gods help me -- planning to update Stellaris to  2.7 once my current game is finished.  (My game won't be done until after 2.7 is released.)  Hoping I can muster the patience this time to at least tolerate (if not enjoy) the colony management scheme introduced back in 2.2. 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 13, 2020, 05:19:09 AM
For anyone who's been interested in trying out the game, Stellaris is free to play this week through Sunday (May 17).  It's also on sale for $9.99 (a 75% discount here in the States), along with nearly all of its DLC (Federations being the exception).  Definitely worth checking out if you have any interest in this one! 


I did go ahead and update to the 2.7 version, incidentally.  I'm really digging the changes to how Edicts work, and the visuals have definitely been improved; the detail when I zoom in on ships & planets is pretty amazing. 

Am admittedly still not enthralled with the colony management -- I suspect I may never be -- but otherwise I like a lot of changes I've seen so far.  I'm slowly realizing just how many QoL improvements I've missed out on over the last two years. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bob48 on May 13, 2020, 06:34:50 AM
I've tried a couple of games like that before, and failed miserably. I seem to lack the required spacial awareness to play such games.

<falls off chair>
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 13, 2020, 08:03:19 PM
 ;D


I definitely sympathize.  For me, the biggest challenge with games like this is mastering their complexity, and I -- like many others -- find that's especially true of Paradox titles.  Stellaris is more accessible than most of their lineup, but it still has a fairly steep learning curve -- something I'm rediscovering as I muddle my way through figuring out the population and colony management system introduced in the Cherryh update.  (Part of me keeps thinking, "I'm getting too old for this ****.")  ::) 

I hope/suspect it'll be worth it in the end, but man I wish I could trust the AI to take over some aspects of the game for me.  But I guess that's why I'm waiting on Distant Worlds 2...  :P 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 17, 2020, 04:54:31 PM
I was just listing to Mentioned in Dispatches where Cyrano and Brant were discussing Alt-History games and Space games. 

I think games like Stellaris take the wrong approach to things like economy and people.  It doesn't matter the size of the planet, your locked into just 24 building slots and  x number of districts, depending on the planets size.  If a system has an asteroid belt, it may produce no resources at all.  If it does, it's almost always just 2 minerals.  Instead of actual buildings, I'd like to see industries developed.  Don't build a single building for producing consumer products, develop industries that don't have set size limits.  Not all planets are going to have all industries.  As planets develop and grow their population, their ability to support more home grown industries and not have to import items from other planets will change.  How will this impact the employees and revenues of planets that were exporting these items. 

Except for a few exceptions, most habitable planets probably aren't going to have resource gathering industries.  Those functions are going to be performed by at asteroid belts, from from orbiting mining stations around gas giants, and on planets that cannot support large populations but require small closed eco systems for people to live in. 

I think with not all planets not having all industries, you may feel the impact if a few frontier systems get cut off from the rest of your empire.  How will the populations react to losing access to goods and services.  Were those frontier planets sending back needed resources that the rest of the empire needed.

Just some ramblings. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 18, 2020, 02:52:56 AM
You're not wrong.  And your points highlight some of the reasons why Stellaris is not -- and cannot -- be the "ultimate" space 4x/grand-strategy game (if such a thing could even exist).  Heck, even Distant Worlds lacks a lot of what you've mentioned, although it certainly does a better job of modeling it than most games. 

Ironically, I think the space 4x that modeled planetary development best is probably the much-maligned MOO3.  For as deeply flawed as that game is, its concepts for managing & developing colonies was -- and still is -- pretty revolutionary.  (I still bitterly regret we never got to play the game that Alan Emrich envisioned.  Sigh.) 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on May 18, 2020, 03:16:00 AM
Ironically, I think the space 4x that modeled planetary development best is probably the much-maligned MOO3.  For as deeply flawed as that game is, its concepts for managing & developing colonies was -- and still is -- pretty revolutionary.  (I still bitterly regret we never got to play the game that Alan Emrich envisioned.  Sigh.)
Imagine his game with modern graphics! Imho, the main reason why MOO3's development failed was because Steve Barcia wasn't part of the team...he knew how to make things work.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 18, 2020, 11:10:21 AM
DW is really well situated to take advantage of what I would like to see with it's FTL method of getting around and it's use of civilian ships.  Image, Earth getting most of it's food from three other systems.  Your at war with the humans, and you're able to disrupt their food shipments for a couple of months with raiders.  Or keep a small naval base cut off for a few months before a major attack.  It would also make the defender think about protecting their shipping lanes. They just need to expand the economy from just resources to include goods and services. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 18, 2020, 07:41:34 PM
Imagine his game with modern graphics!

No thanks, I don't want to torture myself.  :P 



Imho, the main reason why MOO3's development failed was because Steve Barcia wasn't part of the team...he knew how to make things work.

Certainly the dev team suffered from a lack of focus and not adhering to a more defined schedule.  I suspect that has to at least partially be laid at Emrich's feet, much as I'd rather not. 

Whether Barcia's presence would've been enough to keep things on track, I think that's hard to say.  (Although if he'd been the actual project head, then perhaps?) 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 18, 2020, 07:43:52 PM
DW is really well situated to take advantage of what I would like to see with it's FTL method of getting around and it's use of civilian ships.  Image, Earth getting most of it's food from three other systems.  Your at war with the humans, and you're able to disrupt their food shipments for a couple of months with raiders.  Or keep a small naval base cut off for a few months before a major attack.  It would also make the defender think about protecting their shipping lanes. They just need to expand the economy from just resources to include goods and services.

Agreed, I would love to see something like this in DW2 (or any other 4x game, for that matter).  For now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 18, 2020, 09:19:53 PM
Imagine his game with modern graphics!

No thanks, I don't want to torture myself.  :P 



Imho, the main reason why MOO3's development failed was because Steve Barcia wasn't part of the team...he knew how to make things work.

Certainly the dev team suffered from a lack of focus and not adhering to a more defined schedule.  I suspect that has to at least partially be laid at Emrich's feet, much as I'd rather not. 

Whether Barcia's presence would've been enough to keep things on track, I think that's hard to say.  (Although if he'd been the actual project head, then perhaps?)

If I remember correctly, the company that was originally developing MOO3 was purchased by someone, who was then purchased by someone else in short order.  The new company gave Emrich and company orders to get it out the door. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on May 19, 2020, 04:05:52 AM
Imagine his game with modern graphics!

No thanks, I don't want to torture myself.  :P 



Imho, the main reason why MOO3's development failed was because Steve Barcia wasn't part of the team...he knew how to make things work.

Certainly the dev team suffered from a lack of focus and not adhering to a more defined schedule.  I suspect that has to at least partially be laid at Emrich's feet, much as I'd rather not. 

Whether Barcia's presence would've been enough to keep things on track, I think that's hard to say.  (Although if he'd been the actual project head, then perhaps?)

If I remember correctly, the company that was originally developing MOO3 was purchased by someone, who was then purchased by someone else in short order.  The new company gave Emrich and company orders to get it out the door.

The game started under Hasbro and was released by Inforgrames. The project was fairly long and one of the reason why it was rushed (progress to slow and very complex game):

Fate rekindled the flames on this long dormant franchise when Michael Mancuso, then a Producer for Hasbro's west coast offices at the old Spectrum Holobyte digs in the San Francisco Bay Area, ran into Quicksilver Software's El Presidente, Bill Fisher at E3 in 1999. The two of them had a long discussion about all things gaming and really hit it off. They agreed, philosophically, on what makes a game great, how to make them, and so forth. Bill Fisher explained how Starfleet Command was created as a real-time game using the StarFleet Battles turn-based boardgame as its foundation.
Michael Mancuso saw the magic in the way that Starfleet Command came together and coupled that with the list he had of game titles that they were shopping for developers for. On that list was Master of Orion III, and both groups perceived a good match in MOO3 and Quicksilver. The deal was made and design work began in August 1999.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 20, 2020, 06:23:03 AM
Okay, Stellaris is starting to piss me off again.  >:(  My gripes (in no particular order)... 


-  Since when did *all* treaty types suddenly cost Influence to maintain, and -- more importantly -- why?  (As if Influence wasn't already a bottleneck in this game...)  I get why defensive pacts and independence guarantees might cost influence, but to now have basic treaty types like commercial pacts and reserach pacts do so as well is f***king annoying. 

-  Events and event chains taking place in star systems well outside your current territory -- systems that in many cases needs to be part of your empire before you're allowed to do whatever is needed to complete the event/quest...yet you'll have no chance of acquiring said star system(s) before a neighbor does (due to its distance).  I've run into this problem occasionally in v 2.1; I can't believe it still hasn't been fixed 2 years later (and 4 years after release). 

-  The resource model has become even more byzantine than the colony management system, which is no small feat.  It's as if with, the 2.2 update and onwards, Paradox has been actively attempting to make the learning curve steeper and make the less accessible to people.  That, or someone on the dev team fell in love with complexity for complexity's sake, and failed to realize that complexity doesn't always equal depth. 


I'm tempted to rant more, but I really need to get some shut-eye right now.  There's still a lot to like in Stellaris, and a lot of the changes they've made to the game since 2.1 really are improvements, but JMFC they frustrate me.  I've rarely seen a dev team with its collective head so far up its own hindquarters.  Argh. 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on May 20, 2020, 07:36:31 AM
I really think that Paradox make things more complex just for the sake of it. And their fans fall for it...every time.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 20, 2020, 11:35:16 PM
I really think that Paradox make things more complex just for the sake of it. And their fans fall for it...every time.

I really wish I could disagree with your statement, but I don't think I can.  :( 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 21, 2020, 06:52:15 AM
It gets worse with influence.  You need it for building mega structures and with the latest updates, you need it for more edicts also.

Yep, juggling the need for some resources so to support more advanced buildings is fun at times. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 10, 2020, 08:23:21 PM
I'm playing Stellaris once more, but have gone back to version 2.1.3 -- again -- with a couple compatible mods installed.  It's not perfect, obviously, but at least I'm having fun with it.  (I actually wish I could go back to version 1.9, as I still consider it "peak Stellaris", but I confess I like the changes & content from the 2.1 update and Distant Stars DLC too much.) 


I simply cannot enjoy the game with the rework to colony management & resources that was introduced in the 2.2 update.  It's far too much complexity for way too little gain.  I'm honestly convinced that the fanboys/girls who believe it's an improvement are delusional. 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 23, 2020, 10:01:15 PM
Those playing Stellaris probably already know this, but a new race pack called "Necroids" will be released October 29.  And yes, releasing a race pack featuring zombies and death cults right before Halloween was totally intentional on their part.  ::) 







The latest dev diary (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-189-necroids-2-8-patch-notes-update.1438208/) also includes the patch notes for the 2.8 "Butler" update that will drop alongside Necroids.  As usual, the list of changes & fixes is a long one: 


Spoiler: ShowHide


l#################################################################
######################### VERSION 2.8.0 ###########################
#################################################################

###################
# Necroids Species Pack Features
###################

* Added a new Necroid pre-scripted Empire.
* Added a new Phenotype with 16 new portraits (15 normal + 1 robot) of spooky scary Jeffoids Necroids.
* Added a new City Set and room backdrop for Necroids.
* Added a new dark and eerie Ship set.
* Added a new Advisor Voice.
* Added three new Civics: Death Cult, Reanimated Armies and Memorialist.
* Added Necrophage, a new Origin.

######################
# 2.8.0 "Butler" Features
######################

* Added new Gestalt Governor Leader Traits: Amplifier and Mindfulness - both increase Administrative Capacity in relevant Pop Jobs.
* Systems spawned during the game (e.g. precursor ones) will now usually have two hyperlanes instead of one.
* Added a new experimental DirectX11 support launch command (“-dx11”). (Check dev diary 181 for more information)

######################
# Balance
######################

* Gestalt empires can no longer build the Hyperlane Registrar starbase building as they have no use for it.
* The Oracle's admin bonus now grants +10% more admin cap instead of just +20.
* Observation Post Indoctrination events now have a 540 day cooldown before they can fire again.
* Terraforming Candidate is now a bit more common in the early game.
* Terminal Orbit anomaly's reward has been buffed slightly.
* You can now only resettle your primary species away from planets with culture shock.

######################
# Stability & Performance
######################

* Greatly improved startup and load times. (Check dev diary 181 for more information)
* Optimised the refugees system to perform fewer duplicate checks.
* Fixed an OOS related to armies created from Pops.
* Fixed an OOS happening if someone is hotjoining while a country is marked for destruction.
* Fixed an OOS with planet modifiers related to species crossbreeding.
* Fixed an OOS with Federation Fleet Capacity.
* Fixed a source of false positive OOS.
* Fixed a CTD when transferring a save file during hotjoin.
* Fixed a CTD that might happen when the outliner is updating certain elements when borders are updating.
* Fixed a CTD when planets are removed and have active construction.
* Fix CTD in Colonize window after dismantling shipyard.
* Disabled AlienFX/LightFX since it has been reported to have issues and might cause a CTD/freeze when starting the game (at 30% loading).
* Added a "hardoos" option that adds extra checksums to make it easier to catch causes for OOS.
* Fixed an OOS when you find a precursor civ. event and an observer is present at game start
* Tick time optimization (more efficient parallelisation (game go vroom vroom)).

######################
# UI
######################

* Fixed some Settings UIs having overrunning text in some non-english languages.
* Fixed overlapping text in Empire Modifiers tab in some non-english languages.
* The Curators' "goodbye" option is now always placed at the bottom of the option list.
* Envoys can't be reassigned to the same location.

######################
# AI
######################

* The AI is more willing to lower federation centralization if they are the federation president. They now care if Cohesion and Monthly Cohesion are negative.
* Crisis AI will now be more likely to seek honorable alternatives to doomstacks (i.e. it will split its fleet up a bit more).
* AI will now refill starbase modules and buildings if they are destroyed.
* AI now handles FTL inhibitors better, new fleets will now try to assign each fleet to the closest most valuable objective.
* AI should now handle Colossi correctly again. Fear will keep the local systems in line.
* AI empires with the Void Dwellers origin are now more likely to choose the Voidborne ascension perk.
* AI in Mercantile stance is now less likely to close borders.
* AI now builds branch offices where it can rather than trying again and again to go on a world where there's already a branch office.
* Fleet AI should not abort orders for defensive fleets like merging.
* Fixed Fleet AI getting stuck in a regroup loop if some fleets cannot reach the system for regrouping.
* Make sure AI fleets stop when issued orders to merge.

######################
# Modding
######################

* You can now use [ ] localisation commands in building descriptions.
* Added trigger num_assigned_jobs = { job = <key>/unemployed value > 2 }.
* Added is_ambient_object_type trigger.
* It is now possible to use scope variables in the create_message effect.
* ideal_planet_class trigger now works in pop and species scope, and also accepts a planet scope as the right hand side argument.
* Added remove_starbase_building and remove_starbase_module effects.
* Added change_colony_foundation_date = <number of days> effect.
* Trigger has_available_jobs now works.
* Added set_ship_prefix effect for country scope.
* Added set_adjective effect for country scope.
* change_government now has a cooldown = yes/no toggle (default is yes).
* Added effect set_government_cooldown = integer/default/no.
* added the missing settings to the get_galaxy_setup_value effect.
** Here's the new, up to date, list:
*** num_empires, num_advanced_empires, num_fallen_empires, num_marauder_empires, mid_game_year, end_game_year, victory_year, num_guaranteed_colonies, num_gateways, num_wormhole_pairs, num_hyperlanes, habitable_worlds_scale, primitive_worlds_scale, crisis_strength_scale, tech_costs_scale.
* Added set_origin effect, but note, it'll usually not be useful to use this as effects executed during galaxy generation will not be rerun.
* last_created_system now works.
* Added defines SPAWN_SYSTEM_BUFFER_DISTANCE and SPAWN_SYSTEM_ATTEMPTS, in case you want to try funky things with the spawn_system effect.
* set_location now works on juggernauts.
* Added on_colony_10_year_pulse on_action
* any_ambient_object and any_system_ambient_object scopes now no longer cause false positives in the error log.
* on_colony_5_year_pulse now works on the capital too.
* abort_trigger, on_fail and on_cancel in special projects now all use the same scopes.


######################
# Bugfixes
######################

* Fixed so that Zroni Precursor Arc Sites cannot be "hijacked" by another Empire.
* Multiple Curator Scientist cannot be purchased any longer.
* Added checks to see if the host has the appropriate DLCs for the slave market-oriented Resolutions.
* Added missing Loc when proposal for forming Federations failed.
* Fixed leviathans.1018 tooltip not showing actual results of the event.
* The UNE now spawns as intended when playing as the Commonwealth of Man.
* Fixed missing localisation in event “The Oracle”.
* Slave Market Resolutions are now properly locked without Megacorp DLC.
* Restoring megastructures will now only cause the rubble from their ruined variants to be cleared, rather than all ambient objects in the system (including system effects e.g. nebulas...)
* Droids can now take Colonist jobs.
* Subjects can no longer create vassals.
* Pox Bombardment no longer kills machine units.
* Fixed a case where the Slave Riots event could happen twice on the same day.
* Fixed being able to build from (mega) shipyards that are not owned.
* Added missing localisation keys for resolution_passed_diplomatic_weight and resolution_failed_diplomatic_weight empire modifiers.
* Hid Zroni and Shoulders of Giants arc sites from countries ineligible for completing them (thus hiding unlocalised anti-stealing flags).
* Added missing descriptions to Evermore planetary modifiers.
* The AI attitude of country A to B now depends on A's opinion of B rather than B's of A. This fixes Fallen Empires never declaring war.
* Surveyor relic can no longer find new resource deposits on Ring Worlds or Habitats.
* The Floating Value event text no longer mixes up the planet and ship names.
* Corrected Russian translation of Galactic Contender ascension perk.
* Fixed minor localization issue in the Senate Floor tutorial window.
* Changes to a progress-tracking variable in Joint Operation: Genius Caeli are now hidden from the arc site panel.
* Fixed various typos and duplications in the species name files.
* A Quiet Stroll event now has different text for Synthetic empires.
* Tree of Life deposits are now properly cleared when the planet changes owner.
* Shielded Planet special projects now use the correct planet name.
* Removed duplications in Tiyanki ship names.
* System graphical effects are now removed when the final Contingency planet is destroyed.
* VLUUR's space storm will no longer manifest in nebula systems.
* Fixed minor tooltip issue in Atomic Countdown event.
* Shortened and rewrote overlapping Vault of Acquisitions technology description.
* Fixed completed construction items for reinforcements not being removed properly from the fleet manager.
* Fixed research costs for Special Projects "Investigate the Loop Temple" and "Study the Messenger connection".
* The correct event description should now always be shown in “Finding the Truth”.
* Adjusted the tooltips for the Improve and Harm Relations diplomatic actions.
* Observation Posts are now cleared if all primitives have been killed by orbital bombardment.
* Removed duplicate entry in Alpha Hub technology.
* Mining Drones no longer display the Rare Crystal icon in the Jobs interface.
* Changed Miner and Technician building icons to be more consistent with other jobs.
* Fixed issue where some Spiritualist responses weren't always displayed in first contact situations.
* Removed duplicate cohesion effect from tooltip in federation fleet contribution laws.
* Fixed transparency on room backgrounds from Federations.
* Gestalts can no longer get the debris_gasgiant_category_temp anomaly at all - which is as it should be.
* Unity should now always spawn as a continental planet when playing the UNE.
* Fixed a bug where Star-Crossed Lovers could take refuge in the Mutaagan Trading Guild.
* Gestalts that conquer a regular empire's starbase will no longer have Trading Hubs and Offworld Trading Companies there.
* Fixed some cases of species growing on planets disappearing and reappearing every other month.
* Fixed Species rights showing as in breach of galactic law when they’re not.
* You can no longer get random tomb world events on tomb worlds created through armageddon bombardment and other similar causes. Also, you can now only get each of them once.
* Event Primordial Soup no longer wrongly assumes that Terminator machines think organic life worthy of interest.
* Space fauna resolutions can no longer be proposed if they're already active.
* Made sure clearing the blocker creates the correct species.
* Added in breach icons and warnings in confirm dialog for policies that would cause breach of galactic law.
* Fixed a case where the sector AI would spam luxury residences to deal with low amenities if there aren't workers available to work as Entertainers.
* Fixed a bug where special projects to investigate space fauna would sometimes lose the targets they were meant to investigate, become "Investigate <blank>", and do nothing on completion.
* Fixed a bug where the project to investigate Enclaves would talk about the system rather than the country.
* Having comms established with you by enclaves no longer gives you influence.
* The wrecked caravan ship ambient object is now removed by completing the project to research it.
* Enslaving the species in the Underground Vault now shows the correct species will be enslaved.
* Fixed some issues with special resources in the Hive Confluence building.
* Added missing Army Names if the name list is picked for a Machine Intelligence empire.
* Scions can now control their border access.
* Fixed cases where sometimes the Galactic Market would take a while to allow buying and selling of special resources.
* Gaia Worlds may no longer spawn with the 'poor quality minerals' planet modifier.
* If you manage to create a species that is both psionic or cybernetic and erudite, the resulting leaders will now get both the cybernetic/psionic and the erudite traits.
* Using modify_species to change the species of a country will now also target pops on colony ships. This fixes various gene modifications through events excluding colony ships.
* Pops are now more likely to be maintenance drones if the planet lacks amenities.
* Fixed some spaghetti script in the First Contact for Fallen Empires event, closing several loopholes where you could see Fallen Empires without them establishing contact with you.
* Fixed a case where the event for Fallen Empires requesting the long-dead species you kept in stasis would fire twice.
* Rewards for completing the Technosphere chain now take into account Gestalts (who cannot get Sapient AI tech).
* Nu-Baol Life-Seeding now no longer removes Baol Homeworld planetary features.
* Upgraded versions of planet-unique buildings now correctly specify that their number is capped per planet and keep their special background frame.
* Fixed flags not being set correctly on building upgrades (which led to AI spamming upgrades it shouldn't have).
* Fixed number of pacts not being visible in diplomacy windows at game start, as well as a potential OOS.
* Fixed a case where Awakened Marauders would conquer a planet with less than 5 pops, kill all those pops and then spawn 12 pops on the planet (which, having been rendered uninhabited, no longer counts as a colony).
* Fixed the tooltip for utterly failing the Enigmatic Cache uplift chain.
* It is now possible for your ruler to be randomly given the trait Charismatic during their rule.
* Events leading up to the spawning of a Relic Rails dig site may no longer fire multiple times.
* Made sure that the relevant Fallen Empires actually exist in order for the Resolutions to be available.
* Various fixes to the Golden Rule challenge for federation leadership, particularly addressing scenarios in which the event may not fire at the end of a presidential term.
* Do not ping pong fleet groups that are on mission but the leader has jumped to the next system.
* The tooltip for purchasing L-Gate insights from Curator Orders is now slightly more precise about the time it'll take them to identify each new clue.
* Resolved late-game pirate fleets losing their scripted event targets.
* The Yuhtaan system's star and planets are now correctly called "Yuhtaan" rather than "Yuthaan".
* Fixed a stray "?" in the Blue Lotus Project event
* The governor offered by the Nuumistic Order is now of the correct species
* Opening the Alien Box will now change your dominant species rather than just modifying your pops and leaders. It will also now modify subspecies of the main species.
* Forced a trait upon the event-created species that stops them from counting as Bio-Trophies.
* Tooltips in the diplomacy screen regarding the other empire's federation is now more consistent.
* Machine empires with the Resource Consolidation origin can now correctly adopt the Rogue Servitor civic when GC Resolution "A Defined Purpose" is passed (though they will be reset to the default origin in the process)
* Fixed some cases where empires would be created during the game with random and inappropriate origins e.g. Doomsday. create_country now creates countries with Prosperous Unification by default.
* Implemented an option trigger to stop an unnecessary/irrational option in an event.
* Players will no longer receive alerts about war goals they cannot set anymore.
* Fixed a case where marauder diadochi could spawn without any planets, breaking various things.
* Fixed issues with space monsters sometimes being uncontactable.
* Event experience reward is now assigned to the correct leader (scientist).
* Systems spawned during the game e.g. precursor systems will now no longer spawn on top of other systems unless there really is no space for them elsewhere.
* Fixed cases where you'd get refugees from a country you had no communications with.
* Stopped certain arc sites from disappearing from the situation log after completion.
* Fixed possible error with event-spawned Wormhole.
* In the subterranean nation chain, if you get an invasion by them after attempting a preemptive strike, the invasion will now work.
* Event "God of Death" no longer has an eyeball-popping tooltip.
* Fixed confusing tooltip mentioning rivaling members when inviting to federation.
* The conclusion to the Rage Virus event chain will no longer give invalid technologies for Gestalts
* Fixed a case where multiple arc sites would spawn on one colony; also, the Sentinels will no longer spawn as soon as you fulfill the conditions, but are now a bit more random.
* New auto-generated ship designs now have auto-upgrade checked by default
* Fortress proclamation actually increases defense build speed now.
* Fixed misspelled VO ID.

In addition to what you have seen in the patch notes, we have also been working on some stuff that was deemed too risky, or didn’t finish in time, for it to be released together with 2.8. We intend to deploy some of these changes together with a beta patch sometime in the near future.

We also have some other larger changes that will not be released until the next big update, but we will start talking about some of those changes very soon.


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on October 23, 2020, 10:05:20 PM
Necroids? Let me guess, their favorite food is:

(https://www.candyindustry.com/ext/resources/Everyday/2020/Necco.jpg?1590677650)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 24, 2020, 05:53:50 AM
 :2funny:


Xeno-Compatibility Experts Still Not Sure How This Whole Necroid Thing Will Work Out (https://xenonion.com/home/2020/10/23/xeno-compatibility-experts-still-not-sure-how-this-whole-necroid-thing-will-work-out)


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on October 24, 2020, 07:36:22 AM
 :2funny:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 29, 2020, 09:36:54 PM
I still think it's an absolutely stupid idea for a race pack, but I've gotta admit the trailer isn't bad. 




Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 05, 2020, 07:29:26 PM
An interesting dev diary went up today.  It discusses some longer-term changes to the game that they're looking at implementing further down the road. 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-190-leading-economic-indicators.1440749/



Assuming they eventually get implemented, plus if the devs act on some of the other things they mention/hint at (including adding in some real changes/improvements from the AI feedback thread (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/2-8-1-2190-beta-ai-feedback-megathread.1440569/)), I may just have to give Stellaris another chance.  Fingers crossed... 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on November 09, 2020, 03:14:24 AM
I still think it's an absolutely stupid idea for a race pack, but I've gotta admit the trailer isn't bad. 



The ships look nice....
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on November 09, 2020, 03:17:32 AM
An interesting dev diary went up today.  It discusses some longer-term changes to the game that they're looking at implementing further down the road. 

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-190-leading-economic-indicators.1440749/

Assuming they eventually get implemented, plus if the devs act on some of the other things they mention/hint at (including adding in some real changes/improvements from the AI feedback thread (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/2-8-1-2190-beta-ai-feedback-megathread.1440569/)), I may just have to give Stellaris another chance.  Fingers crossed...
I find it appaling that they still haven't finished the core elements and they still mess around. Sectors still don't work. I like the fact that they want to decrease the micromanagement of the colonies (for bigger empires) but i wonder what is left to do then. The easiest would be to come back to the planetary management we had before.

But my biggest problem is that the game is extremely boring and there's barely anything i can do.  I wait and wait so i can build a new outpost etc...I don't think any of their changes can save this game.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 09, 2020, 11:22:25 AM
I find it appaling that they still haven't finished the core elements and they still mess around. Sectors still don't work. I like the fact that they want to decrease the micromanagement of the colonies (for bigger empires) but i wonder what is left to do then. The easiest would be to come back to the planetary management we had before.

I don't know if you saw Oliver's rant over on Explorminate, but he said a lot of the the same things -- and you're both right. 

It's way past time that the devs admitted the colony management model introduced in the 2.2 update is a failure (on multiple levels), but of course they'll never do that.  Which is a pity, as getting rid of it would probably be the single best change/improvement they could make to the game at this point. 



But my biggest problem is that the game is extremely boring and there's barely anything i can do.  I wait and wait so i can build a new outpost etc...

The early game -- especially the very early game -- is often frustratingly slow, yes.  I've learned to live with it, but admittedly not the greatest reflection of game design.  Pacing in Stellaris has always been a bit uneven in general. 



I don't think any of their changes can save this game.

I fear you're probably correct.  At this point, we can only hope that Stellaris 2 (whenever that gets made) addresses the problems in the current game.  Of course, this is Paradox, so we should maintain a healthy dose of skepticism... 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 16, 2020, 07:55:24 AM
The newest dev diary goes into more detail regarding their long-term plans to improve automated colony/sector management and population migration. 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-191-and-yet-it-moves.1441846/



I won't lie; it sounds pretty good for the most part.  However, it also (at least to me) highlights what a failure it was to revamp the colony management and resource system to its current Frankenstinian form in the first place.  Whatever flaws there were with the previous version -- and I grant there were plenty -- at least it was generally less of a hassle to deal with, and (perhaps even more importantly) the AI was better at handling it.  I wish Paradox could simply admit when it made a mistake, and actually fix the problem, rather than slapping band-aid after band-aid on it instead.  :buck2:   


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 19, 2020, 02:58:09 PM
Dev Diary #192 is up.  This one made me laugh... 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-192-perfectly-balanced-as-all-things-should-be.1443169/



Short version is that they're reducing by around half the number of pops in the game, mostly because of the huge problems they cause in regards to performance degredation.  It's been a major issue for TWO DAMN YEARS, and they're only now getting around to truly doing something to address it.  :doh: 

At this point, I'm just waiting for the devs to flat-out admit they screwed up with the changes they introduced to Stellaris in the 2.2  "Le Guin" update (which included the explosion in the number of pops) in the first place.  I wonder how much longer they'll be stubborn about this before finally rolling things back to the previous colony management & resource system.  ::) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on November 20, 2020, 08:13:10 AM
Paradox will never admit they screwed up....never.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bayonetbrant on November 20, 2020, 08:40:51 AM
Paradox will never admit they screwed up....never.

well, they sort of did with their White Wolf / World of Darkness acquisition
https://www.armchairdragoons.com/forum/index.php?topic=366.0
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 20, 2020, 06:41:06 PM
I also seem to recall Paradox tacitly admitting that acquiring AGEOD was not a good move for them (after the latter split back off into their own company again).  Although of course I cannot now find a statement to that effect.  ::) 


Still, Anguille is probably correct:  Even if the Stellaris devs do eventually switch back to the original colony & resource system, or at least dump the current version, I don't imagine they'll ever admit there was anything actually wrong with it.  :whistle:   

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on January 18, 2021, 03:49:28 PM
https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/1351269425345921027?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on January 18, 2021, 09:01:16 PM
So all the latest dev diaries have been talking about spy networks, and that you'll have intel levels on every empire you encounter.  It sounds like it will all be part of the update for the base game, which makes me wonder what is actually going to be in the expansion (which the devs have indicated will also be focused on intel/spy operations). 


Still wish they'd talk more about improvements to pops and colony management.  Their silence on the subject is less than encouraging. 




https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/1351269425345921027?

They're not wrong.  ;D 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 04, 2021, 12:48:21 PM
The next major expansion, Nemesis, is coming: 






More details here in the latest dev diary (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-199-become-the-crisis.1455143/). 


In addition to (finally) adding a proper intelligence/espionage system to the game, players will also have the opportunity to become the Big Good (Galactic Custodian) or the Big Bad (Menace), wherein they become the Endgame Crisis. 

Oh yeah, and you'll be able to blow up stars now.  >:D 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on February 04, 2021, 01:01:33 PM
Does Shinzon show up?  :whistle:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 04, 2021, 02:24:35 PM
Dude, why?!  Some of us still have PTSD from that film.  >:(  :( 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on February 04, 2021, 02:34:18 PM
You must be thinking of Trek Wars.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: BanzaiCat on February 04, 2021, 06:29:28 PM
Y'all suck. I bought it.

I'd been wanting a good space 4x type game that doesn't have a gigantic learning curve. I have a few but they're all tough to learn and then get back into after a hiatus. I expect this will be the same but for ten bucks and the praise that's been thrown through here with the force of popping zits, I'm down to try.  :)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on February 05, 2021, 04:17:57 AM
Y'all suck. I bought it.

I'd been wanting a good space 4x type game that doesn't have a gigantic learning curve. I have a few but they're all tough to learn and then get back into after a hiatus. I expect this will be the same but for ten bucks and the praise that's been thrown through here with the force of popping zits, I'm down to try.  :)
Welcome to the most expensive space 4x ever released (unless you just play the base game). Have fun.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 05, 2021, 04:47:41 AM
BanzaiCat, you're a madman.  ;D  Welcome to Stellaris! 


If you do find you're enjoying the game, you may want to grab the Utopia expansion as well (especially if it's still on sale).  There's obviously a ton of other DLC you can purchase as well, but Utopia is the one that most players consider to be a must-have.  (Not that I actually *want* you to spend more money, obviously...  :-\ :P ) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 05, 2021, 06:44:48 AM
I just started playing again after this thread...a bit gobsmacked to see a 1.1k strong enemy fleet flying through a system close to me and all I have is.....a fleet of 385 strength.

I don't have any of the DLC - do they add much to the original game?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Yskonyn on February 05, 2021, 10:09:14 AM
I have started Stellaris again as well. I have this 4X itch and Stellaris does make me feel like a true intergalactic emperor.
We'll see how long I last! :)

I'd like me some 4X PBEM though...
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on February 05, 2021, 10:10:42 AM
Yskonyn, we need to start up a full Civ VI PBEM, using their new system.  :bigthumb:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Yskonyn on February 05, 2021, 12:21:28 PM
Yskonyn, we need to start up a full Civ VI PBEM, using their new system.  :bigthumb:

Good idea! Start up a recruitment thread!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on February 05, 2021, 12:28:40 PM
Done!
 :D
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 05, 2021, 03:29:37 PM
I just started playing again after this thread...a bit gobsmacked to see a 1.1k strong enemy fleet flying through a system close to me and all I have is.....a fleet of 385 strength.

Heh.  Yeah, for all its flaws, the AI is fairly good in the early game at getting its navy ramped up.  You definitely don't want to fall too far behind them, although it's less of an issue if you're stronger than them in economy and/or technology. 



I don't have any of the DLC - do they add much to the original game?

Short, oversimplified answer: yes. 


A bit longer answer:  Opinions vary, of course, but I personally have found that *in general*, pretty much all the major expansions and story packs enhance the game experience to a greater or lesser degree, and are all worth picking up at some point.  Some of them are only worth getting when they're on sale, but I would at least deem them worth getting at that price.  (Of course, I recommend only grabbing DLC when it's on sale anyway, but I'll also cheerfully admit to being a bit of a cheapskate frugal in that regard. ;) ) 

In contrast, you can easily skip the species packs, unless one of them particularly appeals to you.  (I'll admit I really like the Humanoids pack, for instance, despite it not affecting gameplay in the least.  Not so much for the additional ship pack and race portraits, but for the new advisor voices, which I find add a nice bit of immersion & atmosphere to the game.) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 05, 2021, 03:34:10 PM
Here's how I personally rank Stellaris' DLC (I place them in tiers): 


S) Utopia*

A) Leviathans**, Distant Stars**, Apocalypse*

B) Ancient Relics**, Synthetic Dawn**, Federations*

C) MegaCorp*, Humanoids

D) Lithoids, Necroids

F) Plantoids


*   = major expansion
** = story pack


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on February 05, 2021, 03:45:59 PM
Martok I'll be sending you a bill, I now own Stellaris and the Utopia DLC thanks to your advice ......    :nerd:


While I wait for the download and a chance to dive in to the game do you have any recommend resources I should read to help get my feet wet?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: BanzaiCat on February 05, 2021, 04:27:53 PM
I'mma do something crazy and play the BASE game, and if it intrigues me/keeps me occupied for more than a few hours, I might consider getting the DLC.  :D

Like I said...N-V-T-S nuts.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Yskonyn on February 05, 2021, 04:39:06 PM
Soon we will start a Armchair Dragoons Stellaris multiplayer festival!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 05, 2021, 05:26:09 PM
So I bought some of the DLC - does it "enter play" automatically or would I have to start a new game (I'm resuming my campaign)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 06, 2021, 12:54:34 AM
Martok I'll be sending you a bill, I now own Stellaris and the Utopia DLC thanks to your advice ......    :nerd:


While I wait for the download and a chance to dive in to the game do you have any recommend resources I should read to help get my feet wet?

Ha, you're welcome.  :biggrin: 



As far as guides go, PCGamesN just put out this one (https://www.pcgamesn.com/stellaris/guide-tips-beginners) a couple weeks ago.  I skimmed through the article, and it looks pretty good. 



Otherwise, ASpec (who's a noted Stellaris "super-fan) put together a couple excellent videos covering the basics to get people started.  They technically only cover version 2.7 (the videos are from last year), but otherwise are still relevant. 






Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 06, 2021, 01:07:10 AM
I'mma do something crazy and play the BASE game, and if it intrigues me/keeps me occupied for more than a few hours, I might consider getting the DLC.  :D

Like I said...N-V-T-S nuts.

Are...are you okay?  Do we need to send someone to do a welfare check?  ??? 




So I bought some of the DLC - does it "enter play" automatically or would I have to start a new game (I'm resuming my campaign)

You can continue playing your current game.  It's just going to be missing any DLC features related to map generation (marauder clans, ruined megastructures, leviathans, etc.).  However, any new DLC-related techs, ships, ascension perks, etc. should still show up at the appropriate time(s). 


Which ones did you end up getting, by the way? 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 06, 2021, 01:48:26 AM
I got
Apocalypse, Federations, Humanoids, Megacorps and Utopia

I don't know if it's been mentioned here, but Stellaris is on sale - including the DLC - though that little lot still cost me £40 (all the DLC cost £70 - and that was at 50%!)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Yskonyn on February 06, 2021, 02:22:58 AM
Funny how a simple thread can make you excited for a game again, isn’t it? :)

I have started a Human Dominion game and after watching the linked videos I am really wanting to play more now. 🤣
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 06, 2021, 03:10:12 AM
I got
Apocalypse, Federations, Humanoids, Megacorps and Utopia

Nice!  :bigthumb: 



I don't know if it's been mentioned here, but Stellaris is on sale - including the DLC - though that little lot still cost me £40 (all the DLC cost £70 - and that was at 50%!)

Thanks, JD.  I noticed the sale as well, but kept forgetting to say something.  I just now went and mentioned it in the sale thread.  :) 

And it wouldn't be a Paradox game if it didn't have a ton of DLC available for it (that collectively costs an arm and a leg).  The trick is to only purchase 1-2 of them at a time, so that it doesn't feel like you're spending as much...  ::) 




Funny how a simple thread can make you excited for a game again, isn’t it? :)

I have started a Human Dominion game and after watching the linked videos I am really wanting to play more now. 🤣

Excellent.  8) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 06, 2021, 05:28:36 AM
When you discover your neighbours are dicks   :waiting:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Yskonyn on February 06, 2021, 07:57:53 AM
How do you guys handle your military buildup early game? In almost all games I end up with inferior military in relation to others I meet .
If I encounter hostile factions its often quickly going downhill from there. Yet I never seem to have proper funding to support a decent fleet.  :waiting:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on February 06, 2021, 09:50:29 AM
I just started playing again after this thread...a bit gobsmacked to see a 1.1k strong enemy fleet flying through a system close to me and all I have is.....a fleet of 385 strength.

I don't have any of the DLC - do they add much to the original game?

Keep in mind that there are some AI players that start pretty strong, or even extremely strong from the start; Ancients and marauders.

With that said, you have to slowly build up your fleet strength.  This means using alloys, which can slow you expansion.  However, if normal AI empires are you neighbors see that your weaker then them and they want  one or more of your systems, they won't hesitate to declare war on you.  Use the diplomacy screen to monitor how you compare to  your neighbors that boarder you. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 06, 2021, 10:09:10 AM
How do you guys handle your military buildup early game? In almost all games I end up with inferior military in relation to others I meet .
If I encounter hostile factions its often quickly going downhill from there. Yet I never seem to have proper funding to support a decent fleet.  :waiting:
I do believe that's why i always gave up...never finding myself in a decent defensive position and getting royally  f***ed

I do believe Martok might have a point though because I do tend to expand when my fleet is 20 strong and only with a combat strength of 750 or so

I'm currently surrounded by factions who have closed their borders and really don't seem like they're looking for a new friend...so I might be starting a new game soon
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on February 06, 2021, 10:11:33 AM
Does Stellaris suffer from one of the most common 4x problems: having someone else's starting location be right next to you?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on February 06, 2021, 10:22:14 AM
How do you guys handle your military buildup early game? In almost all games I end up with inferior military in relation to others I meet .
If I encounter hostile factions its often quickly going downhill from there. Yet I never seem to have proper funding to support a decent fleet.  :waiting:

Your pretty much stuck with with corvettes for the first several years.  What I do, is when I encounter my first AI normal empire, I start to build a new ship alternating with claiming a new system.  I'll also upgrade my boarder outpost with a starbase.  I've found that even though you may be stronger than the AI player when you combine tech and economy, they may still decide to declare war on you if they have a significant stronger fleet. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bayonetbrant on February 06, 2021, 10:29:30 AM
I am here to report that after all of the chatter you guys have had going about Stellaris, that I have purchased neither the base game nor any DLCs. Instead, I plan to live vicariously through the rest of you gullible bastards ;D
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on February 06, 2021, 10:48:29 AM
Funny how a simple thread can make you excited for a game again, isn’t it? :)

I have started a Human Dominion game and after watching the linked videos I am really wanting to play more now. 🤣

It's fun to gain the technology and transfer your population to android.   :D
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on February 06, 2021, 10:52:29 AM
Does Stellaris suffer from one of the most common 4x problems: having someone else's starting location be right next to you?

If I remember correctly, there is a setting for when setting up a game that keeps them further away.  Of course, the size of your galaxy and number of AI players can impact that
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on February 06, 2021, 11:13:07 AM
Also, don't forget to keep an eye on your influence.  It is needed for various actions, like claiming a new system.  Your factions can impact how much influence you get, so keep an eye on them and what they want.  Of course, what your factions want may not match your goals. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 06, 2021, 11:30:06 AM
I am here to report that after all of the chatter you guys have had going about Stellaris, that I have purchased neither the base game nor any DLCs. Instead, I plan to live vicariously through the rest of you gullible bastards ;D
That's the most sensible thing I've read on these boards in a long time
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 06, 2021, 11:32:58 AM
Does Stellaris suffer from one of the most common 4x problems: having someone else's starting location be right next to you?
I should point out that I didn't mess with the settings too much and whilst I'm on a huge map, I think I did allow for 15 factions...so things were probably going to get tight quick.

I didn't know the best settings for them...so I didn't change much. I didn't want an empty map but also wanted a challenge...I don't think my settings allowed for that medium  ;D
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on February 06, 2021, 11:50:26 AM
I am here to report that after all of the chatter you guys have had going about Stellaris, that I have purchased neither the base game nor any DLCs. Instead, I plan to live vicariously through the rest of you gullible bastards ;D

That's like saying you watch porn, therefore you have a sex life.

I'd rather play games than watch other people have all of the fun. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bayonetbrant on February 06, 2021, 12:39:06 PM
I'd rather play games than watch other people have all of the fun.

I have The White Tribe on the table right now, and a Civ V campaign as the Dutch that I'm playing thru at the desk at work

I just don't need another 4x addiction
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on February 06, 2021, 12:55:52 PM
Does Stellaris suffer from one of the most common 4x problems: having someone else's starting location be right next to you?

If I remember correctly, there is a setting for when setting up a game that keeps them further away.  Of course, the size of your galaxy and number of AI players can impact that

Cool. I guess I need to fire this up again, thanks!  :bigthumb:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on February 06, 2021, 12:56:49 PM
I'd rather play games than watch other people have all of the fun.

I have The White Tribe on the table right now, and a Civ V campaign as the Dutch that I'm playing thru at the desk at work

I just don't need another 4x addiction

(https://www.aarcentral.com/pics/screami.jpg)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on February 06, 2021, 01:20:23 PM
 >:D
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on February 06, 2021, 01:22:00 PM
 :o
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on February 06, 2021, 01:37:12 PM
Martok I'll be sending you a bill, I now own Stellaris and the Utopia DLC thanks to your advice ......    :nerd:


While I wait for the download and a chance to dive in to the game do you have any recommend resources I should read to help get my feet wet?

Ha, you're welcome.  :biggrin: 



As far as guides go, PCGamesN just put out this one (https://www.pcgamesn.com/stellaris/guide-tips-beginners) a couple weeks ago.  I skimmed through the article, and it looks pretty good. 



Otherwise, ASpec (who's a noted Stellaris "super-fan) put together a couple excellent videos covering the basics to get people started.  They technically only cover version 2.7 (the videos are from last year), but otherwise are still relevant. 





Thanks!!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Yskonyn on February 06, 2021, 03:54:58 PM
>:D

Easy. Nuke 'em!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on February 06, 2021, 05:45:42 PM
When you discover your neighbours are dicks   :waiting:
Neighbours are always dicks in Stellaris
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on February 06, 2021, 05:47:00 PM
Does Stellaris suffer from one of the most common 4x problems: having someone else's starting location be right nex t to you?
Mostly from cheating AI
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 06, 2021, 07:31:46 PM
When you discover your neighbours are dicks   :waiting:
Neighbours are always dicks in Stellaris

My solution (that I inadvertently stumbled across):  After creating my custom empires (that I like to play as), select the option to force-spawn them in future games.  Doing this improves the odds of meeting empires who are friendly to me, whilst simultaneously lowering the odds of encountering empires who are dicks.  8) 




I do believe that's why i always gave up...never finding myself in a decent defensive position and getting royally  f***ed

I do believe Martok might have a point though because I do tend to expand when my fleet is 20 strong and only with a combat strength of 750 or so

I'm currently surrounded by factions who have closed their borders and really don't seem like they're looking for a new friend...so I might be starting a new game soon

You're probably already doing this, but as much as possible, make sure to annex & secure "chokepoint" systems near your neighbors (whether they're friendly or not).  Then build/upgrade your starbases in these border/chokepoint systems, so that any enemy fleets will have to take out these defensive bastions before moving deeper into your territory. 

On a related note, I believe that starbases (but not outposts) count towards your fleet strength.  So spending the alloys to build/upgrade then when & where practical  should help inflate an empire's assessment of your military power. 




I should point out that I didn't need with the settings too much and whilst I'm on a huge map, I think I did slow for 15 factions...so things were probably going to get tight quick.

I didn't know the best settings for them...so I didn't change much. I didn't want an empty map but also wanted a challenge...I don't think my settings allowed for that medium  ;D

Heh.  Yeah, it can be tricky finding the right balance between "not too boring" and "not too tough".  I personally play with around 20 standard empires, 3 marauder empires, and all 5 fallen empires (in a max-sized galaxy), but even that can feel a tad crowded at times.  Much depends on what kind of mood the RN-Jesus is in...  :P 

When starting a new game, something that's worth double-checking is that you have "Advanced AI Starts" turned all the way to 0/off, and "Advanced Neighbors" set to off as well.  Adjusting down the number of Marauder Empires can also help, although bear in mind that the mid-game crisis ("The Great Khan") cannot spawn unless there's at least one of them. 



Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 06, 2021, 07:44:13 PM
I just don't need another 4x addiction

Sure, you just keep telling yourself that...  :hehe: 




Does Stellaris suffer from one of the most common 4x problems: having someone else's starting location be right next to you?

If I remember correctly, there is a setting for when setting up a game that keeps them further away.  Of course, the size of your galaxy and number of AI players can impact that

Cool. I guess I need to fire this up again, thanks!  :bigthumb:

If you find you're still having issues with other empires being too close to you, bbmike, I recommend the No Clustered Starts mod (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=687226658&searchtext=start+position).  I use an older version for playing Stellaris v2.1, and it works quite well.  :) 




>:D

Whoa!  Definitely have not come across that one yet.  :o  Is this from the vanilla game? 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 07, 2021, 03:51:40 AM
Damn...they really don't like me

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 07, 2021, 04:13:31 AM
Also - how come my fleet is limited to 24 (was 20 but I had extra for research) because of pop but the "enemy" factions are far superior with a similar pop?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 07, 2021, 07:25:03 AM
My universe - all mine muuuuaaahahahaha
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 07, 2021, 07:28:35 AM
Then again....
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on February 07, 2021, 09:23:27 AM
>:D

Easy. Nuke 'em!

The problem is that this is next to my home system and would take out 3 of my biggest systems. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 07, 2021, 09:48:08 AM
All right, there's a fair bit to unpack here.  :peace:  Taking this one-by-one... 




Damn...they really don't like me

That's definitely true of at least two of them (the Jurinn and Kaan-Visam), yes.  It also appears your relations with the Vissari are nearing a tipping point, although possibly not beyond repair just yet. 

Your relations with the other three (Bryll, Hissma, & Triech), however, aren't actually horrible.  No, they're not great, obviously, but if your relations are higher than -50, then the situation is definitely still salvagable with them (though maybe not easy). 

It will take some effort, however, including a bit of...generosity on your part.  Giving gifts (energy credits, minerals, favors, etc.) are a necessary part of making friends in Stellaris.  In addition, it's generally best to start giving gifts as soon you make contact with someone (if you can afford it), before relations have a chance to begin degrading.  While that's obviously not possible with the folks you've already met, it's good to keep in mind for the future. 




Also - how come my fleet is limited to 24 (was 20 but I had extra for research) because of pop but the "enemy" factions are far superior with a similar pop?

Setting aside the possibility of AI cheating (I suspect there might be a bit of that going on), naval capacity is mainly determined by a combination of numerous factors: civics, technologies, traditions, certain job types, etc.  In this case, all it would really take would be for the other nations to have researched the first technology that increases naval cap (which is entirely possible -- it usually shows up in the first several decades); that alone would probably be enough. 




My universe - all mine muuuuaaahahahaha

Then again....


Looking at the first screenshot, I notice a number of things (that could make a sizeable difference): 


1,)  At the moment, you're a fair ways behind the others in expanding your territory.  You need more star systems -- both for the resources, and for new planets to colonize. 

2.)  To do this, you of course need alloys (for building Outposts), which you currently have very little of.  However, you have plenty of minerals and food.  Sell some of them (one or a bit of both) on the Galactic Market so that you can purchase more alloys...and then send your constructor ships a-building! 

3.)  When you have vessels that are idle (such are your 2 fleets and the 1 construction ship) and don't plan to use them in the immediate/very near future, dock them at the nearest Starbase with a Crew Quarters module.  This will cut down their maintenance costs and save you a little bit on energy credits. 

4.)  I see your science ships (and their Scientists) are sitting around idle.  They should always be busy, especially in the early game!  Keep them surveying systems, researching anomalies, etc.  I would also recommend building a third science ship (once you've purchased more alloys), as that's going to help a lot with getting those systems surveyed more quickly. 

5.)  You have a lot of influence just sitting there, unused.  Hopefully you'll be able to start quickly spending some of that for building Outposts in new systems, but it might worth checking (if you haven't already) to see if there's any available Edicts that might be useful in helping you get things kickstarted/caught back up.  (If there's one that improves alloy production or research, that would be especially nice.) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 07, 2021, 11:35:45 AM
All right, there's a fair bit to unpack here.  :peace:  Taking this one-by-one... 

Damn...they really don't like me

That's definitely true of at least two of them (the Jurinn and Kaan-Visam), yes.  It also appears your relations with the Vissari are nearing a tipping point, although possibly not beyond repair just yet. 

Your relations with the other three (Bryll, Hissma, & Triech), however, aren't actually horrible.  No, they're not great, obviously, but if your relations are higher than -50, then the situation is definitely still salvagable with them (though maybe not easy). 

It will take some effort, however, including a bit of...generosity on your part.  Giving gifts (energy credits, minerals, favors, etc.) are a necessary part of making friends in Stellaris.  In addition, it's generally best to start giving gifts as soon you make contact with someone (if you can afford it), before relations have a chance to begin degrading.  While that's obviously not possible with the folks you've already met, it's good to keep in mind for the future. 
I have started to offer items to garner favour - and my relationships are heading upwards. I've only got 1 envoy - can I not have another or do I have to look at the Diplomacy Traditions?


Also - how come my fleet is limited to 24 (was 20 but I had extra for research) because of pop but the "enemy" factions are far superior with a similar pop?

Setting aside the possibility of AI cheating (I suspect there might be a bit of that going on), naval capacity is mainly determined by a combination of numerous factors: civics, technologies, traditions, certain job types, etc.  In this case, all it would really take would be for the other nations to have researched the first technology that increases naval cap (which is entirely possible -- it usually shows up in the first several decades); that alone would probably be enough. 
I really haven't seen anything show up to allow me to increase my fleet size. I used a tradition to up it by 20%


My universe - all mine muuuuaaahahahaha

Then again....


Looking at the first screenshot, I notice a number of things (that could make a sizeable difference): 


1,)  At the moment, you're a fair ways behind the others in expanding your territory.  You need more star systems -- both for the resources, and for new planets to colonize. 
I am actually boxed in. Apart from the small portion over on the left, I cannot expand. I am stuck.

2.)  To do this, you of course need alloys (for building Outposts), which you currently have very little of.  However, you have plenty of minerals and food.  Sell some of them (one or a bit of both) on the Galactic Market so that you can purchase more alloys...and then send your constructor ships a-building! 
I have been selling resources to buy alloys

3.)  When you have vessels that are idle (such are your 2 fleets and the 1 construction ship) and don't plan to use them in the immediate/very near future, dock them at the nearest Starbase with a Crew Quarters module.  This will cut down their maintenance costs and save you a little bit on energy credits. 
I didn't know this - thanks.

4.)  I see your science ships (and their Scientists) are sitting around idle.  They should always be busy, especially in the early game!  Keep them surveying systems, researching anomalies, etc.  I would also recommend building a third science ship (once you've purchased more alloys), as that's going to help a lot with getting those systems surveyed more quickly. 
Got them going again - but I have now run out of places to scan. I am stuck where I am.

5.)  You have a lot of influence just sitting there, unused.  Hopefully you'll be able to start quickly spending some of that for building Outposts in new systems, but it might worth checking (if you haven't already) to see if there's any available Edicts that might be useful in helping you get things kickstarted/caught back up.  (If there's one that improves alloy production or research, that would be especially nice.)
No edicts to improve alloy production...only Fortify the border, Information Quarantine and Veneration of Saints


Thanks Martok - some good tips there but I am doing most of them - but these will definitely help others.

One thing that stumps me is my location. I really don't have anywhere to expand to short of the small area to the west...but that leads nowhere so I am genuinely boxed in. It could be game over for me I guess because  other factions are going to get stronger.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 07, 2021, 04:58:53 PM
Me - stuck...nowhere to expand with a pathetic little fleet  ::)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 07, 2021, 09:12:03 PM
Well s***, JD; I think you might have just gotten stuck with a bad starting position.  :-\  And this was with only 15 other empires in a 1000-star galaxy? 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 08, 2021, 04:24:59 AM
Well s***, JD; I think you might have just gotten stuck with a bad starting position.  :-\  And this was with only 15 other empires in a 1000-star galaxy?
Yep. I'm not too fussed... I'm sure it can happen but it kind of does mean my game is pooped...everyone around me is going to get stronger.

Am gonnae pick a fight
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 08, 2021, 07:30:51 AM
Ha, the classic "go big, or go home" strategy.  :bigthumb:  Good luck! 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on February 08, 2021, 08:37:39 PM
Reading through a few guides and watching the guides Martok recommended and I'm really getting into this game but realized I need to start a new game as I've made some noob mistakes that will hurt as I get closer to the mid game. But for now I'm going to use this failed game to just mess around and learn the systems and pull some levels and push buttons to see what happens :)


Also, after watching the ASpec videos for noobs I find it interesting how he categorized players of Stellaris as either Min/Maxers or Roleplayers in their approach to the game.  How woudl y'all say you approach the game?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on February 08, 2021, 08:44:20 PM
I am definitely a role player. Same for Civ games. Never had the patients to be a min/maxer.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Yskonyn on February 09, 2021, 03:15:23 AM
I am definitely a role player. Same for Civ games. Never had the patients to be a min/maxer.

I usually watch a few guides to get a sense of general effecient play, but then go my own way. I don’t care for min/max to the extreme and prefer just going with a theme instead, but I do keep in mind that I always want to play efficiently. So, in short, somewhere in between.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on February 09, 2021, 03:33:22 AM
Unfortunately, I don't get any immersion at all when playing Stellaris (it's like playing a good looking Excel sheet), so no role-playing for me. I try to maximise my game but i usually fail as the AI seems to always have higher caps for it's fleets. I really dislike games where the AI is cheating on normal setting.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 09, 2021, 04:03:18 AM
Reading through a few guides and watching the guides Martok recommended and I'm really getting into this game but realized I need to start a new game as I've made some noob mistakes that will hurt as I get closer to the mid game. But for now I'm going to use this failed game to just mess around and learn the systems and pull some levels and push buttons to see what happens :)

That's always what I've done when learning a new game as well.  I often find those can be the most fun.  :) 



Also, after watching the ASpec videos for noobs I find it interesting how he categorized players of Stellaris as either Min/Maxers or Roleplayers in their approach to the game.  How woudl y'all say you approach the game?

I'm definitely more of a role-player.  I mean, I'm still trying to win, of course (or at least become successful in-game), but I'm not so ruthless about the process that I allow it to ruin my sense of immersion. 




Unfortunately, I don't get any immersion at all when playing Stellaris (it's like playing a good looking Excel sheet), so no role-playing for me. I try to maximise my game but i usually fail as the AI seems to always have higher caps for it's fleets. I really dislike games where the AI is cheating on normal setting.

Yeah, I don't like it when the AI cheats on normal difficulty settings, either.  What bothers me even more, though, is when the AI is so obvious about it. 

If the AI needs to cheat in some fashion in order to keep up, then fine.  (I mean, it's not *really* "fine", but we all know that in most games it's unavoidable, even if we don't like it.)  But when a game doesn't even bother to hide the fact that the AI is cheating -- when it's blatantly obvious that it's doing so -- then the game has failed in a major way, as that damages (if not outright destroys) a player's sense of immersion. 


I've been fortunate in that while playing v2.1, I've not really noticed much blatant AI cheating.  It's going to be interesting, however, to see whether I still find that to be the case when I move to v2.9 (once the update drops). 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 09, 2021, 05:39:23 PM
Well - I did pick a fight - with someone who was "equivalent" to me in all 3 categories.

They seem to be creating ships at a vast rate. At first, I took on a fleet of about 400 power. Then they sent a fleet of 800 power. Now I see two fleets of 800 power each in a neighbouring system.

It's all I can do to keep battling these off and repairing/rebuilding before another 800 show up.

Honestly - if there's no cheating going on there, I'd be very surprised.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 10, 2021, 06:19:23 AM
I suspect you're right, unfortunately. 

It's long been known the AI (even on Normal/Ensign difficulty) only has to pay half the maintenance costs in energy credits for its ships, but I've honestly never noticed them being able to rebuild their fleet as quickly as you've described.  I'm curious as to whether I've simply been oblivious to this the entire time, or if it was something changed/added in v2.2 or later. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 10, 2021, 10:24:43 AM
I don't actually know how much they had in the way of fleets...but I had 24 ships with a power of around 1k and they were "marked" in the Factions window (or whatever it's called) as having a similar force...now I'm just sucking up wave after wave of 800 power fleets.

Though - there does seem to be a small window of calm...maybe I've got them by the short and curlies?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 10, 2021, 12:49:35 PM
Though - there does seem to be a small window of calm...maybe I've got them by the short and curlies?

Heh.  Odds are you do, actually. 

They're probably running low on alloys, thus slowing down their ship production.  Even with whatever cheats/bonus it gets, the AI still doesn't have infinite resources.  So keep holding on...and twist.  >:D 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 11, 2021, 10:02:30 AM
...And I no longer have any interest in the Nemesis DLC. 

*If* you get elected as the Galactic Custodian, you just get access to some extra diplomatic options in the Galactic Community.  So much for my vainglorious dreams of becoming the galaxy's great defender.  :( 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-200-the-custodian.1456176/


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on February 11, 2021, 10:46:56 AM
Oooh, now I have more interest in the Nemesis DLC!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on February 11, 2021, 02:26:20 PM
Who needs the galactic community.  Bunch of whinny wimps.  In my current game I ignore them the war in heaven, and now the end game Scourge has shown up.  I'm expanding my fleets and continue to terraform molten, barren planets and gas giants and colonizing them.  While the other pathetic races war among themselves I will soon release my fleets against them.  Mercy will come at the end of a rifle for those week races. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on February 11, 2021, 08:53:13 PM
^ They have it coming.

(https://images.amcnetworks.com/bbcamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/invasion.jpg)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on February 11, 2021, 10:29:20 PM
Who needs the galactic community.  Bunch of whinny wimps.  In my current game I ignore them the war in heaven, and now the end game Scourge has shown up.  I'm expanding my fleets and continue to terraform molten, barren planets and gas giants and colonizing them.  While the other pathetic races war among themselves I will soon release my fleets against them.  Mercy will come at the end of a rifle for those week races.

One day I'll get there. In my first ever game I'm having trouble just dealing w/ space pirates  :pirate:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 11, 2021, 11:25:21 PM
In my first ever game I'm having trouble just dealing w/ space pirates  :pirate:

I usually just send Bubbles to take care of them.  :biggrin: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on February 12, 2021, 03:07:14 PM
And now there's gonna be a boardgame version!  :rockon:
Made by Academy Games no less!!  :bigthumb:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/281647/stellaris-infinite-legacy#

2022!

 :D

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on February 12, 2021, 08:45:20 PM
In my first ever game I'm having trouble just dealing w/ space pirates  :pirate:

I usually just send Bubbles to take care of them.  :biggrin:

Should I look that up or is it a spoiler
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: judgedredd on February 13, 2021, 02:06:51 AM
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 13, 2021, 02:25:18 AM
And now there's gonna be a boardgame version!  :rockon:
Made by Academy Games no less!!  :bigthumb:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/281647/stellaris-infinite-legacy#

2022!

 :D

Nice!  I wasn't sure this was even still in development.  Definitely one to keep an eye on. 




Should I look that up or is it a spoiler

It's only a minor spoiler, but I won't ruin the surprise since you're still just getting into the game for the first time.  For now, I'll only say it's related to an anomaly that players generally encounter early on in their games (usually the first 20 years or so).  You'll know it when you've encountered it, I promise.  :) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on February 13, 2021, 11:54:59 AM
And now there's gonna be a boardgame version!  :rockon:
Made by Academy Games no less!!  :bigthumb:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/281647/stellaris-infinite-legacy#

2022!

 :D

Nice!  I wasn't sure this was even still in development.  Definitely one to keep an eye on. 




Should I look that up or is it a spoiler

It's only a minor spoiler, but I won't ruin the surprise since you're still just getting into the game for the first time.  For now, I'll only say it's related to an anomaly that players generally encounter early on in their games (usually the first 20 years or so).  You'll know it when you've encountered it, I promise.  :)

Base game or DLC?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 13, 2021, 01:05:17 PM
Argh, my bad.  It's part of the (most excellent) Distant Stars DLC.  It's been so long, I don't even remember what's in the base game anymore.  :-[  Sorry, man. 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on February 13, 2021, 02:51:31 PM
Argh, my bad.  It's part of the (most excellent) Distant Stars DLC.  It's been so long, I don't even remember what's in the base game anymore.  :-[  Sorry, man.

Its all good. I may have to pick that one up as I'm enjoying the game so far.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 14, 2021, 05:40:01 AM
I highly recommend Distant Stars (I rank it as an "A"-tier DLC), especially if you enjoy the game's exploration phase. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on February 14, 2021, 02:23:28 PM
I highly recommend Distant Stars (I rank it as an "A"-tier DLC), especially if you enjoy the game's exploration phase.

I'll add it to your tab  :D
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 14, 2021, 07:39:32 PM
This is going to be one hell of a check when it comes due.  :P 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 18, 2021, 03:03:25 PM
Dev Diary #201 is here (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-201-galactic-imperium.1457502/).  It's an interesting read. 


I will admit, this makes becoming the Galactic Custodian potentially more compelling.  Still not as cool as becoming the Crisis, though! 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on February 18, 2021, 08:29:56 PM
I've started and abort a few games now and I'm really enjoying the early game exploration and challenge of getting my empire up and running.  I'm learning alot and failing alot but its all be fun!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 19, 2021, 01:25:27 AM
Glad you're enjoying it! 

Yeah, the trying/failing/learning process ia always part of why I enjoy Stellaris.  For all the hours I've put into this game, I'm still always discovering that there's more to learn.  :) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on February 20, 2021, 11:11:23 PM
So I discovered what a Scavenger Bot was at the cost of the one of my science ships today.  Of course it was my best scientist :)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 21, 2021, 02:15:40 AM
So I discovered what a Scavenger Bot was at the cost of the one of my science ships today.  Of course it was my best scientist :)

Oh, but of course! 

I tend to research the first scanner technology (Gravitic Sensors?) fairly early on, just so my scientists can avoid stumbling into unpleasant surprises like that one.  :whistle: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 10, 2021, 10:11:58 PM
I'm calling it now:  Nemesis -- and more importantly, the 2.9 update -- releases March 25. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 11, 2021, 01:38:46 PM
...Although I suppose March 23 would make sense as well.  They've released on Tuesdays before.  :dunno: 


Either way, though, it has to be soon:  Today's dev diary was about Scripting Language and Moddability Improvements (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-204-scripting-language-and-moddability-improvements.1461327/).  If that's not scraping the bottom of the barrel of things to talk about, then I don't know what is.  (Yes, obviously modding is important, but for most players, the discussion is fairly incomprehensible.)  :P 


It's perhaps worth noting that there's a Paradox "insider's" event this weekend, during which the release date will apparently be announced.  So we may know at least a little more come Monday. 



Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 13, 2021, 05:34:32 PM
Apparently, Paradox's definition of "soon" is a month from now -- April 15, to be precise. 





Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find me some crow for dinner... 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on March 13, 2021, 07:06:12 PM
Tax day!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 14, 2021, 01:19:26 AM
I'm sure it's just a coincidence.  :whistle: 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on March 15, 2021, 06:40:19 AM
Not sure if i will notice the difference if i buy the DLC...

I hate it that they have such fantastic videos for the DLCs but there's nothing once you're in the game.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 15, 2021, 06:30:34 PM
Would you prefer the features from a new DLC be highlighted/pointed out every time you fired up the game instead?  I imagine that would get old pretty quickly. 


Sorry, not sure I'm following your meaning. 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on March 15, 2021, 07:09:55 PM
Would you prefer the features from a new DLC be highlighted/pointed out every time you fired up the game instead?  I imagine that would get old pretty quickly. 


Sorry, not sure I'm following your meaning.
What i mean is that I've been buying dlcs for this game and i barely see the difference with the base game. It gets just a little better but a lot more expensive. If they could at least include the cinematics in the game.

Maybe i am a fool but i expect a little more from a 240 USD game...
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 15, 2021, 07:41:54 PM
What i mean is that I've been buying dlcs for this game and i barely see the difference with the base game. It gets just a little better but a lot more expensive. If they could at least include the cinematics in the game.

Maybe i am a fool but i expect a little more from a 240 USD game...

Ah, I gotcha.  Yes, I agree. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on March 16, 2021, 06:18:14 AM
Are you getting the DLC? I am curious to hear how the spy system is.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 17, 2021, 12:29:52 AM
Are you getting the DLC? I am curious to hear how the spy system is.

The spy/intel system is part of the free 2.9 update, so you'll get to play around with it even if you don't grab the DLC. 


Whether or not I pick up Nemesis depends largely on whether 2.9 finally the brings the game to a playable state. 

If the update actually improves colony management to the point where it's tolerable (meaning I can actually enjoy the rest of the game), then I'll probably purchase the DLC.  If I end up still having to deal with the same colony micromanagement nightmare bullshit as before, however, then I'll return to playing v2.1, and not look back. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on March 17, 2021, 03:59:42 AM
Are you getting the DLC? I am curious to hear how the spy system is.

The spy/intel system is part of the free 2.9 update, so you'll get to play around with it even if you don't grab the DLC. 
Really? So what is in the DLC really to make it worth 20$? I guess the main events come very late in game (which i almost never reach), so i don't know if it's worth it.

Cheers
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 17, 2021, 08:44:41 PM
So what is in the DLC really to make it worth 20$?

As far as I'm concerned, not a damned thing.  :P 

I typically refuse to pay full price for DLC, and that goes doubly so for Paradox DLC.  Even if I do get Nemesis, it won't be until well after release when it's on sale. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on March 17, 2021, 09:38:25 PM
Green Man Gaming has it for 15% off....  ;)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on March 17, 2021, 10:46:40 PM
So what is in the DLC really to make it worth 20$?

As far as I'm concerned, not a damned thing.  :P 

I typically refuse to pay full price for DLC, and that goes doubly so for Paradox DLC.  Even if I do get Nemesis, it won't be until well after release when it's on sale.

16% off at Green Man Gaming   :whistle:

https://www.greenmangaming.com/games/stellaris-nemesis-pc/?utm_source=Selligent&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2021-03-17_BI-2578_Stellaris_DLC_S1&utm_content=BI-2578_S1&utm_term=game-hero-block-image-_37105
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 18, 2021, 01:15:10 AM
Fellas, fellas...  I mean *actual* sale prices, as in 50% off or better.  I appreciate the effort, though.  ;) 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on March 18, 2021, 10:00:24 PM
Christmas is only about 9 months away. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 21, 2021, 09:21:53 PM
Hope you're ready for Dick! 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-205-announcing-the-3-0-dick-update.1462688/


Quote
We’re happy to announce that Nemesis will release together with the 3.0 ‘Dick’ Update on April 15th! The update is of course named after author Philip K. Dick, famous for works which inspired, among other things, movies like Blade Runner and Total Recall (which also happens to be one of my favorite movies!).

Why 3.0?
We felt that the changes introduced with the new Intel system and the reworked First Contact system has enough impact on how different the game feels to warrant the change. Early- and mid game feel quite different now, in a very positive manner. Alien empires feel so much more mysterious, and charting the entire galaxy is no longer so easy. Changes like the pop growth system and the addition of industrial districts also felt impactful enough to want us to make the change.

Going forwards, we’re also gearing up to be able to be a bit more agile and deliver updates to the game a bit more frequently. I don’t want to make any grand promises quite yet, but 2021 is looking to be a very good year for Stellaris!

3.0 ‘Dick’ Features:

    New Intel system
    Reworked First Contact
    Reworked Pop Growth
    New Industrial Districts & some changes to production of Alloys/Consumer Goods
    New Espionage system & Gather Intelligence Operation (other Operations will be a part of Nemesis)
    Numerous bug fixes & improvements





The dev diary goes on to add that the intel/espionage system(s) have been simplified somewhat, compared to their initial versions in the earlier dev diaries.  Part of me regrets that, but I can seen the necessity of it.  Trying to keep track of multiple parallel intel operations inside of another empire would probably cause far more headaches than it would be worth. 


The more frequent updates bit sounds good too, but I'll believe that when I see it. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bayonetbrant on March 21, 2021, 09:51:40 PM
I just want the Dick expansion to include The Wub
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 22, 2021, 04:16:14 AM
I don't think it's that kind of expansion.  :whistle: 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bayonetbrant on March 22, 2021, 06:56:54 AM
I don't think it's that kind of expansion.  :whistle:

WTF were you thinking about?!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Lies_the_Wub
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on March 22, 2021, 08:03:44 AM
 :2funny:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on March 22, 2021, 12:15:01 PM
 :whistle:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 22, 2021, 05:50:53 PM
WTF were you thinking about?!

The same thing as you, I'm sure.  :P 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 06, 2021, 11:46:14 PM
Feature breakdown for the 3.0 update: 







it really does look like a solid list of changes & improvements.  If even half of them are as good as are being touted, the update will be a major success. 

For myself, I just want colony & sector management to stop massively sucking.  If the update accomplishes nothing else, I'll be ecstatic. 



(Pleasebegood, pleasebegood, pleasebegood, pleasebegood...!) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on April 07, 2021, 11:15:52 AM
I think I'm waiting to get back into this game until this update drops.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on April 07, 2021, 11:30:02 AM
Yep, might even have to buy the DLC that comes with it.   :bigthumb:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on April 07, 2021, 12:00:25 PM
And also the board game?  :whistle:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on April 07, 2021, 12:35:30 PM
And also the board game?  :whistle:

 :hehe:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on April 07, 2021, 12:39:48 PM
And also the board game?  :whistle:

Nope, that's why I can splurge on the DLC.  8)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 07, 2021, 03:59:10 PM
Well, here I go again:  I've updated to v2.8 once more.  Not that I'm particularly eager to, but I figure it would be good to (re)familiarize myself with the current version before all the new changes & features are added next week.  Wish me luck! 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 07, 2021, 05:28:37 PM
Holy crap.  :o 



Quote
Here is Programmer/Content Designer Pierre, next to the Stellaris 3.0 Patch Notes.


(https://i.imgur.com/qcPQFOd.jpg)


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on April 07, 2021, 05:32:10 PM
Look at all of those potential bugs!  :o
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 07, 2021, 06:46:24 PM
Look at all of those potential bugs!  :o

FTFY  ;) 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on April 07, 2021, 11:11:18 PM
Look at all of those potential bugs!  :o

FTFY  ;);
:whistle:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 08, 2021, 01:11:35 AM
Anguille!  How the hell have you been? 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on April 08, 2021, 08:37:27 AM
I'm actually kinda excited reading the First Contact protocols and limited intel when meeting a new species. Interesting ideas for certain.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on April 08, 2021, 09:19:24 AM
Anguille!  How the hell have you been?
I am ok, thanks. Was very busy for a while. Will launch a new campaign when the patch is done.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 08, 2021, 02:44:53 PM
I'm actually kinda excited reading the First Contact protocols and limited intel when meeting a new species. Interesting ideas for certain.

Agreed!  I'm curious, if not eager, to see how that changes the game.  I suspect that overall, it will be for the better. 




Anguille!  How the hell have you been?
I am ok, thanks. Was very busy for a while. Will launch a new campaign when the patch is done.

Glad to have you back, man.  I'll be doing the same when 3.0 comes out next week; we can compare notes.  ;) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 08, 2021, 03:02:17 PM
And speaking of notes... 



https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-208-nemesis-patch-notes.1466104/

(https://i.imgur.com/LAnQPEE.png)


The changes listed above are the highlights, of course, but there's a ton more at the link. 

I'm still reading through the list, but one of the more interesting things I've noted so far is that it appears a lot of work has been done regarding AI and automation; hopefully that means sectors will suck less than they have.  There's also some nice QoL improvements, like the ability to auto-research, and being able to use Tab/Shift+Tab to cycle through viewed planets. 




Also:  A breakdown of the features coming in the Nemesis DLC itself...  8) 





Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on April 08, 2021, 03:16:05 PM
There are some cool ideas in Nemesis! Becoming the End Game Crisis could be fun. But becoming the Custodian of the Galaxy and then changing that into Emperor of the Galactic Imperium sounds even cooler. Especially with the possibility of rebellions!   :D

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 08, 2021, 09:00:01 PM
A few more patch notes that caught my attention: 

Quote

* Added game setup option to pick which End-Game Crisis you get.

* * The Establish Embassy diplomatic action exists once again, and increases Intel between the two empires and triples the effectiveness of Improve Relations.

* * Rural, Farming, Mining, and Generator colony designation bonuses increased, as well as the bonuses from Five Year Plans. Urban Worlds now get a trade bonus.

* * Mining, Capacity, and Farming Subsidy Edicts now grant +50% production.

* Outposts and other starbases now grant 1 sensor range. (Occupying starbases during a war will therefore allow you to attack adjacent systems if you have visibility into them. You may need a science vessel to escort military vessels into nebulas the first time!).

* The hyperlane detection range of sensors and science ships has been reduced. The Map the Stars edict now also increases hyperlane detection range by 1.

* Can now sort and reorder planets in the outliner.




And as always, there are some that made me chuckle and/or roll my eyes... 

Quote

* * The Shattered Ring origin is no longer guaranteed nearby habitable planets. They wouldn't want to live on them anyway.

* Necrophages now have an assembly speed penalty so you can't just build them out of spare body parts, as cool as that is.

* Purifier, Terminator and Devourer player empires will no longer be invited into the Non-Aligned League. Those guys are too dangerous to be trusted, even if the fate of the galaxy depends on it!

* Galactic Storms may now no longer be called "Storm Stalk of", instead they will be called the rather more menacing "Storm Stalk"

* Curator stations will no longer pretend not to understand you and actually pick up when you bother them on the galactic map.

* Uplift button now works instead of just giving you the sad button noise.

* Fixed cases where the auto ship upgrader was a bit overzealous in protecting the player and to a lesser degree the AI from deficits.

* Primitives no longer prefer hard labor in the fields to cushy specialist jobs.

* We now no longer try to resuscitate the Great Khan twice after he gets blown up once.






There are some cool ideas in Nemesis! Becoming the End Game Crisis could be fun. But becoming the Custodian of the Galaxy and then changing that into Emperor of the Galactic Imperium sounds even cooler. Especially with the possibility of rebellions!   :D



Yeah, playing as the Custodian/Imperium sounds more appealing to me as well.  I'll admit I was not at all impressed with the Custodian's perks when they were first revealed, but the ability to transition from Custodian to Emperor is an intriguing one. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 09, 2021, 01:49:28 AM
Oh lord...  :2funny: 


Stellaris Big "Dick" 3.0 Patch Notes: What They Actually Mean 

[Warning!  NSFW (language}] 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Stellaris/comments/mn2igw/stellaris_big_dick_30_patch_notes_what_they/


Spoiler: ShowHide
Quote


"We're named this patch after one of the most renowned Science-Fiction authors, Philip K. Dick, and for no other reasons. We understand no one is buying that, but PR is making us say it anyway."


Nemesis Expansion Features

    Send your gibbering, fungal blob-things into enemy empires wearing those novelty glasses with the nose and mustache on them to sabotage your enemies. No one's going to suspect anything. Just act natural and tell them the slime trail is because you have a skin condition.

    Literally just, blow up the fuckin' galaxy because, I dunno, we live in a society or something. We've given up trying to figure out why you want these features and we're not going to ask about what you're doing with them.

    Did you ever hear the tragedy of Emperor Sumon un-Ret The Wise? I thought not. It’s not a story the Galactic Council would tell you. It’s a Necroid legend. Sumon was an Emperor of the Korr Hegemony, so powerful and so wise he could manipulate the price of alloys on the galactic market to cheese all kinds of achievements. He had such a knowledge of the ship designer meta that he could even keep multiplayer from ever being fun for anyone else in the group. The subreddit is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be... kinda bs. He became so powerful… the only thing he was afraid of was his mom telling him he couldn't play Stellaris until he fixed his grades. Which eventually, of course, she did. Unfortunately, he taught his younger sister everything he knew, including his windows password. Ironic. He could give others the power to wipe your entire species out with planet crackers just for the lulz, but not himself.

    Added K-mart star destroyers


3.0.0 Free "Dick" Features

    Analysts are already saying this is the most free Dick you can get online outside of being a girl with a twitter account.

    Your starfleet officers should no longer go around launching capsules full of detailed information on your physiology, society, territorial extent, government, and military capabilities at every random ship they pass.

    We totally redid how buildings work, again, so you're going to have to relearn the game, again. What do you expect at this point, though? Are you new here?

    Several Technologies have been flagged as “Infrastructure” gateway technologies. We have our top researchers engaged trying to figure out what the hell that means, my lord.

    It's now possible to produce the good metal and ipods within your actual city districts, instead of forcing all global manufacturing on a planet of billions to take place in a single building on the outskirts of your population centers.

    Due to a union dispute, you can no longer build a Factory and a Forge on the same planet.

    Planets now have a carrying capacity, which models the fact that at a certain point of overpopulation people stop having so many babies because the air outside tastes like batteries, dating apps are literally hell, it's easier to just buy a dakimakura.

    Reduced the sex drive of all pops in very large empires to make the late game actually playable on PCs that haven't been enhanced with Fallen Empire technology.

    Fresh colony worlds will now have increased stability, amenities, and happiness as the people enjoy their short-lived freedom, space whiskey, and space prostitution until the space railroad barons and the volatile mote speculators move in and kill all the old, rugged frontier heroes in a big tragic gunfight or something, signaling the end of a romantic era that will be commemorated in melodramatic holofilms for generations to come.

    Spawning Pools now properly spawn pops on their own instead of just serving as a convenient hook-up spot for your drones.

    The level of overpopulation required for your pops to give up and buy a dakimakura has been reduced.

    Reworked the manual resettlement UI to make it more or less usable.

    Added a quality of life feature where you can tell your scientists to just work on whatever sounds neat to them.

    Empires will now be required to submit a letter of resignation or introduce themselves and give one cool fact about them when leaving/joining the Galactic Community.

    You can now choose the form of the destructor.

    Added a setting to turn off edge scrolling, fucking finally.

    New factions-themed colony event chain, “Manifest Destiny”, so you can call upon the propaganda of your pre-interstellar past to explain how chasing the xenos out of their ancient homelands so you can build a Wal Mart is good, actually.


Balance

    Homeworlds will on average be about 10% thicccer

    Unemployed pops now have a 10% chance every month to migrate to a better, eligible planet if there is one. The remaining 90% will just buy more dakimakuras and ask mom when dinner will be ready.

    Pops in empires with the Greater Than Ourselves civic will be more likely to be kicked out of the house and told to go find a job on the frontier.

    Having a Transit Hub on your starbase will increase the chances that local pops will be kicked out of the house because they don't even have the excuse that they can't afford a shuttle.

    Manual resettlement now has an influence cost because you have to win an argument with Trevor, who assures you that his neo-darkwave solo project is gonna blow up on bandcamp soon and he just needs like six more months to work with this marketing guy and you're literally ruining his life.

    Manually resettling the last pop on a planet now has a significant Influence surcharge because you know those guys are probably in a cave somewhere and have lots of guns and don't believe in taxes.

    Higher strata pops will now accept a normie job twice as quickly as we got them to understand that the other option is the airlock.

    Pops born on a shattered ring will no longer be willing to debase themselves and live on a fucking sphere. I mean, seriously? Look at this thing. It's convex for gods' sake!

    Added a warning that lithoids and ring worlds aren't a good combo but, ya know, whatever, we're not gonna tell you how to live your life.

    Machine empires living on habitats have realized that they probably need to do maintenance on said habitat.

    You no longer have to consult a 5-D org chart to figure out which jobs your robots are allowed to have.

    Pops in democracies will now have a higher rate of automatic resettlement because they want to go pursue a music career in Neo-New Los Angeles in the Sirius system and if you don't support their dream then you probably never loved them anyway!

    Oligarchies now grant bonus influence from happy factions since you don't really have to worry about what the poors think.

    Dictators are now better at dealing with empire sprawl, as you can always shoot anyone who complains.

    Gestalt Consciousnesses will be harder to spy on. The operative codenamed "Bugsnax" apparently wasn't successful with his, "How do you do, fellow drones?" strategy and we believe his biological material is now part of a waste disposal orifice. We're gonna tell his family it was a mining accident.

    Enigmatic Engineering will now cause enemy spies trying to steal your technology to automatically fail.

    Criminal Syndicates will now be better at spying. Yeah, those voice-activated home assistants they sold you are definitely spying on you for the megacorp. You probably knew that already but you bought it anyway, didn't you? I mean, they already saw all those dakimakuras in your purchase history because they have a monopoly on holonet shopping, so at this point, why even bother?

    The Universal Compatibility tradition now also grants 1 additional Envoy and we're going to collectively agree not to think too hard about why.

    The Influence cost for using Favors in the Galactic Community has been reduced from 25 to 10, as we felt that was too high a barrier to the kind of rampant corruption that regularly flourishes in supranational organizations.

    The galaxy is reporting an overall increased effectiveness of Five Year Plans, as the new espionage system makes it easier to hide any evidence to the contrary.

    Pops with decent or better living conditions will now buy significantly more meaningless bullshit, boosting your trade income.

    The Food Processing Center, Mineral Purification Hub, and Energy Nexus buildings now create jobs instead of serving as purely symbolic monuments to inspire productivity.

    Residents of arcologies should no longer demand to be hopped up on exotic gases 24/7.

    The science fairs held to determine the new leader of a science federation will now be more scientific.

    Enclave stations should no longer go into a catastrophic failure state if someone spills their space coffee on one of the mainfraimes.

    It's now possible to purge multiple pops per month by stacking modifiers because we recognize it can get kind of tedious having to wipe out so many sentient beings. You have other stuff to do today.

    Outposts are now equipped with basic sensors so you don't have to ask Ensign Valdez what he sees out the port window like this is a fucking schooner or something.

    You're going to need to dump even more potatoes into the clone vats to keep them working at full efficiency.

    Cloning lithoids now takes longer than cloning squishies. There are chisels involved and it's not pretty.

    Cloning necroids takes much, much longer than cloning other species because you have to wait for someone to have enough blood potency to animate the new initiate and depending on how much xp the storyteller is giving out, that can take months.

    Terravores will now finish their entire dinner.

    Centers of Elevation will no longer create so many Necrophytes that you're left without any worms left to subjugate, because at that point you're just a regular empire but with more brooding and 90s Hot Topic aesthetics.

    Everyone will stop caring about your Prosperous Unification after about 10 years when they realize this just means their vote matters even less than it used to and there are still going to be wars, but it's with killer goddamn space bugs now.


Automation

    Continuing our never-ending mission to make Planetary and Sector automation AI at least slightly less incompetent

    Planetary AI should no longer invest billions expanding on industries for which there are no available workers to employ

    Planetary AI should no longer feel like it needs to spend money on something when everything on the planet is going perfectly fine just because they were bored and needed a thing to do.

    Sector AI designations now actually work.

    Sector AI in a custodian empire will no longer forget to build organic sanctuaries and then become very confused by all the naked, starving bio-trophies trying to break into their main processing facility with rocks and sticks.


UI

    MP games now show an icon in front of the player that paused so you can yell at them more easily.


AI

    The AI should now better understand what a building that gives a % bonus for a resource does. I don't know what they thought this meant previously.

    AI will now buy loot boxes from the Caravaneers, beginning the grand transition to the games industry's final form: bots spending other people's money on gacha, creating a permanent revenue stream in which we don't have to worry about what human players actually want ever again.

    AI federation leaders should no longer decide that the federation fleet should be like, all picket ships or something stupid like that.

    AI should no longer interpret a massive defeat as a sign that they should really cut back on the military budget.


Bugfixes

    Many improvements to tooltips giving reasons why a certain species right is unavailable to you, which is very generous of us given that you should be happy with the answer, "You're a filthy xeno. That's why."

    Pops that aren't allowed in the military can no longer dress up as a different species to learn how to become a soldier from Donny Osmond against all cultural norms.

    You can no longer appoint nerve-stapled pops to officer positions, even though being completely braindead doesn't seem to normally be a disqualification from serving on the general staff.

    Caravaneers can no longer sell you monke

    Removed a case where you could finish a Colossus without a weapon on it, stand back, and be like, "Alright... what the fuck is this thing for again?"

    Synthetically Ascended empires can now successfully block the Ghost Signal, which means they now have more features than Discord.

    Random assholes with no planets should no longer be able to declare themselves Successors of the Great Khan.

    Terraforming should no longer accidentally cause planets to expand to be larger than the black hole at the center of the galaxy.

    Removed a case where your pops would still end up banging aliens even if you explicitly set up the game rules to stop them from doing this. And, to be honest, they're probably going to still find a way to do it anyway. But we can at least say we tried.

    Sending a mission to uplift the monke should no longer result in them getting mad, tipping the monolith over, and using it as a shiny toilet.

    Can no longer use your diplomats to neg other empires into liking you.

    You can no longer reap the political capital from ignoring a galactic resolution to satisfy your people and then immediately take steps to do the opposite of what you said you would do, making the game less realistic.

    Local authorities will no longer try to maintain the corpse-strewn Subterranean Contact Zone as a tourist attraction after you've invaded and wiped out their entire civilization.

    A federation member can no longer storm out of the federation during a leadership challenge, invoking an obscure clause that technically makes them president for life despite no longer being a member or able to pass any resolutions.

    The starting leader of a democracy or oligarchy will no longer vanish forever, when the galaxy needed him most, after his term is over. He'll instead become a governor.

    Every truce tooltip will now tell you when the truce ends, because why else would you be looking at a truce tooltip?

    Fixed an error message from killing too many Tiyanki at once, because you should be allowed to massacre as many space whales as you want without getting a bunch of shit from VIR about it.

    You'll no longer get automatically called into a war because you didn't hear your phone ringing.

    Fixed the ship name for the Shard Dragon being $NAME_Grand_Dragon$. His short-lived rap career was met with critical derision and he'd rather not talk about it any more.

    Conquered pre-FTL pops should no longer want to return to monke

    You can no longer build another megastructure in a system where you already have a mega shipyard. Which is kinda crazy, if you think about it. Like, this is outer space we're talking about. How big is that shipyard?

    The Great Khan should no longer laugh so defiantly in the face of death that he comes back to life twice the first time you kill him.

    lol dick





Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on April 09, 2021, 12:58:52 PM
The notes are the most entertainment I've gotten all day   :bigthumb:   ;D
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 09, 2021, 03:53:51 PM
So this is...interesting:  Apparently press/review copies of Nemesis aren't going out until next week, so that reviewers likely won't even get their hands on the DLC until maybe a day before release. 


That worries me.  It makes me wonder if we're going to see a repeat of the disaster that was the release of MegaCorp and the 2.2 "Le Guin" update. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on April 09, 2021, 05:22:24 PM
Or, it's so good that they want everyone to be surprised.  :whistle:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 09, 2021, 05:48:36 PM
Stop pretending to be optimistic.  It's freaking me out.  :P 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on April 09, 2021, 05:53:47 PM
 >:D
I'm all in. I plan to start a new campaign when the DLC drops.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 09, 2021, 06:00:04 PM
Yep, I ordered to also.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 10, 2021, 01:12:50 AM
Looking forward to hearing your guys' take on it.  :bigthumb: 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on April 10, 2021, 08:25:02 AM
I doubt my take will be helpful. I haven't played Stellaris in quite a while. I imagine it will be like playing a different game.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 10, 2021, 04:06:16 PM
I imagine it will be like playing a different game.

We can only hope.  ;) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 14, 2021, 10:19:23 PM
Dev Diary #209 is up a day early...and it's more patch notes! 

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-209-nemesis-attack-of-the-patch-notes.1466998/


As it turns out, Paradox had immediately/already begun working on the follow-up patch (v3.01) over a week ago, which would appear to lend credence to the theory that the main 3.0 update wasn't ready for prime-time.  I suppose it still beats them releasing the update as-is (was), however. 

It's another long list of changes & fixes, if not quite as epic in length compared to the 3.0 patch notes themselves.  This one comes with a lot of fixes/improvements to the UI and modding capabilities, along with the usual bug-squashing (there's almost more of that than in the 3.0 update). 





Some of the patch notes that caught my attention: 

Quote

* If you have sufficient intel, hovering over the button to form or cancel a research agreement will now tell you how many technologies you and the other country may learn from it.
* Hovering over the button to form or cancel a commercial agreement now tells you how many credits you will gain from it (rather than you having to propose the agreement to find out).
* When you are offered a commercial agreement, you will now hear about the energy credit benefits.

* Leaving federations through events no longer generates opinion penalties unless we deliberately want those penalties set.
* Subjects that are in a federation with their overlord should now be able to declare a war for independence on them.
* Reworked the final step of the Vultaum, Yuht, First League, Irassian, and Cybrex precursor chains. They now provide a one-day Special Project on the discovered homeworld rather than the last event being fired on-survey. This should improve visibility and increase robustness in situations where e.g. the star system changes ownership or is colonized.
* Votes now display as a popup so that they are not as easily missed and auto-declined.
* If you have the "Lost Amoeba" anomaly event, you no longer need to establish communications with space amoebas. That event's options now give you the space amoeba buffs/projects in that case.
* Having claims on a subject now means you can use the Claims casus belli on their overlord.
* Mining Drone Expansion Fleet and Aggressive Drone Expansion Fleet have been reworked such that every 10 years, for as long as the Mining Drones persist, 3 fleets will spawn and seek out suitable systems into which they can expand. The fleets favor systems which lie within 1-6 hyperlane jumps from their system of origin.
* Subjects are no longer able to become presidents of federations through rotation or random succession.






Just one more day, folks!  Fingers crossed for this one... 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 15, 2021, 12:24:03 PM
Downloading now!!!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 15, 2021, 01:56:12 PM
Ok, WTH do you mean I cannot build a Civilian Industries building on my home planet???

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 15, 2021, 02:44:39 PM
Begun, the Bug Wars have...  ::) 


Yeah, I'm sure that's not working as intended.  Unlike most other colonies in one's empire, your homeworld *has* to be a generalist, especially early on -- you need a little bit of everything. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 15, 2021, 05:30:39 PM
So, per Barths suggestion, I built a new industrial district.  While it didn't allow me to build a Civilian factory, it did increase my output of both alloys and consumer goods. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 15, 2021, 09:59:52 PM
Oh yeah, I forgot about the Industrial Districts.  I believe they're essentially intended to replace Civilian Industries and Alloy Foundries (since both resources are so crucial to your empire anyway).  Still, I was pretty sure we're still supposed to be able to construct Civilian and Alloy buildings, independent of the Industrial Districts.  ??? 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bayonetbrant on April 15, 2021, 10:26:05 PM
https://www.pcgamesn.com/stellaris/3-0-1-patch-notes
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 16, 2021, 08:16:34 AM
Biggest issue I'm seeing so far, is that the AI Sector management doesn't seem to want to build housing when a planet needs it.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 17, 2021, 04:30:16 AM
Having spent several hours with 3.0 the past couple days, I'll admit I don't hate it, at least not yet.  I definitely need to spend more time with the game, though, before drawing any real conclusions. 

At this point, all I can really say is that colony management actually does feel like less of a chore, and I like how first-contact works now.  it feels a tad more involved and less abstract, which appeals to me. 




Biggest issue I'm seeing so far, is that the AI Sector management doesn't seem to want to build housing when a planet needs it.

I haven't gotten far enough into the game yet to see if I have that same issue, but I'll keep an eye out for it. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on April 17, 2021, 07:30:38 AM
Biggest issue I'm seeing so far, is that the AI Sector management doesn't seem to want to build housing when a planet needs it.
I have never been able to use sector management. Every time i tried it was broken.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on April 17, 2021, 07:33:58 AM
Having spent several hours with 3.0 the past couple days, I'll admit I don't hate it, at least not yet.  I definitely need to spend more time with the game, though, before drawing any real conclusions. 

At this point, all I can really say is that colony management actually does feel like less of a chore, and I like how first-contact works now.  it feels a tad more involved and less abstract, which appeals to me.
Sounds great. Will try 3.0 tonight
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on April 17, 2021, 09:46:08 AM
I'm watching a starting guide video on this before I jump back in (it's been a looong while). I can't help but notice how much the game now has a Victoria 2 vibe to it. I'm wondering if we will see Victoria 3 sooner rather than later. (http://www.aarcentral.com/emoti/please.gif)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on April 17, 2021, 11:29:57 AM
I'm watching a starting guide video on this before I jump back in (it's been a looong while). I can't help but notice how much the game now has a Victoria 2 vibe to it. I'm wondering if we will see Victoria 3 sooner rather than later. (http://www.aarcentral.com/emoti/please.gif)

Could you post the link as I was looking for a refresher before I jump back in.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on April 17, 2021, 02:09:13 PM
Sure, it was this one. Be warned, he can be a little Dastacticy with some of the explanations.  ;D

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 17, 2021, 04:11:47 PM
I'm watching a starting guide video on this before I jump back in (it's been a looong while). I can't help but notice how much the game now has a Victoria 2 vibe to it. I'm wondering if we will see Victoria 3 sooner rather than later. (http://www.aarcentral.com/emoti/please.gif)

With the release of 2.2-onwards, I got a pretty strong Victoria vibe as well, and I didn't care for it.  Spreadsheet simulator might work for the Vicky series, but I think making Stellaris more more like Victoria is a mistake.  The 3.0 update is a step in the right direction -- away from pointless complexity, and towards streamlining (without dumbing things down). 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on April 17, 2021, 04:38:49 PM
Sure, it was this one. Be warned, he can be a little Dastacticy with some of the explanations.  ;D


I am impressed by so much geekness
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 17, 2021, 11:59:50 PM
Well I've remembered at least one thing about the current version of Stellaris that I definitely *don't* love:  being nickled-and-dimed for influence on.  Every.  Single.  Fucking.  Treaty.  One of the dumbest, and most frustrating/enraging, design decisions ever.  :kling: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on April 18, 2021, 12:25:15 AM
Sure, it was this one. Be warned, he can be a little Dastacticy with some of the explanations.  ;D



Thanks!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on April 18, 2021, 08:50:42 AM
Well I've remembered at least one thing about the current version of Stellaris that I definitely *don't* love:  being nickled-and-dimed for influence on.  Every.  Single.  Fucking.  Treaty.  One of the dumbest, and most frustrating/enraging, design decisions ever.  :kling:

Does the AI actually honor the treaties? If they do I'll be willing to put up with that.  ;D
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 18, 2021, 04:31:04 PM
Yes, the AI honors its treaties.  There really isn't any surprise backstabbing in Stellaris, unless it's committed by the human player (and even then there are usually restrictions on your ability to do that).  The AI may later choose to break a treaty (if/when relations begin to sour), but it will be up-front about doing so, and you'll pretty much always see it coming. 


I wouldn't really have a problem if nonaggression pacts required influence upkeep; I can understand the rationale behind that.  But to also require influence upkeep for commercial, migration, and research treaties is a bit too much.  :doh: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 18, 2021, 05:59:23 PM
I wouldn't really have a problem if nonaggression pacts required influence upkeep; I can understand the rationale behind that.  But to also require influence upkeep for commercial, migration, and research treaties is a bit too much.  :doh:

Ah, now I understand what you were referring to.  I just don't get into agreements with my victims. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 18, 2021, 06:45:35 PM
At this point, all I can really say is that colony management actually does feel like less of a chore, and I like how first-contact works now.  it feels a tad more involved and less abstract, which appeals to me. 

I also like the first contact system.  I haven't gotten very far into, but I'm liking the espionage also
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on April 18, 2021, 06:48:38 PM
At this point, all I can really say is that colony management actually does feel like less of a chore, and I like how first-contact works now.  it feels a tad more involved and less abstract, which appeals to me. 

I also like the first contact system.  I haven't gotten very far into, but I'm liking the espionage also
Me too. The first contact system makes the eXplore part more mysterious
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 18, 2021, 06:51:35 PM
I just don't get into agreements with my victims.

My approach depends on the empire in question.  I'm very fond of liberation wars, for example...  ;) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on April 18, 2021, 07:35:07 PM
I'm too Federation-minded. I tend to play peaceful for the most part.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on April 18, 2021, 07:45:09 PM
I just don't get into agreements with my victims.

My approach depends on the empire in question.  I'm very fond of liberation wars, for example...  ;)

Those people aren't going to liberate themselves :)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on April 18, 2021, 07:55:23 PM
And there's that.  ;D
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 18, 2021, 10:02:26 PM
I had another race that I just into at the beginning of a game try and abduct one of my science vessels.  It escaped.  I've abducted others before, but no one had tried that on me
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on April 19, 2021, 07:07:32 AM
How do you abduct a foreign science vessel? Never knew that was possible.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on April 19, 2021, 08:19:18 AM
How do you abduct a foreign science vessel? Never knew that was possible.

It's been known to happen   :bigthumb:
(https://i1.wp.com/1.bp.blogspot.com/-JmKKsrtgAe4/UmSYI0Irf2I/AAAAAAAAAcc/NQqkDkSE1_E/s1600/thetholianwebhd1287.jpg)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on April 19, 2021, 08:55:38 AM
How do you abduct a foreign science vessel? Never knew that was possible.

It's been known to happen   :bigthumb:
(https://i1.wp.com/1.bp.blogspot.com/-JmKKsrtgAe4/UmSYI0Irf2I/AAAAAAAAAcc/NQqkDkSE1_E/s1600/thetholianwebhd1287.jpg)

Ha!  :bigthumb:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 19, 2021, 05:13:21 PM
At this point, all I can really say is that colony management actually does feel like less of a chore, and I like how first-contact works now.  it feels a tad more involved and less abstract, which appeals to me. 

I also like the first contact system.  I haven't gotten very far into, but I'm liking the espionage also
Me too. The first contact system makes the eXplore part more mysterious

Ditto to both. 

I also like the increased fog-of-war; it feels more realistic.  It always did seem odd to me that we abruptly obtained complete map information on an empire the moment first contact was established, so this is definitely an improvement. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 19, 2021, 05:42:27 PM
I'm too Federation-minded. I tend to play peaceful for the most part.

To be fair, I've not really had a chance to play around with federations in the game's current iteration.  I just know that they sucked in older versions, so I never bothered with them.  It was always much easier to "liberate" enemy empires, and then diplo-annex (integrate) them. 




I just don't get into agreements with my victims.

My approach depends on the empire in question.  I'm very fond of liberation wars, for example...  ;)

Those people aren't going to liberate themselves :)

(https://i.imgur.com/xhpte7r.png)


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 19, 2021, 05:45:40 PM
I had another race that I just into at the beginning of a game try and abduct one of my science vessels.  It escaped.  I've abducted others before, but no one had tried that on me

The first empire I encountered pulled that on me.  Bastards! 




How do you abduct a foreign science vessel? Never knew that was possible.

Just set your First Contact Protocols to "Aggressive". 

Note:  For this to be an option, you cannot be Xenophile or Pacifist. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on April 19, 2021, 06:01:33 PM
Pacifist? Does that mean you like oceans?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 19, 2021, 06:45:15 PM
Yes.  Yes, that is exactly correct. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on April 19, 2021, 07:01:36 PM
 >:D
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 19, 2021, 08:42:40 PM
Which is why he lives in North Dakota. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 20, 2021, 01:13:14 AM
Which is why he lives in North Dakota.

A vile, filthy lie.  (*South* Dakota was bad enough...)  >:( 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 20, 2021, 03:50:31 PM
Hofix patch 3.02 is out. (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/dev-team-3-0-2-hot-fix-released-checksum-91c1.1468535/) 


Quote
#################################################################
######################### VERSION 3.0.2 ###########################
#################################################################

###################
# Bugfixes
###################

* Fixed an issue with the Big Red Button achievement not triggering before the game ended.
* Fixed an issue where players couldn't play as the pre-scripted Human Empires.
* Fixed an issue with Criminal Syndicates branch offices producing super negative trade due to crime, then multiplying it because of crime.




Paradox is also continuing to work on balancing the new economy rework, especially pop growth.  Apparently as the situation currently stands, newly-colonized planets in the late game can see very little growth, due to the empire population cap.  This, in turn, severely limits the usefulness of Habitats, Ringworlds, and Ecumenopoli. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 20, 2021, 04:44:55 PM
I'm good with a series of small focused patches like 3.02. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on April 20, 2021, 05:12:29 PM
Hofix patch 3.02 is out. (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/dev-team-3-0-2-hot-fix-released-checksum-91c1.1468535/) 


Quote
#################################################################
######################### VERSION 3.0.2 ###########################
#################################################################

###################
# Bugfixes
###################

* Fixed an issue with the Big Red Button achievement not triggering before the game ended.
* Fixed an issue where players couldn't play as the pre-scripted Human Empires.
* Fixed an issue with Criminal Syndicates branch offices producing super negative trade due to crime, then multiplying it because of crime.




Paradox is also continuing to work on balancing the new economy rework, especially pop growth.  Apparently as the situation currently stands, newly-colonized planets in the late game can see very little growth, due to the empire population cap.  This, in turn, severely limits the usefulness of Habitats, Ringworlds, and Ecumenopoli.

Argh! So I didn’t have to buy the Humanoid pack just to get the pre-scripted Earth empires back.  >:(
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 20, 2021, 11:48:25 PM
Argh! So I didn’t have to buy the Humanoid pack just to get the pre-scripted Earth empires back.  >:(

Heh, no I'm afraid not.  But aren't you glad you did anyway?  >:D 


FWIW, though, I honestly like Humanoids.  While all of the species packs are admittedly of variable quality at best, Humanoids remains my favorite by a fair margin, and is the only one that (thus far) I feel like I've gotten my money's worth. 

I genuinely like the extra race portraits and (especially) ship-sets; however, Humanoids' main feature(s) is/are the additional advisor voices.  YMMV obviously, but personally I find they add a good bit of flavor & immersion to my games. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on April 21, 2021, 05:57:33 AM
Argh! So I didn’t have to buy the Humanoid pack just to get the pre-scripted Earth empires back.  >:(

Heh, no I'm afraid not.  But aren't you glad you did anyway?  >:D 


FWIW, though, I honestly like Humanoids.  While all of the species packs are admittedly of variable quality at best, Humanoids remains my favorite by a fair margin, and is the only one that (thus far) I feel like I've gotten my money's worth. 

I genuinely like the extra race portraits and (especially) ship-sets; however, Humanoids' main feature(s) is/are the additional advisor voices.  YMMV obviously, but personally I find they add a good bit of flavor & immersion to my games.
I am really enjoying the game now. It's good enough now that i've decided that i will get the DLCs i am still missing (like the one you mention). Too bad the AI is really braindead otherwise, this could be a cool game. It does let me turtle my way through my Federation, the Galactic Senate and my empire...not as boring as it used to be. To me it feels feature complete.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on April 21, 2021, 12:15:54 PM
Argh! So I didn’t have to buy the Humanoid pack just to get the pre-scripted Earth empires back.  >:(

Heh, no I'm afraid not.  But aren't you glad you did anyway?  >:D 


FWIW, though, I honestly like Humanoids.  While all of the species packs are admittedly of variable quality at best, Humanoids remains my favorite by a fair margin, and is the only one that (thus far) I feel like I've gotten my money's worth. 

I genuinely like the extra race portraits and (especially) ship-sets; however, Humanoids' main feature(s) is/are the additional advisor voices.  YMMV obviously, but personally I find they add a good bit of flavor & immersion to my games.
I am really enjoying the game now. It's good enough now that i've decided that i will get the DLCs i am still missing (like the one you mention). Too bad the AI is really braindead otherwise, this could be a cool game. It does let me turtle my way through my Federation, the Galactic Senate and my empire...not as boring as it used to be. To me it feels feature complete.

Fine praise

I haven’t played since before the big planet management change - might be back
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 22, 2021, 04:31:20 PM
Dev Diary #210 (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-210-a-post-nemesis-address.1469017/) discusses some of their immediate plans, now that Nemesis has been out in the wild for a week.  Details below: 


Spoiler: ShowHide
Quote

Hello everyone!

We hope that you’ve all had a chance to enjoy the 3.0 ‘Dick’ Update and Nemesis. We’ve had a lot fun making it, and it's been really fun to see your reactions to all the new stuff!

We appreciate all the feedback and bug reports you have submitted, as it really helps us improve the game. 3.0.2 is looking to be quite stable as it currently stands, with better performance and a very low amount of out-of-syncs in multiplayer. There are still bugs and improvements that we want to make and the current plan is to fix bugs and make improvements for a couple of weeks more, until we can release a 3.0.3.

For that patch we’ll be looking at things like:

    Some improvements relating to Operations & Espionage
    Tweaking and making improvements related to pop growth
    Various other improvements, balance tweaks and bugs

We also know that pop growth has been a heartfelt issue for some of you, so we wanted to take this opportunity to address some of that feedback. With that I’ll hand the word over to Stephen aka @Eladrin to talk a bit more about pop growth in detail:

The Stellaris 3.0 ‘Dick’ update had a number of changes to economic systems, including major changes to population growth. We wanted to significantly reduce the number of pops in the galaxy and decrease the disparity of number of pops between empires with mass colonization and those with fewer focused planets, allowing smaller empires to keep pace to a degree with more sprawling empires. (The eternal struggle between wide and tall play.)

As part of this, we made some changes to increase economic output of individual pops or other sources through various means - some technologies were buffed, edicts were updated, and new bonuses were added to keep production up. Some secondary resources, such as Research, are intentionally more difficult to rush, since we believe that in 2.8 it was a bit too easy to reach repeatable technologies and technological dominance.

We do recognize that putting limitations on the previously endless growth can feel bad, and that the large number of sudden changes can be shocking. Internally, we’ve been playing with the system for months, and know that while it will take a transition period to get used to some of the changes, we believe that these changes are better for improving the long-term playing experience.

That said, months of internal testing pales in comparison to a week of live play, and the feedback we’ve received from you have been integral for us to continue to improve the playing experience and has led to some adjustments we want to make. Balancing complex systems are an ongoing process so we encourage you to continue feedbacking here on the forums as we move forward.

While we were interested in having more backwater planets in proportion to highly developed planets, we've deemed it too difficult to get to the higher infrastructure tiers. As such, we're planning on reducing the number of pops necessary to upgrade capital buildings to the higher tiers.

The growth on highly developed worlds also felt a little low, so we've increased the floor of how low logistic growth penalties can drop planetary growth, to make sure that these planets still produce a low but noticeable amount of growth. The effect on growth required from the number of pops in the empire was stagnating growth too early, so we're adjusting that value down as well. These should help make late game worlds like a Ring World or Ecumenopolis less difficult to populate, though you may still want to encourage your pops to resettle to them to get them going.

To ensure that other special planets such as the Hive World and Machine World still feel valuable when they come online, we've added assembly jobs to the planets themselves. (The Resource Consolidation origin will begin with a blocker negating this extra job until removed.)

Since colonization is taking longer than desired in the mid to late game, we've added Colony Development Speed bonuses to the civilian infrastructure technologies in addition to their Building Slots.

There's been a lot of positive feedback regarding the new automatic resettlement mechanics, so we're looking at changing the functionality of the Slave Processing Plant to expand automatic resettlement to slaves on the planet at a reduced rate instead of providing production bonuses. So much paperwork.

Constructobots have requested Building Slot parity with Functional Architecture, and we can yielded to their demands. The bio-trophies of the Rogue Servitors have also been shown some educational programs to help them multiply. And as a quality of life request from the Prosperously Unified, we're extending the duration of the homeworld buff to 20 years.

-----

Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of all the changes we’re looking into for 3.0.3, but rather some of the highlights.

That is all for this week folks! We hope you enjoy the game, and continue giving constructive feedback so that it’s easier for us to keep improving the game.






As anticipated, it sounds like pop growth will get further tweaking/re-balancing, and will be a major focus of patch 3.03 (whenever it comes out). 


I have to admit, it feels like Paradox finally has a decent handle on what they're doing since Martin Anward took over Stellaris' development (may he roast in hell).  Contrary to a lot of folks' initial fears (including my own), the release of both 3.0 and Nemesis has been reasonably smooth, stable, and relatively free of major bugs.  Moreover, the economy/pop rework has unquestionably been a noticeable improvement, even if some balancing work remains to be done.  The new intel and first contact mechanics are interesting (though maybe not amazing) as well. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on April 22, 2021, 06:19:20 PM
Is there a new tutorial encompassing all the new stuff?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on April 23, 2021, 02:45:01 AM
Is there a new tutorial encompassing all the new stuff?
Don't think so but it's not too complex. Many times you use envoys to do some tasks (spy network, first contact etc.).
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 23, 2021, 02:55:10 AM
Is there a new tutorial encompassing all the new stuff?

It has been updated to include the new intel system and first contact mechanics, yes. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on April 23, 2021, 03:11:44 AM
Is there a new tutorial encompassing all the new stuff?

It has been updated to include the new intel system and first contact mechanics, yes.
Ask and Martok will know the answer  :bigthumb:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 23, 2021, 03:40:14 AM
I am the Q of useless information.  ;) 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on April 23, 2021, 08:40:29 AM
I started a new game, but I can't help but feel I'm already stagnating. Of course, that's usual for me in just about any 4x game. I am having fun so that is a plus.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on April 23, 2021, 09:26:05 AM
I started a new game, but I can't help but feel I'm already stagnating.
Because you're already surrounded by AI empires?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on April 23, 2021, 09:33:24 AM
No, I'm still alone in the universe, but I only have two systems. I also feel like I should be building more on the two worlds that I have. It could just be that I'm not used to playing Stellaris and it's normal.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on April 23, 2021, 09:44:36 AM
No, I'm still alone in the universe, but I only have two systems. I also feel like I should be building more on the two worlds that I have. It could just be that I'm not used to playing Stellaris and it's normal.
Development of planets is fairly slow in Stellaris. At the beginning, it's really important to eXplore as much as you can to find ressources and mostly habitable planets. I usually have 3-4 science ships at the beginning and 3-4 constructions ships to build up outposts in key systems (mostly with habitable planets, choke points and systems with ressources).
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 23, 2021, 02:55:01 PM
One of the issues the Devs have pointed out is the population growth was slowed too much.  So that may be why developing planets seems slow

The next patch is supposed to address that.  Just not sure when that patch will hit yet. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 23, 2021, 02:56:55 PM
I think the AI isn't too bad.  The couple of neighbors are have shown to be aggressive.  Or course, I'm a machine race setting out to destroy all intelligent bio life. 

The biggest issue I still see is that the sectors don't seem to react to the need for more housing. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on April 23, 2021, 03:29:05 PM
I actually like the slower pop growth. It makes things slower, more epic feeling rather than huge empires in only a short number of years.
Hope they don't speed it up too much.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on April 23, 2021, 09:05:34 PM
Maybe I'm missing something because I'm really hating the new economic system.  Doesn't matter what I do, either my planets suffer massive unemployment or my sprawl is through the roof.  Even when I hold back and don't expand my borders at all, my sprawl levels are ridiculous thanks to the new district system. 

For me, this game seems to get worse with every iteration.  Bring back my different styles of  star travel, get rid of pops, and let my define my own sector boundaries, you Swedish bastards!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 24, 2021, 03:13:44 AM
Maybe I'm missing something because I'm really hating the new economic system.  Doesn't matter what I do, either my planets suffer massive unemployment or my sprawl is through the roof.  Even when I hold back and don't expand my borders at all, my sprawl levels are ridiculous thanks to the new district system. 

For me, this game seems to get worse with every iteration.  Bring back my different styles of  star travel, get rid of pops, and let my define my own sector boundaries, you Swedish bastards!

On the whole, I agree with you.  While I do at least find 3.0 to be reasonably enjoyable, the fact remains is that it's merely the least crappy version of Stellaris since the debacle of the 2.0/2.2 updates.  This is sadly no longer the game I had such a blast with in version 1.9, or even 2.1. 

Not that I won't still have fun with Stellaris; heck, it will probably even remain my favorite 4x for the foreseeable future.  But it's definitely lost a lot of what made it special to me. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on April 26, 2021, 02:22:27 AM
After two complete games with the last patch, i've started a new game with 1.9 and boy, it really feels like playing Stellaris 1 and Stellaris 2. There have been a many improvements in terms of UI and shortcuts. But it mostly plays very differentely.

About unemployement in 3.0, i build new districts only when i have some unemployed pops (i don't build in advance). I would say there's more micromanagement with 3.0 then with 1.9. but access to the planets economy is also a tad faster (UI wise).
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 29, 2021, 03:53:18 PM
Haven't had much time to play this past week or two (Stellaris, or anything else), but hopefully can get some more hours in next week.  I'm especially curious to try out the game with the new 3.03 beta patch that just dropped; looks like it includes a lot of much-needed balance changes. 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/dev-team-3-0-3-beta-patch-released-checksum-1d63.1470855/


Spoiler: ShowHide
Quote


#################################################################
######################### VERSION 3.0.3 ###########################
#################################################################

###################
# Balance
###################

* Increased the minimum growth of planets near the top of the logistic growth curve to 10% from 1%.
* Significantly reduced the effect of empire pops on the required growth of new pops to 0.25 from 0.5.
* Reduced the number of pops required to upgrade capital buildings to 10/25/50 from 10/40/80.
* Hive Worlds now also have +1 Spawning Drone job.
* Machine Worlds now also have +1 Replicator job. Resource Consolidation homeworlds begin with a blocker negating this extra job until removed.
* The Constructobot civic now also grants +1 Building Slot.
* Slave Processing Plants now also enable automatic resettlement for slaves on their planet, but reduce the rate at which the planet does so. (Which can be offset by Transit Hubs or other modifiers.)
* Ceramo-Steel Infrastructure and Durasteel Infrastructure technologies now also grant +25% Colony Development Speed.
* Increased the duration of the Prosperous Unification planet modifier to 20 years.
* Espionage related edicts that lowered operation difficulty now instead increase Codebreaking (which will still reduce difficulty, but will also have other benefits.)
* Replaced +10 Maximum Infiltration on Ruthless Competition and Shadow Council with +1 Codebreaking.
* The Criminal Syndicate civic now also grants +1 Codebreaking.
* Reduced the alloy discount of GDF ships to 25% but added an extra 10% discount to the resolution that expands the GDF.
* You can now no longer permanently lose your Aetherophasic Engine. However, losing control of it will wipe out all progress you had made in upgrading it.
* Slowed down purging by about 50%, as we have significantly fewer pops in the game now. The exception is Neutering, which has increased in speed from 500 months per pop to 10 months per pop.
* You now get four months' worth of their purge output every time a pop is purged via Forced Labor, Processing or Chemical Processing.
* Slowed down First Contact investigation times by about 50%.
* Ion Cannons, Perdition Beams, and Titan Lasers are now considered energy weapons and benefit from repeatable technologies.
* Reduced Criminal job effect on trade to -5 from -10.
* Rogue Servitor bio-trophy buildings now also increase Planet Capacity to compensate for the trophies within.
* Bio-Trophies now provide 1 Unity instead of 2, and 1% Complex Drone Output instead of 0.25%, but only provide any benefits when at or above 50% happiness.
* Increased the effect of the Rogue Servitor Expanded Breeding Program to 20% from 10%.
* Terminal Egress is now a black hole (which cannot be cracked)
* Resolution Extra Dimensional Exploration is now again a dangerous resolution (which lets you get the Unbidden a bit early)
* Medical Workers now also increase Organic Pop Assembly by 5%, and increase habitability by 2.5%
* Significantly reduced the up front energy cost of espionage operations.
* Increased the power of starbase reactors. Fully upgraded bastions should be better at actually using all their weapon slots.
* Espionage edicts unlocked by Quantum Hacking now also grant +10 Maximum Infiltration Level.
* Pops will not automatically resettle away from newly founded colonies until 5 years have passed, so your habitats will no longer have one worker flee before you can give them something to do.
* The Gather Information operation now also grants +5 Maximum Infiltration Level for 10 years, stacking with itself up to +20. (Continuing to perform the operation will restart the 10 year timer if it's at +20 Maximum Infiltration Level.)
* Espionage operations no longer gain 1 Insight no matter how bad the roll, contrary to what is stated on the UI. They now need a score of at least 2 to gain an insight. If the die rolls 10 and the score is below 2, an insight will still be gained to prevent operations from freezing entirely.
* Made Menace Rewards scale with the number of empires in game.
* Reverted the behavior that shipyards in occupied stations could be used to upgrade and build ships.

###################
# Performance and Stability
###################

* Optimised spawning the L-Gate to not freeze the game.
* Fixed CTD in opengl that might happen when kicked from an MP while empire selection screen is open.
* Further optimised yearly tick from assimilation.

###################
# UI
###################

* The Necrophage Chamber of Elevation description now explains why the jobs provided by that building may vary.
* Added a tooltip in diplomacy view for civics when you do not have sufficient intel to see them.
* Fixed some instances of text and UI overlap in the (become the) Crisis view for some languages.
* Appended assign and unassign tooltip to espionage asset in create espionage operation view.
* Added right click to unassign espionage asset in Espionage Operation view.
* The best species for a habitable planet is now shown in the galaxy view tooltip and not only in the system view tooltip.
* Added tooltips and hidden/disabled some UI elements to show that an occupied shipyards cannot be used.

###################
# AI
###################

* Fixed Lithoid Tree of Life AI not ever colonising or using the decision to transplant the Tree of Life to conquered planets
* Fixed AI reserving food for planetary decisions even though no decisions require food

###################
# Modding
###################

* Trigger has_population_control and has_migration_control are now no longer simple booleans, but follow the format of has_colonization_control instead.
* Added intel_effects_surveyed attribute to country type for handling intel system toggle surveyed/unsurveyed planet status, was previously handled by the primitives attribute.
* has_intel trigger now works.
* Added dissolve_alliance effect.
* Fixed on_first_contact_stage_1_no_path using the wrong scope.
* Fixed a crash if you used an invalid starbase design in create_starbase; added error logging instead.
* join_war and join_war_on_side effects no longer allows you to join a war if you're already at war against one of the war participants and will log an error if it is attempted.
* "From" in the "active" trigger of resolutions now refers to the target, if valid.
* Added galactic_emperor and galactic_custodian scope changes.
* Added an "effect" field to declare_war effect.
* Menace rewards can now have modifiers to scale the reward.
* Added should_remove_response_message_when_not_possible property for diplomatic actions, to remove response messages of the diplo action type if the possible check fails.

###################
# Bugfixes
###################

* Organic Pop Assembly now respects population controls.
* Fixed cases where destroying an empire through war would not grant you the Menace from Destroy Empires.
* Fixed various error log messages relating to Crisis Objectives, along with several edge cases where the rewards were not granted when they should have been.
* Fixed an issue where Galactic Community resolution categories would not be hidden if they contain targeted resolutions that there are no valid targets for.
* Fixed an issue where the acceptance breakdown for diplomatic actions was available even if you didn't have sufficient intel.
* Fixed an issue where an already proposed Galactic Community resolution could be passed even if not all of its conditions were fulfilled.
* Fixed scripted trigger scope validation.
* Fixed scripted effect scope validation.
* Fixed an issue where it was not possible to invite others to a federation if you were a Custodian while a crisis was ongoing.
* Systems previously made visible no longer become unknown when your intel on a country is too low.
* Fixed tooltip of active operation in spy network view to show the operations modifiers and not only the spy networks.
* Fixed an issue where the capital location of special empires, such as the caravaneers, would not be revealed after establishing communication.
* Fixed long tooltip for war goal to close branch offices if they have multiple branch offices in your borders.
* Increased chance for Auto-Research to pick certain strategic techs.
* Fixed it being possible for the Caravaneers to request one of your systems when they lost theirs even if you have never met the Caravaneers.
* Fixed an issue where tooltips mentioning joining a war would sometimes be missing empire names and be oddly formatted.
* Fixed it being impossible to repeal the Pax Galactica.
* Fixed an issue where the name of your ally wouldn't be displayed in a notification when joining a war as the Galactic Imperium ruler.
* Made ketling country intel not affecting their planets surveyed status for other empires.
* Fixed so aggressive stance does not trigger the wrong animation state to be set on ships.
* Fixed edge cases where the event to prompt you to consider first contact protocols happened quite late.
* Fixed cases where event rewards granting progress in a technology would not save that as a permanent research option.
* Fixed an issue in the diplomacy view where the Closed Borders icon would also appear when you were the one that had closed borders to the other empire.
* Fixed some scripted localization functions in German.
* Fixed some minor intel leaks when finding out why you cannot make a pact with an Inwards Perfectionist country, and similar.
* Fixed base value for upkeep/production/cost sometimes missing in tooltip.
* Fixed excessive and unhelpful messages upon completion of a Galactic Rebellion (whether it fails or succeeds).
* Fixed an issue where the Fleet Manager showed that Federation and Galactic Defense Force fleets had command limits.
* Fixed an instance of a broken event title when an Aetherophasic Engine has been destroyed.
* Unemployed Lithoids will no longer move back to a Doomed homeworld through auto-migration, even if there *are* plenty of good jobs and housing available. (can_planet_receive_auto_migration added to Game Rules.)
* Purging a pop now gives Menace even if the pop runs away to another empire.
* Updated Cradle of Life event text to account for intel levels.
* Fixed an issue where Galactic Defense Force ship sizes would just be shown as '(GDF) Name' when adding a design to a fleet in the Fleet Manager.
* Corrected an event option which follows a successful completion of Operation Sabotage Starbase. If an opportunity to also destroy a Defense Platform arises, this action will no longer consume (or attempt to consume) a Military Asset on the relevant Spy Network. Also corrected a minor grammatical error.
* Aggressive stance set on a transport fleet is now reapplied to it after an invasion is completed.
* Fixed it being impossible to abduct pops to Necrophage purge them once their species is already set to Undesirables who are to be Necrophaged.
* Winning a Crisis vassalisation war no longer gives an additional notification that the war ended because the opponent was vassalized.
* Fixed strange occurrences when a starbase is reconstructed on the monthly tick when fighting a Wipe them Out war and the system has multiple colonies of which the assailant only controls some.
* Changing species rights of a cyborg/psionic species now works properly, instead of using the species rights requirements of the base species.
* Added scrollbar to victory view summary to avoid text overflow.
* Fixed First Colony event firing (with inappropriate text) when settling Tomb and Relic worlds.
* Modifiers from Crisis perks now show up with names.
* Further fixes to Finders Keepers event.
* Planet colonizations that can never be finished will now be properly aborted on a monthly basis.
* Fixed a broken First Contact notification in Brazilian Portuguese
* Fixed an integer overflow in border distances where if two countries had no possible connections they would have 1000 reasons to be your vassal (mainly happening in modded games)
* Modifiers from Relics should show up properly.
* Fixed a bug where if you captured the Aetherophasic Engine in a Total War, it would not be destroyed (and would carry on any in-progress upgrade)
* Fixed ownerless megastructures not cancelling upgrades
* The area of the envoy portrait in the envoy selection view should be correctly clickable.
* Determined Exterminators, Fanatic Purifiers and Devouring Swarms now remain true to their purity ideology, and may no longer adopt lost Space Amoebae.
* Fixed the event for establishing communications with Caravaneers inappropriately referring to them by their pre-comms code name.
* Fixed excessive rounding on species rights indicator for speed of purging.
* Fixed an error which would prevent Operation Arm Privateers from successfully spawning a Privateer fleet inside a valid target empire.
* Fixed a typo in the purging code that meant that you could have negative progress in purging the month after a pop is purged.
* Fixed Contingency worlds wiped out by Star Eaters not counting as destroyed.
* Fixed a large number of events, particularly in espionage, where failing to account for gender-neutral Plantoids and Fungoids would cause mistakes in English grammar. In other words, occurrences of "they is" are now correctly rendered "they are".
* Grammar fixes for descriptions of the "Master's Teachings" edicts.
* Fixed oddities when a Machine Uprising is given a planet that is under colonisation.
* Fixed Hive Worlds not getting the full benefit from Food Processing Centers.
* Fixed some typos in German.
* Acceptance breakdown is now hidden when proposing diplomatic actions if intel level is not high enough.
* Fixed it being possible to pass most of the Custodian and Imperial Resolutions multiple times when they were already active.
* Fix for crash on destruction of the last planet of the Galactic Custodian.
* Fixed the Unbidden Crisis' dimensional portals and anchors being destroyed by Star Eaters.
* Fixed a bug with being unable to survey an anomaly in foreign territory.
* The Imperial Crusade resolution can no longer be proposed against Fallen Empires or Awakened Empires.
* If two countries reach crisis level 5, the Galactic Community will now correctly declare war on both.
* The very first pop colonizing a planet will no longer feel strangely compelled to abandon their duties to go work in that... Odd Factory.
* Fixed the final event in the Cybrex precursor chain firing at the wrong time.
* Fixed typo in Nemesis Main Theme name in the music player.
* Fixed bug when fleet icon appears far away from ships.
* Removed some event script that was deprecated four years ago.
* Robots can no longer be acquired as assets unless the targeted empire has unlocked droids
* Megastructure icon is now shown on the galaxy map for L-gate systems.
* Fixed bug when fleet icon appears far away from ships.
* Fixed scopes in "Caravaneers: Local Franchise" event so that the event text correctly refers to the country rather than the species.
* Fixed an issue where brain slugs would not impact colony stability as intended
* If the initiator fails to win an Imperial Crusade, the resolution is no longer left active into perpetuity
* Fixed cases where the Galactic Community would fail to declare war on the empire Becoming the Crisis because the potential war leader was already at war with them. The crisis is now removed from all wars with Galactic Community members, and a new war is created.
* Fixed various oddities where passing the resolution to Declare a Crisis by vote would lead to federation members of the newly-declared crisis fighting against them (despite remaining federation members). They will now support the Crisis in this case (note: countries reaching Crisis Level 5 will continue to not keep their federation allies).
* Fixed an issue where if the galactic community declared war on one country as the Crisis, and then passed the resolution to declare a subsequent country the Crisis, various issues would ensure e.g. the war ending immediately, or the Galactic Community's leader having to face the crisis alone without the members to back it up.
* Fixed tooltip for why you can't replace a building saying there were too few pops.
* Fixed the confirmation message for commercial pacts and research agreements showing the information on their benefits reversed.
* Fixed an issue where Extradimensional Exploration would not let Gestalts learn about Zro.
* The Superconductive robot trait no longer requires Droid technology since Robots can now work Technician jobs.
* Fixed certain First Contact stages getting stuck and never progressing
* Neutronium Armor will now properly upgrade to Dragonscale Armor.
* Fixed it being possible to target Genocidal empires with the Imperial Crusade. Better just Declare Crisis on them...
* Sapient robots like Synthetics (including those created Synthetic Ascension) can now utilize the auto-migration system. AI Servitude policies will restrict their migration as if they were slaves (in which case they will relocate if a Slave Processing Plant exists on the planet).
* Fixed Mistaken for Food espionage random event permanently stopping the operation's progress
* Envoy Substance Abuse events can now no longer happen for gestalts either as the source of the envoy or the source of the substances)
* Fixed the confirmation message for commercial pacts and research agreements showing the information on their benefits reversed (simplified statement)
* Fixed Menacing ships not displaying weapon models properly.
* Spawned Star-Eaters now use correctly-dimensioned thruster components.
* A Galactic Custodian or Galactic Emperor will now always be able to propose Council resolutions, even if the Council has been abolished.
* Replaced references to 'Spy Power' in trigger localisation, instead referring to a spy network's 'Infiltration Level'.
* Fixed Mercantile diplomatic stance being visible to Gestalt Consciousness empires, taunting them with the tantalizing yet impossible promise of internal trade.
* Wrong advisor voice is removed from available ones for the case when a planet is successfully invaded.
* Vassals created by the Galactic Sovereign no longer get the Galactic Sovereign civic
* Espionage operation asset category icons now show tooltips with category names.
* The Pax Galactica is now correctly binding on the Emperor
* Notifications for refused peace offers are now properly removed when a war has ended.
* Some country modifiers that were removed much too slowly should now be removed faster.

Please note that 3.0.3 is an optional beta patch. You have to manually opt in to access it. Go to your Steam library, right click on Stellaris -> Properties -> betas tab -> select "stellaris_test" branch.




Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on May 01, 2021, 07:48:55 AM
I think i am going to pause my game with 1.9. I just don't like it even though i do like the planet management and the different travel options. Will start a new game with the latest version.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 01, 2021, 07:40:50 PM
I think i am going to pause my game with 1.9. I just don't like it even though i do like the planet management and the different travel options. Will start a new game with the latest version.

Yeah, I've found that even I can't really go back to 1.9, even if it's my "favorite" version of Stellaris.  There have simply been so many refinements and improvements since then, that earlier versions of the game feel...sort of rough, for lack of a better term.  In addition, I love the Distant Stars DLC too much; it just adds to the early/exploration phase of the game to such an extent that it's honestly difficult to play earlier versions. 

I suspect I'll never be entirely happy with the changes 2.2 made to the economy (especially with respect to colony management and resources), but 3.0 has at least made them somewhat palatable now -- enough that I can enjoy the game once again (which is far more than I had dared hope for). 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 01, 2021, 09:41:23 PM
My biggest issue right now, is that I'm playing a machine race.  I am constantly in a negative on both credits and minerals.  I'm going to have to abandon the AI managing sectors and take it over. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on May 01, 2021, 10:13:49 PM
YIKES! I do not want to meet these guys!  :o  :waah:
Fallen Empire in my current game.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 02, 2021, 12:44:13 AM
My biggest issue right now, is that I'm playing a machine race.  I am constantly in a negative on both credits and minerals.  I'm going to have to abandon the AI managing sectors and take it over.

Yeah, sectors and sector AI still seems to be garbage, unfortunately.  I'm gobsmacked it remains in such a sorry state after all this time. 




YIKES! I do not want to meet these guys!  :o  :waah:
Fallen Empire in my current game.


Yeah, never mind the end-game crisis.  The FE's scare the piss out of me. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on May 02, 2021, 08:36:16 AM
They're much less scary if you turn them off when starting a new game.  :whistle:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 02, 2021, 03:58:05 PM
True, but it's also more boring then.  For as powerful as they are, it's still fun to have a few giants in the playground.  (Plus, you sometimes get help with the Crisis when it shows up.)  :) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 02, 2021, 05:43:13 PM
Oh yeah, and I finally got a little time in with the game last night after Amy headed back home to Wisconsin.  Still having fun with it so far, despite some of the changes (from 2.2+, not necessarily 3.0) driving me absolutely mad. 

Separating Alloys from Minerals is utterly pointless (again with the needless complexity), being unable to form my own Sectors blows, pops are often dumb about which jobs to fill next (forcing me to have to micromanage them -- joy), and I continue to despise how every single treaty costs monthly upkeep in influence now (yet influence "income" wasn't increased to compensate).  That last one in particular rankles me. 

On the other hand, diplomatic relations are now generally more interesting, and feel more fleshed out.  The fact that your first contact greeting actually matters now is also a nice touch.  And with the new spy/intel system, your neighbors are much more of an enigma, even the ones that are friendly towards you.  (Why do they like you?  Who knows?  Guess you'll need to establish a spy network if you really want to find out...) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on May 02, 2021, 06:53:18 PM
Yeah, the influence hit for treaties ranks up there in the really bad idea dept.  I just got hit with the mid-game crisis.  It's nanobots that constantly pop out of the two wormholes that were formerly within my borders.  Each fleet is about 32k strong.  Best I can build is about 13k so punching through to invade their little corner of space is not going to happen for a long time.  The worst thing is, they keep spawning new fleets that knock out 4-5 of my systems each time and, thanks to the idiotic influence costs, I can't afford to rebuild outposts to get them back.  Losing all these systems means my energy and minerals are seriously in the red so I can't cancel my trade agreements to get more influence/turn because doing so will tank the economy even more. 

Such fun... ::)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 03, 2021, 04:11:21 AM
Well I can't believe I'm saying this, but I already went and purchased the Nemesis DLC.  Fortunately, I found it for a decent price ($11.99 on WinGameStore (https://www.wingamestore.com/product/12428/Stellaris-Nemesis/)), so I will only beat myself with a stick 50 times instead of 100. 

I realized I've been enjoying 3.0 enough -- despite its myriad flaws (and my inevitable bitching) -- that I probably won't be going back to 2.1 (or any other earlier version of the game).  And since I like the spy/intel system so much, and the idea of becoming Galactic Tyrant Custodian is undeniably appealing, I figured I might as well grab the DLC sooner rather than later -- especially if I could avoid paying an arm and a leg for it! 


I now have Nemesis installed, and it's already had an impact on my current game:  I've acquired an asset in one empire (my rival), plus damaged relations between that empire and a star nation who they've been becoming friendlier with as of late.  I don't want my rival to have any more friends than can be reasonably helped, so I felt that some skullduggery was called for. 

Also:  I love, love the new soundtrack pieces.  Andreas Waldetoft has definitely still got the touch.  :bigthumb: 




Yeah, the influence hit for treaties ranks up there in the really bad idea dept.  I just got hit with the mid-game crisis.  It's nanobots that constantly pop out of the two wormholes that were formerly within my borders.  Each fleet is about 32k strong.  Best I can build is about 13k so punching through to invade their little corner of space is not going to happen for a long time.  The worst thing is, they keep spawning new fleets that knock out 4-5 of my systems each time and, thanks to the idiotic influence costs, I can't afford to rebuild outposts to get them back.  Losing all these systems means my energy and minerals are seriously in the red so I can't cancel my trade agreements to get more influence/turn because doing so will tank the economy even more. 

Such fun... ::)

While I definitely agree you're in a bad spot, I don't think it's the mid-game crisis that you're dealing with.  The Great Khan uniting the marauder clans, and subsequently trying to conquer the galaxy, is the mid-game crisis. 


It sounds as if perhaps you -- or more likely, someone else -- has opened up the L-Gates, and released the Gray Tempest onto the galaxy as a result (which is 1 of the 4 outcomes that can happen when the L-Gates are opened). 

If that's the case, then you have the fight of your life on your hands right now.  The Gray Tempest is even more dangerous than the Great Khan, as the latter only want to conquer the galaxy, whereas the former want to straight-up destroy it. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 04, 2021, 10:46:43 PM
Yes, I'm going to go down the path of Becoming the Crisis.  Destroy all Organics!!!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 06, 2021, 03:40:41 PM
The latest dev diary talks about upcoming changes to the beta branch. 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-211-3-0-3-beta-updates.1472418/




The main takeaways: 

*  The number of jobs will be reduced somewhat, especially Clerk jobs (although Clerks' production will be beefed up somewhat to compensate). 

*  Resource-enhancing buildings (Mineral Processing Plants, Food Processing Centers, etc.) are getting nerfed. 

*  More AI improvements, with a focus on economic stability and better research behaviors. 

*  Sliders are being added for Logistic Growth Ceiling and Growth Required Scaling, although the devs warn adjusting these from the default settings will have major impacts on both performance and balance. 


The devs also emphasized that the beta branch is a very much still a work in progress, and that work will continue to focus on AI improvements and balance, especially with respect to pop growth and jobs production.   


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 07, 2021, 02:59:00 AM
So earlier in my game, I was rivals with my neighbors The Voor Technocracy; it looked like we were going to be at war anytime.  Several decades later, relations have thawed, and we're now starting to become fast friends. 

Say what you will about Stellaris' diplomacy system (goodness knows it has its flaws and/or quirks), but I genuinely enjoy that it allows for ebb & flow like this.  I kinda feel like the Federation finally winning over the Klingons.  8) 



On a separate topic:  I'm currently unable to recruit Robotic Assault Armies, and I have no idea why.  I've researched Droids, and I'm playing with the Mechanist origin, so my homeworld already starts out with the Robotic Assembly Plant.  Any idea what I'm missing? 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 07, 2021, 07:05:46 AM
Crud.  I've been playing with the 3.03 beta and a number of mods.  This morning I downloaded the 3.03 actual.  No I cannot load.  I'm guessing a change in the actual 3.03 patch that wasn't in the beta isn't liking something in one of the mods.  Now I cannot get into my saved game. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 07, 2021, 07:08:40 PM
I can't load my save-game, either.  One of the prices for playing a beta branch.  :/ 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 08, 2021, 04:23:49 PM
Correction:  Turns out I was unable to fire up the game at all, even when starting up a new campaign.  I had to opt out of the beta branch and revert back to 3.02. 


I had both a ruined Dyson's Sphere and a ruined Sentry Array near my home system too.  :(  Poop. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 08, 2021, 06:53:55 PM
I'm seeing the Ai do better at managing planets.  I think the issue I ran into, was, playing as a machine race, I could colonize any planet.  So I did a massive rush of colonization.  I've seen this issue prior to 3.x.  I believe the issue is that the AI doesn't look at the whole picture, but has a pretty set script, so it goes and build strategic resource buildings, even if you don't need them right way.  This has the effect of draining your minerals and energy credits.  At least the AI is no longer spamming those buildings on planets, along with the unity buildings.  Used to see the AI build 3 on a single planet. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on May 08, 2021, 07:48:51 PM
I got grey gooed and had to start over.

I am having problems with robot factories.  I took over a planet from a neighbor but it's only a 65% habitability rating for my species so I built a robot factory on it.  I can't seem to get it to produce anything even though I've got ummm...indentured employees from the previous owners working in the factory.  I have to build robots on another planet and ship them to this one.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 08, 2021, 08:41:32 PM
SRD, that's something else prior to 3.x, the A would spam robot assembly factories.  Every planet would have at least one. 

For you planet SDR, do you have any machinists working there.  That's what is needed for the factory to build units. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 20, 2021, 08:54:06 PM
Dev Diary #212 is up (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-212-pdxcon-remixed-and-3-0-3.1474675/) -- although it's not really a dev diary, so much as a pair of announcements. 



The first is that the 3.03 patch has finally left beta and been officially released.  Patch notes can be found here (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/dev-team-3-0-3-patch-released-checksum-d281.1474697/). 

For better for worse, it appears this will be the final Nemesis patch.  Presumably we won't see further updates until the next DLC comes out, whenever that will be. 



The other main announcement is that PDXCon Remixed, an online version of their annual fan convention, kicks off tomorrow. 

In and of itself, I don't really care about the event (although if that's your sort of thing, then by all means I sincerely hope you enjoy yourself).  However, Paradox will be hosting a show tomorrow (starting at 20:00 CEST/14:00 EST) featuring news, announcements, and other "revelations".  I'm guessing the odds of any major Stellaris news is slim, but it still might be worth checking out. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on May 21, 2021, 09:14:53 AM
Curious to which new games are going to be worked on even though it's always more of the same (they have done the same game for the last 20 years with some specific focuses). The only different one is Stellaris.

Guess i will play a little of Stellaris next week.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 21, 2021, 02:58:13 PM
Curious to which new games are going to be worked on even though it's always more of the same (they have done the same game for the last 20 years with some specific focuses). The only different one is Stellaris.

Guess i will play a little of Stellaris next week.

Victoria 3 was just announced.  I started a thread here:  https://www.armchairdragoons.com/forum/index.php?topic=3261.msg70209#new
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 21, 2021, 02:58:43 PM
Also, Stellaris is free to play this weekend if you want to give it a try or know someone that does. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 21, 2021, 05:16:18 PM
Gotta hand it to Paradox, they know how to make a trailer. 





Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on May 21, 2021, 08:49:17 PM
Gotta hand it to Paradox, they know how to make a trailer. 




Yeah that was pretty cool.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bayonetbrant on May 24, 2021, 10:17:28 PM
https://www.pcgamesn.com/stellaris/next-dlc-updates
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 25, 2021, 03:58:49 AM
No surprise, there.  Given how successful Stellaris has been for Paradox -- despite its various issues -- I wouldn't have imagined they were done with the DLC train anytime soon.  I expect Stellaris will see at least a couple more major expansions, along with whatever additional story packs and race packs get released between now and the end of the game's development. 



There's also the variable of other Paradox games in the pipeline:  We know about Vicky 3, I have to believe EU5 is in the works as well (for a whole host of reasons), and it won't be too much longer before it's time to start planning for HoI 5 (if they haven't already).  Plus, who knows whether they have "smaller" projects like another Sengoku or March of the Eagles in development?  Combined with the fact that they have only so many people to work on major game projects at a time, that necessarily stretches things out. 

Given all that, I would be astonished if a sequel to Stellaris were released before 2023 at the very earliest, with 2024 or even 2025 striking me as being much more likely.  in the meantime, Paradox has every reason to continue to make DLC for the current game, considering its success to date. 



All *that* being said, there's one (possibly interesting?) thing I noticed...  Henrik Fåhraeus, who was both lead designer and game director for Stellaris until he left the project to (as it turned out) star work on Crusader Kings III, seems to have dropped off the radar since CK3 was announced last year.  Wouldn't it be funny if he was already starting work on Stellaris 2?  :P 

I realize it's a tad unlikely, but it's amusing to think about. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on May 25, 2021, 07:44:59 AM
Quote
so we asked the dev team if they even wanted to go on for another five years. “We have so many different ways to expand,” Stephen Murray, Stellaris’ game designer told us. “Personally, yes, I would love another five years.”

“If I can continue bringing interesting ways to bring new moments of wonder to the game, I’ll be really happy with that.”

Or how to milk the community/fans.... :whistle:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on May 25, 2021, 07:50:39 AM
Does any development team actually finish a game properly anymore?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 03, 2021, 09:19:00 PM
So I have to admit, today's dev diary has me more excited than I probably should be...   


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-214-announcing-the-custodians-initiative-and-the-free-lem-update.1477655/




TL;DR:  Stellaris now has a separate team devoted entirely to going back and sprucing up older content, with the aim of releasing smaller, but more regular (every 3 months or so) updates -- apart from the team that works on developing DLC. 


This first free update, named "Lem" (after Polish author Stanislaw Lem), will be a bit beefier than subsequent updates, and include the following planned features: 

    *  Humanoids Species Pack and Plantoids Species Packs will now feature some new gameplay features (ala Lithoids and Necroids). 
    *   Revamped Traditions, and more of them to choose from (you won't be locked into the 7 trees we currently have).
    *  A balance pass on some existing gameplay systems and features.
    *  The usual QoL improvements, bug fixes, AI improvements, etc. 



The dev team is careful to emphasize that this new "Custodian Initiative" isn't a magic fix, but I really like the direction this appears to be heading in.  Here's hoping it pans out. 


The other obvious implication of this, is that Stellaris 2 isn't coming out anytime soon.  I can't imagine the devs devoting even minimal resources to older code unless they intended the existing game to be around for a good long while yet. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on June 04, 2021, 08:08:57 AM
That is very exciting news.

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 04, 2021, 09:15:45 AM
You know when a game gets so big you’re scared/reluctant to even dip a toe in again?  :-\
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on June 04, 2021, 11:28:06 AM
You know when a game gets so big you’re scared/reluctant to even dip a toe in again?  :-\

Yep... that's EU IV for me.  :-[
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on June 04, 2021, 12:11:13 PM
You know when a game gets so big you’re scared/reluctant to even dip a toe in again?  :-\

Yep... that's EU IV for me.  :-[

I just started back with EUIV.  Playing the Extended Timeline mod as the Han starting in like 50 AD. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 05, 2021, 04:48:05 PM
You know when a game gets so big you’re scared/reluctant to even dip a toe in again?  :-\

Yep... that's EU IV for me.  :-[

Both EU4 and CK2 for me.  Paradox titles aren't exactly easy to jump into.  I'm still mildly surprised I managed to get over the hump with Stellaris (even if it is probably their most accessible game). 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on June 05, 2021, 09:53:07 PM
To me, the secret is learning these games is not being afraid to either restart or go back to an earlier point in the game.  Try to learn a few pieces, go back to a save, and apply what I've learned and at the same time start picking up on other parts of the game. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bayonetbrant on June 05, 2021, 10:35:18 PM
re/start frequently.  get a few turns in, start over, try something different, back up to a previous auto-save, etc etc.

great way to learn and figure it out as you go.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 06, 2021, 12:43:46 AM
In contrast, there's also the, "Welp, I've already completely screwed the pooch.  Now that I've learned [painful lesson] (too late), let's see just how far I can get before I finally go down in flames" method of learning.  :P 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on June 06, 2021, 02:32:36 PM
In contrast, there's also the, "Welp, I've already completely screwed the pooch.  Now that I've learned [painful lesson] (too late), let's see just how far I can get before I finally go down in flames" method of learning.  :P

I feel called out  8)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on June 06, 2021, 02:36:25 PM
In contrast, there's also the, "Welp, I've already completely screwed the pooch.  Now that I've learned [painful lesson] (too late), let's see just how far I can get before I finally go down in flames" method of learning.  :P

I feel called out  8)

Nope, that's all of us at some point.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 06, 2021, 03:40:19 PM
In contrast, there's also the, "Welp, I've already completely screwed the pooch.  Now that I've learned [painful lesson] (too late), let's see just how far I can get before I finally go down in flames" method of learning.  :P

I feel called out  8)

Nope, that's all of us at some point.

Ha, definitely.  If I'm calling out anyone, it's myself.  :P 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on June 07, 2021, 04:34:49 AM
The problem i have with most Paradox games is that i find them boring and there are too many artificial limitations. And i did buy all of them since EU1 until EU3 and CK2. I do have also Imperator and Stellaris (obviously). As for now, the only new game from Paradox i will get will be Stellaris 2.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 07, 2021, 04:27:30 PM
As for now, the only new game from Paradox i will get will be Stellaris 2.

I'm pretty sure that will be the case for me as well. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 08, 2021, 10:11:42 PM
Say what you will about Paradox, but they've got some pretty talented writers on staff.  Setting aside all the descriptions for technologies, traditions, etc., plus the flavor text for anomaly & event pop-ups, some of my favorite examples of their work are the diplomatic insults -- some of them are pretty good zingers.  :hehe: 


(https://i.imgur.com/wgUgH2e.png)


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 10, 2021, 07:32:43 PM
Dev Diary #215 is up (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/stellaris-dev-diary-215-gameplay-themes-balancing-considerations.1478888/).  It mainly discusses three things: 


1.)  It describes, in broad terms, the team's approach to how they're going to add gameplay elements for the Plantoid and Humanoid species.  Interesting to note that it appears they're possibly going to lump in the Fungoids (a species type that was in the original game) with the Plantoids, give them unique gameplay elements as well. 

2.)  Game balance -- specifically, "Research Booming", where players can essentially outpace other empires due to focusing intensely on research.  Towards that end, it sounds like the "Shattered Ring" origin will be nerfed, as apparently min-max players in particular love to use this origin to get way ahead in the research game. 

3.)  In a hilarious attempt by Daniel Moregård trying not very hard to avoid throwing Martin Anward (Stellaris' previous game director) under the bus, he talks about his dissatisfaction with the mechanics of empire sprawl as it currently works, and the use of "admin cap" to manage it.  Instead, he talks about the possibility of using Unity to manage empire sprawl, and how larger empires might have to "spend" it as a resource to deal with a larger and/or more diverse population. 


This is obviously more of a long-term project that Moregård is working on.  Still, I'll be very curious to see what exactly he comes up with to address this issue.  if he comes up with the right formula, it could be something that allows "playing tall" to be a more viable strategy once more, which would be pretty damn cool. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on June 11, 2021, 03:02:08 AM
Wonder if they will manage to keep it up with GalCiv4 around the corner. I don't think there's so much more they can improve.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 12, 2021, 01:02:34 AM
Wonder if they will manage to keep it up with GalCiv4 around the corner.

Indeed.  And let's not forget Distant Worlds 2, either.  Granted, Slitherine doesn't have the same marketing acumen (or resources0 as Paradox, or even Stardock, but I think it's still going to make a bigger splash than its predecessor did. 

My gut feeling is that ultimately, Stellaris will be able to stay ahead of the others, if only because it has Paradox's marketing machine -- and gaming community -- behind it.  So long as Moregård and his team manage to release at least one new expansion a year, I think that will be enough to maintain Stellaris' current hold atop the space 4x sub-genre. 


...I won't be upset if I'm proven wrong, however.  ;) 




I don't think there's so much more they can improve.

I can think of quite a bit, myself. 


*  Factions still don't do much.  (There remains much clamoring for a DLC that focuses on internal politics, and possible civil wars.) 

*  Sectors still suck, and badly need a revamp.

*  There are lot of ways in which wars still don't work very well. 

*  Leaders aren't truly meaningful, unlike in Total War or Crusader Kings.  That's something a lot of folks would like to see changed/improved. 

*  Despite the 2.6 update and Federations DLC, there are a lot of ways in which diplomacy still doesn't really work like players wish it did. 

*  Including Federations.  It's clear they still don't really function as how anyone -- players or developers -- really would like. 

*  Although the 3.0 update and the addition of the intel/spy system helped, the mid-game is still rather boring. 

*  Towards that end, The Great Khan needs to be fixed/improved, and more mid-game crises/events added. 

*  More end-game crises would be welcome as well. 

*  Also:  Why do all crises have to be military in nature?  Why can't we have crises like a galaxy-wide plague or nanite storm -- one that requires a certain amount of research points, Unity, etc., that would require multiple empires combining their resources in order to successfully defeat?  Not every problem can be solved at the tip of a laser cannon... 

*  And of course, the AI can always, always stand to be improved.  There remain far too many examples of it doing inexplicably foolish things. 



And these are just the things I can think of off the top of my head.  Doubtless there are many more issues (some more fundamental than others) that could/should be improved upon. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on June 14, 2021, 04:30:33 AM
Indeed, Paradox has a huge fan base and is, imho, the reason why Master of Orion CtS and Endless Space 2 failed to reach more players in 2016 as a big chunk of the 4x community was waiting for Stellaris (and not everyone is ready to buy multiple 4x games in a single year). Which is a shame because Endless Space 2 and mostly Master of Orion 4 would have benefited from more players and more support.

Still. Stellaris is getting old and older and so does its engine (and no sign of a Stellaris 2 so far). GalCiv4 is fresh and open for inputs by players. Could become the next big thing if well done. GalCiv2 was already the biggest thing when it was new. Stellaris will continue to be popular but may lose it's first place. We'll see.

I have litte hope of improvements for the following aspects. If they haven't managed to do it yet, dont' think they will in future.

*  Sectors still suck, and badly need a revamp. never worked, will never work.

*  There are lot of ways in which wars still don't work very well. not as bad as above but not much hope.

*  Leaders aren't truly meaningful, unlike in Total War or Crusader Kings.  That's something a lot of folks would like to see changed/improved. too much work. Maybe in Stellaris 2.

*  Although the 3.0 update and the addition of the intel/spy system helped, the mid-game is still rather boring.
Don't see how this can be improved. Was boring and will remain boring. Unfortunately.

*  And of course, the AI can always, always stand to be improved.  There remain far too many examples of it doing inexplicably foolish things. I don't have hopes in that aspect. They keep on adding new features and the AI is hopelessly not able to follow.




Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 14, 2021, 06:27:37 PM
Still. Stellaris is getting old and older and so does its engine (and no sign of a Stellaris 2 so far). GalCiv4 is fresh and open for inputs by players. Could become the next big thing if well done. GalCiv2 was already the biggest thing when it was new. Stellaris will continue to be popular but may lose it's first place. We'll see.

You may be right, although it should perhaps be mentioned that the landscape was every different when GC2 came out. 

When Galactic Civilizations 2 was released, it was in the midst of a proverbial drought:  After the debacle of MOO3, the 4x genre was pretty much on life support for the remainder of the decade.  Civilization IV and GalCiv2 were the only major titles released during that time period, and so they ended up dominating the "game-space" pretty much by default. 


In contrast, GalCiv4 is being released in what is now (thankfully!) a renewed era for 4x games.  We have significantly more choices now than we did 15+ years ago, and Stardock is going to have to step it up if they truly want their flagship series to stand out.  That means not just introducing new features & mechanics, but also making the game feel "alive", and provide a sense of atmosphere & immersion -- something they've long struggled with.  Granted, not everyone needs that in their games, but many do. 

For all that Stellaris is aging, it retains the advantage of having a strong sense of atmosphere, of being able to generate a sense of story, etc., -- which is important to a lot of people who play it.  I think that if GalCiv4 is truly going to compete with it, then it has to at least come within spitting distance of matching that. 


Also, like I said before, let's not forget Distant Worlds 2.  For all that it won't have the same level of visibility (at least at release), it can definitely match Stellaris for the same level of atmosphere, immersion, and storyline elements.  Depending on how things pan out, I can see DW2 being another sleeper hit that surprises everyone. 




I have litte hope of improvements for the following aspects. If they haven't managed to do it yet, dont' think they will in future.

*  Sectors still suck, and badly need a revamp. never worked, will never work.

*  There are lot of ways in which wars still don't work very well. not as bad as above but not much hope.

*  Leaders aren't truly meaningful, unlike in Total War or Crusader Kings.  That's something a lot of folks would like to see changed/improved. too much work. Maybe in Stellaris 2.

*  Although the 3.0 update and the addition of the intel/spy system helped, the mid-game is still rather boring.
Don't see how this can be improved. Was boring and will remain boring. Unfortunately.

*  And of course, the AI can always, always stand to be improved.  There remain far too many examples of it doing inexplicably foolish things. I don't have hopes in that aspect. They keep on adding new features and the AI is hopelessly not able to follow.

I don't know that any of those things will see improvement, either.  I just automatically included them in my list as I was putting it together, that's all. 

And who knows?  Maybe with this new "Custodian Initiative", we might actually see some of these old issues finally addressed.  I agree it's unlikely, but I also never thought that the Humanoids and Plantoids would get more love, either.  :) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on June 14, 2021, 07:32:13 PM
The thing about Stellaris, which for awhile there was a leading contender for my favorite sci-fi 4x, is that every damn time I go to play a game it's a new game! I don't have the freaking patience for that nonsense, as evidenced by my enormous backlog of unplayed Steam games. Once I learn a game, I don't want to have to relearn it every time I boot it up.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 14, 2021, 09:47:03 PM
The thing about Stellaris, which for awhile there was a leading contender for my favorite sci-fi 4x, is that every damn time I go to play a game it's a new game! I don't have the freaking patience for that nonsense, as evidenced by my enormous backlog of unplayed Steam games. Once I learn a game, I don't want to have to relearn it every time I boot it up.

That is admittedly a very good point -- one that will likely work in favor of GC4 and DW2.  Not only will both those games probably *not* be subjected to periodical, major re-works like Stellaris (and most other Paradox titles), but they'll also probably have gentler learning curves -- GalCiv4, especially.  (I hope & expect DW2 will be easier to "pick up and play" than its predecessor, but of course that actually remains to be seen.) 




I want to be clear, by the way, that I don't have a particular dog in this fight:  For as much as I currently enjoy Stellaris, I certainly won't be sad if either Distant Worlds 2 or GalCiv4 ends up becoming my new favorite 4x when they're released.  I suspect the main reason I'm playing devil's advocate as to why they might *not* do so, is so as to guard myself against expecting/hoping for too much... 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on June 14, 2021, 10:02:19 PM
Nah, I don't take you as having a dog in the fight, Martok. You love the genre and you're definitely one of the "go-to" guys I listen to when it comes to sci fi games. I probably own and have played the majority of sci fi titles we discuss and I can't say I have a particular favorite. There are a lot of good games out there and more upcoming, but I haven't seen the "one game to rule them all" so far. Stellaris could'a/would'a/should'a and maybe still will come close. Won't know until they finally finish the damn game   8)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on June 14, 2021, 10:36:47 PM
Kinda of bodes the question, does Paradox need a new engine for their games to  move to the next level?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 15, 2021, 02:58:40 AM
Nah, I don't take you as having a dog in the fight, Martok. You love the genre and you're definitely one of the "go-to" guys I listen to when it comes to sci fi games. I probably own and have played the majority of sci fi titles we discuss and I can't say I have a particular favorite. There are a lot of good games out there and more upcoming, but I haven't seen the "one game to rule them all" so far. Stellaris could'a/would'a/should'a and maybe still will come close. Won't know until they finally finish the damn game   8)

Heh, thanks Steelie.  I try to be as honest in my assessment of games as I can, including/especially when it's a "good" game, but one that's not necessarily my personal cup of tea.  Likewise, I won't hesitate to criticize a game I really enjoy (Stellaris probably my #1 personal example ;D ). 

I'll be very surprised if we ever see that "ultimate 4x to rule them all".  People's tastes are simply too varied for that to really be possible, and thank goodness for that!  If nothing else, it ensures the genre isn't forever spawning MOO2 clones/wanna-be's.  :P 

As for Stellaris, I'm quite curious to see what it ends up looking in its "final form"...however long it takes for them to get there.  (At the rate things are going, I suspect we'll have to wait a good while yet!)  ::) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 15, 2021, 03:08:33 AM
Kinda of bodes the question, does Paradox need a new engine for their games to  move to the next level?

Absolutely, yes.  Although I want to say Paradox already came out with a new/upgraded engine a couple years ago(?).  I think they used it for Imperator and CK3. 

The question, of course, is will it be enough of an upgrade for Stellaris 2 to run smoothly?  And will it allow Stellaris 2 to have larger galaxies (since you know players are going to ask for that)? 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on June 15, 2021, 04:32:20 PM
I'll be very surprised if we ever see that "ultimate 4x to rule them all".  People's tastes are simply too varied for that to really be possible, and thank goodness for that!  If nothing else, it ensures the genre isn't forever spawning MOO2 clones/wanna-be's.  :P 

Don't squash my dream, bro!   8)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 16, 2021, 08:08:08 PM
Man, this game...  Stellaris has delivered two memorable experiences these past few days.  Both were related to excavation sites (one from the Ancient Relics DLC, the other one from a mod), and they couldn't have been more different. 


So as to avoid spoilers, I won't go into much detail.  But suffice it to say that the one experience gave me about the closest thing to a "jump scare" that I've ever had in a 4x game.  Seriously, it probably delayed my going to bed by around an hour because of the adrenaline rush.  ;D 

In contrast, the other left me a little shook and with a bit of a guilt complex.  I actually ended up quitting the game and not playing it again until the next day.  :-\  It was very well done, but good lord it was a mind-screw! 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 18, 2021, 04:49:53 AM
Dev Diary #216 (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-216-changes-to-necroids-content-in-the-lem-update.1479851/) is up. 


Looks like the Necroids are definitely getting some more love too.  Necroids aren't my thing, but I'm happy for those who are fans. 


Moreover, this makes me suspect/presume that the Lithoids will be getting attention as well, given that the devs are already revisiting the Humanoids and Plantoids.  Looks like the Lem update will be one big rebalance/love letter to Stellaris' species packs...which is just fine by me.  :) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on June 18, 2021, 08:51:50 AM
You may be right, although it should perhaps be mentioned that the landscape was every different when GC2 came out. 

When Galactic Civilizations 2 was released, it was in the midst of a proverbial drought:  After the debacle of MOO3, the 4x genre was pretty much on life support for the remainder of the decade.  Civilization IV and GalCiv2 were the only major titles released during that time period, and so they ended up dominating the "game-space" pretty much by default. 

In contrast, GalCiv4 is being released in what is now (thankfully!) a renewed era for 4x games.  We have significantly more choices now than we did 15+ years ago, and Stardock is going to have to step it up if they truly want their flagship series to stand out.  That means not just introducing new features & mechanics, but also making the game feel "alive", and provide a sense of atmosphere & immersion -- something they've long struggled with.  Granted, not everyone needs that in their games, but many do. 

For all that Stellaris is aging, it retains the advantage of having a strong sense of atmosphere, of being able to generate a sense of story, etc., -- which is important to a lot of people who play it.  I think that if GalCiv4 is truly going to compete with it, then it has to at least come within spitting distance of matching that. 

Also, like I said before, let's not forget Distant Worlds 2.  For all that it won't have the same level of visibility (at least at release), it can definitely match Stellaris for the same level of atmosphere, immersion, and storyline elements.  Depending on how things pan out, I can see DW2 being another sleeper hit that surprises everyone. 
I fully agree with all what you say. I did not mention Distant Worlds 2 cos i don't think it will be able to drag every day 30'000 - 40'000 persons like Stellaris do. I have various 4x games i play that have at least the same level of atmosphere or immersion Stellaris has. Stellaris does shine in the storyline (even if it's heavily text-based) but i would say it's the only aspect it really does better than other 4x games.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on June 18, 2021, 08:56:21 AM
I'll be very surprised if we ever see that "ultimate 4x to rule them all". 
For me at least, when i played Master of Orion in 1993, it was the ultimate 4x and it still was for a very long time. It's still among my favourites. Birth of the Federation, while not perfect but with lots done right, was also my ultimate space 4x being the only Star Trek game.

Nowadays, i can't say which one is my ultimate 4x game. They all have positive aspects.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 19, 2021, 04:54:55 AM
I fully agree with all what you say. I did not mention Distant Worlds 2 cos i don't think it will be able to drag every day 30'000 - 40'000 persons like Stellaris do. I have various 4x games i play that have at least the same level of atmosphere or immersion Stellaris has. Stellaris does shine in the storyline (even if it's heavily text-based) but i would say it's the only aspect it really does better than other 4x games.

For myself, I don't find it's the *only* thing it does better, but of course that's a matter of personal opinion.  However, I'll readily agree that storyline & narrative is the one thing Stellaris most obviously does better. 




For me at least, when i played Master of Orion in 1993, it was the ultimate 4x and it still was for a very long time. It's still among my favourites. Birth of the Federation, while not perfect but with lots done right, was also my ultimate space 4x being the only Star Trek game.

Nowadays, i can't say which one is my ultimate 4x game. They all have positive aspects.
To clarify, I meant the "ultimate" 4x game, in that there might be one that universally appeals to all 4x gamers.  I can't imagine that ever has, or ever will, happen. 


For me, Stellaris probably has become the closest I have to being my personal "ultimate" 4x game, despite its numerous flaws.  And of course, Birth of the Federation will always have a special place in my heart -- but you already knew that.  :) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on June 21, 2021, 05:26:25 AM
For myself, I don't find it's the *only* thing it does better, but of course that's a matter of personal opinion.  However, I'll readily agree that storyline & narrative is the one thing Stellaris most obviously does better. 
I've found that Interstellar did improve a lot in terms of storylines and events.

Which are the other things that Stellaris does better?

For me, Stellaris probably has become the closest I have to being my personal "ultimate" 4x game, despite its numerous flaws.  And of course, Birth of the Federation will always have a special place in my heart -- but you already knew that.  :)
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.  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.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 21, 2021, 01:01:02 PM
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
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bob48 on June 21, 2021, 01:41:55 PM
The ship design and building aspect looks interesting.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 22, 2021, 01:00:54 AM
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.  :P 



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.  :2thumbs:  Every single one scratches a different itch. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 22, 2021, 01:03:47 AM
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. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on June 22, 2021, 04:12:17 AM
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.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 22, 2021, 05:16:29 AM
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. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on June 22, 2021, 10:28:18 AM
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).
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on June 22, 2021, 11:32:05 AM
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. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on June 22, 2021, 12:27:18 PM
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.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 25, 2021, 04:33:54 PM
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. 



Quote

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.




Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on June 27, 2021, 10:04:17 AM
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.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 27, 2021, 05:40:53 PM
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. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on June 28, 2021, 03:01:37 AM
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.

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on July 01, 2021, 01:56:03 PM
I really hate Gray Tempest. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 02, 2021, 03:55:00 AM
Dev diary 217 (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-217-custodians-feedback-and-q-a-transcript.1481456/) 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...  ::) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 02, 2021, 04:07:58 AM
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.  8) 


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.  :kling: :kling: :kling: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on July 03, 2021, 04:00:04 PM
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.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 04, 2021, 04:08:36 AM
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).

[goes to look up bundle]

An excellent choice -- seriously.  That's a lot of content at a very nice price.  :bigthumb: 




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.

With MegaCorp, the only mechanics you're really missing are those of the megacorp government type itself.  The truly significant changes -- the major rework to the economy and colony management mechanics -- were in the accompanying 2.2 update, rather than the DLC. 

On balance, Federations is the DLC (out of those three) that has the most mechanics locked behind it.  Having now had some experience these past couple months with the Galactic Community and expanded federation types, it's admittedly hard to imagine playing Stellaris without them. 

The only real mechanics locked behind the Nemesis DLC are the additional espionage operations, the ascension perk allowing you to become "the Crisis", and the ability to be elected Galactic Custodian/Emperor.  The main changes to the game, however (the new spy/intel system and reworked population mechanics), are already in the base game (as of the 3.0 update). 



TL;DR -- If you're considering picking up only one of these DLC, get Federations.  It's easily the best of the bunch. 


The only reasons I picked up MegaCorp was for the additional mega-structures, and for the Ecumenapolis ascension perk. :P  I'm sure I'll actually try out the megacorp government type one day, but I'd be lying if I said that had terribly interested me when I got it. 

I've also realized as I've been typing this, that -- so far, at least -- the Nemesis DLC isn't as good as I'd initially ranked it in my earlier post, and so I've gone back and edited it accordingly.  Not that I think Nemesis is bad, but neither do I believe it adds enough content to justify its current price.  Definitely wait for a sale. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on July 04, 2021, 12:29:26 PM
Thanks for the feedback Martok. The real reason I am considering Stellaris over DW is the UI looks much cleaner and easier to use. Even with some of the UI increased size in DW, there is too much of it that is a pain for me to easily read.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 05, 2021, 03:53:11 AM
You're welcome, Bison.  Agreed, Stellaris' superior UI/UX experience (compared to Distant Worlds') is a major reason why the former eventually became my go-to space 4x/grand-strategy game, rather than the latter. 

Not that I found Stellaris exactly "easy" to learn, per se.  However, its learning curve was definitely gentler than DWU's was, and that is indeed thanks in part to the UI. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on July 05, 2021, 11:04:09 AM
I succumbed and went against my dislike of the Paradox DLC model.  I decided to put Federations, Nemesis, and Megacorps on my watch list for the next sale if I enjoy the game play.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on July 05, 2021, 11:11:36 AM
I agree with Martok, Federation is the best DLC to get.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on July 05, 2021, 01:05:44 PM
I will be sure to put that on the top of my list as it seems to be the most recommended here and other Stellaris discussion forums.

Obviously a lot of game left to discover, but what I will say after my initial couple of hours of gameplay. I enjoy having actual decisions available for the player to make. One of the things I really disliked about Paradox grand strategy games, is I always felt like the computer was the one actually playing the game. After a half hour of clicking various menus and screens, I discovered how to construct ships (The tutorial has proven to be almost worthless). I have three science ships out surveying systems and built a space station in a new system. My first colony ship is being constructed and a suitable planet is waiting to be colonized and developed. I never felt like my decisions progressed the expansion of my empire in EU4 in the same way for example. 

Anyway thanks everyone for helping me to take the leap and give the game a go.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 05, 2021, 03:15:07 PM
Cheers, Bison.  Have fun exploring and expanding! 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on July 05, 2021, 04:25:17 PM
I will be sure to put that on the top of my list as it seems to be the most recommended here and other Stellaris discussion forums.

Obviously a lot of game left to discover, but what I will say after my initial couple of hours of gameplay. I enjoy having actual decisions available for the player to make. One of the things I really disliked about Paradox grand strategy games, is I always felt like the computer was the one actually playing the game. After a half hour of clicking various menus and screens, I discovered how to construct ships (The tutorial has proven to be almost worthless). I have three science ships out surveying systems and built a space station in a new system. My first colony ship is being constructed and a suitable planet is waiting to be colonized and developed. I never felt like my decisions progressed the expansion of my empire in EU4 in the same way for example. 

Anyway thanks everyone for helping me to take the leap and give the game a go.

Now that yer an “expert” come join us in Martok’s MP game of Stellaris.   :bigthumb:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on July 05, 2021, 05:01:33 PM
Expert!?! I am pretty sure I just got invaded by an undefeatable alien armada!

And I would love to join you all in some multi-player empire building action if the days and times are workable.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on July 05, 2021, 10:57:01 PM
The mechanic I am currently trying to decipher is Empire Sprawl. I think administrative buildings help some but they do not seem to add more than a couple of points.

How do I increase the maximum capacity?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 06, 2021, 01:59:07 AM
Expert!?! I am pretty sure I just got invaded by an undefeatable alien armada!

Well jeez, don't just leave us hanging like that!  What happened?? 



And I would love to join you all in some multi-player empire building action if the days and times are workable.

You're welcome anytime, man.  :) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 06, 2021, 02:44:49 AM
The mechanic I am currently trying to decipher is Empire Sprawl. I think administrative buildings help some but they do not seem to add more than a couple of points.

How do I increase the maximum capacity?

As far as i can tell, admin buildings actually *are* the main way you increase admin cap.  At least, that's the short version. 

However, there are various technologies and certain Traditions (plus an Ascension Perk) that increase your admin cap in various ways.  Some do this directly (Tradition ABC increases admin cap by 5%), while others do this indirectly (Technology XYZ increases the number of bureaucrat jobs per admin building by +1), etc.  Keep your eyes peeled for those, especially if your empire sprawl significantly exceeds your current admin cap. 


Another thing you should definitely do -- if you're not doing so already -- is designate a planet or two as Bureaucratic Centers (see attached screenshot).  This will improve the output of bureaucrats on those planets, thereby increasing your admin cap.  Then just make sure to construct mostly admin buildings on those planets to maximize this output modifier as much as you can.  A properly developed Bureaucratic Center can take care of a significant percentage of your empire sprawl. 

There are no doubt additional tips & trips that I'm unaware of (I'm still fairly new to empire sprawl and admin cap myself), but these are the more obvious things I've figured out so far. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on July 06, 2021, 02:51:28 AM
As Martok says. You can build admin buildings (and their improvements) on different planets). That and some traditions (expansion?).

I have to say that this is one of the various artificial restrictions that i really dislike in the game. It's one of the 4x games where i have few colonies compared to the size of the maps.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on July 06, 2021, 08:49:12 AM
I actually like the admin cap as a break on unrestricted expansion. Makes you plan where you expand more to maximize your control.

However, I have also found the the penalty for exceeding your cap starts small so being a few to 10 or so over your cap has only minor penalties. So don't be completely hamstrung by your cap. Once you have lots of resource systems and well developed planets it will become less of a problem to enough admincap.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on July 06, 2021, 10:02:13 AM
However, I have also found the the penalty for exceeding your cap starts small so being a few to 10 or so over your cap has only minor penalties. So don't be completely hamstrung by your cap. Once you have lots of resource systems and well developed planets it will become less of a problem to enough admincap.
Correct.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on July 06, 2021, 11:27:22 AM
Bison, remember also, you can create chokepoints and cuts of entire arms of star systems.  That means that it's impossible or very difficult for others to reach and colonize them.  If you have closed borders, then no one else can reach them.  But even with open borders, they have to spend a lot of influence to colonize a single system in that cut off area.

Unless there is a system I really need, I'll leave those cut off areas until after I've got my outer borders established.

When establishing my outer borders, I always look for a single system chock point.  Meaning that anyone trying to invade has to come through that single system.  I'll explore as far as I can past that point, and sometimes I'll have to make decisions if I should grab a particular valuable system and lose the single choke point gateway.  If I cannot get a single system gateway, then I want the two systems connected with a hyperlane so they can support each other with a single fleet. 

This is from my current game, if you look, there are 3 arms that are cutoff from others.  I'll collect them when I time/resources to do so.  Also, I'll only push survey work in they areas as I have the science ships to do so. 

Let me know if you have questions of points you need clarified. 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on July 06, 2021, 03:41:22 PM
Another thought.  The AI has no issues with using wormholes to attack a weak spot in your defenses.  It take awhile for research to be done to use them, but if you see science ships popping up through a wormhole you control, start upgrading your outpost there and building up some defenses. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 06, 2021, 05:10:04 PM
Yeah, I build starbases in any wormhole systems I own.  Unless the other side of the wormhole is in a Fallen Empire (in which case there's not much point). 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on July 06, 2021, 05:49:52 PM
OJ I am attempting to cut off systems as you describe and have had decent success on a couple of frontiers I was able to pulled inward and build mining and research stations. On my Homolog(?) machine campaign I am sandwiched between two aggressive empires and many I’m not sure what they are pirates(?) that occupy several star systems with large fleets.

I just got done fighting a massive war and am 110/69 sprawl and 45/28 navy Caps. I think I can boost the administration districts and designate at admin world to deal with the sprawl. Navy is a pain need research to increase I think but don’t want to disband either. I lost three systems to Bothradziod fleets before I was able to push them back and recapture. I was a hairs breadth from having my capital taken out. I need bigger ships and relook my defenses.

Ok I freely admit Paradox made a grand strategy game I really like.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on July 06, 2021, 07:40:18 PM
To increase navy cap, you can add an anchorage to a starbase, along with research and traditions.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 07, 2021, 03:14:15 AM
On my Homolog(?) machine campaign I am sandwiched between two aggressive empires and many I’m not sure what they are pirates(?) that occupy several star systems with large fleets.

Sounds like marauder empires.  I'm guessing they automatically fire upon (and usually destroy) any vessel that enters their system? 

If they are indeed marauders, then be wary.  They'll typically leave you alone at first, but they tend to cause...trouble later on. 



I just got done fighting a massive war and am 110/69 sprawl and 45/28 navy Caps. I think I can boost the administration districts and designate at admin world to deal with the sprawl. Navy is a pain need research to increase I think but don’t want to disband either. I lost three systems to Bothradziod fleets before I was able to push them back and recapture. I was a hairs breadth from having my capital taken out. I need bigger ships and relook my defenses.

Yikes!  Nice job battling your way back.  :bigthumb:  Sounds like you already know what you need to do. 



Ok I freely admit Paradox made a grand strategy game I really like.

Heh.  This was pretty much my own reaction, about four years ago. 




To increase navy cap, you can add an anchorage to a starbase, along with research and traditions.

If you're going to build Anchorages on a starbase, ideally you want to build a Fleet Logistics Office as well. 

Constructing Fortresses (and later upgrading them to Strongholds) on planets are also not a bad idea, if/when you have spare building slots.  They provide solider jobs, which increase your naval cap as well. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on July 08, 2021, 10:47:11 AM
How effective do you all find the automation of planets? Secondly, I think I want to break my expanding empire into sectors. Admittedly I might be dense but it’s not clear on the sector screen how to set it up. Once I figure this out, do you find it helps cut back on some of the micromanagement of pops and resources?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on July 08, 2021, 11:23:18 AM
I micro everything.  :idiot2:

The planet auto managers are not too bad but the sector auto managers are just awful even after all this time....  :tickedoff:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on July 08, 2021, 12:41:35 PM
I micro everything as well. Stellaris is one of the 4x games where i have very few planets. On the right side, you always see if a planet has room for a new building or else.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 08, 2021, 03:17:11 PM
I micro everything.  :idiot2:

The planet auto managers are not too bad but the sector auto managers are just awful even after all this time....  :tickedoff:

This. 

Sector auto-management wasn't as terrible in the pre-2.2 versions (although still not great); you just needed to be careful about the instructions/settings you gave your sectors.  It does appear to be much worse now, however. 




On the right side, you always see if a planet has room for a new building or else.

Agreed.  That's one aspect of Stellaris' UI i genuinely appreciate.  You can tell at a glance when a colony has a building slot available, unemployed pops, too little housing, etc.  It's quite handy. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on July 09, 2021, 12:09:00 AM
My advisor General Snuffy's elaborate plan for expansion. I have my questions regarding several things. 1. His sanity. 2. His training. 3. Fleet feasibility at this stage.

However, I unfortunately have no military advisors of...more potential and a purge of military leadership is not yet on the docket.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on July 09, 2021, 03:23:44 AM
General Snuffy is indeed ambitious  :hehe:

Note that you have a fleet cap of 20 right now so you can forget 3x1K fleets. Focus on one big fleet and make sure you have good space stations to guard the different choke points.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on July 09, 2021, 07:04:54 PM
If I remember correctly, setting up sectors with govoners is still good idea even if you don't have them set to auto, because the gov's bonuses still get applied. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on July 09, 2021, 07:05:24 PM
If I remember correctly, setting up sectors with govoners is still good idea even if you don't have them set to auto, because the gov's bonuses still get applied.

Definitely.
 :bigthumb:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 10, 2021, 12:33:55 AM
If I remember correctly, setting up sectors with govoners is still good idea even if you don't have them set to auto, because the gov's bonuses still get applied.

You are indeed correct; I can vouch for this.  :) 

I also like organizing my empire into sectors from a roleplaying standpoint.  I just "feels" right. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on July 10, 2021, 03:40:49 PM
I'm finding that the AI doesn't seem to do to bad with sector management mid game.  It seems to struggle at the beginning, but once you have your econonmy up and going, the AI seems to not do too bad.  Still watching it, so it may hose me yet. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on July 10, 2021, 03:43:20 PM
Stellie, another thing with starbases.  Some of the starbase modules and buildings can add bonuses to your planets.  So if you have capacity to build more, and you have a systems with multiple planets, you may want to look at building some there with the focus on resource storage, anchorages, and system/planet buffs. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on July 10, 2021, 06:34:33 PM
I plan to attempt and use sectors eventually. I started a new game now that I slightly better understand planet management. The focus in this game is to learn the development of resources from buildings, space stations, and research.

I did end up getting cut off of expansion paths due to a slower exploration focus. However, I have a couple of good sized systems to build the core of my empire.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 12, 2021, 04:01:40 AM
I've been running into major lag issues whenever I open up the species screen (via the demographics tab in my government screen), especially as I was getting towards the mid-game and beyond.  And by "major" lag, I mean my game basically freezes for five minutes or longer.  A couple times it's gotten so bad, that I just said "screw this" and forced a shutdown of the game and restarted from the last save point (when I wasn't too frustrated to restart, anyway). 

I've since deleted that game and started a new one (dang it -- it was a fun game otherwise).  However, I first uninstalled a number of mods I was subscribed to (in case they were part of the problem), so fingers crossed I have fewer difficulties this time around.  But I'm curious as to whether anyone else has come across this or something similar. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on July 23, 2021, 10:58:02 PM
Yep, a 5 planet system totaling 87 districts three systems from my home world.  And I'm a robotic race, which means I can colonize them all whenever I want.  And yes, if you see the Metsia system bottom center, that's a three planet system with another 47 districts. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on July 23, 2021, 11:30:44 PM
Wow. I thought my three planet system was a great find but this is pretty awesome.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on July 24, 2021, 09:14:19 AM
Finally got a science ship to the system.

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on July 24, 2021, 09:23:11 AM
Cool! I have only successfully complete one archeology research project. It must not have had any particularly important findings because I cannot recall anything about it.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Tolstoi on July 24, 2021, 10:25:38 AM
Finally got a science ship to the system.

Are the names for places and objects dynamically generated? With names like:
I get the impression the game is drawing from a list of names and just throwing them together for the text you get when you make a discovery.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on July 24, 2021, 11:53:57 AM
Tolstoi,

   These are all mega structures from the Gigastructures DLC.

Quote
Kugelblitz Containment Silo
“An incredibly advanced storage device, which can store energy and matter in the form of radiation.”

Quote
Yggdrasil Orchid Complex
“A fully activated Yggdrasil Orchid Complex, surrounding a Gas Giant full of genetically engineered plant life floating in its upper atmosphere, ready to be harvested and transformed into edible food for our population.”

Quote
Orbital Elysium
“An Orbital Elysium is a form of advanced habitat orbiting a planet, providing lots of living space.”

Here a google doc with all of the structures and features in the mod;

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HXW5F6S6UWESkPSh6OaxWvHwZyYAGYSuCBnCAn1B5g4/edit#heading=h.tydrjrt7mcu7
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Tolstoi on July 25, 2021, 12:53:45 AM
Here a google doc with all of the structures and features in the mod;

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HXW5F6S6UWESkPSh6OaxWvHwZyYAGYSuCBnCAn1B5g4/edit#heading=h.tydrjrt7mcu7

That is amazing and kinda crazy all at the same time. I honestly thought they just took random words and strung them together. Seeing "Yggdrasil" made me think of Norse mythology and as it is paired up with "Orchid Complex", it all just seemed out of place, and yet someone purposefully created them that way. Thanks for the explanation and the link.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 25, 2021, 02:47:40 AM
Damn!  That's an absolutely amazing start, ojsdad.  It almost borders on ridiculous.  ;D 

With just those handful of systems, you could establish a pocket empire and build tall, if you wanted to.  I'm guessing, however, that you're not gonna stop with that...  :biggrin: 




Wow. I thought my three planet system was a great find but this is pretty awesome.

I believe that in the vanilla game, you won't find more than three habitable planets in a star system (excluding Sanctuary).  Systems with four or more planets are only possible with mods. 



Cool! I have only successfully complete one archeology research project. It must not have had any particularly important findings because I cannot recall anything about it.

The rewards from completing archeology sites can be rather uneven, but I find that's part of the fun.  Sometimes you get just a minor reward ("That's it??"); sometimes it's a nice chunk of research, resources, unity, etc.; and sometimes you get a Relic, which are...quite nice.  >:D 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on July 25, 2021, 02:27:21 PM
I'm guessing, however, that you're not gonna stop with that...  :biggrin: 

Bloody right I'm going to keep expanding.   >:D
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on July 25, 2021, 02:33:37 PM
Sigh, right I give up - as a purchaser if 1.0 what is my vanilla game running at now and what do I need to make it awesome
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on July 25, 2021, 02:35:45 PM
Sigh, right I give up - as a purchaser if 1.0 what is my vanilla game running at now and what do I need to make it awesome

A blank check  ;D
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 26, 2021, 12:08:19 AM
Sigh, right I give up - as a purchaser if 1.0 what is my vanilla game running at now and what do I need to make it awesome

Haha.  Not to sound cheeky, but I honestly recommend grabbing all of them at some point (though as usual, I also recommend waiting for a sale).   The 5 major expansions (Utopia, Apocalypse, MegaCorp, Federations, & Nemesis) and 4 story packs (Leviathans, Synthetic Dawn, Distant Stars, & Ancient Relics) all enhance the base game to a greater or lesser degree, via new features and/or content. 

The 4 species packs are admittedly more a case of YMMV, however.  (Humanoids are my personal favorite -- even though it doesn't currently include changes to gameplay -- largely for the additional advisor voices, which I found greatly improved my sense of immersion.)  Barring one of them having an especially strong appeal to you, they can easily be skipped.  It'll be interesting, though, to see how the species packs stack up against each other after the 3.1 "Lem" update this fall, as Lithoids & Necroids are getting spruced up, and Humanoids & Plantoids are (finally!) getting their own gameplay features added in. 



All that being said, this is my current "tier list" for Stellaris DLC.  It's slightly revised from what I posted a month or two ago.  (Note:  I do not own Necroids.)   

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


At the very least, I would grab Utopia and the DLC I've listed on A-tier.  I highly recommend picking up the ones on B-tier as well, although I realize that'd be a lot of DLC to purchase all at once.  :crazy2: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on July 26, 2021, 03:33:25 AM
Turns out I’m not as vanilla as I thought - I have utopia, synthetic dawn, and leviathans

It’s £42 to get upto S A and B

Just need to weigh that up against any other games and we’re good to go
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on July 28, 2021, 09:44:14 PM
As a Stellaris newb, I can assure you I cannot tell what the DLC I have adds to the game or what I am missing. Well I guess there was the galactic corporation trying to set up some sort of trading post or some such in my system. Pretty sure that happened because of the Megacorps DLC.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 29, 2021, 03:11:09 AM
You would be correct, sir! 


On a related note:  If one of the star nations in your game should ever happen to be a Criminal Syndicate, kill it with extreme prejudice.  Burn the galaxy to the ground, if that's what it takes.  :kling: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on July 29, 2021, 09:38:44 AM
Or, play a gesalt empire and not have trade to worry about.   8)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 29, 2021, 05:59:44 PM
I am thinking I need to play as a machine empire in my next game.  I haven't played as robots in forever, and not at all since 3.0/Nemesis dropped. 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on July 29, 2021, 07:08:42 PM
Martokanoids? Mechanartoks?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 30, 2021, 01:41:49 AM
Martokanoids?

Brilliant, yet slightly demented.  I think we have a winner.  :D 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on July 30, 2021, 04:27:09 AM
Brilliant 🤩
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on August 03, 2021, 08:20:26 AM
As a Stellaris newb, I can assure you I cannot tell what the DLC I have adds to the game or what I am missing.
Yep, it's not very obvious. I mostly notice the new sounds (voices) and music.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on August 03, 2021, 03:04:41 PM
I will say that while I'm not overly impressed with the amount of content Nemesis adds to the game, the additional soundtrack pieces are fantastic.  It's the first DLC since Distant Stars where I've actually enjoyed the new music.  (I can't stand the tracks added by MegaCorps and Federations, even if they are thematically appropriate.) 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on August 05, 2021, 08:07:22 PM
Now that summer vacations are starting to wrap up, the dev diaries are back.  This one looks at the changes to Plantoids gameplay in the upcoming Lem update. 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-218-plantoids-gameplay.1484906/



TL;DR:  The devs are adding 3 race-specific traits (you have to be Plantoid or Fungoid) -- Phototropic, Radiotropic, and Budding.  They're also adding 2 new civics -- 1 of which (Catalytic Processing) will be available to all empires, while the other (Idyllic Bloom) is a race-specific "origin" civic. 

I'll admit I'm a little disappointed that Plantoids aren't getting a unique/inherent racial ability like the Lithoids do, but this is still a definite improvement over before...which was nothing. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on August 06, 2021, 08:11:12 PM
So if they are attached to a tree for life benefits how are they a space faring species? Hmm...I would rather have a space mouse species spreading pestilence and droppings across the galaxy.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on August 06, 2021, 09:47:51 PM
Oh dear.  Another one lost to the Vermintide... 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on August 12, 2021, 01:56:18 PM
Dev Diary #219 takes a look at the rework coming to Traditions.  Of all the content & changes coming in the Lem update, this is probably the "meatiest", and the one I'm personally looking forward to the most . 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-219-selectable-traditions.1485675/



The highlights: 

1.)  Players will be able to select which Tradition Trees they want to adopt; they're no longer locked into the usual seven like they are currently. 

2.)  Towards that end, certain Tradition Trees that used to be "swaps" for other trees (such as Adaptability for Diplomacy) are now their own Tradition Trees. 

3.)  Also towards that end, a new Tradition Tree (Mercantile) is being added to the base game, while two more Tradition Trees (Unyielding and Subterfuge) are being added to the Nemesis DLC. 

4.)  Some of the Tradition Trees have been tweaked/revamped a bit. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on August 19, 2021, 04:19:35 PM
Dev Diary #220 (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-220-additions-to-humanoids-species-pack.1487837/) is up!  It takes a look at the additions coming to the Humanoids species pack. 


Humanoids are getting 2 Civics: Masterful Crafters, and Pleasure Seekers.  A new Origin, Clone Army is being added as well.  Looks like I'm gonna have to remake my Dwarven and Orc empires when the Lem update comes out.  8) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on August 19, 2021, 06:35:08 PM
Am I right in thinking traditions are getting redone or has that already happened
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on August 19, 2021, 09:34:18 PM
Please refer to my previous post.  :P 




Dev Diary #219 takes a look at the rework coming to Traditions.  Of all the content & changes coming in the Lem update, this is probably the "meatiest", and the one I'm personally looking forward to the most . 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-219-selectable-traditions.1485675/



The highlights: 

1.)  Players will be able to select which Tradition Trees they want to adopt; they're no longer locked into the usual seven like they are currently. 

2.)  Towards that end, certain Tradition Trees that used to be "swaps" for other trees (such as Adaptability for Diplomacy) are now their own Tradition Trees. 

3.)  Also towards that end, a new Tradition Tree (Mercantile) is being added to the base game, while two more Tradition Trees (Unyielding and Subterfuge) are being added to the Nemesis DLC. 

4.)  Some of the Tradition Trees have been tweaked/revamped a bit.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on August 19, 2021, 10:17:59 PM
Ah - lost my way in the sea of updates there - thanks buddy
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on August 20, 2021, 01:55:06 AM
Anytime, man.  :) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on August 26, 2021, 08:48:27 AM
Dev Diary #221 talks about balance changes and QoL improvements being added to the Lem update: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-221-balance-and-quality-of-life-improvements.1488586/



It's quite a list, and the devs made it clear they didn't cover everything, but to sum up: 

-  Void Dwellers, the Shattered Ring origin, and Ecumenopolises are all getting a bit of a revamp. 

-  The Industrial World designation now splits output between production of alloys and consumer goods (you're no longer forced to choose between one or the other).  The new Factory World designation is being added for planets specifically focused on producing consumer goods. 

-  Hive Worlds, Machine Worlds, and Subversive Cults are all getting a buff/rebalance. 

-  A number of Civics are getting beefed up a bit, and a few are being nerfed slightly. 




Looks like a decent, and well thought-out, list overall. 

I'm admittedly a little bummed about the Technocracy civic getting nerfed, but I can't say I'm surprised.  The rework to Ecumanpolises looks great, however (especially with Rogue Servitors *finally* being able to build them), and I'm especially (if oddly) happy about the addition of the Industrial World designation -- that had been bugging me in a low-key way for a while now.  :bigthumb: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 04, 2021, 11:30:53 PM
Best watched with closed captions turned on.  I think Professor Honeydew makes some great points.  ;D 





Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on September 05, 2021, 07:45:24 AM
 ;D :applause:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on September 05, 2021, 02:37:07 PM
"Reddit Peer Reviewed Journal of Science"   :2funny:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on September 09, 2021, 10:54:35 AM
Lem update is dropping Sept 14.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 09, 2021, 10:56:54 PM
^  Saw that.  I'm a little surprised it's dropping next week already, but I'm certainly not going to complain.  :) 




Not so incidentally, today's dev diary mostly consists of the patch notes.  As usual, they're impressively (and borderline hilariously) extensive: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-223-release-date-and-patch-notes-for-the-3-1-lem-update.1489290/





Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 09, 2021, 11:14:35 PM
Of course, no Stellaris update would be complete without the "Patch Notes: What They Actually Mean"...  ;D 


https://www.reddit.com/r/Stellaris/comments/pl0mc2/stellaris_patch_31_lem_notes_what_they_actually/\




A few of my favorites: 


Quote
-  Necromancers can now reanimate biological leviathans, because let's face it: at this point zombie space dragons wouldn't even be the fourth weirdest thing in this game.

-  Updated the star system layout of Alpha Centauri to be more scientifically accurate, because we can't have scientific inaccuracy in our game with zombie space dragons.

-  You can no longer get the Worm to spawn by leaving and re-entering a black hole system with a boom box strapped to the outside of the science ship begging him to go out with you.

-  The game will now tell you that the game is ready to start in the hotjoining interface (where previously there would be no message after "synchronizing game") so you can yell at the host to hit start on Discord.

-  Point defense operators have been ordered to prioritize taking out missiles, even though you all want to be the one to brag about killing the enemy's overpowered protagonist fighter pilots.

-  Endgame Crisis fleets should be less likely to become irreparably lost because they wouldn't pull over and ask the terrified organics for directions.

-  You can no longer accept caravaneer pops if they would immediately be purged under your current laws. They are not a food delivery service.

-  The Starbase Construction Union is now refusing to implement retrofits on platforms that are currently being blasted to shit in an active combat scenario, even if you generously offer them free breakfast sandwiches in lieu of additional hazard pay.



Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on September 10, 2021, 06:36:29 AM
Errmmm… is this going to mess up our on going MP game?  ???
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 10, 2021, 06:50:51 AM
I already brought up the issue in Discord.  Figured it was a better place to have that conversation. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 15, 2021, 12:15:24 AM
The Lem update is officially out!  :rockon: 






EDIT:  Forgot to add this helpful link to a continually updated list of mods that have been updated to 3.1-compatible. 

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/3-1-1-updated-mods-list.1490882/




Stellaris is also free to play through Sunday (Sept. 19).  In addition, every DLC except Nemesis is currently on sale. 


https://store.steampowered.com/app/281990/Stellaris/


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on September 15, 2021, 09:44:26 AM
Well, we can read about the update ourselves or simply await Martok's analysis. I'll go with the latter   8)  Get busy, my friend!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on September 15, 2021, 11:23:58 AM
It's Martok and a 4X sci-fi themed game.  Are you expecting anything other than SQUEEEEEE!!!!!! and the disturbing sound of his thighs squirming together in delight?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bayonetbrant on September 15, 2021, 01:50:39 PM
and the disturbing sound of his thighs squirming together in delight?


I'll defer to your obvious experienced auditorial expertise on this one  :whistle:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 15, 2021, 04:15:05 PM
Well, we can read about the update ourselves or simply await Martok's analysis. I'll go with the latter   8)  Get busy, my friend!

Ha, I'm working on it! 

Here's my current (short) take:  I'm liking the changes & improvements so far.  However, it's also a bit buggy right now, more than what I usually notice after a major update.  Unless you're really into the game like I am, I recommend waiting for the hotfix patch.  :) 




and the disturbing sound of his thighs squirming together in delight?


I'll defer to your obvious experienced auditorial expertise on this one  :whistle:

Indeed; I don't want to know how he knows this.  (Granted, he's not wrong, but still.)  :P 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on September 15, 2021, 07:11:11 PM
I was your first OnlyFans subscriber! You told me I was special!!!!!    :'( :'( :'(
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on September 15, 2021, 07:48:09 PM
Well, we can read about the update ourselves or simply await Martok's analysis. I'll go with the latter   8)  Get busy, my friend!

This  :notworthy:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 15, 2021, 09:19:42 PM
Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys.  I'll do my best.  8) 
 



I was for first OnlyFans subscriber! You told me I was special!!!!!    :'( :'( :'(

I...may have fibbed a bit about you being my first subscriber.  Still love you, though!  :-* 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on September 15, 2021, 10:14:29 PM
Martok, you have an OnlyFans account? Pretty sure I don't want the link, brother   :bigthumb:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 16, 2021, 06:16:01 AM
Don't worry.  I'm pretty sure you couldn't afford me anyway.  :biggrin: 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on September 16, 2021, 08:06:23 AM
 ;D
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on September 16, 2021, 09:22:41 AM
Don't worry.  I'm pretty sure you couldn't afford me anyway.  :biggrin:

 (https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.giphy.com%2Fmedia%2F26AHvF2p5pridaSf6%2Fgiphy-facebook_s.jpg&f=1&nofb=1)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bayonetbrant on September 16, 2021, 09:44:03 AM
Don't worry.  I'm pretty sure you couldn't afford me anyway.  :biggrin:

I mean, I get that Steelie's retired, and his wife keeps a close eye on the money, but I gotta believe that even he could chisel loose $1.83 somewhere, no?  :dreamer:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on September 16, 2021, 10:42:50 AM
I dunno....I searched under our couch cushions and all I found were a bunch of Nerf bullets from my grandsons   8)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 17, 2021, 01:04:18 AM
 ;D



As might be expected, today's dev diary (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-224-lem-is-out-what-now.1491139/) is unremarkable.  It's just a thank-you to the community, along with noting that they're looking at which bugs & exploits to fix/include in the next hotfix patch, which they're starting to work on. 




Of perhaps greater interest is the transcript from this week's Discord Q&A session.  I've included some of the (hopefully) more interesting/notable bits: 


Quote



Q: Are there any plans to change the way ship-experience works? In the current system ships get 100 starting xp if the fleet academy starbase-building is built on the shipyard and then 1 xp per day in battle. I myself cannot say to ever have seen a ship that made it to the Veteran rank at 1000xp (900 days in actual combat! (and that's just the second rank out of 3, the last one is 10.000!)). In my opinion it is time to add more ways to earn ship-xp , like for example the ability to "drill" your ships, or to significantly decrease the xp requirements to get these boni.

A: All experience and especially ship experience work in pretty unintuitive ways currently and is something we are discussing at internally.


Q: Any chance of a defense platform rework? They're too expensive early-game, and too fragile late-game. Also, can we get a tab in the Fleet Manager for mass-management, ie showing Starbases as "fleets" where we can queue, build/reinforce, and upgrade platforms across the empire from one screen?

A: There's certainly a chance of it at some point! I (and I think most people on the design team) would agree with your analysis there, so it's on the radar for the Custodians in general, but so are a lot of things, so no promises at all on when.


Q: how is the current status of the planned empire sprawl overhaul? Can we expect it to drop in the next update in 3 months, does it need a lot more polishing, or was the idea thrown out?

A: We are actively working on it, but its a massive change, that will require a lot of balancing and testing, don't expect it with the next release after Lem


Q: are there already plans for what to tackle in the next custodian update or does it remain to be seen? Similarly can we expect to see the next one around December/januaryish since that would be 3 months from now

A: Of course, we always have plans and tasks for future updates, though they're not set in stone. Current plan for the next update is november-ish, though it is not going to be as big Lem


Q: Playing tall is kind of pointless now, since anything you could do tall, you could do better with another planet or system. Are there any plans to add more viability to tall gameplay? Whether as part of a future DLC, or maybe Custodian content to a previous DLC (Megacorp perhaps)?

A: It is something we are considering with the experiments on Empire Sprawl and Unity, which, again, is further in the future and not guaranteed to solve the problem, but again, its something we are aware of, see it as an issue (to a degree) and want to solve (without making expanding a bad choice either)


Q: If you could click you fingers and instantly change anything in Stellaris with zero dev / design work, what would you change?

A: I would love to change the fleet manager and the way we manage fleets.


Q: is there a plan to change the way empire sprawl affects research/unity? at the moment it is possible to just un-employ/re-employ bureaucrats when a tech is about to be finished our a tradition is about to be picked. It would be less exploitable if sprawl would directly affect research/unity output

A: Yes, as mentioned in dev diary #215 we are discussing a more spicy rework of unity and empire sprawl in the future.


Q: Are Democracies going to improved?

A: We are not happy with how mandates works and it could probably be a good thing for the custodians to look at.


Q: Do you think the upcoming changes to Unity will make Spiritualists viable, or will they still be outclassed by Meritocratic Technocrats?

A: Spiritualist being a competitive and engaging choice is the goal. And thanks to the Custodians modus operandi, we hope to work on it until that is achieved.


Q: Any plans to go into Crime and Piracy more and make them effect each other, or is that more of an Expansion team thing?

A: I would certainly like to work on Crime and Piracy, to make them more engaging and that engagement more rewarding, but that would require a pretty massive rework and would be far off, since it would require several patch-cycles worth of development but...the desire is there, thats all I can say for now.


Q: Will there be any more species DLCs a la the Necroids and Plantoids?

A: YES!


Q: Do you have any plans to add new Operations or otherwise adjust espionage? Right now, the active part of the system seems extremely underwhelming and not really worth the brain cycles to use, while the passive intel gathering is useful. Maybe allowing the user to be more particular in the effects of Operations? Say, like stealing specific techs or spawning pirates on particular systems? This wouldn't be very frustrating for the player to play against, but would be satisfying to do.

A: Custodians are always looking at previous systems and trying to figure out how to improve them. Personally, I'd love to see more espionage operations and more options for it (and proposing them) as well. The downsides are, as you mentioned, possibility of frustrating the player, bad UI / UX experience (imagine scrolling through all the technologies an empire has!), having the AI use the system properly etc.


Q: Can you make spiritualists more balanced against materialists by at least giving them +1 edict cap per level, so normal ones have +1 and fanatics +2 ?

A: The balance between materialists and spiritualists is a commonly reoccurring topic. We've never managed to quite nail what spiritualist gameplay should be, but Unity and maintaining a cohesive civilization are concepts that would make sense for spiritualists.






(Yes, I edited this down *massively* from the original transcript, believe it or not.  The original was about thirty pages long.) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on September 17, 2021, 02:21:21 AM
I read there’s an exploit with new clone choice and two more start up choices that lead to a 90% increase in shot speed I think it was - I’m guessing terrible in MP great in single player
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 17, 2021, 08:02:28 PM
It wouldn't surprise me.  It sounds like there's a couple different exploits with the new Clone Army origin that need to be addressed. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 24, 2021, 12:33:53 AM
Today's dev diary is mainly about the patch notes for the 3.1.2 hotfix. 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-225-3-1-2-lem-patch-update.1492090/

Quote

#################################################################
######################### VERSION 3.1.2 ###########################​
#################################################################

######################
# Performance and Stability​
######################

* Fixed a crash where releasing a vassal as a Clone Army could cause an invalid species.

######################
# Bugfixes​
######################

* Fixed the Clone Army origin tooltip not having a matching ship upkeep reduction with their admirals. Also changed the bonus to scale in a cleaner way, the upkeep is now 5/10/20% based on the Army's decisions.
* The Genetic Crossroads special project will now abort if a species completes Synthetic Evolution before finishing it.
* Fixed habitability of planets that clone armies have abandoned through lack of clone vats being locked at 0% for them.
* Ancient Clone Vats can now only assemble Clone Soldier pops.
* Going into a food deficit when using the Catalytic Processing civic will now give a -50% production penalty to alloy production. This penalty is in line with the penalty non-catalytic empires suffer from a mineral deficit
* Fixed players being able to move their Science Ship to blow up systems using the “Elder One” event.
* Fixed exploit where AI acceptance from Eminent Diplomats tradition also applied to trade deals.

######################
# Known Issues​
######################

* The penalty to alloy production from a food deficit in catalytic empires is not shown in the deficit tooltip.
* Mastercraft Inc. Civic does not change Artisans into Artificers on an Ecumenopolis.
* Some inconsistencies in the number of jobs exchanged by Foundry Station designation for empires with the Catalytic processing civic.
* It’s possible for the Nivlac species to be created without the Radiotrophic trait in certain instances.
* Party Aftermath event can create crossbreed species between caravaneers and an infertile clone pop.
* Shattered Ring World can turn into a planet due to takeover or devastation.
* Mechanical pops with a Decadent Lifestyle have no pop upkeep.
* Awakened Empires don't use traditions properly.
* Machine empires can spawn with the necrophage origin





(That last one is my absolute favorite.  I can't decide whether it's terrifying or hilarious. :applause: ) 

The patch addresses some, but certainly not all, of the major bugs & exploits found in the Lem update:  The Clone Army origin should now be working as intended (more or less), and the Catalytic Processing civic has received some fixes/balances, although the devs concede the latter are more stopgap measures than true long-term fixes.  More permanent solutions to addressing the Catalytic Processing civic will apparently need to be looked at in a future update. 



Incidentally, the devs did mention last week that another update (albeit smaller and more modest than Lem) is still planned to be released before year's end.  (I forgot to include that bit in the DIscord Q&A material.)  I still won't fully believe it until I see it, but it sounds like the Custodians team really are committing to releasing smaller, but more frequent updates going forward.  Fingers crossed... 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: BanzaiCat on September 24, 2021, 10:11:29 AM
On a whim, I reinstalled this yesterday and tried it, but then I realized why I uninstalled it. The tutorial is not very good, at least, not in my opinion - it gives you instructions but leaves you to explore, which I suppose is okay, but it would have been a lot better if it just locked things into one single progression. As in, first let's show you how to move a ship. Now this is how you explore. Let's colonize that system. Then here's research, building, and so on. It feels more like a regular game that's rather overwhelming since it's fully open to you in the tutorial...though the tutorial in this is just kind of an overlay to the main game.

I just had no idea where to click or what to do or what my priorities were, so I uninstalled it again. It's definitely a pretty sight, though. When I have time I might try some of the tutorial videos.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 24, 2021, 08:01:13 PM
Just about all Paradox games suffer from a lack of a proper tutorial, unfortunately -- which is maddening, given that they all have a rather steep learning curve.  The weak/non-existent tutorials remain a huge weak spot for them. 

It says something when Stellaris is probably their easiest game to get into, believe it or not (although I've heard Crusader Kings 3 is relatively user-friendly).  I think it took something like six months of start-stop attempts before I really began to figure out this game. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 09, 2021, 04:44:41 AM
Last week's dev diary (#226) (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-226-custodians-next-steps.1493021/) talked about a few different things, with perhaps their short- and medium-term plans for the future being the most interesting. 


Currently, the next update (3.2) is planned to be released next month.  This update is anticipated to contain mostly "safe" improvements, with the caveat that it will also include some major enhancements to the AI (more on that below).  AI improvements may not be "sexy", but they'll certainly be welcome. 

Perhaps a bit more interesting is the 3.3 update planned for February:  It sounds like it will include (among other things) the rework to Unity and Empire Sprawl.  The devs are considering an open beta for this, which would probably be a very good idea (given the significance of the systems being changed). 


The devs speculated that in general, they may aim to alternate between releasing "safe" and "spicy" updates, at least when it comes to the Custodians Initiative releasing patches/free content.  (Presumably, this cycle would be interrupted by updates that drop alongside new DLC.)  However they do it, I'm just glad there appears to be a plan in place for not just long-term support, but for addressing old/longstanding issues with the game as well. 


Which leads (more or less) into the next topic... 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 09, 2021, 04:45:09 AM
Dev Diary #227 - Looking after the AI (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-227-looking-after-the-ai.1493900/?utm_source=stellaris+SM)




The short version is that the 3.2 update coming in November will see some (hopefully) significant improvements to the AI, specifically with regards to how it manages its economy.  It may not be exactly exciting news, but it should go a long way towards allowing AI players to better compete with human players, and for far longer, than they ever have before.  Even the best military AI in a strategy game can only do much, if the empire it's defending cannot afford to build the ships & fleets it needs... 



On a further note, the dev team had this to say regarding AI development going forward: 

Quote


You probably have heard about the Custodian Initiative by now which has been created to keep improving the game on a more regular basis and in order to be quicker when reacting to player feedback. A part of this initiative is also to put some more love and attention to the AI of the game going forward - an AI initiative inside the Custodians, basically.

For this, we have set some goals for ourselves going forward:

    1. Always work on AI-related topics, regardless of what else is going on
    2. Move the AI towards being challenging to players in an entertaining way, rather than be optimized to min-max its way to victory
    3. Move the AI towards being more distinctive, so that not all empires feel strong in the same way
    4. Support future DLCs from the get-go
    5. Constantly make small improvements to the AI
    6. React quicker to player feedback
    7. Occasionally make a push for more significant improvements




I wholeheartedly approve of these goals, even if I'm not sure how practical/realistic they all are (such as points 2 and 3).  However, I also find it a bit mind-boggling this list implies that at least a couple of these (such as points 1, 4, and 5) weren't a priority from the beginning.  (Perhaps that's the difference between having Anward vs. Moregård at the helm of this game...) 

Either way, though, this dev diary appears to bode well for the future.  Fixing/improving the AI is something that Stellaris players have badly wanted for years now; it's nice to see them finally doing something about it. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 14, 2021, 11:06:26 PM
Dev Diary #228 talks about some of the new content being added in the 3.2 update: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-228-new-content-features-in-3-2.1494598/




First off, we have the "Pompous Purists" civic (think arrogant High Elves ;D ): 

(This one is being added to the Humanoids species pack.  It was originally planned to be included with the 3.1 update, but it wasn't quite ready in time:) 

(https://i.imgur.com/7Itd1mR.png)



An improved ship-browser screen is being added to the empire-creation setup: 

(https://i.imgur.com/4bIJwoq.png)



The Custodians team has also made a pass through the anomalies -- new ones have been created, and some older ones have been revised/refreshed: 

(https://i.imgur.com/BSvVveV.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/UIuNaDS.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/07YnmUk.png)




Honestly, the revisiting of anomalies is probably my favorite bit from this dev diary.  Anomalies & events are probably the single biggest reason Stellaris' exploration phase is as good as it is, so it's great to see them going back and taking another look at them. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 18, 2021, 09:37:53 PM
The devs appear to be hinting that an aquatic species pack in the works: 


https://twitter.com/StellarisGame/status/1449012480315957261



I'll be curious to see if Mulluscoids benefit from this DLC, similar to how the Fungoids can now take advantage of the new abilities added in the Plantoids species pack. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 19, 2021, 02:56:40 PM
Aquatics pack confirmed! 


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1749080/Stellaris_Aquatics_Species_Pack/


EDIT:  Forgot to add, the DLC drops next month alongside the 3.2 update. 







I'm definitely interested.  Looks like they might be able to terraform planets to ocean worlds more quickly/easily as one of their unique mechanics.  Fingers crossed! 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on October 19, 2021, 05:01:44 PM
That update has my interest. I've been considering reinstalling Stellaris for some time now but you never know when they are done tinkering. Might be time to "dive in" (with apologies for the groaner. No, not really).
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 20, 2021, 04:55:38 AM
but you never know when they are done tinkering.

I think the short answer to that is "never".  ;D 

I mean, the devs were already releasing a couple updates a year (on average), usually alongside whatever DLC had just come out.  And now with their Custodians Initiative, the rate of major updates/patches is probably going to increase to at least four times a year. 

...Which is a great thing overall.  But yes, it can get to be a bit much with trying to keep up with all of it.  You're essentially forced to either start a new game whenever an update drops, OR roll back to the previous version until you've finished your current game (and miss out on all the cool stuff added in the latest update).  It's undeniably a pretty little conundrum. 



Might be time to "dive in" (with apologies for the groaner. No, not really).

I would say now's as good a time to check it out again, yes.  Stellaris is in reasonably decent shape at this point.  (I mean, hell, it was good enough to get me to finally update from playing v2.1 the previous two years -- and y'all know how much I bitched about iterations 2.2-2.8.)  Granted, there's still a *ton* of things that could -- and should -- be fixed, improved, or otherwise addressed, but the 3.0 and 3.1 updates have made the game the most fun it's been to play in quite some time. 

(Of course, I could play devil's advocate and argue why you may want to wait until the 3.2 or even 3.3 update, but I can feel the melatonin starting to kick in. :P ) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 21, 2021, 03:25:29 AM
Apparently Paradox mistakenly included all the features of the Aquatics DLC when they first made the announcement on Tuesday.  Some helpful soul took a screenshot of the features before the product page was edited (see below). 

I believe the dev diary coming out later today is going to discuss the species pack in more detail, so I'm momentarily holding off on talking about the features listed in the screenshot until after I've read the dev diary.  It looks pretty cool, though; this could be the most interesting species pack they've done yet (granted, that's not necessarily saying much). 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Bison on October 21, 2021, 05:11:27 AM
I really should play Stellaris again as much as I enjoyed my last campaign.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bbmike on October 21, 2021, 08:13:33 AM
Apparently Paradox mistakenly included all the features of the Aquatics DLC when they first made the announcement on Tuesday.  Some helpful soul took a screenshot of the features before the product page was edited (see below). 

I believe the dev diary coming out later today is going to discuss the species pack in more detail, so I'm momentarily holding off on talking about the features listed in the screenshot until after I've read the dev diary.  It looks pretty cool, though; this could be the most interesting species pack they've done yet (granted, that's not necessarily saying much).

'Mistakenly'.  :hehe:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 22, 2021, 06:01:57 AM
As expected, this week's dev diary looks at the features in the upcoming Aquatics pack: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-229-aquatics-species-pack.1495333/


Quote

The Aquatic Species Pack will include:

    15 new Aquatic Portraits
    1 aquatic-themed Robotic Portrait
    Water themed Ship Set
    Here Be Dragons Origin
    Ocean Paradise Origin
    Anglers Civic
    Hydrocentric Ascension Perk
    Aquatic Species Trait
    Aquatic Advisor, inspired by high seas adventure fiction
    4 Aquatic Name Lists






To start off with the obvious, the Aquatic race trait costs 0 points, and only requires that you start the game with an Ocean world.  The trait bestows some nice bonuses for when living on Ocean planets, but at the cost of higher penalties for living on cold & dry planets. 

(https://i.imgur.com/k715In6.png)



The Anglers Civic looks kinda cool, if not necessarily earth-shattering.  Of note is that this civic will also be available to empires with the Corporate authority. 

(https://i.imgur.com/a59PRrw.png)



(I'm excited about this one... :D )  Aquatics is the first species pack to include an Ascension Perk.  If you take this ascension perk, your Aquatic trait bonuses for living on Ocean planets are significantly increased...as are the penalties for living on cold/dry planets.  You'll also gain access to the "Deluge" Colossus, if/when you take the Colossus Project ascension perk. 

(https://i.imgur.com/A1RAcBQ.png)



The Hydrocentric ascension perk also enables you to construct the Ice Mining Station on your Starbases, which...helps you do things.  To be honest, I find this one a bit off (for a couple reasons), but hey, it improves your Ocean worlds, so sure. 

(https://i.imgur.com/ipQC6bT.png)



The "Ocean Paradise" Origin essentially boosts your homeworld up to eleven (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExaggeratedTrope?from=Main.UpToEleven).  I imagine that using this in conjunction with both the Aquatic trait and the Hydrocentric ascension perk can make for a nice bit of synergy. 

(https://i.imgur.com/kgS8fhU.png)



The "Here Be Dragons" Origin is...  Well, how would you like your home system to be guarded by a sometimes-demanding Leviathan?  >:D 

(https://i.imgur.com/U36qi7O.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/5tgQfxL.png)


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 22, 2021, 06:15:16 AM
And of course, someone has already noted (https://www.reddit.com/r/Stellaris/comments/qbqcf7/i_see_that_we_are_getting_a_new_fanatic_purifier/) the fate of the "cute" aquatic race...  ;D 



Quote
I see that we are getting a new Fanatic Purifier species

(https://i.imgur.com/Yd35Z2B.png)


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on October 22, 2021, 11:15:20 AM
First Contact!!!



<iframe width="1716" height="965" src="
" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 22, 2021, 04:27:35 PM
Thank you, Steelie.  I figure if I'm very lucky, I might have that song out of my head (and hopefully my nightmares) by the time I go to bed tonight... 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on October 22, 2021, 07:55:41 PM
Thank you, Steelie.  I figure if I'm very lucky, I might have that song out of my head (and hopefully my nightmares) by the time I go to bed tonight...

Good luck with that one, Martok!   8) 8) 8)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 22, 2021, 09:55:39 PM
Thanks, I'll need it.  :P 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 28, 2021, 03:49:21 PM
This week's dev diary (#230) comes courtesy of the main artist behind the design for the Aquatics' ships, plus one of the artists who worked on the Leviathan for the "Here Be Dragons" Origin: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-230-the-art-of-aquatics-ships-the-drake.1495959/




For as much as I generally don't find dev diaries about artwork to be terribly interesting, this one was actually kinda fun to read.  The guy doing the concept art for the ships & space stations is apparently an experienced diver and (amateur) underwater photographer, so he was actually pretty jazzed about this project.  His enthusiasm for the subject is obvious, and it was hard not to smile while reading him talk about it. 

The 3D artist who helped work on the Aquatic Dragon talks about the process of developing the creature, and how it ended up being more that just a reskin of the existing Ether Drake leviathan already in the game.  It was kinda cool getting a glimpse at the process, especially since they ended up taking a different approach than originally intended. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 09, 2021, 06:18:11 PM
Last week's dev diary (#231) is more artwork: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-231-aquatics-portraits-and-art.1496549/




Quite frankly, I'm a little surprised (and miffed) that we haven't been given a release date for the Aquatics race pack and 3.2 update by now.  I was rather expecting it was going to be this week already or (at latest) next week, but that doesn't appear to be the case.  :( 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bayonetbrant on November 10, 2021, 06:21:22 AM
https://twitter.com/PdxInteractive/status/1458346394071273477


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on November 10, 2021, 02:45:54 PM
Quite frankly, I'm a little surprised (and miffed) that we haven't been given a release date for the Aquatics race pack and 3.2 update by now.  I was rather expecting it was going to be this week already or (at latest) next week, but that doesn't appear to be the case.  :(

I'm seeing a trend here.  Someone likes yanking my chain in getting my hopes up about releases. Whom would that be.   :waiting:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 10, 2021, 07:33:54 PM
https://twitter.com/PdxInteractive/status/1458346394071273477

A surprisingly (and amusingly) accurate assessment.  8) 




I'm seeing a trend here.  Someone likes yanking my chain in getting my hopes up about releases. Whom would that be.   :waiting:

 :whistle:


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on November 10, 2021, 07:54:47 PM
Does that mean it’s really evil but comes disguised as a unicorn

Or it’s just a unicorn?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 11, 2021, 03:17:40 PM
This week's dev diary looks at some of the balance changes and performance improvements in the upcoming 3.2 update.  I'll admit I'm sad about the Ion Cannons losing their free upkeep.  :( 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-232-3-2-balance-changes-and-performance-improvements.1497227/




Does that mean it’s really evil but comes disguised as a unicorn

Or it’s just a unicorn?

Yes.  >:D 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 15, 2021, 02:41:44 AM
The video is a compressed version of a Twitch stream last week.  It takes a look at some of the features of the Aquatics DLC, and specifically does a short/partial play-through of a race using the new "Here Be Dragons" origin.  Definitely looks like fun! 





Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on November 16, 2021, 07:03:11 AM
The video is a compressed version of a Twitch stream last week.  It takes a look at some of the features of the Aquatics DLC, and specifically does a short/partial play-through of a race using the new "Here Be Dragons" origin.  Definitely looks like fun! 




I am usually not into races DLC but i like aquatic races....look forward to this.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 16, 2021, 08:16:04 PM
Hopefully this means we're finally getting a release date.  I'm guessing sometime next week, but we'll see. 


https://twitter.com/StellarisGame/status/1460640719270555649



Also, cool animation of the Aquatics Colossus in action.  :bigthumb: 





I am usually not into races DLC but i like aquatic races....look forward to this.

You and me both, Anguille.  :)  This looks like the most complete race pack they've done yet. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on November 16, 2021, 09:53:04 PM
This looks like the most complete race pack they've done yet.

I wonder if this is due to the caretakers.  The developers on this new race pack didn't have to worry about including bug fixes but could concentrate fully on the new content.  Just a thought. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 17, 2021, 12:15:55 AM
This looks like the most complete race pack they've done yet.

I wonder if this is due to the caretakers.  The developers on this new race pack didn't have to worry about including bug fixes but could concentrate fully on the new content.  Just a thought.

That may have helped, certainly.  It's long been my understanding that the content team (for DLC) generally works separate from the folks who work on the free updates anyway, but the Custodians Initiative might have allowed the two teams to focus more tightly on their respective tasks. 

It's also clear that Moregård has to make do with fewer resources, especially manpower/personnel, than Anward did -- which only makes sense, as Stellaris' player numbers have surely dropped off over the 5 1/2 years since its release.  Note that we've only had 2 DLC each of the past two.years (Including the Aquatics pack) as opposed to 3 DLC each of the first three years.  Given the more spaced out release of content, combined with how the community has generally found the previous species packs to be a bit lacking, I suspect Moregård is trying to make sure that each DLC is a bit more substantial -- in other words, quality over quantity. 


Of course, I may just be reading way too much into all that too.  :P 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 17, 2021, 08:23:30 PM
Release next week confirmed!  Specifically, Monday: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/the-aquatics-species-pack-and-free-3-2-herbert-update-will-release-november-22nd.1498218/








The forum post also includes the major features & improvements in the accompanying 3.2 update. It looks like a fairly decent list, especially for a "smaller" patch. 


Quote


3.2 “Herbert” Update:​

Named after renowned Sci-Fi author Frank Herbert, the 3.2 Patch brings along with it many bug fixes and AI improvements as well as new features for the Humanoids Species Pack and the base game.

Pompous Purists Civic​

In our latest addition to the Humanoids Species Pack, the Pompous Purists Civic allows for a diplomatic playstyle, but for Xenophobes. The idea is based on an elven fantasy, where they are willing to negotiate with other species, but only on their own terms.

To that end, empires with the Pompous Purists Civic cannot receive diplomatic proposals, but may still send them. They will also get bonus trust growth and extra envoys.

Terraforming Improvements​

With the focus on Terraforming in the Aquatics Species Pack, the Custodian Team has been hard at work to improve the experience of terraforming as a whole.
Terraforming planets now have a chance to randomly trigger events, to add more flavor to the overall process of terraforming. These events vary in power and complexity and will only trigger the first time a planet is terraformed.

But there’s more, we’ve also done some work with the AI budgets to make the AI more likely to terraform planets to optimal planet types, and will be more likely to pick Terraforming technologies and Ascension perks under certain circumstances.

More to Explore​

We have added new anomalies for the Gas Giant, Asteroid, and uninhabitable anomaly categories. This will add more depth to some anomalies that previously only had a single outcome (for example the Gigantic Skeleton Anomaly).

We also have revisited some of the older anomaly events and added new options, to add more depth to these older anomalies.
AI Improvements​

As part of the Custodian Initiative, we have set goals for ourselves, one of which is constantly working on and improving AI empires in Stellaris. The long-term goal is to move towards having a challenging AI, while still keeping the game entertaining to players and making AI empires feel more distinctive so that all AI empires do not feel strong in the same way.

Previously, AI used to follow an economic plan based on the stage of the game they were in. For the 3.2 Update, we have updated the economic scripts used by the AI. The AI now uses a single base plan but relies more heavily on sub plans, which allow the AI to react more easily to unexpected developments throughout the game. The AI also has the ability to turn these sub plans on and off based on their economic situation, allowing them to react to unexpected resource deficits, and in our testing has lowered the frequency of AI economic collapses.

We also have gone over the Building and District weights for AI empires, which will further improve your AI opponents’ economy. Finally, AI starbase construction has been improved and will now use more varied setups when building their starbases and making use of special buildings where it makes sense.

Fleet Manager and Reinforcements​

We have addressed several issues that arose in the 3.1 update, namely that it was possible to create fleets larger than the command limit, which resulted in large amounts of single-ship fleets when attempting to reinforce those fleets. Fleets containing one ship type and one ship should now appear in the fleet manager.

Fleet reinforcements will be considerably faster after the 3.2 update in most cases. Fleet reinforcements will now make better choices when selecting shipyards to reinforce from and should better consider systems with multiple shipyards as well as systems connected by bypasses.

We also have improved the reinforcement pathfinding: reinforcements will now attempt to find a second, longer route if the shortest reinforcement route is considered unsafe. Systems with friendly and enemy fleets will no longer be considered unsafe, and ships with jump drives will no longer require a safe path for reinforcement purposes. In addition, Reinforcing fleets that fail to find a safe path to the target fleet will now merge with other fleets orbiting the same shipyard if both fleets intended to reinforce the same target fleet.

Improved Ship Browser​

Back in May, we talked about a Ship Browser Experiment, where roughly half of our players would be getting an improved ship browser, that allows viewing all of the ships in a shipset, and manipulating them so that they can be viewed from any angle.

We’re happy to announce that this experiment will be going out to all Stellaris PC players with the 3.2 “Herbert” update!

And More​

Including Performance improvements, Modding improvements, Multiplayer stability improvements, Balance changes, and over 80+ bug fixes in total.




Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 19, 2021, 12:39:41 AM
Dev Diary #233 - Aquatics & 3.2 'Herbert' Patch Notes


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-233-aquatics-3-2-herbert-patch-notes.1498294/


(https://i.imgur.com/UYrY4mI.png)




As usual, it's looking like a nice list of changes & improvements.  It's not as long a list as what we've seen in previous patch notes, but it's still pretty impressive considering it's only been a few months since the 3.1 update.  Besides, this bug-fix alone makes it worth getting the new update: 

Quote
* The notification shown when upgrading a defense platform now only appears when all queued upgrades are complete.

It's been driving me crazy!  ;D 




It's perhaps also worth noting that the Aquatics pack is being sold for $9.99/€9.99, the same price as one of Stellaris' story packs.  It's not a surprise, given that Aquatics contains more content than the previous species packs -- plus a lot of the content in this DLC can be used by *any* species, not just Aquatics -- but I still thought it was interesting. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on November 22, 2021, 09:43:25 AM
more pay has been received than expected, ebay sales were quite generous - ill have a scootch at the total price for all the Stellaris DLC i dont own i thought

(https://i.imgur.com/mTeLM1q.jpg)

WTF is this!!!!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 23, 2021, 11:42:01 PM
Posting this a day late, of course, but Aquatics is now out!  Whoot! 



(I gotta say, I'm honestly digging the sea shanty in the trailer...)  :D 









Full patch notes (including notes for the 3.2.1 release-day patch) can be found here (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/dev-team-3-2-1-herbert-patch-released-checksum-de97.1497944/).  I believe the crash the devs mentioned -- the one connected to non-English versions and choosing genders (during empire creation) -- has already been rectified with a new hot-fix. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 24, 2021, 12:53:59 AM
more pay has been received than expected, ebay sales were quite generous - ill have a scootch at the total price for all the Stellaris DLC i dont own i thought

Nice!  Did you end up grabbing the remaining DLC, then? 




(https://i.imgur.com/mTeLM1q.jpg)

WTF is this!!!!

Heh.  Yeah, that's not accurate.  Best as I can tell, this is what's been happening... 

So I typically keep Steam in Family Mode, which skews my numbers in regards to it showing when I was last online.  I *did* actually play Stellaris for a little while late Sunday night/early Monday morning, but (as you've noticed) Steam isn't reflecting that. 


That being said, I likely won't get any real gaming done this week -- I've been running around trying to get stuff done yesterday & today, and then tomorrow I head to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving (coming back Sunday night) -- do don't freak out if it shows I haven't been on since this past weekend.  :P 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on November 24, 2021, 03:49:51 AM
If you look very carefully - it says a friend does not recommend this game - YOU!!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 24, 2021, 03:14:00 PM
Oof, you're right.  I'm going to have to go back to that review and...edit it?  Delete it entirely?  Probably the latter -- I've changed my mind regarding most (though admittedly not all) of what I posted there.  Hmm. 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on November 24, 2021, 03:14:57 PM
Oof, you're right.  I'm going to have to go back to that review and...edit it?  Delete it entirely?  Probably the latter -- I've changed my mind regarding most (though admittedly not all) of what I posted there.  Hmm.

 ;)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: thecommandtent on November 24, 2021, 07:53:51 PM

(I gotta say, I'm honestly digging the sea shanty in the trailer...)  :D 




Same here
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 30, 2021, 06:52:11 AM
Not resting on their laurels, Dev Diary #234 talks about future plans now that the Aquatics pack has launched: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-234-aquatics-and-3-2-are-out-now-what.1499640/




Sounds like the main focus is now turning to the coming Unity rework, which is currently targeted for the 3.3 update due in February.  The devs are considering having an open beta with the new changes so that they can incorporate player feedback into the update.  If there is a beta, it will probably be launched around the end of the year/beginning of next year. 

The devs have also begun exploring the possibility of adding a new "Situations" system, which would apparently work similarly to the Disasters system in EU4.  It sounds like this would be rolled out more gradually over the course of multiple updates, however, as they don't wish to introduce too many major changes at once.. 

In terms of "buffing the backlog", the Custodians' next project is adding content to both Nemesis and Necroids.  There are no specifics yet, however, and are in fact inviting community input on ideas for what might/should be added. 

In addition, there's a ton more work planned for the AI.  (Apparently, the improvements made in the recent 3.2 update have gone over fairly well.)  I'm really happy with the effort that the Custodian team has been putting into this so far. 




The dev diary also included the transcript from the recent Q&A session.  I've posted some of the responses here (I found the bottom pair of Q&A's particularly interesting): 


Quote

Q: Pleasure Seekers and Slaver Guilds seems like an obvious thematic combination, but you are not able to combine them. What is the reason for that and any chance that will change?
A: It has a lot to do with how living standards are handled in the game currently. They are done through code and are quite rigid, we are exploring solutions to it.

Q:  With how consumer goods work now, they feel like nothing more butnan upkeept mechanism with no real value. They also kinda make amenities redundant, since they both have the same thematic function yet are separate resources. Are there plans to further divide their uses and perhaps make consumer goods more useful when in surplus?
A: I agree, and I'm not a huge fan of consumer goods. I'd love to be able to figure out a way to have repeat spending of consumer goods, to improve parts of your empire. For example, building research projects (similar to how you can spend to build ships, but that dont actually create entities like ships).

Q: did you think about buffing democracy and oligarchy to make it more equal in terms of strength when compared to their more authoritarian neighbours? Mandates are just too weak.
A: Yes the government types are quite boring right now and could do with a rework.

Q: Is there a reason Rogue Servitors aren't able to pacify Amoebas like xenophiles and pacifists can?
A: That sounds like an oversight, feel free to make a bug report about it!

Q: since we have locked Civics in the game. wouldn't it a great opportunity to add Ascension perks to them to improve on the them?
A: That and tradition trees are a good idea takes notes

Q: any ideas for spiritualists going foward?
A: With the unity rework we are working on internally it should hopefully be a lot more powerful.

Q: will gestalts ever be able to make anything else rather than a galactic union? Or is that always gonna be the case?
A: Rogue Servitors can form Hegemonies currently, and Machine Intelligences can form Research Cooperatives.
Internally we've discussed the possibility of providing other ways of opening up the other Federation types to all Empire types.

Q: What system will replace admin cap?
A: Admin Cap will be removed, and you will use Unity to upkeep for things like Edicts. You won't be able to avoid the penalty from sprawl, like it used to be. We'll have to balance the rubberbanding effects and should also add a game option for how harsh you want the penalty to be.

Q: Will the new colossus wipe out all life in the planet if fired on enemies, change the type of planet but keep the pops on there, or cant be fired on enemies?
A: The Deluge colossus will kill all non-Aquatic life on non-Oceanic planets when it terraforms the planet. It can be used on your own planets if purge is allowed. (Primitive planets can only be Deluged if you have full interference policies set.)



Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on December 02, 2021, 04:11:55 PM
Today's dev diary discusses the work done on the AI -- both what's been done so far, and what's planned for the future: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-235-ai-feedback-and-future-plans.1501330/




While I can't personally vouch for it yet (it's still too early in my current campaign), by pretty much all accounts, the AI in the recent 3.2 update is much improved.  It's particularly better now with regards to how it manages empires' economies, which is almost certainly the single most important factor in being/remaining competitive throughout the course of the game.  Guido (the dev who posted the diary) said there's still work to do in getting the AI to keep up better in the mid/late game, but it's something he readily acknowledge, and has plans for improving it. 

In general, this dev diary was just a really nice read, if only because it's clear the effort they're continuing to put into fixing/improving the AI.  It was also cool to see that one the coders has been active in the thread, responding to people's questions & concerns (and in most cases, acknowledging/agreeing with the issues brought up). 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on December 02, 2021, 05:35:10 PM
Too me, this is a reason to purchase DLC, even if you don't think you'll get much out of it.  It's those dollars that help finance these improvements. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on December 02, 2021, 05:36:43 PM
Too me, this is a reason to purchase DLC, even if you don't think you'll get much out of it.  It's those dollars that help finance these improvements.

 :bigthumb:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on December 03, 2021, 06:19:41 PM
A funny thing I forgot to mention... 


I'm pretty sure the "Ocean Paradise" origin (for Aquatic species) is bugged:  You're supposed to start out with a buffed, extra-large homeworld (no tile-blockers), with the trade-off being that you don't get your usual two guaranteed nearby habitable planets that are of your species preferred biome -- instead, those two planets are both Frozen worlds (instead of Ocean worlds).  Overall, this feels pretty balanced. 

However...  In two different games I've started now, I've discovered two Ocean planets not far from my homeworld anyway.  In effect, I get to start the game with a paradisaical, extra-chonky homeworld, *plus* I get my two guaranteed Ocean worlds nearby as well...which, with the Aquatics trait, means my species absolutely thrives on those planets. 


So to sum up, I'm pretty sure the Ocean Paradise origin isn't working quite as intended at the moment, and is in fact broken in favor of any player using that origin.  Hopefully Paradox fixes this in the next patch.  Until then, though, I'm gonna enjoy this OP start while it lasts!  ;D 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on December 09, 2021, 05:30:11 PM
Today's dev diary is the last one for the year: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-236-happy-holidays-and-thanks-for-all-the-fish.1502586/




They'll be back in a month to start discussing the Unity rework and the new Situations system (which I'm really looking forward to), but this week's dev diary itself is pretty much fluff -- it's all about looking back at the year's accomplishments, etc. 

The devs did, however, drop a couple teaser images at the end (see attached screenshots).  Looks like they're related to the upcoming rework to Unity (and hopefully admin?)... 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on December 23, 2021, 12:03:36 AM
Looks like all the dlc got hit by the Christmas sale hammer - 25-50% off
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on December 23, 2021, 10:55:58 AM
Looks like all the dlc got hit by the Christmas sale hammer - 25-50% off

Except for Aquatics
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on December 23, 2021, 04:27:05 PM
Looks like all the dlc got hit by the Christmas sale hammer - 25-50% off

Except for Aquatics

That just about goes without saying, though.  Whatever the newest DLC is at the time, it's almost never part of whatever sale might be going on. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on January 13, 2022, 07:18:04 AM
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-237-reworking-unity-part-one.1506491/?s=09

Latest Dev Diary was released. Unity is being overhauled.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 06, 2022, 05:21:21 AM
I'm intensely interested to see how the rework to Unity, empire sprawl, etc. works out.  If done right, this could be an even bigger game-changer than the 2.2 update (when they revamped the economy and colony management). 


Of course, I suspect it's going to be a bit of a shit-show at first, due to it being nearly impossible to properly balance all these revamped mechanics in one go.  Still, I'm really looking forward to the end result. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 11, 2022, 12:01:10 AM
Dev Diary #241: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-241-unity-open-beta-and-the-dev-clash.1509928/




The entries from the dev clash are amusing enough, but the real meat from today's dev diary are the change-logs from the Unity Open Beta.  Sounds like they got a ton of good feedback over the past few weeks from the community.  Given the devs posted the change-logs today, I'm guessing the 3.3 update is releasing sometime next week (Tuesday, perhaps?).  Fingers crossed! 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 24, 2022, 12:55:16 AM
Meant to post this earlier, but the 3.3 "Libra" update has officially dropped (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/3-3-1-libra-update-now-available.1512412/): 






(https://i.imgur.com/qWtydUl.png)




Player feedback appears to be very positive so far.  Looking forward to taking this out for a spin once my installed mods have updated! 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on February 25, 2022, 04:21:14 AM
Dev Diary #243 - looking ahead... 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-243-3-3-libra-is-out-now-what.1512662/




A 3.3.2 patch just went out today yesterday, with an additional patch (v3.3.3) planned for release in a few weeks (presumably to fix bugs and any numerous small issues that inevitably crop up whenever a major update is released).  Mostly, though, the diary talks about changes coming in the upcoming 3.4 update, currently slated for May. 


The Subterfuge Tradition tree is getting buffed (which is badly needed IMO -- currently it feels woefully under-powered compared to the other Tradition trees), as is the Idyllic Bloom civic.  In addition, it will now cost Influence to launch intel operations (though they'll still require energy credits to maintain whilst ongoing), which I applaud -- it always felt like there should be a political/diplomatic cost to launching these types of operations. 

However, the most significant aspect of the 3.4 update is likely to be the implementation of the "Situations" system that the devs have been working on in concert with the Unity rework.  I'm really curious to see how that's going to work. 




And then there's this bit... 


Quote
Regarding what the Crisis Expansion Team has been working on, they’re not quite ready to share that information quite yet. Soon™.

One of our agents did manage to sneak some of the wonderful work of the Concept Art Team out though...


(https://i.imgur.com/sB1Sg7d.png)


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 03, 2022, 04:46:23 PM
Today's dev diary is actually an announcement: Daniel Moregård ("grekulf" in the PDX forms) is stepping down as game director; he's heading up another "secret project" at the Green studio. Taking over for him is Stephen Muray ("Eladrin" in the forums), who most recently has been a game designer on the Stellaris team.


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-244-a-time-for-change.1513786/




I'll admit I'm a little bummed to see Daniel go:  Given the rather deplorable state Stellaris was in when he took over, and everything he's done since then to get it back to a decent place (especially with the Custodians initiative), not to mention shepherding his team and the game's continued development through the pandemic, I'm honestly pretty impressed with what he accomplished.

Still, I can't say I'm surprised, and Murray seems like a good choice as the new game director. He's already been writing a majority of the dev diaries for a while now (which seemed a pretty clear indication both that Moregård would be leaving, and that Muray was succeeding him), plus their respective visions for Stellaris appear to align fairly closely with each other's, which gives me hope.  Fingers crossed!



Also:  It would be funny if Moregård's "secret project" was Stellaris 2. I can only hope...  :dreamer: 



Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on March 04, 2022, 03:30:52 AM
Also:  It would be funny if Moregård's "secret project" was Stellaris 2. I can only hope...  :dreamer:
And what would you wish in a Stellaris 2?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 04, 2022, 06:56:15 PM
And what would you wish in a Stellaris 2?

Off the top of my head, and in no particular order (so this is not a comprehensive list)... 


- A complete rework to pops/population:  For a whole variety of reasons (late-game performance not least among them). 

- A new/updated engine:  Because everyone always wants bigger maps, plus the existing game already creaks a bit on the current engine as it is (even setting aside the pops issue). 

- A better (scalable?) UI:  The current version isn't terrible, but there should be better sorting & search abilities.  Also... 

- The ability to (re)set our own hot-keys:  After almost a year of not playing v2.1, I'm still reflexively hitting F4 to pull up the research/technology screen, and it drives me crazy that it no longer has that function.  Also, I badly need a key so I can pull up the Leaders screen. 

- Wars need to be re-worked.  Just...gah. 

- Diplomacy needs to be re-worked:  Especially with regards to Federations and the Galactic Community. 

- Towards that end, the AI needs an overhaul, including where its "international" priorities lay. 

- Fix the pacing so that the mid-game isn't so boring: 

- Towards that end, you could have multiple levels of "discovery" in your star systems, so that Science Ships could keep finding cool new things throughout the course of the game.  This would have the bonus effect of extending the game's exploration phase, which is what players generally enjoy the most. 

- Also, have more than just the one type of mid-game crisis:  And not every crisis need to be military in nature.  There could be a deadly galaxy-wide plague, a mysterious force is destroying the starlane network, something is causing stars everywhere to suddenly become unstable and threaten to go nova, etc. 

- Give us more ways to interact with Fallen Empires.  Failing that, at least let us choose which ones to include in our game (no one likes the grumpy-ass Xenophobic Militant Isolationists)! 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on March 07, 2022, 04:49:38 AM
Many good ideas! Let's hope it will come soon.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 07, 2022, 03:56:12 PM
Thanks, Anguille


While I concur with you that the sooner Paradox gets going on the next Stellaris game the better, I have my doubts as to how "soon" we'll get our hands on it.  Personally, I don't see Stellaris 2 being released before 2025, and I suspect 2026 could be more likely.  (I'm not gonna complain if my guess(es) turn out to be pessimistic, however. ;) ) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 10, 2022, 06:16:50 PM
Dev Diary #245 gives players their first look at the upcoming "Situations" system: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-245-we-have-a-situation.1514701/




Still not sure what to make of this yet.  It *sounds* good in theory, but all we're really seeing right now is a framework.  Until the system is actually implemented, I think it's going to be difficult judge how Situations will impact the game (for good or ill). 

Hints were also dropped that Stephen is working on something big, and that he'll share it in next week's dev diary.  I can only presume it's whatever the next DLC is going to be(?)... 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on March 10, 2022, 07:42:55 PM
I'm really digging the latest patch. The Unity re-work is really good.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 15, 2022, 08:17:53 PM
Patch 3.3.3 has dropped (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/dev-team-3-3-3-patch-released-checksum-e135.1515634/): 


Spoiler: ShowHide

Balance

    - Planetary Ascension Tier costs have been adjusted. The effect the number of Ascensions has on the cost has been dramatically reduced, but the effect Empire Size has on the costs has been increased.
    - Colonists now only produce 3 amenities to be more in line with other amenity producing jobs. Reassembled Ship Shelter produces 7 to make up for it.
    - Embracing a Faction now costs Unity rather than Influence.
        ** Promoting and Suppressing Factions intentionally remains free, other than causing the factions distress.
    - Edicts no longer increase empire size from systems or pops.
    - Sacrificial edicts now increase the unity output of death priests by +3 Unity while the edict is in effect.
    - Galactic Memorial now provides 3 Unity per Ascension Perk instead of 2.


Bugfix

    - Fixed starbase modifiers not updating when ruler dies, picking ascension perk and researching new technologies.
    - Fixed an issue where edicts would get disabled if the player had a deficit of any resource.
    - Fixed timed edicts expiring one day after being enabled.
    - Death Chroniclers and Chronicle Drones now correctly provide both Amenities and Stability.


AI

    - Fixed an issue where AI empires would not upgrade their mineral purification plant building.
    - Fixed an issue where AI would get stuck in a loop building and destroying the food processing plant for void dweller empires.
    - Fixed an issue where AI empires would put too many planets on the factory world designation.




An addendum from the devs: 

Quote
We are currently investigating reports that some users are experiencing issues with certain setups when running on 3.3.3. We have enabled a 3.3.2 rollback branch for those of you experiencing stuttering and performance issues after the latest hotfix.

To roll back (on Steam) right click Stellaris, Properties, Betas tab and choose "3.3.2 Libra Rollback" from the drop-down.




I'm really digging the latest patch. The Unity re-work is really good.

Agreed.  It appears to have had positive effects for the game across the board. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 17, 2022, 02:59:59 PM
As predicted, today's dev diary discusses Overlord, a new DLC/expansion pack.  :D   


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-246-announcing-overlord.1515008/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1889490/Stellaris_Overlord/







Major features include: 

1.)  Complete rework to vassalization mechanics, with new options/ways to play as a subject empire. 
2.)  5 new Origins, including 1 for Hive Minds. 
3.)  New Enclaves (3 of them, I think?). 
4.)  3 new Megastructures, at least 1 of which is hinted at being especially powerful. 



I'm trying to not get too worked up for this one (especially with so little hard info released thus far), but I'll admit it's difficult to not be at least a little excited.  Overlord looks like it could be the most interesting DLC since at least Federations. 

EDIT:  Forgot to add...  The one aspect that disappoints me is that the DLC appears to do nothing to address internal politics or faction mechanics -- something that has long been requested by the community (as in, pretty much since Stellaris first released). 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 17, 2022, 03:05:16 PM
On a more minor note, the also released a small patch (v3.3.4) as a hotfix for the previous update: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/dev-team-3-3-4-hotfix-released-checksum-67b9.1515900/



Quote

    Fix to address performance impact on mid- to late-game saves.


Known issue

    Under certain circumstances Starbase modifiers may not immediately update, such as after the death of a ruler or activating edicts like Fortify the Border. Saving and loading or queuing a starbase module will refresh and correct the modifiers.



Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on March 24, 2022, 12:51:55 PM
Wow!  Dev Diary #247 (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-247-new-ways-to-rule.1516799/) is substantial, and has me even more stoked for the 3.4 update and Overlord DLC than before. 

Today's dev diary also comes in video format, for those who prefer that to reading/scrolling down down the page: 







There's lot of good stuff to chew on here.  In general, though, the concept of negotiating "contracts" with your vassals/overlord -- and the versatility it offers -- seems pretty damn cool.  Also, being able to build "holdings" on your vassals' planets -- what's not to love?  >:D 


Finally, I can't wait to find out about Specialist Empires next week!  Check out those new vassal types in the attached screenshot...  :D 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 01, 2022, 04:35:10 AM
Dev Diary #248 takes a more in-depth look at the Prospectorium, one of the new Specialist empires/vassals coming in Overlords, along with a further look at Holdings: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-248-special-prospects.1517982/







This bit gives a brief overview/description of each Specialist empire type, along with the key to how they play: 


Quote

We are introducing three Specialist Empire types in Overlord.

    The Bulwark: A bastion of defense that leaves basic resource acquisition to others.
    The Prospectorium: Excels at resource acquisition but has weaker research.
    The Scholarium: Specializes in research but relies on their allies for military support.

Similar to how Federations advance or degrade based on Cohesion, Specialist Empires improve based on loyalty, gaining additional perks and strengthening their bonuses and penalties as they level up through three tiers.


In other words, it appears Specialist vassals operate on a sort of rock-paper-scissors model, with each type improving their abilities as they "level up" via improving loyalty.  I imagine it's supposed to work best for an overlord to maintain a "balance" of vassal types; I'm curious to see if that's how it'll actually work out in reality.  :whistle: 




The dive into the Prospectorium is pretty damn cool.  A lot of perks await this vassal type, even if they must suffer a research penalty as a result.  I suspect the trade-off(s) could be worth it, however... 


(https://i.imgur.com/gfWe8ic.png)(https://i.imgur.com/GhQxNQg.png)(https://i.imgur.com/Qw8rm85.png)


(https://i.imgur.com/dvef89h.png)(https://i.imgur.com/4KpEqQt.png)(https://i.imgur.com/aPUYlxA.png)




In the dev team's further reveal of Holdings, they mention that any of those that provide benefits for the overlord are like Criminal jobs, in they cannot be de-prioritized by the vassal.  So you don't need to worry that constructing that slave facility on Anteres V will get shut down by the local government.  >:D 

In  addition, we get a look at some of the Holdings for Necroids, Machine Empires, and...others. 


A couple of the "normal" ones:   

(https://i.imgur.com/vwkktce.png)(https://i.imgur.com/vu4hrLK.png)


Necroids:

(https://i.imgur.com/2fBzaef.png)


Rogue Servitor: 

(https://i.imgur.com/CjXh0cl.png)


Lithoid with the "Calamitous Birth" origin (I would *not* want this one on my planet!): 

(https://i.imgur.com/n1JWiyc.png)




Speaking of Origins, they also revealed that the five included in the Overlord DLC are Imperial Fiefdom​, Teachers of the Shroud​, Slingshot to the Stars​,
Subterranean​, and Progenitor Hive​.  Sounds like each one will get a detailed preview from various content creators (one each week), with them also being summarized in that week's respective dev diary.  I'm especially interested in the "Slingshot to the Stars origin, though I'm intrigued by Subterranean as well. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 01, 2022, 04:48:45 AM
One (other) thought I meant to add... 


The more of Overlord that gets revealed, the more I suspect/realize that Murray and the dev team are working to address the mid-game, which I feel is still where Stellaris is weakest.  Apocalypse, Federations, and (to a lesser extent) Nemesis have all attempted to address the problem, with varying results.  Given those outcomes, I don't want to hope too much with Overlord, but I'm glad they're at least still willing to plug away at it. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 05, 2022, 06:20:54 PM
A bit of a closer look at the "Imperial Fiefdom" origin: 







In essence, choosing this origin puts you in the position of a vassal of a more advanced empire.  More specifically, you play as one of the new Specialist empires, where you choose the specialty (Bulwark, Prospectorium, or Scholarium), and your overlord then subsidizes you accordingly.  One of your (probable) eventual end-goals is to gain independence from your overlord. 

I'll be curious to see how often this origin gets used, as I have a hard time imagining a lot of folks voluntarily starting the game as a vassal.  (Granted, the "Scion" origin technically counts as this already, albeit in a different flavor.)  Could be an interesting origin for someone who wants to focus on a particularly play-style, whilst receiving subsidies/protection from a more powerful empire in the meantime. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 05, 2022, 06:40:59 PM
Wonder if it will be better to have vassals than sectors with Overlords?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 05, 2022, 07:41:34 PM
Wonder if it will be better to have vassals than sectors with Overlords?

The devs have hinted this is indeed one of the things they sort of had in mind with the new vassal features.  Goodness knows it could be a good/interesting way to address the Sector system, which -- while a cool feature in concept -- remains abysmal in implementation. 

Of course, it would also be nice if we could go back to something resembling the old (pre-MegaCorp) sector system.  Unfortunately, I don't know if that will ever happen at this point. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on April 06, 2022, 12:05:22 AM
Why would anyone want to start as a subject?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 06, 2022, 01:11:29 AM
Well to quote myself from earlier: 


Could be an interesting origin for someone who wants to focus on a particularly play-style, whilst receiving subsidies/protection from a more powerful empire in the meantime. 


Now I'm not saying that's necessarily a *good* reason, mind you; but some folks would probably find it appealing. 


I mean, it's likely that at least some players will enjoy the challenge of starting out as a vassal of someone else.  And if you're going to do that, why not then have the ability to at least select what type of vassal you're going to be, *plus* getting an extra boost from your overlord at the start to boot? 

I'm not claiming that would be for you or myself, no, but I can certainly see the appeal. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on April 06, 2022, 11:27:33 AM
I do find the concept interesting in Star Dynasties (or Crusader Kings) but the gameplay is already so limited in Stellaris, i can't imagine how this can be fun. Stellaris offers tons of options to play but the problem is that most of them are just terribly boring and limiting (like playing a xenophile pacifist....done once, never again  :tickedoff:).
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 12, 2022, 01:15:18 AM
Setting aside that you and I have very different experiences playing Stellaris, I do wonder if the the Fiefdom origin is intended to be a bit more MP-oriented, as the devs have said that if multiple players choose that origin, they'll all be vassals of the same AI empire...  :whistle: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 12, 2022, 02:24:41 AM
Dev Diary #249 takes a closer look at the three new enclave types, the Specialist empire type Bulwark, and more Holdings: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-249-new-friends.1518971/






Salvagers appear to be useful in a myriad of ways: from purchasing your old ships, to salvaging debris, to boosting your engineering research, and more. 

(https://i.imgur.com/9FUni7w.png)



Spiritualist empires are finally getting their own thematically-appropriate enclave in the Shroudwalkers​: 

(https://i.imgur.com/9Eeeeg5.png)



Perhaps the most interesting enclave -- at least for a certain type of play-style [*cough cough* MegaCorp] -- are Mercenaries.  These don't appear randomly, however; rather, you set them up yourself: 

(https://i.imgur.com/CaQ4d02.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/iarCMUQ.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/daVXldZ.png)


A new Ascension Perk is even being added to make Mercs more powerful/worthwhile: 

(https://i.imgur.com/abckstn.png)


Looks like they'll also become a topic of debate within the Galactic Community: 

(https://i.imgur.com/4pblvGs.png)




As might be expected, Bulwark empires get tons of bonuses to starbases and defense platforms, as well as additional bonuses when fighting in their own territory.  The trade-off is that this comes at the cost of reduces resource income:   


(https://i.imgur.com/DetXiPX.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/wEoQwnw.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/BHwrF9A.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/MUn4Gd6.png)



What puzzles me about the Bulwark is that I'm not clear on what benefits this empire type bestows upon its Overlord.  At the moment, it appears the vassal empire will be the only one to really benefit. 




Not much to say about the Holdings revealed in this dev diary, other than they appear to focus on those that can be built by MegaCorps and Necroid empires.  It's good to see there will be a decent variety, though. 





Overall, another nice substantial dev diary.  Can't wait to see what this week's reveals.  :bigthumb: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 12, 2022, 05:28:45 PM
A look at the "Teachers of the Shroud" origin: 







It appears to be an easy choice if you're planning to play as a Spiritualist empire.  (Is there no downside?)  I also like how it ties in with the new Spiritualist enclave. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 15, 2022, 04:22:32 AM
This week's developer diary (#250) is another big entry:  It looks at 2 of the 3 new megastructures being added in Overlord, the Specialist vassal/empire type Scholarium​, Specialist holdings, and some new resolutions in the Galactic Community... 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-250-elevating-civilization.1520106/







Orbital Rings are intended to further enhance both planetary defense and capacity.  Given their relatively lower tech requirements and resource costs, they appear to be a "lesser" megastructure, similar to Gateways and Habitats (which also means they don't count towards your empire's megastructure cap). 

(https://i.imgur.com/04xGmRb.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/7W5oIEx.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/Suh76DJ.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/CjKjErH.png)(https://i.imgur.com/rTiXD1L.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/7f7lYkh.png)(https://i.imgur.com/0vsdd7C.png)



Honestly, Orbital Rings feel a bit underwhelming to me at the moment, especially in contrast to their potential "cool factor".  On the other hand, their relatively cheaper cost means you can build quite a few of them, and I suspect their versatility (being able to improve a planets defenses *and* capacity) is probably not to be sneered at.  Plus, any system with multiple colonies -- all guarded by Orbital Rings -- would likely be a tough nut to crack.  :biggrin: 





On the flip side, the Quantum Catapult appears to be just what every overlord needs -- especially when you need to ship your fleet "Next Day Air" to a faraway destination: 

(https://i.imgur.com/c5Cr4OE.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/EiddqPP.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/tDdXx56.png)



The Catapult's only drawback is that due to some inherent accuracy issues, your fleet might not end up precisely where you intend...  (Hopefully there aren't any Leviathans near your target destination!) 

(https://i.imgur.com/fqPa4g1.png)





A closer look at the Scholarium​.  No prizes for guessing what they specialize in: 

(https://i.imgur.com/yn4TEtm.png)(https://i.imgur.com/WClptUB.png)



As expected, they get all sorts of research-related perks (two examples below): 

(https://i.imgur.com/WClptUB.png)(https://i.imgur.com/WClptUB.png)



Their overlord even enjoys a passive benefit (in addition to all the other potential perks): 

(https://i.imgur.com/F19r2wl.png)



Fascinating:  Maxed-out Scholarium empires get a special science ship that nerfs AI-piloted vessels -- including ships with sapient AI combat computers... 

(https://i.imgur.com/SrlH8BO.png)





The Galactic Community will see the introduction of two new sets of resolutions... 


The "Intergalactic Directives" resolutions focus on improving the abilities of Specialist empires, as well as limiting what terms their overlords can impose on their vassals: 

(https://i.imgur.com/TomKnJV.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/pPKroGF.png)



In contrast, the "Bureaucratic Surveillance" resolutions increase an overlord's influence & authority over their vassals, including alignment with the former's dominant ethics: 

(https://i.imgur.com/NKXkW9W.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/o2dRgYp.png)





Finally, a word about the Specialist Holdings:  Personally, I would say they're...nothing special, ironically.  To be sure, they're all thematically appropriate, not to mention useful, but I wouldn't say there's anything particularly remarkable about them.  (I'm hoping that experience with actual gameplay may change my opinion of that.) 


One thing I am noticing about Holdings is that a lot of them -- a majority, in fact -- lower Loyalty in your vassals.  Indeed, there seem to be quite a few things that can lower Loyalty.  Given that, I'm curious as to what tools overlord empires can utilize to improve it... 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on April 15, 2022, 07:31:20 AM
...
One thing I am noticing about Holdings is that a lot of them -- a majority, in fact -- lower Loyalty in your vassals.  Indeed, there seem to be quite a few things that can lower Loyalty.  Given that, I'm curious as to what tools overlord empires can utilize to improve it...

Big fleets with big guns?  8)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 16, 2022, 03:45:01 AM
Big fleets with small guns work too.  It's amazing what 180 corvettes armed with missiles and disruptors can accomplish.  >:D 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 20, 2022, 07:23:33 PM
A preview of the "Slingshot to the Stars" origin: 






Looks like starting with a ruined Quantum Catapult in your system could be fun, if potentially overpowered.  But overpowered can be fun too.  :biggrin: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 21, 2022, 07:37:37 PM
Dev diary #251 talks about the Hyper Relay megastructure, along with a number of changes & improvements the Cepheus update is bringing to the game: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-251-all-roads-lead-to-deneb-iib.1521209/






Like the Orbital Ring (alongside the Gateways and Habitats), the Hyper Relay is a "lesser" or "common" megastructure -- you can build them pretty much anywhere, and they don't count towards your empires megastructure cap.  In addition to speeding up hyperlane travel, they provide other benefits as well, depending on a few different factors.  You'll also be able to construct Hyper Relays in your vassals' territory, with mutual benefits for both parties. 


As for the free 3.4 "Cepheus" patch, it's bringing the usual bevy of goodies to Stellaris that most updates do, with the improvements to automated migration probably being the most notable.  MegaCorps are also getting a bit of love, specifically with regards to certain successful war-goals, and being able to open branch offices in co-vassals of a shared overlord.  Probably my personal favorite change/improvement is that empires will be able to construct Gateways and (as mentioned above) Hyper Relays in their vassals' territory -- I really wish I could do this in my current game!  :kling: 

On a much more minor note, the art team is adding a bunch of new options regarding flags: color palettes, emblems, and backgrounds.  (Apparently they're doing this in celebration of the game's sixth anniversary.)  While this is obviously only a cosmetic thing, it does add a bit of flavor & immersion,  something I always appreciate. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 21, 2022, 07:46:35 PM
Oh!  And lest I forget...  Overlord is being released May 12.  :rockon: 






(I'm totally digging the music in the trailer, incidentally.  I really hope we see it in the game as well.) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 23, 2022, 01:58:00 PM
An interview with game director Stephen Muray, talking about Overlord: 


https://www.pcgamesn.com/stellaris/overlord-release-date




I found this bit interesting: 

Quote
“When we first announced Overlord, there were a lot of questions [from players] about why are you doing this, and not doing internal politics or some sort of story pack,” Muray says.

While I'm excited for Overlord, I do still wonder why the devs (apparently) decided against doing something with factions and internal politics, as that's long been a popularly-requested feature by the community -- especially after they announced the new "Situations" system (which we still don't know much about, but sounds like it could dovetail well with internal political mechanics).  I'm curious as to whether the devs find such a prospect too daunting, or if they are still planning/hoping to something with it, just further down the road. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 25, 2022, 08:00:09 PM
I thought this was pretty clever (funny too):  The announcement trailer, but with an alternate ending -- where the Quantum Catapult sends you to the wrong system... 






The fighter's crew playing the Aquatics space shanty theme on their ship's internal radio was a nice touch.  :hehe: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 25, 2022, 10:30:40 PM
In the original release of Stellaris wasn't one of the three types of travel similar to the catapult?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 25, 2022, 10:40:21 PM
Quote
Probably my personal favorite change/improvement is that empires will be able to construct Gateways and (as mentioned above) Hyper Relays in their vassals' territory -- I really wish I could do this in my current game! 

Why mess with vassals. Exterminate the soulless vermin, and use there former systems to grow your own population.  >:D
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Yskonyn on April 26, 2022, 02:59:37 AM
Havent played Stellaris in a long while, but man alive, they sure know how to create great art assets for the game!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 26, 2022, 04:11:51 AM
In the original release of Stellaris wasn't one of the three types of travel similar to the catapult?

Originally, the three FTL types were: 

1.)  Hyperdrive - Pretty much what we have in the current version.
2.)  Warp drive - You can fly anywhere (not limited to hyperlanes), but it's the slowest of the three.
3.)  Wormhole travel - It's the fastest FTL type, but it's also somewhat micromanagement-intensive.


I'm guessing you're thinking of wormhole travel(?).  The difference, of course, being that -- aside from being much more expensive to construct -- the Catapult has a far greater range than a Wormhole station, whilst also being less accurate. 



Quote
Probably my personal favorite change/improvement is that empires will be able to construct Gateways and (as mentioned above) Hyper Relays in their vassals' territory -- I really wish I could do this in my current game! 

Why mess with vassals. Exterminate the soulless vermin, and use there former systems to grow your own population.  >:D

Why waste perfectly good xenos, when I can set them to working for me instead?  Besides, extermination & conquest is so *exhausting*...  :whistle: 





Havent played Stellaris in a long while, but man alive, they sure know how to create great art assets for the game!

They do indeed. :bigthumb:   I think they, along with Paradox's writers, are the unsung heroes for a lot of their games. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 27, 2022, 08:03:04 PM
A closer look at the "Subterranean" origin (or: when you *really* want to go all in on playing a Dwarven/Orcish empire)... 






Could dovetail nicely for those playing a Lithoid species as well. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on April 28, 2022, 08:56:20 AM
^^^Live footage....appears they are peaceful as well.

(https://c.tenor.com/Y67GYtEqFtYAAAAd/star-trek-no-kill-i.gif)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 28, 2022, 06:02:59 PM
I confess I hadn't even though of the Horta.  But i suddenly know the first species I'm going to create/name once Overlord drops.  :bigthumb: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 28, 2022, 06:10:32 PM
Today's dev diary looks at the AI improvements the Custodians Initiative is bringing to the Cepheus update dropping alongside Overlord next month: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-252-artificial-and-automated-intelligence.1521980/






I imagine we'll all be glad to see the zillions of individual tiny AI fleets should be going away, however much sense it might have made at the time.  We should also see better overall AI behavior during wars, especially against crisis factions.  I'm looking forward to (hopefully) more logical AI diplomacy behavior as well; I might just try forming Federations again... 

Perhaps most interesting of all, however (at least to me), is the new/improved Planet and Sector automation.  I'm really curious to try it out.  It would be beyond fantstic if it actually works, though I freely admit I'm not optimistic.  (I would be happy to be proven wrong, though.) 



I'm also sad to see Offe leaving the Custodians team, as he did a lot of good work with the AI, plus did a nice job of explaining what he did in layman's terms. Hopefully he's now working on the same project as Moregård...  :whistle: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on April 28, 2022, 06:30:08 PM
My only problem now with stellaris is the same as I had with elite - I’ve been out for so long I haven’t a clue where to begin!!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 30, 2022, 04:37:19 AM
My only problem now with stellaris is the same as I had with elite - I’ve been out for so long I haven’t a clue where to begin!!

The beginning is actually not the worst place to start.  ;) 

Seriously, though, when I switched from version 2.1 to 3.0 last year, I pretty much had to relearn how to play the game all over again.  Not that I had to unlearn/relearn *everything*, but I did have to spend the time figuring out which parts of my Stellaris knowledge & experience were still relevant, and which parts had to be thrown out.  Such is the nature of this maddening game.  ::) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 30, 2022, 04:44:06 AM
Me when inviting other empires into my federation, or -- especially -- "inviting" an empire to become my protectorate/vassal... 

(Note:  This particularly applies to empires who have been a thorn in my side, and/or are generally being shits. :kling: ) 


(https://i.imgur.com/hIysTlT.jpg)


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on April 30, 2022, 04:44:30 AM
Still loving the DW2 life but came across matrix’s wish list and bug thread - there’s stuff not working yet that I haven’t even started with

I loved every second I played stellaris but DW2 has taught me what I really love here is the feeling of an entire universe at work - just life getting on with shit
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on April 30, 2022, 04:46:25 AM
Me when inviting other empires into my federation, or -- especially -- "inviting" an empire to become my protectorate/vassal... 

(Note:  This particularly applies to empires who have been a thorn in my side, and/or are generally being shits. :kling: ) 

😂😂


(https://i.imgur.com/hIysTlT.jpg)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 30, 2022, 03:19:54 PM
I personally don't care much for ASpec, but his status in the Stellaris community as its #1 super-fan does mean he's able to get interviews with members of the dev team.  In this video (released yesterday), he sits down with new game director Stephen Murray and talks about Overlord's development, as well as the possible future direction of the game. 





Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on May 03, 2022, 08:40:34 AM
right................

im £156 out of date on the DLC - i imagine i can do without ipad lore packs and the soundtrack - but would you recommend everything else Martok?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 03, 2022, 04:43:45 PM
For those who like to play Hive Minds, this is probably the Origin for you!  (Looks pretty powerful...) 







The devs also gave us our first playthrough of Overlord: 


https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1473088860


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 03, 2022, 05:50:10 PM
right................

im £156 out of date on the DLC - i imagine i can do without ipad lore packs and the soundtrack - but would you recommend everything else Martok?

Not sure what you mean by the "iipad lore packs", but the short answer is yes. 


Of course, some DLC's have more value than others.  This is probably how I would rank them currently: 

S.) Utopia

A.) Distant Stars, Apocalypse, Leviathans

B.) Ancient Relics, Federations, Synthetic Dawn

C.) MegaCorp, Nemesis, Aquatics, Humanoids

D.) Lithoids, Necroids, Plantoids



I don't remember which DLC's you already own, 'geek, but I would at least try and grab those on B-tier and higher (preferably on sale, of course ;) ).  The rest are also worth getting, but *only* at sale price IMHO.  (The species packs in particular are more a matter of personal taste/opinion.) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on May 04, 2022, 09:18:34 PM
Excellent - piggy bank shaking time

I’ve got utopia, leviathans, and synthetic dawn

All of S, A and B is £44 - it may well be upgrade time
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 06, 2022, 01:56:56 AM
This week's dev diary consists of the patch notes for the 3.4 "Cepheus" update: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-253-three-in-one-3-4-cepheus-patch-notes-and-more.1523352/


(https://i.imgur.com/YlUxLWi.png)




Features list for Overlord








Selected excerpts from the patch notes that particularly caught my eye... 


Quote

Additional trade deal options between subjects and Overlords have been added.

Subjugation casus belli is now automatically granted towards inferior empires.

Defense Platforms now have increased range, fire rate, tracking, and hull points, and are faster to build.

dded a nanites deposit to the Scavenger Bot system so you can use the reward you get for killing it.

The outliner will now tell you about blockers you can remove if you are approaching the planet's carrying capacity and therefore suffering growth penalties.

Automatic scripted handling of resource output, trade and amenity bonuses and penalties from traits, i.e. pops with the better traits for the job will more reliably take the job.

Removed the requirement to have an upgraded capital building in order to build research labs or rare resource manufacturing buildings.


All of the above changes made me do the Happy Dance, but none more so than that last one.  It should go a long way towards making new colonies more useful.  :D 



Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 06, 2022, 02:34:14 AM
Incidentally, I did sit down and watched/listened to ASpec's entire interview with Muray (as opposed to just skipping around and catching bits & pieces).  It was a good talk, with Stephen discussing both the current state of the game, as well as a a few things he might like do with Stellaris in the future (of course he was careful to not make any promises!). 

I think perhaps the most important takeaway, however, is that he appears to be aiming to be a similar type of game director as Moregard -- that is, one who keeps the game on a steady, more evolutionary path, rather than reinventing it every six months just because he can.  At one point during the interview, Muray makes a comment that falls just short of throwing shade at Martin Anward, but it's still pretty clear he's not wild about making huge changes to a game unless it's genuinely warranted.  Thank goodness. 




Excellent - piggy bank shaking time

I’ve got utopia, leviathans, and synthetic dawn

All of S, A and B is £44 - it may well be upgrade time

Enjoy, buddy.  :bigthumb: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on May 06, 2022, 03:02:19 AM
After all these updates and add ons is there a stellaris 2 mentioned anywhere - pretty much like CK1 and 2 - eventually you’ve got to improve the engine and grow up a bit
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Yskonyn on May 06, 2022, 10:56:16 AM
Not talked about AFAIK.
But I do recall reading somewhere that the Clausewitz engine is now such that games can ride along with its progression in tech, so that suggests a sequel is not needed for tech reasons. More like a reset to cut stuff that didnt really work or has become bloated/obsolete and start from a fresh foundation.
No idea if and when a sequel is in the works though. They seems to still have lots of ideas for the current game.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 07, 2022, 05:01:17 AM
To add to Yskonyn's comments (fascinating, I hadn't heard that bit about the Clausewitz engine before), Fredrick Wester made a couple interesting statements in this video from a few days ago: 







While he and Alex both dropped several bits of info relevant to Paradox fans (a big one is that the price of DLC's are probably going to increase >:( ), one thing that especially stuck out for me was that at one point, Wester says they're not going to stop supporting a game just because it's been out for a while.  (He cites HoI4 as a particular example, noting how it actually has more players now than it did at release.)  Similarly, he hinted that they're not necessarily going to put out a sequel just because a game is "due" for one -- if the current entry in a series is doing well, and players are happy with it, then why would they start working on a new game? 

It's a somewhat rhetorical question, of course -- at some point, a new/updated version will needed and/or warranted.  But Fred's comments do make me wonder if it might be significantly longer before we see Stellaris 2, to the point that I'm beginning to doubt my predictions of a 2026 release date, if only a little. 


I still think we'll see a sequel sometime in the next five years.  But I'll admit I'm no longer as certain of that as I was a week ago. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 09, 2022, 07:48:02 PM

While he and Alex both dropped several bits of info relevant to Paradox fans (a big one is that the price of DLC's are probably going to increase >:( ),

To be fair to Paradox and other developers, I came across my 20 year old EU2 box, which was $39.99.  The same price as EUIV on Steam today.  So in 20 years the base game prices haven't changed.  How much has hotel room costs or meals go up in the last 20 years?  Or anything else for that matter. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 10, 2022, 03:36:55 AM
^  You have a very good point, of course, but that doesn't mean I like it.  :P 


I would also be less unhappy if Crusader Kings III and its first major expansion, Royal Court, weren't setting a bad precedent:  They're Paradox's first game and DLC to be price at $50 and $30 (respectively), and both have their problems.  While the base game scored well, it still gets quite a few complaints about it feeling empty and/or stripped of a lot of the features that made CK2 fun; and of course Royal Court has been blasted by the community for being too light on content (and/or having the wrong content) for the price they're being asked to pay for it. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on May 12, 2022, 08:59:17 PM
50% - 80% off the whole franchise apart from aquatics and overlord right now

Not two days ago was about to buy most of the dlc - now a definite purchase - certainly the content packs I think I can live without the species packs unless they come with additional story

Whilst I declare my love for DW2 and have recently been obsessed with the game, playing, reading, watching - i don’t want to spoil my enjoyment of it using work rounds to get around some things that are starting to appear on the mid game
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 12, 2022, 09:45:06 PM
Hot damn.  :D 


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1889490/Stellaris_Overlord/






As might be expected, the base game is currently on sale at a steep discount, as are most of the DLC's: 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/281990/Stellaris/




Myself, I'm fired up and ready to go!  The only thing I'm waiting on is for a few more mods to be updated.  I keep checking the list: 

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/3-4-cepheus-updated-mods-list.1524411/


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on May 12, 2022, 10:57:56 PM
Bought it through Green Man Gaming with a 15% discount email.  :party:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 13, 2022, 01:04:01 AM
I picked up my copy of Overlord on Fanatical for a total of $16.52 (USD).  Current price is $17.39, plus I had a 5% coupon.  :) 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bayonetbrant on May 13, 2022, 09:44:32 AM
https://twitter.com/PDX_Dev_Studio/status/1525085883610849284

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on May 14, 2022, 03:08:49 AM
Seems there's a big problem with revolts in the game since the last patch (impossible to quell or manage). Anyone having experience with that?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 14, 2022, 04:56:45 AM
No, as I ironically haven't really touched the game much since Thursday.  I suddenly realized I needed a break from Stellaris after I purchased Overlord -- but then, I often do when a new DLC and/or major patch drops.  (I think I suffer from "update fatigue"... :-\ ) 

That being said, I have heard about revolts causing an issue, especially on planets inhabited by primitive civilizations.  It's apparently a major reason why Overlord's rating has abruptly started tanking on Steam in the last 24 hours.  (It was initially rated "Mostly Positive" the first 12-18 hours after launch, but it's since dropped to "Mixed".)  The problem is explained in better detail in this Reddit thread (though I've quoted the most pertinent bit here): 


https://www.reddit.com/r/Stellaris/comments/uoy7ym/game_director_aware_of_some_of_the_issues/

Quote
If you conquer primative planets a situation will appear in your log. This situation is a death spiral currently in some planets especially if the planet you conquered had already low stability due to other factors. Low stability + not enough time to fix = stacking debuffs that spiral out of control before you can resolve it.

Even once a "revolt" happens, if you fail to fix it, you instantly lose the planet and surrounding systems for 10 years including your troops stationed on the planets.

People are unhappy because this does not make sense.

Why can they declare independent when I have an overwhelming fleet without a fight? Why can they take my surrounding systems also without a fight? Why must I give them 10 years truce when technologically they are throwing sticks at me? In a real world situation if there is such a revolt you can just obliterate them into oblivion. This apparently screwed up some of the people's playthrough during war time because (they have to pay attention to the war) and can't keep micro-managing planets that have low stability while their attention is elsewhere.





Steven Muray is aware of (at least some of) the problems with the Cepheus update.  Here's hoping they get a fix out soon: 

https://twitter.com/smuray/status/1525123515363491840


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on May 14, 2022, 07:20:19 AM
That screeching sound you here is my wallet jamming the brakes on - all other dlc is purchased and ready - might start a game this weekend

IIRC when I was checking out all the dlc - every single one from utopia upwards is ‘mixed’
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 14, 2022, 06:20:47 PM
That screeching sound you here is my wallet jamming the brakes on - all other dlc is purchased and ready - might start a game this weekend

IIRC when I was checking out all the dlc - every single one from utopia upwards is ‘mixed’

I don't like the way Steam does user ratings.  Where the problem lies is if there is a technical issue with something that gets resolved, but the player never goes back and updates their review.  I have no problem if you don't like a new feature or how it was implemented.  However, on that note, we know there are features that have been released in a DLC and later overhauled, but again, reviewers don't go back and update their reviews.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on May 15, 2022, 02:34:37 AM
That screeching sound you here is my wallet jamming the brakes on - all other dlc is purchased and ready - might start a game this weekend

IIRC when I was checking out all the dlc - every single one from utopia upwards is ‘mixed’

I don't like the way Steam does user ratings.  Where the problem lies is if there is a technical issue with something that gets resolved, but the player never goes back and updates their review.  I have no problem if you don't like a new feature or how it was implemented.  However, on that note, we know there are features that have been released in a DLC and later overhauled, but again, reviewers don't go back and update their reviews.

Agree 100%
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 16, 2022, 02:46:54 PM
Game Director Steven Muray posted an update regarding the issues with Overlord/Cepheus, and the team's plans to address them: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/the-next-steps-as-overlords.1525810/




TL;DR:  Rookie game director screwed up in approving last-minute changes to release code.  Subsequently, a (large-ish) hotfix is currently in the works, with a more significant patch planned to be released in a few weeks. 


The way things are currently looking, I'm guessing I'll be playing Old World for a bit before I end up spending any significant time with Stellaris. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on May 16, 2022, 09:19:37 PM
Sometimes I look at the Stellaris icon on my desktop and think.....nah, one of these day's they might finish it and I'll play it then. I love the game, but playing it every year or two is like being a duck who wakes up in a new pond every day.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 17, 2022, 05:36:45 AM
Ha!!  You're not wrong at all, Steelie.  That is a very apt way of phrasing it.  :applause: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 18, 2022, 03:42:55 PM
A good interview with game director Steven Muray: 


https://www.nme.com/features/gaming-features/quantum-futures-stephen-muray-on-embracing-roleplaying-blorg-body-pillows-and-six-years-of-stellaris-3227436




Sounds like he wants to add/change/improve pretty much the same things to the game as the community does: factions, internal politics, combat balance (fixing the Battleships/Corvette meta would be fantastic). etc.  Looking forward to seeing what else he comes up with in the future. 

Also interesting that they apparently did actually add personnel with the Custodians Initiative.  I'm surprised the higher-ups at Paradox authorized the money for hiring more people, but I'm glad they did. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 19, 2022, 05:51:05 AM
The 3.4.3 hotfix has dropped!  The patch notes make up today's dev diary: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-254-3-4-3-cepheus-patch-released-checksum-9d15-whats-next.1526372/




Sounds like they were able to cram some of the changes/improvements originally planned for the larger patch next month into this one instead.  Not bad. 



Also: holy hell.  These 2(3) features alone are going to massively improve playing this game... 

Quote
We also have some quality of life automation improvements planned for 3.4.4:

    - Automated Exploration and Automated Research are now available from the start of the game rather than being tech-locked.
    - Construction ships now have an Automated Construction mode, which will automatically build Research and Mining Stations over appropriate deposits. (It will not automatically build Observation Stations, Hyper Relays, or other constructions.)


 :rockon:


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on May 19, 2022, 06:35:32 AM

Also: holy hell.  These 2(3) features alone are going to massively improve playing this game... 

Quote
We also have some quality of life automation improvements planned for 3.4.4:

    - Automated Exploration and Automated Research are now available from the start of the game rather than being tech-locked.
    - Construction ships now have an Automated Construction mode, which will automatically build Research and Mining Stations over appropriate deposits. (It will not automatically build Observation Stations, Hyper Relays, or other constructions.)


 :rockon:
Finally! Especially the one for the construction ships
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 19, 2022, 03:49:06 PM
Incidentally, Stellaris is free to play this weekend, in celebration of its 6th anniversary: 








Also: holy hell.  These 2(3) features alone are going to massively improve playing this game... 

Quote
We also have some quality of life automation improvements planned for 3.4.4:

    - Automated Exploration and Automated Research are now available from the start of the game rather than being tech-locked.
    - Construction ships now have an Automated Construction mode, which will automatically build Research and Mining Stations over appropriate deposits. (It will not automatically build Observation Stations, Hyper Relays, or other constructions.)


 :rockon:
Finally! Especially the one for the construction ships

Agreed.  That's gonna be huge. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on May 19, 2022, 05:55:32 PM
Right - the great big adventure starts

I’m going to try a megacorps build first as that’s new to me - in the guides I’ve watched everyone chooses a food policy called nutritional plenitude- this seems to have disappeared - was it replaced by anything
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bob48 on May 20, 2022, 06:55:24 AM
Base game free download on Steam at present?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on May 20, 2022, 07:32:11 AM
Free to play this weekend. Not sure you get to keep it past that though.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bob48 on May 20, 2022, 07:44:43 AM
Yes, its a bit ambiguous, innit?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 24, 2022, 01:58:05 AM
Right - the great big adventure starts

I’m going to try a megacorps build first as that’s new to me - in the guides I’ve watched everyone chooses a food policy called nutritional plenitude- this seems to have disappeared - was it replaced by anything

Very cool, 'geek.  Have fun!  :bigthumb: 


Nutritional Plenitude is still in the game; it's just an edict now instead of a policy.  It's unlocked with one of the lower-tier Society (Biology) techs. 

However, I don't know that it provides the same benefits that it used to.  I only use Nutritional Plenitude on those rare occasions when I'm genuinely running low on food. 




Base game free download on Steam at present?

Yes, its a bit ambiguous, innit?

It was free-to-play during the weekend only. 

And yes, it's a bit vague.  I wish games that are "free to play" on Steam for a temporary period are listed differently from those that are actually free to *own* (such as Crusader Kings II and Order of Battle: World War II). 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on May 24, 2022, 03:05:26 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/xRW6115.jpg)

ok, so thats me in the middle the northwest of the Cydrian Hub - the very tiny blue empire

(https://i.imgur.com/XRRC89kh.jpg)

ive got closed borders to the west and south and the only place to expand is over there in the west..............

(https://i.imgur.com/rMSIJU9.jpg)

.........where those 2 gaia planets are!!!!

I think ive done the megacorps bit right - i have 330 credits a month coming in - if i havent got it i can buy it

For a first run throuugh im having a blast - the asshats to my west are another megacorps - ive either forgotten or i dont know how to generate as much expansion as theyve managed - theyre not that much more powerful than me - had a war, they hit destroyers a bit before me so they were just about to decimate my last corvette fleet before i could convince them to sign a status quo peace treaty and now everyone is just watching everyones fleets get bigger til the hammer drops - i might wait for cruisers before going in to subjagate them or i might grow a big ass destroyer fleet though

on a side note - i cant find any platform to put missiles on a destroyer - did i break something?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bob48 on May 24, 2022, 03:14:06 PM
.......swirly blue thing alert...............

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 25, 2022, 05:16:10 AM
.........where those 2 gaia planets are!!!!

Wow, score!! 

(They're not Holy Worlds claimed by a nearby Fallen Empire, are they?  Had to ask, since you usually can't get your hands on Gaia planets without a bit of extra effort...) 



I think ive done the megacorps bit right - i have 330 credits a month coming in - if i havent got it i can buy it

Yep, that sounds about right.  Even your small amount of territory fits the theme, as megacorps are more meant to be played tall rather than wide.  :2thumbs: 



For a first run throuugh im having a blast - the asshats to my west are another megacorps - ive either forgotten or i dont know how to generate as much expansion as theyve managed - theyre not that much more powerful than me - had a war, they hit destroyers a bit before me so they were just about to decimate my last corvette fleet before i could convince them to sign a status quo peace treaty and now everyone is just watching everyones fleets get bigger til the hammer drops - i might wait for cruisers before going in to subjagate them or i might grow a big ass destroyer fleet though

I recommend waiting for cruisers if you can, though of course it depends on how dire your situation is.  If necessary, I typically continue to build corvettes (and skip destroyers) in the meantime. 



on a side note - i cant find any platform to put missiles on a destroyer - did i break something?

Nope, it's nothing you did.  Unlike Corvettes, Destroyers don't have a missile module, unfortunately. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on May 25, 2022, 05:41:07 AM
Ah - that explains that - I now can’t get to the Gaia planets as there’s no way round - I’ve tried to make friends with both but they won’t open their borders - I’m going to have to go for the megacorps or the machine world

Is it still the paradox game of old - you have to practically take over the whole enemy just to get the 2 or three planets out of them you wanted?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 26, 2022, 02:31:04 PM
Today's dev diary isn't anything special.  Rather, it's a summary of the Q&A session from earlier this month: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-255-overlord-q-a.1527771/





There are over 100 questions asked & answered, which I'm not even going to try and summarize.  You're better off just watching the video, where Stephen and "Mirror Universe Stephen" answer (more or less) some of the more interesting questions that were put forward by the community. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 26, 2022, 02:31:16 PM
Is it still the paradox game of old - you have to practically take over the whole enemy just to get the 2 or three planets out of them you wanted?

Short answer, yes. 

Though I have found that the number of systems I'm claiming does make a difference in the war-score needed to achieve victory.  So it still helps -- somewhat -- to be claiming only a handful of systems, as opposed to a bunch of them. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 02, 2022, 05:30:41 AM
ASpec has another podcast interview with game director Stephen Muray.  Topics include the aftermath of Overlord's somewhat messy launch, Situations, and Hyper Relays: 





Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 02, 2022, 01:10:43 PM
Is it fixed yet?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 03, 2022, 05:52:57 AM
This week's dev diary is largely filler, unless perhaps you work as a professional artist.  Still, I do always find it interesting what art teams in games development use/find as inspiration(s) for their various designs & models: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-256-making-a-station.1529138/




Is it fixed yet?

Short answer: yes.  Longer answer: depends on what issues from the Overlord/Cepheus launch have been especially bothering you. 

The 3.4.3 patch (I refuse to call it a "hotfix") from a couple weeks ago seems to have done a credible job of addressing the most critical and/or annoying problems for the majority of players.  If you're wanting/waiting for the game to be "fully" "fixed" before you resume playing again, however, then you may want to wait for the 3.4.4 patch, which I'm estimating will be out in another two weeks or so. 


For myself, I'd probably be playing Stellaris again already -- *if* I wasn't already so occupied at the moment with Interstellar Space: Genesis and (to a lesser extent) Old World.  As it is, however, I'm content to wait for the 3.4.4 patch while I'm playing other things.  :) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 04, 2022, 03:00:31 AM


Having since listened to the entire interview, it sounds like the 3.4.4 update now won't be coming out until the end of June or early July, shortly before the Paradox personnel take their annual summer break.  This was apparently due to the devs being able to get more of the fixes into the 3.4.3 patch than originally anticipated, thus decreasing the urgency of releasing 3.4.4 as quickly. 

Given that, I may hold off on firing up the game until then.  I'm still enjoying Interstellar Space: Genesis, and am looking to circle back around to Old World, so I'm not in any hurry right now. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 04, 2022, 03:51:03 AM
quick noob question - about to start a war to open a corridor between system a and b of mine - ill claim the planet/s that are creating the choke point but to max out the war score for me is it best to take the planets as well as the systems - so actual planetary invasion as opposed to neutralising the star bases and owning the area
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 04, 2022, 03:45:13 PM
Yes.  Invading & occupying planets helps a great deal -- probably more than any individual system, in fact. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 07, 2022, 01:01:24 PM
First test game scrapped - should have checked I had a path to the enemy before declaring war - none of my systems were connected to theirs - it all went wrong fairly quickly - game b been set up tonight
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 08, 2022, 03:04:34 AM
Fingers crossed you have better luck this time!  (And don't forget to grab those choke-point systems when/as you can!)  8) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 08, 2022, 10:30:28 AM
Going to breathe and just get my head around vanilla stellaris

Briefly dabbled with 3 planets tall but I don’t understand the nuances

There’s swarms, planet eaters, pop eaters, slavers, wonderful tales of growing pops as food and selling that food on the galactic market - all deliciously evil and interesting but I don’t understand it yet

Going to go for a classic civ style find planets, populate and expand - I know this much and take it from there
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 08, 2022, 08:02:13 PM
You could always play as a Fanatic Purifier if you want to keep a generalist approach and still be evil -- or a Determined Exterminator if you like robots.  >:D 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 08, 2022, 08:22:34 PM
All to come!!

Totally had the game open up today as I’d forgotten about outposts and improving them - couldn’t work out how everyone else was getting wider than me then I noticed adding a shipyard to an outpost makes it a proper starbase so just leave it as an outpost ::) :idiot2:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 09, 2022, 02:06:18 AM
Ah yes, that will definitely make a difference.  ;)  And don't forget to upgrade your Outposts to Starbases in critical chokepoint systems!  Make the enemy break their teeth on your defenses! 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 09, 2022, 02:31:51 AM
My struggle today is empire size - sat at 112% - and so many juicy planets to colonise, like maybe 8
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on June 09, 2022, 06:54:47 AM
Don’t get too hung up on Empire size. The bigger your empire the more stuff you bring in the less effect Empire size has. Colonize everything, mine everything and you’ll be fine.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: bob48 on June 09, 2022, 07:00:27 AM
Should you not have added 'Mwhahahaha' to that?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on June 09, 2022, 07:11:55 AM
Should you not have added 'Mwhahahaha' to that?

Absolutely!  :bigthumb:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 09, 2022, 08:00:07 AM
Even ignoring the penalties?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on June 09, 2022, 08:23:27 AM
Well you need to keep an eye on the penalties. Develop your planets to negate them by producing what you need.
And mine everything and build research stations everywhere. Claim systems as fast as you can and then colonize planets as you are able.

The penalties from Empire size are only really a concern at the beginning. Once your empire is producing and collecting lots of resources it's not that big a problem.

There are techs that help with Empire size as well.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on June 09, 2022, 08:31:41 AM
In the attached picture you can see my Empire size (red). This is only 44 years into the game. (yellow).
I'm under producing food and baubles (green) but I have lots and can buy those on the market if needed until my planets are further developed.

My biggest constraint right now is generating enough influence to keep expanding to make sure I get to choke points before others.  :tickedoff:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 09, 2022, 09:47:29 AM
Excellent thanks - what’s the courier network?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on June 09, 2022, 09:59:54 AM
As Barth said, grab systems, especially choke point ones.  You don't need to grab every system on your side of the choke point right away, but claim them as influence permits.  Also, you can pick and chose which planets to colonize.  Stellaris allows for very radical terraforming.  So you need Ocean worlds, and you have a Tundra planet, you can terraform it into an Ocean planet, with the right tech and resources.  Also, you can build space habitats, allows you to grow more vertically. 

The last two points are major differences with DW2.  It's not a better or worse difference, just a difference. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 09, 2022, 10:13:25 AM
I chose tropical worlds because I’m the cute slug looking thing in the mollusc section but there is an arid world nearby at 80% habitability 🤷‍♂️

But there’s plenty to choose from

Thanks guys
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 10, 2022, 03:33:29 PM
In Dev Diary #257, Stephen talks about a few of the things the team are experimenting with: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-257-summer-is-coming.1530184/




While Muray (rightly) hedges/cautions that none of the projects currently being worked on are guaranteed to happen, I suspect the ones mentioned in the dev diary are those most likely to actually make it into the game at some point. 

The Relic Balance and Accessibility Improvements​, in particular, feel like they're already a solid work in progress, and that it's only a matter of time before we see them incorporated into a future update.  The additional Achievements by the art team also seem like a relatively easy thing to implement. 

The multi-threading work by Caligula Caesar and Stephen's own pet project, the Fleet Combat Balance (that many players would love to see), are definitely more long-term projects; but I'm betting we'll see them added to the game in the end.  Alfray Stryke's work on the Traditions seems the most iffy/controversial (if interesting), so I could see that project not necessarily making it to the floor, so to speak. 


What I find most interesting of all, however, is that next week's dev diary will be the patch notes for 3.4.4 -- and that it will be the final dev diary before everyone at Paradox goes on their usual summer holiday.  That implies the patch is releasing next week, or (at most) the week afterwards (most likely Tuesday, Jun 21), which is a bit sooner than I was expecting.  I'm definitely not going to complain if that's the case, though.  :D 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 10, 2022, 04:09:12 PM
Whilst spending a lot of time neck deep in stellaris chat groups and forums I’ve noticed a lot asking for a bigger ship count - like dw2 with its heavy cruisers and escorts and patrols all with different configurations
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 10, 2022, 05:42:04 PM
Yeah, as things currently stand, corvettes and battleships are the only regular capital ships really worth building...and it's been that way for a very long time now.  The game needs to have destroyers and cruisers be useful/relevant again. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 10, 2022, 08:22:27 PM
Noooooooo - I love cruisers the mostest
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 11, 2022, 05:12:48 AM
Cruisers are indeed pretty good; you should absolutely have some in your fleet(s) once they're researched.  But they still become woefully outclassed once you can build battleships. 


Alloy for alloy, battleships give you a better ROI than cruisers.  The former's heavier throw-weight and higher total hit-points are generally just too much to be offset by the latter.  (One battleship will nearly always defeat two cruisers of equal "tonnage", regardless of circumstances.) 

Likewise, corvettes are a far better choice than destroyers.  They're faster (better response time to threats, more evasive in combat), can be equipped with missiles/torpedoes, and are cheaper/quicker to replace. 



The battleship/corvette fleet meta has been around practically since Stellaris was released six years ago.  And while the devs have often acknowledged the problem, and occasionally given lip service about finding a solution, no one has actually done so thus far. 

The fact that Stephen has now spoken openly about addressing this issue on a few different occasions gives me a sliver of hope that that may finally change.  However, I'm still keeping my expectations low, and I'm definitely not expecting a fleet/combat re-balance anytime soon.  Even if he does figure something out, I don't imagine any sort of fix would be added until the November update at the earliest, with next year being more likely.  (Fingers crossed, though!) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on June 11, 2022, 05:54:11 AM
My greatest ever fleet was 2 carriers launching bombers , 4 battleships, 8 cruisers and corvettes - jump into system - bombers swarm enemy capital ships, by the time the corvettes and cruisers got there there was nothing left
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on June 11, 2022, 04:02:47 PM
Nice!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on June 11, 2022, 05:10:01 PM
I love carriers. Give them some BBs and Corvettes and escorting CA for ADA, and they're hard to stop.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 16, 2022, 05:12:31 PM
As promised, this week's dev diary is the patch notes for the 3.4.4 update.  Sounds like it's dropping next week, so I'm guessing Tuesday (June 21).  Giggity!! 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-258-3-4-4-cepheus-information.1531115/




I'm very happy to see these two features being added.  I suspect most players will as well.  :notworthy: 

Quote
-  Automated Exploration and Automated Research are now available from the start of the game rather than being tech-locked.
-  Construction ships now have an Automated Construction mode, which will automatically build Research and Mining Stations over appropriate deposits. (It will not automatically build Observation Stations, Hyper Relays, or other constructions.)




This addition to the game setup screen also caught my eye: 

Quote
Added a setting to Galaxy Setup that permits the disabling of L-Gates.

I personally don't have a problem with REDACTED, as I find them to be a good mid-game challenge when they appear.  But I can see how they might ruin some people's games. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 24, 2022, 04:52:21 AM
No, I didn't purposefully wait until Thursday to post the official news of the patch release; I'm just running behind...  :-[ 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/dev-team-3-4-4-patch-released-checksum-227f.1532458/




On the plus side, I've finally started up a new game for the first time in almost two months!  I'm already loving the automation options.  :party: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 29, 2022, 03:41:16 PM
A small hotfix was released today, mostly to address a few issues affecting MP games: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/dev-team-3-4-5-patch-released-checksum-a361.1533497/


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 08, 2022, 04:19:09 AM
Unexpected bonus dev diary! 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-259-it-belongs-in-a-mega-art-installation.1534749/




One of the projects the team was going to be experimenting on/playing around with over the summer break was a major re-balance of the game's Relics.  As at least a few of us here are only too aware that some of the Relics in Stellaris are woefully (it not laughably) under-powered, so this is very welcome.  I'm definitely liking the proposed changes for the most part. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 30, 2022, 12:23:42 AM
Another surprise dev diary last week: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-260-summer-culture.1536047/




Looks like culture workers are returning (apparently there was a massive push by the community to bring them back), and they're getting beefed up in the process.  Given how Unity was buffed/reworked in the 3.3 "Libra" update, this could actually be a somewhat significant tweak. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on August 19, 2022, 07:49:33 PM
With summer holidays ending, regular dev diaries have now resumed.  This week's entry takes a look at some of the stuff in upcoming 3.5 "Fornax" update: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-261-challenge-accepted.1538708/




A lot more options are being added to difficulty & AI settings, so that players can more precisely fine-tune the pain challenge level that best suits them.  This includes allowing you to have *all* the end-game crises spawn (albeit sequentially), not just one.  >:D 


Also:  Species pack Steam achievements (I didn't realize they weren't already in the game, to be honest). 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on August 26, 2022, 01:13:57 AM
Stellaris Dev Diary #262 - Ringworlds, Reliquaries, Relics, and More: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-262-ringworlds-reliquaries-relics-and-more.1539348/




Presumably, Ringworlds are mentioned in the title since megastructures will be getting their own section in the Outliner.  This is one of of those features I never knew I needed, but I'm suddenly excited about.  (Seriously, it can be a real PITA panning around the map trying to find that ruined Science Nexus you were planning to restore...)  :D 


(https://i.imgur.com/MN5DDhc.png)


Disappointingly, it appears Ringworlds themselves are not actually being revamped at this time.  (Their previous nerf has greatly reduced their value, especially compared to Ecumenopolises.  These days, I generally only bother with Ringworlds if I come across a ruined one; I never build them from scratch anymore.) 




We're also getting a further balance pass to some of the Relics:  In particular, the Khan's Throne, the Defragmentor, and (perhaps most notoriously) the Head of Zarqlan are being updated -- no longer will Zarqlan's skull be necessarily detrimental to hive/machine and non-Spiritualist empires!  8) 

In addition, all the previously proposed changes to Relics mentioned in Dev Diary #259 (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-259-it-belongs-in-a-mega-art-installation.1534749/) will be implemented as well.  The goal is for no Relics to be totally weak-sauce, and to be at least somewhat useful to all empires, regardless of type.  This makes me happy as well.  :) 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 02, 2022, 02:20:20 AM
If it wasn't for the news having already been leaked a couple days ago, I suspect this week's dev diary would have caught a lot of folks by surprise - the announcement of Toxoids, a new species pack: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-263-announcing-toxoids.1540104/


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2115770/Stellaris_Toxoids_Species_Pack/







I'll admit I'm less than enthused about this DLC -- I can see the appeal, I'm just personally not wild about the theme (similar to my feelings about the Necroids, actually).  Toxoids might well turn out to be a lot of fun to play as; but for now, I'm mentally tagging this one as "wait until it's at least 50% off before buying". 



At least we'll be seeing more frequent dev diaries for a little while, though: 

Quote
We’ll be moving to a rapid dev diary release schedule for the next few weeks as we attempt to cover everything that’s in the Toxoids Species Pack. We’ll see you next Tuesday with the next Stellaris Dev Diary.


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 05, 2022, 06:54:45 AM
Looking past the pending release of the Toxoids species pack and the accompanying 3.5 "Fornax" update, it appears we may finally get the long-awaited rework to space combat and ascension paths: 







It would be wonderful if Destroyers and Cruisers were useful/relevant again, so here's hoping these proposed changes do the trick.  And making Cybernetic its own ascension path (separate from the Synthetic) is way overdue. 

Fortunately, it sounds like we'll get the chance to beta-test all of this, possibly even in time for the 3.6 "Orion" update (which I'm guessing will drop shortly before the Christmas break).  Fingers crossed! 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on September 05, 2022, 04:53:31 PM
Some very exciting stuff in the pipeline
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 06, 2022, 04:21:52 AM
Toxoids dev stream: 







So going by comments I've seen on forums, YouTube, Reddit, etc., it's clear that a lot of folks were expecting/hoping that Toxoids would be able to colonize Toxic planets.  It turns out that yes, you can...but you'll need to waste use an Ascension Perk slot in order to do so.  I suspect that's going to lower this DLC's appeal for many, though whether it does so enough to actually cause folks to refrain from purchasing it remains to be seen. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 06, 2022, 04:22:18 AM
Some very exciting stuff in the pipeline

Indeed.  I'm really looking forward to seeing what they come up with. 


...And that's just the stuff the devs have let drop so far.  They've hinted at working on/experimenting with even more aspects of the game, long-term.  The fruits of those labors likely won't be ready for the light of day for some while yet, but I'm equally curious/excited about those projects as well.  :dreamer: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on September 06, 2022, 10:28:06 AM
Why do i always have the feeling that whatever the race i select, i play the same game again and again.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on September 06, 2022, 12:29:50 PM
I think that's more of a game style than a race specific issue.  Stellaris don't seem to tie a races into specific traits and game play, but leaves that up to the civics that choose.  Or, maybe I just haven't played with other races enough.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on September 06, 2022, 01:02:15 PM
I’m sure it’s gamestyle - I’ve watched countless lets plays - go tall, go wide, go peaceful scientists, go murdering machine bastards hoovering up the galaxy - never one the same

If you’re going to be cats, plants, dolphins and pick a certain set of laws and still turtle, grow slow and head for cruisers of course every game will be the same
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on September 07, 2022, 04:51:19 AM
The problem is that there's just one victory condition for the game (points) so the viable paths are always the same. Unless you just roleplay, but that doesn't always work (or isn't always fun). I once wanted to have a peaceful game but ended not being allowed to defend myself because my settings were on peaceful and could just watch my empire being destroyed without being able to do anything against it.

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on September 07, 2022, 07:30:05 AM
I’ve won the game as soon as our Federation owned a large percentage of the galaxy (70%?) and that was not through war but diplomacy.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on September 07, 2022, 07:43:04 AM
I’ve won the game as soon as our Federation owned a large percentage of the galaxy (70%?) and that was not through war but diplomacy.
That is cool indeed... :rockon:

I've had a couple of Federations myself but not up to a victory yet.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 09, 2022, 07:21:58 PM
Dev Diary #264 "Damn the Consequences" (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-264-damn-the-consequences.1540846/) takes a closer look at some of the features coming the Toxoids DLC, while Dev Diary #265 "The Art of Toxoid Clothing" (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-265-the-art-of-toxoid-clothing.1541053/) talks about the new races' art design [natch]. 


(The video recap for #264, for those who don't care to read it.) 





A closer look at the "Overtuned" Origin: 





Toxoids dev Q&A (this was admittedly kind of fun to watch): 






I'm wondering what -- if anything -- the devs will do to address the criticisms about Toxoid races needing to pick the new "Detox" ascension perk just to able to terraform Toxic worlds.  If they're going to keep it that way, then terraforming Toxic planets will need to come with significant rewards/benefits to make it worthwhile. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 09, 2022, 07:23:12 PM
Why do i always have the feeling that whatever the race i select, i play the same game again and again.

Speaking only for myself, I think it's because I tend to play the same type of game, no matter what type of race/empire I'm playing as.  It doesn't matter if that empire is well-suited to my play-style or not.  That's just how I roll, even when I don't mean to.  :P 



The problem is that there's just one victory condition for the game (points) so the viable paths are always the same. Unless you just roleplay, but that doesn't always work (or isn't always fun). I once wanted to have a peaceful game but ended not being allowed to defend myself because my settings were on peaceful and could just watch my empire being destroyed without being able to do anything against it.

I concur the lack of other victory conditions is a valid criticism.  Of course, it's a problem that plagues the genre as a whole, not just Stellaris (though Stellaris might be one of the more glaring examples). 

I imagine Paradox's mindset in using the points system was (ironically) to allow for flexible victory conditions:  In theory, players could "win" by gaining points relevant to their play-style, and/or the type of race/empire they're playing as.  In practice, however, this has not implemented terribly well -- it's not necessarily horrible, but it's definitely not great, either. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 06, 2022, 05:54:35 AM
Not gonna lie, this trailer almost got me to grab the Toxoids DLC (even though I have no real interest in it): 








But I digress.  Onto this week's Dev Diary! 

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-270-traditional-results-of-summer-experiments.1545411/




The short version is:  Ascension Paths are getting almost completely reworked, and players will get the chance to beta-test them when the 3.6 "Orion" update drops in December. 


Probably the two single biggest changes are: 

1.)  There will now be four Ascension Paths:  Psionic, Genetic, Cybernetic, & Synthetic.  These paths are now generally available to more empires (with obvious exceptions -- machine empires still won't have access to the Genetic Ascension Path, etc.). 

2.)  Choosing an Ascension Path will unlock access to a Tradition Tree, which is how you'll now advance down your chosen Path -- you won't be researching technologies anymore (or very few).  This also means you'll have to "spend" one of your precious Tradition Tree slots if you want to choose an Ascension Path; presumably, this is to balance/offset how powerful said Paths are. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 09, 2022, 12:40:14 AM
Sounds like my previous predictions of a 2025/2026 release date for Stellaris 2 might be hilariously premature: 


https://www.pcgamer.com/stellariss-game-director-isnt-thinking-about-a-sequel-theres-so-much-stuff-for-us-to-continue-working-with/




Granted, it could easily be a bit of misdirection on the part of Paradox, but I suspect this might actually be legit.  If things continue as they have for the last year or so -- since Daniel Moregard finally repaired most of the damage caused by Martin Anward, and established the Custodians Initiative -- we might very well not see a sequel until 2030 or so. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 12, 2022, 05:46:38 AM
In a bit of unexpected news, the devs have suddenly released another patch (v3.5.3)! 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/dev-team-3-5-3-patch-released-checksum-c1ba.1547565/


It's a smaller update (still part of the "Fornax" branch), so it ought to be compatible with existing saved-games, but the devs have cautioned players may want to roll back to v3.5.2 if they run into problems. 

Given both the timing and somewhat surprise nature of the patch's release, speculation is building that the beta for the "Orion" 3.6 update (featuring the rework to combat and ascension paths) may be available soon... 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 12, 2022, 05:47:44 AM
Speaking of which, here's a 2-hour-long video of game director Steven Muray (along with community manager Mordred Viking) playing around with said beta: 


https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1620383841




Looking at ship design, a notable addition is the new Frigate ship type, which is specifically intended as a mobile torpedo platform, meant to deal lots of damage at short range.  I also note -- with a certain amount of delight -- that we'll be able to designate specific roles when designing ships (Screen, Gunship, Artillery, Brawler, etc.).  There are a couple new weapons to complement these roles as well. 

There are now minimum ranges on most long-range weapons (missiles, neutron launchers, etc.) so that it will be possible for ships with the Gunship/Brawler role (plus those Torpedo Frigates) to get inside those weapons' ranges.  Ergo, artillery-focused Battleships should should finally be somewhat vulnerable in combat, and their long-held dominance of the battlefield challenged. 


Traditions/Ascension:  The four Ascension Paths (Cybernetic, Genetic, Psionic, & Synthetic) have been added as their own Tradition Trees.  There is also a new Politics Tradition Tree being added, with the tree being focused on increasing your empire's abilities & power within the Galactic Community.  Finally, adopting & completing the Harmony Traditions grants you access to the new "Holy Covenant" -- spiritualist empires finally get their own federation type!  :party: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on October 12, 2022, 08:17:18 AM
Here's a Reader's Digest version of the info in the above 2 hour video... it's only 1/2 hour.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on October 16, 2022, 04:23:24 PM
Some of you are probably already are aware, but this week's dev diary talks about the open beta for the upcoming 3.6 "Orion" update: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-271-ready-fight.1546912/







The beta is available to check out now through the end of the month.  So if you're at all interested in checking out and/or providing feedback on either the combat rework or the new Ascension paths, this is your chance! 




Quote


The biggest changes include:

    * Ship Roles can now be selected to auto-design ships that actually fulfill certain roles, such as Artillery, Brawler, Torpedo, and so on. If you do not possess any weapons that fulfill the selected role, it’ll do its best with what you have.

    * Torpedoes and select other weapons now gain a multiplicative damage bonus based on the size of the target.
        - Missiles have been moved out of the G slot back into S and M.
        - Energy Torpedoes such as Proton and Neutron Launchers have been changed into G class weapons with a minimum range. Damage has been adjusted to be balanced as a Torpedo class weapon, and like the new Torpedoes, they deal increased damage to larger targets. Unlike standard torpedoes, they remain instant hit weapons for now.

    * A new ship size called the Frigate, an advanced Corvette frame that delivers torpedoes, but is slower and less evasive. It's unlocked with the Torpedo technology.

    * Added a minimum range to all Large weapons except Lasers
        - Note: Currently ships do not yet back off if all weapons are unable to fire due to range.

    * Strike Craft no longer intercept missiles, but will continue to fight each other.

    * Flak Batteries now more strongly counter Strike Craft, while Point Defense now more strongly counter missiles and torpedoes. Strike Craft are more reliant on Shields, Missiles and Torpedoes are more reliant on Armor. Due to their ability to bypass shields, Strike Craft are very effective against other Strike Craft.

    * Ship combat computers now ignore certain weapons for desired range purposes, and base their desired distance on the actual loadout of the ship. "Swarm" and "Torpedo" behavior will charge in, "Picket" and "Line" behaviors will attempt to stay at the range of their median range weapons, and "Artillery" and "Carrier" will try to stay at the range of their longest ranged weapons.This generally increases the desire for ships to remain at range if possible.

    * Ships now get a limited number of Disengagement Opportunities per combat. All current drives provide 1 disengagement roll (except for Psi Jump Drives, which provide 2) once the ship takes hull damage below its disengagement threshold, and the Hit and Run war doctrine grants all of your ships an additional attempt. Civilian ships set to evasive will continue to try to disengage with each hit.

    * Some sources of Evasion have been replaced with other effects.





(https://i.imgur.com/crqnj9q.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/x1TqgbE.jpg)


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 02, 2022, 09:15:18 PM
Dev Diary #272 - The Pact is Signed and Spoken: 

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-272-the-pact-is-signed-and-spoken.1549045/


TL;DR:  Communicating with the Shroud is being reworked somewhat, including new options for doing so. 




Dev Diary #273 - A Peek into the Future: 

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-273-a-peek-into-the-future.1551193/


Mostly showing off the various new icons for new Ascension traits, ships components, and Resolutions that are being introduced in the 3.6 Orion update -- however, some of them do hint at interesting stuff not specifically covered so far.  Also:  additional changes & improvements in the ongoing open beta. 




Dev Diary #274 - 3.6.0.beta.final.final(1)v2 Copy: 

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-274-3-6-0-beta-final-final-1-v2-copy.1553442/


This week's dev diary is early, and mainly just includes additional changes being made to the open beta.  However, the devs have also decided to extend the open beta until the official release of the 3.6 Orion update. 

Given that they also have said this is probably going to be the final update to the beta branch (and that any further changes based on player feedback will likely be in a future update), the implication is that Orion will be releasing soon.  I'm guessing in the next couple weeks?  That would allow the devs a good month or so (if necessary) to put out any hotfix/follow-up patches before going on holiday break. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on November 02, 2022, 09:37:52 PM
It's not necessarily my cup of tea, but I still thought it was kind of cool:  In celebration of Halloween, the devs created an official mod called "Stellaris Survival: Necroid Invasion". 


https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2857107311







The mod is "designed to be a Co-op Survival Multiplayer", but apparently also plays well in singleplayer mode.  It's only supposed to last 70 years, so it can be an interesting way to play a "quick" game of Stellaris. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on November 30, 2022, 07:40:01 PM
https://twitter.com/StellarisGame/status/1597544969530535937
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on December 01, 2022, 04:17:08 AM
https://twitter.com/StellarisGame/status/1597544969530535937
Update not working on my gaming laptop.... >:(
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on December 01, 2022, 06:54:23 AM
That’s odd and annoying. It works fine for me. Have you gotten rid of any and all mods?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on December 01, 2022, 09:03:25 AM
That’s odd and annoying. It works fine for me. Have you gotten rid of any and all mods?
No. It seems the update creates a lot of problems with different configurations. I guess mine is due the my AMD graphic cards but not sure. Guess they didn't think beta testing was necessary for that update...
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on December 01, 2022, 11:35:42 AM
That’s odd and annoying. It works fine for me. Have you gotten rid of any and all mods?
No. It seems the update creates a lot of problems with different configurations. I guess mine is due the my AMD graphic cards but not sure. Guess they didn't think beta testing was necessary for that update...

Awe man that sucks.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on December 01, 2022, 06:33:13 PM
That’s odd and annoying. It works fine for me. Have you gotten rid of any and all mods?
No. It seems the update creates a lot of problems with different configurations. I guess mine is due the my AMD graphic cards but not sure. Guess they didn't think beta testing was necessary for that update...

Actually they've been running an open beta for a month or two.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on December 02, 2022, 02:40:47 AM
That’s odd and annoying. It works fine for me. Have you gotten rid of any and all mods?
No. It seems the update creates a lot of problems with different configurations. I guess mine is due the my AMD graphic cards but not sure. Guess they didn't think beta testing was necessary for that update...

Actually they've been running an open beta for a month or two.
I know, I was kidding but this specific patch brings a lot of problems. I hope they can solve it soon.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on January 22, 2023, 04:54:49 AM
so stoked for this: 


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2277860/Stellaris_First_Contact_Story_Pack/





https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-282-announcing-first-contact.1564634/

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-283-the-vision-of-first-contact.1565311/




i was certain paradox was done making story packs for stellaris, so that alone has me excited -- story packs have always been my favorite kind of dlc on average.

however, the focus on pre-FTL civs, with related origins & event-chains, PLUS the introduction of cloaking tech (at long last!) just sounds like a heck of a lot of fun. and setting up minimar specialized industries as a "villain" for these new origins is fantastic; sounds like they'll be a blast to take down!


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 23, 2023, 05:46:35 AM
Dev Diary #295 - Armies, Sectors, Messages, and More (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-295-armies-sectors-messages-and-more.1578373/)




I know I haven't talked about dev diaries in a good while, but this one from last Thursday admittedly has me pretty pumped.  It has a lot of great stuff in it, with a focus on QoL features & improvements coming in next month's 3.8 "Gemini" update: revisions/improvements to building armies & bombardment mechanics, new options for controlling message spam, customizable F1-F10 keys, and a whole bunch of other goodies. 

By far, my personal favorite upcoming feature one that's virtually meaningless from a gameplay perspective: the return of the ability to customize sector borders!  Judging from the reactions of other folks (both in the Paradox forums and elsewhere), it's quite obvious that I'm not the only person who's way more excited about this than they should be.  (I'm guessing quite a few of us players are rather OCD... :P )  Players will remain constrained by the 4-hyperjump (from the sector capital) limit, but that's still a heck of a lot better than what we have now, which is essentially nothing.  Here's to the end -- or least massive reduction of -- unsightly internal border-gore!  :party: 




Perhaps even more intriguing, however, are the REDACTED areas in these screenshots: 

(https://i.imgur.com/RvEkGbj.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/YFqQvO7.png)


Combined with an additional REDACTED image from another screenshot teased on Discord, it makes me wonder if we're getting another DLC already -- one that's dropping alongside the 3.8 update next month.  If that's indeed the case, then I imagine they'll be announcing it fairly soon. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on April 23, 2023, 03:50:08 PM
I picked Stellaris up again and have been playing the hell out of it for the last month. I had quite the learning curve since the game had changed so much since I last played it, but it's all I'm playing atm. I have all of the DLC's with the exception of Overlord, Toxoids and the new First Contact.

So my question for my fellow Stellaris travellers is this: Are these DLC's worth picking up?

Truthfully I have little interest in Toxoids, I'm unsure about First Contact so far, but Overlords keeps going into and out of my purchase basket. The reviews on it are so mixed!!! Some of the Overlord origins look really interesting, but a lot of folks say the vassal system is broken and the Mercenary Enclaves unbalance the game. So....thoughts? Any "must have"s here or am I good?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on April 23, 2023, 06:18:23 PM
First contact and Overlord are definitely worth getting. Adds lots to the game.

I don’t have Toxoids as like you, I have no interest in them.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on April 23, 2023, 06:54:27 PM
Thanks, Barth. I just needed that gentle little shove   :bigthumb:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Silent Disapproval Robot on April 24, 2023, 07:22:04 PM
Sounds like they're giving back the control of sector borders to the player.  I'm happy to hear that.  I never understood why they took the feature away in the first place.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on April 25, 2023, 03:48:42 PM
Yep, called it!  Looks like we're finally getting that leader-focused expansion a lot of folks have been requesting for years now.  Giggity!   



Stellaris Dev Diary #296 - Announcing Galactic Paragons (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-296-announcing-galactic-paragons.1578898/)


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2380030/Stellaris_Galactic_Paragons/








Sounds like they're giving back the control of sector borders to the player.  I'm happy to hear that.  I never understood why they took the feature away in the first place.

Yeah, same.  I remember it upset a lot of folks at the time. 

But then, that was one of the changes made to the game when Martin Anward ("Wiz") was still game director, which by itself explains a lot. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on April 25, 2023, 04:11:31 PM
I think the emphasis on leadership will be a great addition, at least after a patch or two (in keeping with Paradox tradition). Great Sci-Fi is character-driven. I mean, where would Star Wars be without Darth Vader or that other guy....Duke Drycleaners or whatever his name is. Star Trek without Kirk is...well, it's Next Generation, but bad example perhaps.

Anyway...looking forward to it! Can't wait to launch Ronald Raygun on an unsuspecting galaxy!!!
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on April 25, 2023, 06:51:50 PM
Yep, called it!  Looks like we're finally getting that leader-focused expansion a lot of folks have been requesting for years now.  Giggity!   



Stellaris Dev Diary #296 - Announcing Galactic Paragons (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-296-announcing-galactic-paragons.1578898/)


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2380030/Stellaris_Galactic_Paragons/








Sounds like they're giving back the control of sector borders to the player.  I'm happy to hear that.  I never understood why they took the feature away in the first place.

Yeah, same.  I remember it upset a lot of folks at the time. 

But then, that was one of the changes made to the game when Martin Anward ("Wiz") was still game director, which by itself explains a lot.

I wonder how this will work with genicidal machine empires  >:D
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 02, 2023, 04:49:46 AM
Dev Diary #297 - Leaders, The Council, and Agendas (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-297-leaders-the-council-and-agendas.1579919/)







So leaders are being completely reworked for the 3.8 update next month.  Lots of interesting stuff!  Some highlights...


We'll have fewer Leaders, but they'll be more powerful.

Your Empire Council -- yes, you'll have an Empire Council now -- starts out with 3 positions: Ruler, Head of Research, and Minister of Defense.  The leaders in those positions will all provide empire-wide bonuses.  Your Councilors (excepting your Ruler, I believe) can also continue serving in the field; so your Minister of Defense can still be an admiral commanding a fleet, for instance. 

You can now customize your own Ruler when creating custom empires:  Most notably, you can choose your Ruler's Leader Class (Governor, Scientist, Admiral, General), plus their starting trait(s).  So no more having to restart a new game just because your Ruler has a bad/undesirable trait. 

Governors now apply their personal traits only to their sector capital, though their skill level continues to be applied to all planets in their sector.  So picking your sector capitals will likely be a more important part of the game now.  Similarly, this will make the new/returning ability to edit sector borders all the more important as well. 

And my personal favorite:  If you have the Imperial government type, you can finally appoint your Heir to a position on the Council!  This means that not only do they get to apply their traits and skill level to the benefit of your empire, but you can also better "groom" them for the day when they ascend to the throne.  This makes me unreasonably happy!  I can't wait to put my kid to work.  :biggrin: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 03, 2023, 02:50:46 PM
Dev Diary #298 - Renowned and Legendary Paragons (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/dev-diary-298-renowned-and-legendary-paragons.1580535/)







The highlights: 

1.)  There are 16 Renowned leaders -- 2 for each ethic (not including Gestalt) -- and they will approach empires with their respective ethics over the course of the game. 

2.)  There are 4 Legendary leaders (even more powerful than the Renowned ones), which you can only find them by essentially running into them. 

3.)  Both Renowned and Legendary leaders have especially powerful traits, plus their own unique events and event-chains.  Legendary leaders also have unique mechanics. 

4.)  Somewhat controversially, the AI will be unable to recruit Renowned and Legendary leaders. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Barthheart on May 03, 2023, 03:32:30 PM

4.)  Somewhat controversially, the AI will be unable to recruit Renowned and Legendary leaders.

That is an odd design choice. Maybe the AI n testing hives up all the leaders before the players could.
Hope they change that or at least make it optional.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 05, 2023, 03:39:55 AM
Maybe the AI n testing hives up all the leaders before the players could.

That's exactly what was happening, hence why the devs ended up blocking the AI from accessing them. 

I agree it's not an ideal solution.  However, I would like to be able to play with the new toys, and this appears to be the only real solution for now. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 05, 2023, 04:15:11 AM
Dev Diary #299 - Civics, Origins, and Traditions (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-299-civics-origins-and-traditions.1581135/)







I am irritated that the new God-Emperor "Under One Rule" Origin is only available to the Dictatorship government type.  :nope: 

The new Traditions and Civics sound pretty cool, though.  Can't wait to appoint a Lord Commander for my empire!  :D 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 09, 2023, 01:59:11 PM
Today's the day! 


https://store.steampowered.com/app/2380030/Stellaris_Galactic_Paragons/




Stellaris Dev Diary #300 - Happy Anniversary! 3.8 "Gemini" and Galactic Paragons Release Notes (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-300-happy-anniversary-3-8-gemini-and-galactic-paragons-release-notes.1581297/)




I'm off tomorrow & Thursday.  I'm hoping that at least the UI mods I use will be updated by then, so that I can poke around and play with the new toys.  :biggrin: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 12, 2023, 03:29:14 AM
3.8.2 Hotfix Patch has dropped: 

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/dev-team-3-8-2-hotfix-patch-released.1582997/



Nothing fancy, mostly just addressing bug and stability issues, though they did manage to include a nice bit of extra UI work.  One bit in particular caught my eye: 
Quote
Event notifications can now be configured in message settings.




Having now had a chance to finally play the game a bit today, I've gotta say that the ability to configure your notifications is a godsend.  Being able to reduce the message spam just by itself is a major improvement.  However, the ability to also customize which messages trigger auto-pause, which don't, which can simply be dismissed entirely, etc., cannot be overstated in its importance. 

I thought the resurrected Sector Editor would be my favorite feature of the free 3.8 update, and perhaps it will still prove to be so in time (I haven't played long enough yet to find out).  At least at the moment, however, the new message options has become the unsung hero of the Gemini update. 


I also want to give a shout-out to the new Ruler Creator feature, which was added to the Custom Empire creator.  Being able to select not just your Ruler's "Leader class" (Admiral, General, Governor, or Scientist), but also their starting trait is a most welcome feature.  Not only does it sidestep the frustration one would often previously feel when your Ruler's (randomly assigned) starting trait was an undesirable one, but I find it also improves the game's role-playing aspects as well. 




As for the Galactic Paragons DLC itself, overall I'm having an absolute blast with it so far.  Leaders are much more interesting now, and the ability to pick & choose their skills/traits when they level up (do you add a new skill, or increase an existing one?) is simply marvelous.  Being able to guide & develop your Leaders in the direction you wish adds another degree of both customization and role-playing that I never knew I was missing until now. 


I haven't been able to play around much with the new Empire Council yet, but I'm liking what I see thus far.  (The Empire Council is actually a free feature included in the 3.8 update, but it's restricted to just 3 positions -- Ruler, Minister of Defense, and Head of Research -- unless you also own Galactic Paragons.)  Just the fact that we now *have* an Empire Council adds yet another RPG element to the game, but it also has practical (and beneficial) gameplay effects as well, as your Ruler and their Councillors all bestow empire-wide bonuses (based on their traits and skill level). 

In addition, your Council can select an Agenda (from multiple available options):  These Agendas grant a bonus to your empire when first launched, and then a much larger bonus once they're ready to be fully enacted.  You can only have one active Agenda at a time, however, so choose wisely! 


At the moment, my only real beef with Galactic Paragons is the Leader Cap -- specifically, that it exists.  At the very least, it seems too low -- you start with a cap of 6, with 4 of those Leader slots (Ruler, Admiral, Governor, & Scientist) already taken, leaving you with just 2 "extra" Leader slots available. 

Granted, it is a soft cap, so you can choose to go over it if you wish.  However, you'll pay fairly dearly for doing so-- not just monetarily, but also your Leaders suffer from a penalty to their rate of XP gain.  Yes, you can increase your Leader Cap over time, but that doesn't help much in the beginning. 

I presume the Leader Cap is for balance purposes, but it feels overly constricting.  Worse, it feels entirely artificial and immersion-breaking.  I get that with how valuable they are now, the devs wanted to restrict the player from just hiring new Leaders left & right, but I'm not sure this was the best way to go about it. 




Otherwise, however, I have few complaints so far.  Barring my running into major/showstopper bugs <knocks on wood>, Galactic Paragons, combined with the Gemini update, might very well be the most fun I've had playing Stellaris in a long time. 



Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 13, 2023, 04:56:04 PM
At the moment, my only real beef with Galactic Paragons is the Leader Cap -- specifically, that it exists.  At the very least, it seems too low -- you start with a cap of 6, with 4 of those Leader slots (Ruler, Admiral, Governor, & Scientist) already taken, leaving you with just 2 "extra" Leader slots available. 

The leader cap seems to be driving the negative reviews on Steam. 
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 13, 2023, 06:39:25 PM
Deservedly so. The more I play Galactic Paragons, the more the leader cap pisses me off -- especially considering how much I'm enjoying the DLC otherwise.

It needs to die. The sooner, the better.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 13, 2023, 06:54:34 PM
This is from on of the positive reviews

Quote
The Paragon leaders and leaders in general provide huge buffs to your empire and fleets, the leader cap is a soft cap, you can go over it at any time, just like fleet cap, all it does is when you are over the cap your leaders get experience slower and their unity costs are higher.

The leader buffs far outweigh going over the cap in my opinion. I had early game Paragon admiral that who got an 80 addotional ; fleet cap for his fleet allowing me to deploy a 120 ship fleet instead of 3 x 40 size fleets. he also had huge fire rate and weapon damage buff. Also you get more attached to your leaders now, and it sets the game up nicely for internal politics DLC that will surely come.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 14, 2023, 03:44:15 AM
I hate to say it, but I'm officially giving Galactic Paragons a thumbs-down for now.  Unless & until the leader cap problem is addressed -- and it *is* a problem -- I cannot in good conscience recommend it at the moment. 

Granted, the DLC itself is good.  But I find that the leader cap, which was added to the base game in the 3.8 update last week, largely cancels out the benefits of getting the DLC. 





This Redditor articulates (far better than I can) the single biggest issue I have with the leader cap, at least from a mechanics/gameplay perspective: 

The leader rework is great. Scientists being the bottleneck for expansion is not. (https://www.reddit.com/r/Stellaris/comments/13gpuo8/the_leader_rework_is_great_scientists_being_the/)


Quote
With how strong leaders are, it makes sense to limit them to a small number that needs build commitment to increase.

However, the current implementation is doesn't allow for the goals of the system to be met.

Players aren't going to be making interesting leader decisions, because there's no room to make them. You must recruit scientists. Some of the most important goals every empire has early game are exploring, expanding, and finishing your precursor. Early game, you will need your open leader slots to be filled with scientists to ensure you don't fall behind on any of these goals. This applies to all empire types.




In addition, as I mentioned earlier, I have a genuine problem with the leader cap from an immersion perspective as well:  I have a hard time swallowing the idea that an entire planetary civilization -- to say nothing of an interstellar one -- can only support a small handful of leaders.  (Because "reasons", apparently?)  Perhaps that's fine for some people, but personally, that's asking a lot of my willing suspension of disbelief.  :nope: 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Undercovergeek on May 14, 2023, 04:57:43 AM
Is it something as simple as been able to be modded out or is it reprogramming stuff?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 14, 2023, 08:41:55 AM
Is it something as simple as been able to be modded out or is it reprogramming stuff?

Looks like it's moddable.  A quick search of Steam Workshop revealed several.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 14, 2023, 02:27:41 PM
Yes, I'm currently giving this mod a go: 

Better Leader Cap for Stellaris 3.8 (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2975027857)


It doesn't fix/address the root problem, obviously, but it'll do for now. 




In the meantime, my Steam review of Galactic Paragons will remain a thumbs-down unless & until the leader cap issue is resolved. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: ojsdad on May 14, 2023, 07:57:36 PM
I guess I'm not following.  If the limit on the number of leaders is the issue, and a mod can fix it, then why the continued negative review?
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 28, 2023, 02:40:28 PM
Dev Diary #302 - Leaders and 3.8.3 Balance Changes: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-302-leaders-and-3-8-3-balance-changes.1586776/





Some tweaks and changes to Leaders are coming in the next patch, though game director Stephen Muray acknowledges this won't fix many of the underlying issues that emerged during the release of Paragons and the Gemini update.  Sounds like a lot of the patch notes are partial/stopgap measures to address at least some of the Leader issues in the meantime, while he and the team work on more permanent, long-term solutions -- though those clearly won't be implemented until a future major update.  Still, it's good that they're responding to the criticism/feedback like this. 


Also worth noting is that another patch (3.8.4) is also planned before the devs go on their holiday break this summer.  I'm guessing the 3.8.3 patch will release next week (Tuesday, maybe?), with the 3.8.4 patch dropping probably sometime in late June. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on May 30, 2023, 02:00:52 PM
Patch 3.8.3 did indeed drop today: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/dev-team-3-8-3-patch-released.1587656/





My two favorite patch notes are right here. 

Quote
Improvement:  It is now possible to rename council positions by clicking on council position name in the council view.

Bugfix:  Fixed notification map ping staying visible for some time after dismissing the notification.


The first one is just fun, while the second one addresses a minor but *extremely* annoying visual bug.  :crazy2:  Thank goodness! 

Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on May 30, 2023, 03:22:34 PM
Extreeeemly annoying! That's good news.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on May 31, 2023, 05:43:05 AM
Was away for a month and now the game updated to the new leader system....it just sucks. So far i hate it.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on June 15, 2023, 01:05:48 PM
I was admittedly caught a little off-guard by this, but patch 3.8.4 dropped today: 

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/dev-team-3-8-4-patch-released.1590108/


Nothing spectacular this time around, though still welcome: it's mostly fixing bugs and UI issues, along with some balance work. 





New dev diary today as well: 

Stellaris Dev Diary #304 - 3.8.4 Released, What’s Next? (https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-304-3-8-4-released-whats-next.1589870/)


Sounds like the future 3.9 update will be smaller and less flashy, with a greater focus on polish and refining Leaders & their mechanics introduced in 3.8/Paragons.  The devs are also planning to see what they can do about the AI spamming Habitats everywhere, while still keeping them viable, especially for those with the Void Dweller origin. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on June 30, 2023, 02:53:37 AM
I have now played a full game with the new leader system and must say, while i don't hate it anymore, it's really just meh. For me, it adds nothing and i am mostly annoyed by the repeated information that i have some leaders with no assignement. So i have 3 leaders as the council, a couple of leaders on science ships. The envoys are not on that list, aren't they? I am confused by the new system. I have not more interaction with my leaders than before. I have a lot more interaction with my leaders in Master of Orion CtS or Interestellar.  :nope:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 01, 2023, 04:44:49 PM
My main problem with Leaders -- and to be fair, this is really in the main game, not the DLC -- remains the leader cap.  It's simply too restrictive as is, and so I find myself with no choice but to use a mod that expands the leader cap...and mods always break whenever the game gets updated. 

This is not a good, long-term solution to the issue.  I'm really hoping the whole system gets re-addressed by the devs when they return from their summer break,  and that we see some marked improvements in the 3.9 update. 




I have now played a full game with the new leader system and must say, while i don't have it anymore, it's really just meh.

You refunded/uninstalled Galactic Paragons, then?  ??? 



For me, it adds nothing and i am mostly annoyed by the repeated information that i have some leaders with no assignement. So i have 3 leaders as the council, a couple of leaders on science ships.

Huh.  Personally, I find leaders are generally more interesting and more powerful now.  I do wish they felt like they had more *personality*, but I'm guessing that will come in the future internal politics DLC that's been vaguely hinted at.  (Here's hoping!) 

I do get the annoyance about notifications of unassigned leaders, however. 



The envoys are not on that list, aren't they?

Not at present, no.  Stephen Muray does want to make Envoys a "normal" leader type like Governors, Admirals, etc., but he said that's for a future update. 



I am confused by the new system. I have not more interaction with my leaders than before. I have a lot more interaction with my leaders in Master of Orion CtS or Interestellar.  :nope:

Interesting.  I guess we've had different experiences with leaders in 4x games, at least space 4x games. 


Don't get me wrong:  I have yet to come across a space 4x/GS title where I felt that leaders were genuinely implemented well.  Whether it's Stellaris, Interstellar Space: Genesis, Distant Worlds, etc., I rarely find Leaders in space-strategy games to be extremely interesting and/or engaging.  (Though I do feel Galactic Paragons is at least a step in the right direction.) 

However, I also think it's much harder to do leaders well in space settings, as opposed to historical 4x/grand-strategy.  (Civilization, Crusader Kings, and the Total War games have the advantage in this respect.)  So I just appreciate it when space 4x games even have leaders, as I find it still helps with the roleplay/immersion aspect. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on July 01, 2023, 05:41:25 PM
It's supposed to be written "hate" instead of "have" (one letter gives a total different meaning!). I will complete my answer later (watching a movie 🍿)  ;)
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Anguille on July 01, 2023, 06:37:54 PM
My main problem with Leaders -- and to be fair, this is really in the main game, not the DLC -- remains the leader cap.  It's simply too restrictive as is, and so I find myself with no choice but to use a mod that expands the leader cap...and mods always break whenever the game gets updated.  This is not a good, long-term solution to the issue.  I'm really hoping the whole system gets re-addressed by the devs when they return from their summer break,  and that we see some marked improvements in the 3.9 update. 
Agree. I don't like the cap. However, while it disturbed me in the first phase of the game, i didn't care anymore from the mid to the end game as i just didn't know what to do with leaders (apart from the 3 in the government and 2-3 scientists).

I have now played a full game with the new leader system and must say, while i don't have it anymore, it's really just meh.

You refunded/uninstalled Galactic Paragons, then?  ??? 
Made a spelling mistake  :doh:. I don't have Galactic Paragons but the regular game (with the new system) so maybe it's the reason i don't see the use of the leaders. I have played it with the game without this dlc. You have it i guess?

For me, it adds nothing and i am mostly annoyed by the repeated information that i have some leaders with no assignement. So i have 3 leaders as the council, a couple of leaders on science ships.

Huh.  Personally, I find leaders are generally more interesting and more powerful now.  I do wish they felt like they had more *personality*, but I'm guessing that will come in the future internal politics DLC that's been vaguely hinted at.  (Here's hoping!) 

I do get the annoyance about notifications of unassigned leaders, however. 

What do you do with the leaders now?

The envoys are not on that list, aren't they?


Not at present, no.  Stephen Muray does want to make Envoys a "normal" leader type like Governors, Admirals, etc., but he said that's for a future update. 

Interesting


I am confused by the new system. I have not more interaction with my leaders than before. I have a lot more interaction with my leaders in Master of Orion CtS or Interestellar.  :nope:

Interesting.  I guess we've had different experiences with leaders in 4x games, at least space 4x games. 

Don't get me wrong:  I have yet to come across a space 4x/GS title where I felt that leaders were genuinely implemented well.  Whether it's Stellaris, Interstellar Space: Genesis, Distant Worlds, etc., I rarely find Leaders in space-strategy games to be extremely interesting and/or engaging.  (Though I do feel Galactic Paragons is at least a step in the right direction.) 

However, I also think it's much harder to do leaders well in space settings, as opposed to historical 4x/grand-strategy.  (Civilization, Crusader Kings, and the Total War games have the advantage in this respect.)  So I just appreciate it when space 4x games even have leaders, as I find it still helps with the roleplay/immersion aspect.
I agree, there are no perfect systems yet in 4x games for leaders and do appreciate if there are any. I meant that i find less interesting now with the change as it was before and even less than in the other games i mentionned. MOO3 was promising a nice leader system before they trashed it alltogether. Trying to think about the best leader system in a 4x game but it's hard. Maybe Knights of Honor 1&2 ? The leader system in Master of Orion 2 and CtS is also very clear with top ship leaders and very specific colony leaders which you can move from one place to another. Stellaris was ok for me with the older system (governors, fleet admirals and generals). I just don't see the use of the new system, at least without the dlc itself, the new system is worse. But i am hesitant to pay for it right now.
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 01, 2023, 10:04:00 PM
Agree. I don't like the cap. However, while it disturbed me in the first phase of the game, i didn't care anymore from the mid to the end game as i just didn't know what to do with leaders (apart from the 3 in the government and 2-3 scientists).

I found the leader cap (unmodded) to be annoying from beginning to end: 

In the early game, you don't have enough leader cap to have more than a couple Scientists.  Given how the exploration phase is both one of the most crucial -- and most fun -- parts of Stellaris, it's a restriction that many players find baffling as it is frustrating. 

And in the mid-game and late-game, you don't have enough leader cap for Admirals and (especially) Governors.  Governors now apply their traits only the world they directly govern, with the remaining worlds in their sector only benefiting from their skill level now.  So the game encourages you to place Governors on individual worlds again (like in older, prep2.0 versions of the game), whilst simultaneously restricting further than ever before the number of Governors you can actually have.  :face: 

And let's not forget about the poor Generals:  They were already underwhelming before, but at least you could afford to have 1-2, if only for the sake of flavor/roleplay.  Now, though, leader slots are so damn precious, that you dare not hire any Generals ever, unless you're lucky enough to get one of the rare exceptions that doesn't count towards your leader cap (for whatever reason). 


Don't get me wrong, I love most of the actual content in the Paragons DLC (yes, I do own it).  But the "logic" that went into the design for the general leader overhaul (for both the main game plus Paragons) is simply brain-melting; it's almost as if the devs employed 1984-style "double-think" in their approach.  :idiot2: 




What do you do with the leaders now?

Scientists take up my "extra" leader slots in the early game.  I focus on Governors in the mid-game, and then more on Admirals in the late-game.  I only hire Generals if they won't count toward my leader cap (usually Marauder Generals or certain "special event" Generals). 




The envoys are not on that list, aren't they?

Not at present, no.  Stephen Muray does want to make Envoys a "normal" leader type like Governors, Admirals, etc., but he said that's for a future update. 

Interesting

I should clarify/emphasize  that Muray has said he hopes to make this happen, but it's not a done deal at this point. 

Oh the other hand, it's been my experience thus far that if he's willing to state in a Stellaris dev diary that he wants to make "X change" in the game, then it usually ends up happening.  So fingers crossed! 




I just don't see the use of the new system, at least without the dlc itself, the new system is worse. But i am hesitant to pay for it right now.

Personally, I think you hit the nail on the head:  The rework to the leader system is only worthwhile if you also own Galactic Paragons.  And quite frankly, in hindsight, I don't think the devs should be rewarded for that -- not until they fix what they've broken. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 21, 2023, 03:28:46 AM
Aspec demonstrates a number of hidden/little-known quality-of-life features in Stellaris (they can definitely improve your playing experience!):





I'd stumbled across most of these myself already, though there were a couple that I only learned about fairly recently.


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Steelie on July 21, 2023, 08:42:10 AM
I definitely found a couple I didn't know of, like setting an army to "aggressive" will cause it to attach to a fleet and follow along. Hello Space Marines, lol! Good stuff, Martok.  :bigthumb:
Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 22, 2023, 02:13:05 PM
I definitely found a couple I didn't know of, like setting an army to "aggressive" will cause it to attach to a fleet and follow along. Hello Space Marines, lol! Good stuff, Martok.  :bigthumb:

Yep, that's one of the more recent discoveries I made (within the last few months).  :)  Another big one was the use of control groups for fleets -- holy hell, has that proven handy!! 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on July 27, 2023, 01:50:07 PM
Dev Diary #306 - Habitat Experiments: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-306-habitat-experiments.1594678/




There are numerous issues with Habitats as they're currently implemented, so the devs have been trying out a few different things with them to find something that works better.  Having just one "Central Complex" strikes me as a good idea; fingers crossed it pans out. 


Title: Re: Stellaris
Post by: Martok on September 11, 2023, 02:19:51 PM
3.9 "Caelum" update releases tomorrow: 


https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/developer-diary/stellaris-dev-diary-312-3-9-caelum-patch-notes-and-ask-us-anything.1598278/







Highlights include a major rework to Habitats and jobs that produce trade value (clerks, merchants, etc.).  The Plantoids, Humanoids, and Lithoid species packs are also getting significant buffs/additions. 


On a related note, today is the last day to get those older species pack DLC's at their original lower price before they're bumped up to the same price as the newer ones ($9.99).