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Author Topic: Stellaris  (Read 100353 times)

Martok

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Reply #450 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 



"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Martok

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Reply #451 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?)... 



"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Undercovergeek

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Reply #452 on: December 23, 2021, 12:03:36 AM
Looks like all the dlc got hit by the Christmas sale hammer - 25-50% off



ojsdad

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Reply #453 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

Here at ACD, we all pee the same color.


Martok

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Reply #454 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. 



"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


ojsdad

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Reply #455 on: January 13, 2022, 07:18:04 AM

Here at ACD, we all pee the same color.


Martok

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Reply #456 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. 



"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Martok

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Reply #457 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! 



"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Martok

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Reply #458 on: February 24, 2022, 12:55:16 AM
Meant to post this earlier, but the 3.3 "Libra" update has officially dropped











Player feedback appears to be very positive so far.  Looking forward to taking this out for a spin once my installed mods have updated! 



"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Martok

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Reply #459 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...






"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Martok

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Reply #460 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: 




"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Anguille

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Reply #461 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?



Martok

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Reply #462 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)! 



"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Anguille

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Reply #463 on: March 07, 2022, 04:49:38 AM
Many good ideas! Let's hope it will come soon.



Martok

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Reply #464 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. ;)



"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike