Stellaris

[Martok]

Dev Diary #220 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.   

[Undercovergeek]

Am I right in thinking traditions are getting redone or has that already happened

[Martok]

Please refer to my previous post.   

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.

[Undercovergeek]

Ah - lost my way in the sea of updates there - thanks buddy

[Martok]

Anytime, man.   

[Martok]

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.   

[Martok]

Best watched with closed captions turned on.  I think Professor Honeydew makes some great points.   

[Barthheart]

 

[thecommandtent]

"Reddit Peer Reviewed Journal of Science"   

[ojsdad]

Lem update is dropping Sept 14.

[Martok]

^  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/

[Martok]

Of course, no Stellaris update would be complete without the "Patch Notes: What They Actually Mean"...   


https://www.reddit.com/r/Stellaris/comments/pl0mc2/stellaris_patch_31_lem_notes_what_they_actually/\




A few of my favorites: 

-  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.

[Barthheart]

Errmmm… is this going to mess up our on going MP game? 

[Martok]

I already brought up the issue in Discord.  Figured it was a better place to have that conversation. 

[Martok]

The Lem update is officially out!   

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/