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Author Topic: Stellaris  (Read 100477 times)

Martok

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Reply #480 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. 





Spiritualist empires are finally getting their own thematically-appropriate enclave in the Shroudwalkers​: 





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: 








A new Ascension Perk is even being added to make Mercs more powerful/worthwhile: 




Looks like they'll also become a topic of debate within the Galactic Community: 






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:   












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: 



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

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Martok

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Reply #481 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. 



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

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Martok

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Reply #482 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). 











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: 







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!) 







A closer look at the Scholarium​.  No prizes for guessing what they specialize in: 





As expected, they get all sorts of research-related perks (two examples below): 





Their overlord even enjoys a passive benefit (in addition to all the other potential perks): 





Fascinating:  Maxed-out Scholarium empires get a special science ship that nerfs AI-piloted vessels -- including ships with sapient AI combat computers... 







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: 






In contrast, the "Bureaucratic Surveillance" resolutions increase an overlord's influence & authority over their vassals, including alignment with the former's dominant ethics: 








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... 



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

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Barthheart

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Reply #483 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)

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Martok

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Reply #484 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 



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

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Martok

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Reply #485 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: 



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

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Martok

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Reply #486 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. 



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

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Martok

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Reply #487 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.) 


« Last Edit: April 23, 2022, 01:46:09 PM by Martok »

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

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Martok

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Reply #488 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. 



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

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Martok

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Reply #489 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: 



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"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


ojsdad

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Reply #490 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?

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ojsdad

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Reply #491 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

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Yskonyn

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Reply #492 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!


Martok

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Reply #493 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. 



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

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike


Martok

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Reply #494 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. 



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

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike