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Stellaris: Iron Victoria Europa Kings in space!

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Yeah, the improved diplomacy system has helped things somewhat, but the mid game is still pretty dull unless you want to wage war all the time. I get the feeling that a lot of the mid game difficulties are supposed to revolve around ethics divergance. There are even events like the genetic enhancement and AI chains that are supposed to diversify your empire and make it fall apart internally, but the only time I ever find it getting extreme enough to cause a real problem is when I'm conquering a bunch of alien populations. Peaceful empires have nothing to do.

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2 minutes ago, Dewar said:

Yeah, the improved diplomacy system has helped things somewhat, but the mid game is still pretty dull unless you want to wage war all the time. I get the feeling that a lot of the mid game difficulties are supposed to revolve around ethics divergance. There are even events like the genetic enhancement and AI chains that are supposed to diversify your empire and make it fall apart internally, but the only time I ever find it getting extreme enough to cause a real problem is when I'm conquering a bunch of alien populations. Peaceful empires have nothing to do.

I am planning on waiting for a few expansions to come out before i consider returning to it. Too busy with hearts of iron 4 anyway

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3 hours ago, Dewar said:

Yeah, the improved diplomacy system has helped things somewhat, but the mid game is still pretty dull unless you want to wage war all the time. I get the feeling that a lot of the mid game difficulties are supposed to revolve around ethics divergance. There are even events like the genetic enhancement and AI chains that are supposed to diversify your empire and make it fall apart internally, but the only time I ever find it getting extreme enough to cause a real problem is when I'm conquering a bunch of alien populations. Peaceful empires have nothing to do.

 

It feels like every system in the mid game that tries and fails to engage players does so because they all have hooks for characters with high agency and diverse behaviors, yet the character system just isn't built to provide that. It reminds me a lot of the earlier Europa Universalis games, plus Europa Universalis: Rome, where characters were buckets of modifiers with randomly assigned names. It's only really the Crusader Kings games where the characters are central enough to the player experience to make their influence on gameplay outcomes not frustrating. Even with EU4, its worst moments are getting a bad ruler out of nowhere since you have so little engagement in the process.

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The problem I seem to have now is that unless you spend that mid game fighting and expanding, you are completely buggered by the time the end game crisis roll around. At the moment it seems that you are going to get the Unbidden more likely than not, and that's where I'm getting crushed. By that time in the game I can field a 30K ish fleet tops. The unbidden arrive with 5 fleets not one of which is under 80K. I've tried everything I can think of, but if the unbidden arrive I'm screwed. It would help if the FE's would engage properly, but so far I've only seen 2 awaken and then spend most of their time twiddling their thumbs while the unbidden eat everyone. I'd love to know quite what the "I'm fielding 100k fleets but 2400" tribe on the Stellaris forums are doing to get that much fleet capacity by that time in the game.

 

There are so many good ideas in this game I'm loath to leave it at the moment. But my word it's so badly implemented in places it's painful. 

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36 minutes ago, Sorbicol said:

The problem I seem to have now is that unless you spend that mid game fighting and expanding, you are completely buggered by the time the end game crisis roll around. At the moment it seems that you are going to get the Unbidden more likely than not, and that's where I'm getting crushed. By that time in the game I can field a 30K ish fleet tops. The unbidden arrive with 5 fleets not one of which is under 80K. I've tried everything I can think of, but if the unbidden arrive I'm screwed. It would help if the FE's would engage properly, but so far I've only seen 2 awaken and then spend most of their time twiddling their thumbs while the unbidden eat everyone. I'd love to know quite what the "I'm fielding 100k fleets but 2400" tribe on the Stellaris forums are doing to get that much fleet capacity by that time in the game.

 

There are so many good ideas in this game I'm loath to leave it at the moment. But my word it's so badly implemented in places it's painful. 

 

For me, one of the FE's mobilized and created a federation that 2/3rds of the galaxy joined. Even so, when I was fielding ships I didn't see that many other fleets out there. This was my pacifist run, so I was crammed pretty tightly into one corner of the galaxy, but I still managed to defeat it eventually by sending 50k fleets to nibble at single 100k fleets until I was able to feint and get in to the portal. It was a grind, but I did it, and that's when I decided I was good on Stellaris for a while.

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Sector Discussion Thread

 

This thread on the official Paradox Stellaris forums is causing something of a kerfuffle. I think it highlights one of the major issues with Stellaris, in that it has some good ideas (of which Sectors are one) but the implementation is so poor that it causes major gameplay issues, as well as being something that paradox seem more than happy to take a view of "we're right and you're wrong".

 

Some of the comments on the thread are complete unwarranted it must be said, but others are, to me, completely valid. It's something to me endemic of Paradox games - that they do not explain their mechanics terribly well and when they are criticised for it, they don't react terribly well to that criticism. I know I've mentioned before about how I've repeatedly bounced off the CK2 UI because I've never understood what it was I was meant to be doing or, more importantly, why.

 

Stellaris also suffers from this. While Sectors themselves are a neat idea to reduce Player micro-management requirements, it seems moderately clear to me that paradox intend them to be more than just a micro-management tool. I think they are also there to provide some political machinations to your empire and ethics divergence as well. however in practice they just don't do that and in terms of micro-management relief, the AI is so poor that it actively hinders the player's attempts to play the game. To me that thread highlights all the reasons why I find Stellaris specifically, and Paradox collectively such a frustrating thing to deal with. Don't get me wrong, Stellaris is the best space 4x (ish) game I have played in a very long time (It is a much better game than Endless Space for example) but what it feels like it is designed to be and what it actually is are very far removed from each other, and it's something that Paradox don't appear to see. Or be willing to consider.

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New Stellaris expansion coming, perhaps with the "Banks" 1.5 update that reworks empire ethics and introduces megastructures, as well as a few new victory states:

 

 

Recent Developer diary archive to catch up: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/stellaris-developer-diary-archive.882950/

 

Started a new game this weekend with the Leviathans pack, and the game feels better for me but it'll be interesting to see how the Utopia rework changes things. Hopefully it'll be the Brave New World of Stellaris.

 

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The free 1.5 Banks patch is out and the Utopia DLC is available. Patch notes:

 

#################################################################
########################## VERSION 1.5.0 ########################
#################################################################

###################
# Expansion Features
###################

# Megastructures
* Habitat stations added to the game. Requires Voidborne ascension perk. Function like planets once built, but they have their own set of buildings
* Ring Worlds added to the game. Requires The Circle of Life ascension perk. Buildable in multiple stages around most stars and function like four size-25 Gaia planets, but consume all other planets in the system
* Dyson Sphere added to the game. Requires Galactic Wonders ascension perk. Buildable in multiple stages around certain stars
* Science Nexus added to the game. Requires Galactic Wonders ascension perk. Buildable in multiple stages around planets
* Sentry Array added to the game. Requires Galactic Wonders ascension perk. Buildable in multiple stages around planets

# Ascension Perks
* 20 ascension perks have been added to the game. An ascension perk slot is unlocked whenever a tradition category is finished. In addition, one ascension perk slot can be unlocked through technology
* Ascension perks have 3 major paths that are exclusive. One path focuses on psionics and establishing contact with The Shroud, a second path focuses on biological mastery and genetic modification, and the third path focuses on turning your species into fully synthetic androids

# Indoctrinate Natives
* Observation Stations have a new mission type that will attempt to change primitive civilizations' ethics, over time, to mirror your empire's

# Unique Civics
* Fanatic Purifiers is a civic that gives you significant military bonuses, but will automatically purge any alien Pops in your empire and make most diplomatic options unavailable
* Syncretic Evolution is a civic that allows you to start with a second, "workhorse" species on your homeworld
* Mechanists is a civic that allows you to start with a few robot Pops, and the technology to build more

# Hive Mind
* This special ethic prevents you from having any other ethics, but will also mean that none of your Pops will be affected by happiness. Pops with the Hive-Minded trait ethic may only live in Hive Mind empires, and will slowly die out if they find themselves in a non-Hive Mind empire

# Technology
* NEW: Ascension Theory technology added to the game
* NEW: Mega Engineering technology added to the game

# Traits
* Added 5 new traits exclusive to the Biological Ascension Path

# Components
* Psionic Shields component has been added to the game

# Buildings
* Habitat buildings added to the game

# Additonal Species Rights
* Added 3 new Purge types: Processing, Neutering and Forced Labor. Processing kills a species at a moderate speed, with each Pop being purged producing a fixed amount of food. Forced Labor kills a species slowly, but allows them to continue producing resources as though they were enslaved. Neutering kills a species very slowly, with only moderate happiness and production penalties
* Added 3 new Slavery types: Domestic Servitude, Battle Thralls and Livestock. Domestic Servants get moderate penalties to all production types, but provide happiness for other Pops on the planet. Battle Thralls get small penalties to energy production and moderate research penalties, and can be used for special slave armies. Livestock do not produce any minerals, energy or research, but produce extra food per Pop

# Music
* Added 5 new tracks composed by Andreas Waldetoft, for a total of about 25 new minutes of music

###################
# Free Features
###################

# Important
* Added Authoritarian ethics
* Added Egalitarian ethics
* Removed Collectivist ethics
* Removed Individualist ethics
* Government system has been completely reworked and Civics have been added to the game, allowing for far more customization when creating your empire's government
* Traditions and Unity added to the game. Unity is a new resource that is used to unlock Traditions
* Food is now stored and distributed empire-wide instead of being local to individual planets. When food reaches the empire storage cap, surplus food contributes to increased Pop growth across the empire
* Pops now have a monthly mineral cost called Consumer Goods. How large this cost it depends on what living standards are set for their species in the empire
* Reworked ethics attraction. Pops now only have a single ethic, and their attraction to different ethics depends on a wide variety of factors such as their traits, the empire's governing ethics and policies, the local conditions on their planet, and so on
* Reworked the faction system. Factions are now political movements with specific issues rather than rebels, and have a happiness level based on how well your empires' policies and actions fulfill those issues. Faction happiness determines their member Pops' base happiness, and factions with high happiness will provide an influence boost to the empire they are a part of
* Unrest is a new mechanic that affects planets. Unrest is generated by unhappy Pops and slaves, and can reduce productivity and in extreme cases spark rebellions. Unrest can be lowered by certain buildings or by garrisoning armies
* Added the ability to Displace Pops as an alternative method of Purging, this forces them to move out of the empire instead of killing them
* Pops that are being purged will now sometimes manage to escape to other empires
* Added a policy for whether an empire accepts refugees (Pops that are being Purged or Displaced) from other empires
* Added a new policy for which Pops are allowed to live on an empires' core (non-sector) planets
* Added a policy that determines whether an empire tolerates pre-sentients living on their planets
* Added a music player that lets you select which tracks you want to play, play specific tracks on demand, and toggle shuffle mode on and off

# Species Rights
* Added the ability to set Species Rights for individual species. Slavery and Purging is handled through this interface instead of on an individual Pop basis

# Misc.
* Added a war demand to dismantle Frontier Outposts
* Ship engine-trails will now be colored by their empire's primary color
* Kingdom of Yondarim prescripted empire has been reworked
* You are no longer at war with rebels when they take over a planet
* Stone Age Civilizations now work like other primitives and have Pops instead of simply being tile blockers
* Added "Yurantic Crystals", a new strategic resource that improves energy weapon damage
* Becoming a patron of the Artisan Troupe enclave now has an up-front cost
* Being a patron of the Artisan Troupe enclave now gives +15% Unity generation
* It is now possible to terraform barren planets that have the "Terraforming Candidate" modifier if you possess the Atmospheric Manipulation tech. Mars is such a world by default
* Pioneering Terminal spaceport module removed from the game
* You can now choose room background in the ruler customization view
* New shader for Stations that are under construction

# Events
* Being the first to find a Precursor homeworld now yields a significant amount of Unity
* Precursor anomalies are now player-only
* When your patronage ends, the Artisan Troupe will contact you for renewal
* Limbo event chain expanded

# Technology
* NEW: Interstellar Campaigns technology added to the game
* NEW: Galactic Campaigns technology added to the game
* NEW: Colonial Bureaucracy technology added to the game
* NEW: Galactic Bureaucracy technology added to the game
* NEW: Subdermal Stimulation technology added to the game
* NEW: Cultural Heritage starting technology added to game
* NEW: Heritage Site technology added to game
* NEW: Hypercomms Forum technology added to game
* NEW: Autocurating Vault technology added to game
* NEW: Holographic Rituals technology added to the game
* NEW: Transcendent Faith technology added to the game
* NEW: Assembly Patterns technology added to the game
* NEW: Construction Templates rare technology added to the game
* Assembly Algorithms repeatable technology now belongs to the engineering category instead of physics
* Frontier Initiatives technology removed from the game
* Frontier Traditions technology removed from the game
* Frontier Collectives technology removed from the game
* Frontier Commissars technology removed from the game
* Paradise Dome technology removed
* Manifest Destiny technology has been removed from the game
* Propaganda Transmissions technology has been removed from the game

# Buildings
* Symbol of Unity building now produces 2 unity and provides +5% happiness
* Visitor Center building now requires Alien Tourism tradition
* Paradise Dome building now requires Paradise Dome tradition
* NEW: Autochthon Monument is a new building that provides Unity
* NEW: Heritage Site is a new building that provides Unity
* NEW: Hypercomms Forum is a new building that provides Unity
* NEW: Auto-Curating Vault is a new building that provides Unity
* NEW: Temple is a new building that provides Unity
* NEW: Holotemple is a new building that provides Unity
* NEW: Citadel of Faith is a new building that provides Unity
* Grand Mausoleum removed from the game

# Traits
* NEW: Wasteful trait added to the game
* NEW: Conservational trait added to the game
* Decadent trait now requires authoritarian or xenophobe ethics

# Components
* NEW: Psionic Shields component has been added to the game

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

# Important
* New Worlds Protocol is now a starting technology
* Core Sector Systems base value reduced from 5 to 3. Added new early/mid game technologies and traditions to raise it
* Planets still under colonization do not count against the Core Sector Systems limit
* When designing an empire, you must now always pick the full amount of ethics points
* Capital buildings no longer produce food and minerals, but instead produce energy and unity. Food production of Hydroponics Farms was increased to compensate
* Added Interceptor Ship Stern section for Destroyers
* The maximum number of armies garrisoned on a planet now depends on planet size, with 1 garrison slot per planet size
* (UTOPIA owners): Gene Warriors can only be unlocked if you have the Engineered Evolution ascension perk, still available through tech if Utopia is not activated
* (UTOPIA owners): Psi Armies can only be unlocked if you have the Mind Over Matter ascension perk, still available through tech if Utopia is not activated

# Misc.
* Anomaly Fail Risk is no longer set manually, but rather completely based on the level of the anomaly
* Abandoned mining/research stations will now decay and disappear over time
* Curator Enclaves can no longer spawn with broken ring worlds
* Pitharan Dust effect on food output reduced from +20% to +10%
* Talented trait point cost reduced from 2 to 1
* Most event-generated ships can no longer be upgraded
* Doubled likelihood of triggering Horizon Signal event chain when a science ship enters a black hole system
* Can no longer trigger Horizon Signal by moving a science ship repeatedly into the same black hole system
* Ship that are being repaired no longer have a mineral repair cost
* Strategic resources that affect weapon damage have had their effect increased to +15%
* Weapon windup does not get cancelled when losing target during windup (should fix XL weapons not being able to fire due to moving targets)
* Infiltration observation station mission now requires Gene Tailoring technology
* Infiltration observation station is now available with Active Interference policy
* When infiltration of a primitive world finishes, the planet now gets a large happiness boost for 20 years
* The amount of non-defensive armies you can build from a species is now limited to the number of Pops of that species that are in your empire
* Pops that are saved from slavery/purging via conquest are now grateful instead of upset at the conquest (unless you enslave/purge them afterwards)
* Fleets that are violating border access rights now instantly go MIA instead of trying to find a path home
* Rebels now become non-hostile after taking over the planet they spawn on

# Build Time changed into Build Speed
* Master's Teachings: The Greater Good edict now increases building build speed by +10% instead of reducing building build time by -10%
* Infrastructure Projects edict now increases building build speed by +33% instead of reducing building build time by -25%
* Governor skill level now increases building build speed by +5% instead of reducing building build time by -5%
* Architectural Interest trait no longer reduces building cost or building build time, but rather increases building build speed by +50%

# Ethics
* Ethics no longer apply modifiers to Pops, and instead only apply empire modifiers

Authoritarian
* Effect on faction supression cost removed
* Resettlement Cost is now reduced by -25%
* Slaves' effect on Unrest reduced by 10%

Fanatic Authoritarian
* Effect on faction supression cost removed
* Resettlement Cost is now reduced by -50%
* Slaves' effect on Unrest reduced by 20%

Egalitarian
* Effect on Policy Happiness effects removed
* Effect on Migration Attraction removed
* Consumer Goods Cost is now reduced by -10%
* Influence from factions is now increased by +15%

Fanatic Egalitarian
* Effect on Policy Happiness effects removed
* Effect on Migration Attraction removed
* Consumer Goods Cost is now reduced by -20%
* Influence from factions is now increased by +30%

Xenophobe
* Effect on number of rivals removed
* Planet Border Range effect replaced with Border Range and increased from +10% to +15%
* Influence from rivals is now increased by +15%

Fanatic Xenophobe
* Effect on number of rivals removed
* Planet Border Range effect replaced with Border Range and increased from +20% to +30%
* Influence from rivals is now increased by +30%

Xenophile
* Diplomatic Influence Cost is now also reduced by -25%

Fanatic Xenophile
* Trust Growth is now reduced from +75% to +50%
* Diplomatic Influence Cost is now also reduced by -50%

Militarist
* Effect on influence gain from rivals removed
* Effect on Ship Weapon Damage removed
* Ship Fire Rate is now increased by +10%
* Army Damage is now increased by +10%

Fanatic Militarist
* Effect on influence gain from rivals removed
* Effect on Ship Weapon Damage removed
* Ship Fire Rate is now increased by +20%
* Army Damage is now increased by +20%

Pacifist
* Effect on influence gain from rivals removed
* Effect on Diplomatic Influence Cost removed
* Core Sector Systems are now increased by +2
* Unity output is now increased by +20%

Fanatic Pacifist
* Effect on influence gain from rivals removed
* Effect on Diplomatic Influence Cost removed
* Core Sector Systems are now increased by +4
* Unity output is now increased by +40%

Spiritualist
* Unrest is now reduced by -10

Fanatic Spiritualist
* Unrest is now reduced by -20

Materialist
* Effect on building cost removed
* Research Speed is now increased by +5%
* Robot upkeep cost is now reduced by -10%

Fanatic Materialist
* Effect on building cost removed
* Research Speed is now increased by +10%
* Robot upkeep cost is now reduced by -20%

# Colonization & Migration
* Doubled the base time it takes to colonize planets
* When a Pop migrates to a new planet, it will now get a happiness boost for 10 years
* Only a single Pop can now be migrating to a planet at any given time

# Buildings
* Farms now produce more food due to capitol buildings no longer producing food
* Visitor Center mineral cost increased from 100 to 150
* Visitor Center now increases habitability by +5%
* Slave Processing Plant mineral cost reduced from 350 to 250
* Slave Processing Plant build time reduced from 720 to 360
* Slave Processing Plant now also reduces Slave Unrest by 50%
* Frontier Clinic now reduces growth time by -5% instead of increasing habitability by +5%
* Frontier Hospital now reduces growth time by -10% instead of increasing habitability by +10%
* Forlorn Ruins habitability modifier reduced from -50% to -20%

# Galaxy
* Primitive civilizations are now less common
* The Enigmatic Fortress system will now always have at least one potentially-habitable planet

# Fallen Empires
* Xenophobic Fallen Empires are now angered specifically by encroaching colonies and frontier outposts, instead of from border friction, meaning they won't declare war just over natural border growth

# Diplomacy & Subjects
* Subjects can now always colonize inside their own borders
* It is now possible to declare war on and conquer Protectorates
* Protectorates now work the same as vassals when it comes to diplomacy and colonization
* Protectorates can now be integrated without waiting for them to become a vassal

# Events & Modifiers
* Atmospheric Aphrodisiac planet modifier effect on growth time reduced from -33% to -10%
* Planet modifier-related events will now always trigger within the first year of colonization
* Made a number of colony events more common for the player

# Leaders
* Ruler skill now reduces edict influence cost and increase unity output
* Governor skill no longer increases happiness, but rather lowers Unrest
* Leaders will no longer start with the Iron Fist trait if Slavery is prohibited
* Leaders can only gain the Iron Fist trait by leveling up if Slavery is not prohibited

# Technology
* Pacifists no longer have a lower chance of rolling weapon-related technologies
* Everyone can now research and build Research Institute, Symbol of Unity, Ministry of Benevolence and Galactic Stock Exchange as rare technologies
* Nutrient Replication effect on food output reduced from +25% to +15%
* Tomb World Adaption effect on habitability reduced from +40% to +20%
* Automated Exploration Protocols technology now required Administrative AI instead of Self-Aware AI
* Technologies that increased influence now increase the influence gain from factions instead

# Components
* Missile cooldown reduced from 2.0-3.0 to 0.2-2.5
* Missile armor penetration changed to 0/15/30%
* Missile speed increased from 5 to 6
* Missiles now deal +10% damage vs. shields
* Missile HP have been adjusted slightly
* Weapon windup does not get cancelled when losing target during windup

# War
* The Liberate wargoal can no longer be used against Fallen Empires, Awakened Empires and Hive Minds
* Countries that cannot normally conquer planets are now able to conquer Fallen Empires, Awakened Empires and Hive Minds
* Planets belonging to subjects are now worth less warscore to occupy
* Planets belonging to subjects of Awakened Empires are worth far less warscore to occupy
* Removed warscore gain from blockades
* Planets that are part of the wargoals are now worth significantly more warscore


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

# Crises
* Fixed various issues with the Swarm and Unbidden crisis AIs getting stuck
* Swarm AI should now build fewer Infestors

# Diplomacy
* AI is now far more active when it comes to offering mutually beneficial trade deals
* AI now remembers rejected diplomatic offers for much longer and will not offer them again for a long time
* AI is now less likely to accept new migration treaties while under threat, which should fix migration treaty spam during crises
* Fixed an issue where the AI would not accept federation association status because the asker disliked one of the federation members

# Economy
* Major work done on AI exploration, expansion and economy that should allow AI to be more competitive in early-game growth

# Sectors
* Completely overhauled Sector AI budgeting so that it should now never unnecessarily accumulate resources when it has projects it could spend those resources on
* Added a new Agricultural Sector focus for Food production
* Added a tooltip in the sector view that tells you what a sector is planning to construct and how they are allocating resources to those projects
* Sectors will now put more focus on building robots, especially on planets with no biological Pops

# War
* Fixed a bug that was making the mid and late-game AI far less aggressive than it should be due to not correctly calculating when it was unable to peacefully expand
* Misc improvements to AI war logic and fixes for situations where it got 'stuck'

###################
# User Interface
###################

# Misc
* Added a list of terraforming planets to the outliner
* Should now be more clear what actually counts as differing war philosophy
* It is now possible to pan the camera by holding down both left and right mouse buttons
* Added mapmode option to toggle sector graphics
* Scrollbar in create new fleet will no longer reset when you transfer ships
* Scrollbar in expansion planer no longer reset when list is updated
* Galaxy map shows only claimable resources and colonizable planets while details map mode is off
* Remove unused space in planet view
* Updated appearance of edict tooltips
* Ships that are forced out of a system due to hostiles will now try to resume their remaining orders
* All military ships are counted in the ship size groups below the fleet power in system and galaxy view
* Clicking the "Change Research" button in the Research window will no longer cancel special projects
* Save the last used galaxy settings. Singleplayer and Multiplayer settings are saved individually
* Clicking the research resources in the top bar will open the Technology window
* Added game launch option -bajen

###################
# User modding
###################

# Misc.
* is_boss is now a fleet setting only
* Added functionality to support GetSpeciesAdj for Pop Scope
* Traits now have a randomized = yes/no setting that is used when randomizing traits instead of initial = yes/no. Initial now only controls what traits can be used in a custom species
* Support context switch from army to owner
* Removed defines for base resource income. You can now change this in the script files for each resource
* Replaced Pop_add_ethic with Pop_change_ethic, can still use Pop_add_forced_ethic to override 1-ethic rule
* Added pc_habitat planet class

# Effects
* The kill_leader effect now uses the scoped leader if no type is specified
* Added spawn_megastructure effect
* Added change_leader_portrait effect
* Added rename_species effect that can pick randomly from a list or prompt the player for a custom name
* Added add_ruler_trait and remove_ruler_trait effects
* every_owned_leader and random_owned_leader now include the current ruler
* Added support for army scope for is_same_species, is_exact_same_species triggers and change_species effect
* Added clear_ethos effect, takes Pop or country scope
* Added shift_ethic effect, adds the selected ethic to country ethos and then cleans up afterwards so amount of ethics points stays the same
* Added add_ruler_trait and remove_ruler_trait effects to change ruler traits for any leader, even if they are not currently ruler
* Added random_pool_leader and every_pool_leader list effects for leaders that are recruitable for a country

# Triggers
* Added count_species and count_exact_species triggers
* Added any_planet_army and count_planet_army triggers
* Added any_owned_army and count_owned_army triggers
* Added num_ascension_perks trigger
* Added former_<species right>_type triggers
* Added habitable_structure scripted trigger
* Added has_tradition trigger
* Added has_ascension_perk trigger
* Added num_trait_points trigger
* Added has_presence trigger
* Added excess_food trigger
* Added unrest trigger
* Added has_ruler_trait trigger
* Renamed random_army_within_country to random_owned_army
* Renamed every_army_within_country to every_owned_army
* Renamed random_army to random_planet_army
* Allow using a species 'who' target for the habitability trigger
* any_owned_leader now includes the current ruler
* Added any_pool_leader and count_pool_leader triggers for leaders that are recruitable for a country

# Modifiers
* Added slave_mineral_output modifier
* Added country_trust_cap_add modifier
* Added federation_naval_cap_contribution_mult modifier
* Added ship_home_territory_fire_rate_mult modifier
* Added country_vassal_naval_capacity_contribution_mult modifier
* Added subject_tribute_mult modifier
* Added country_subject_technology_sharing_mult modifier
* Added country_federation_member_resource_<resource>_mult modifiers
* Added leader_<admiral/general/scientist/governor>_influence_cost modifiers
* Added planet_building_upkeep_mult modifier
* Added megastructure_build_speed_mult modifier
* Added mod_megastructure_build_cost_mult modifier
* Added modify_species_cost_mult modifier
* Added country_government_civic_points_add modifier
* slave_production_output now affects all resources produced by slaves
* Added trigger support for opinion modifiers, allows creating new opinion modifiers without code support
* Removed support for common/triggered_modifiers
* Replaced Pop_radiation_happiness modifier with biological_Pop_happiness that only affects biological Pops
* All auto generated "resource_x_add" modifier types have been renamed to "tile_resource_x_add" as they were only applied to tiles
* The "country_resource_x_mult" modifier type is back! This one should be preferred over tile_resource_x_mult for empire-wide effects. Influence specific sources are not affected by this one (like influence from rivalries etc).
* The "planet_resource_x_add" modifier now works for all resource types, not just food
* Added faction_influence_mult modifier type
* Added subject_influence_gain_mult modifier type
* Added subject_integration_influence_cost modifier type
* tile_resource_x_add modifier type now adds resources regardless of what building is on the tile
* Added tile_building_resource_x_add modifier type that only adds its value if the tile's building already produces some of that resource

# On-actions
* Added on_megastructure_built on-action
* Added on_megastructure_upgrade_begin on-action
* Added on_megastructure_upgraded on-action
* Added on_ruler_back_to_pre_ruler_class on-action
* Added empire_init_add_technologies on-action. Used during galaxy generation
* Added create_capital_initial_Pops on-action. Used during galaxy generation
* Added empire_init_create_ships on-action. Used during galaxy generation

# Game Rules
* Added are_rebels_hostile game rule
* Added should_apply_neighbor_rival_modifier game rule
* Added show_notification_for_ground_combat game rule
* Added has_full_sensor_range game rule
* Added can_planet_support_orbital_station game rule

###################
# Performance
###################

# Misc.
* Improved performance when having one big fleet selected
* Improved performance of Pop migration by threading the calculations
* Improved performance of economy calculations
* General frame rate improvements in many gui views, especially in mid to late game
* Various AI-related performance improvements
* Fixed a severe lag spike that could happen in some rare cases when the AI was calculating diplomatic actions to propose

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

# Misc.
* Fixed AI federation members issuing orders to the Federation fleet while not president
* Fixed AI and automatic exploration stopping completely due to bad distance calculations
* Fixed event countries such as Rampaging Titans making use of planetary fortifications
* Fixed Debris and similar projects not being able to be researched from the galaxy map when clicking project icon
* Fixed some ship components not auto-upgrading when new level was researched
* Wildcat miners anomaly can now only appear inside an empire's borders
* Remove tech in every case where the tech is completed. Techs no longer restart when finished
* Fixed crash when is_guaranteeing trigger was used with invalid scope
* Fixed a bug where Physics Lab 3 technology required the wrong technology
* Level 3 engineering lab tech now costs the same as corresponding physics/society lab techs
* Fixed weapons with limited firing arc choosing an ineligible target and therefore failing to fire at all
* Fixed a bug where buildings would not apply their modifier to the planet until the next monthly production pass
* Fixed a bug where cancelling terraforming of a planet within your borders was impossible if you didn't start the process
* Fixed issue with a ship destroyed VO sound not working
* Fixed an issue where country types, that would normally not have spaceports, could take them over from other empires
* Awakened Empires will no longer accept white peace in War in Heaven under any circumstances
* Fixed Artisan Enclave diplomacy breaking in some circumstances
* Fixed game freezing on a rare occasion when ending a war
* Fixed bug where colony ship cost modifiers were applied twice
* Starvation no longer makes robots unhappy
* Fixed issue with sound effects being played while loading save
* Changing a colonized planet into an uninhabitable planet class now destroys the colony
* Disbanded or destroyed observation posts will no longer save primitive civilizations from their doom in certain circumstances
* Ship costs can no longer be negative
* The Ship Cost modifier no longer affects station costs
* 'Likely to be purged' AI peace acceptance reduction now only triggers if you're demanding planets
* Fixed out-of-sync where cached values for ships and fleets were not updated after hotjoin
* Fixed out-of-sync where the radii of galactic objects were only recalculated after loading saves
* Fixed out-of-sync where the fleet size was not recalculated after hotjoin
* Fixed out-of-sync where modifiers were not properly recalculated after hotjoin
* Fixed out-of-sync where the galaxy map was not regenerated after hotjoin
* Fixed out-of-sync where custom fleet formations were not saved
* Fixed out-of-sync where commands could be executed during hotjoin
* Fixed out-of-sync related to deficit spending in the empire AI
* Fixed out-of-sync when client and host used different language settings
* Fixed situation where multiple Wraiths could spawn in a single galaxy
* Construction ships no longer get stuck trying to build stations if there is no valid path to the station's intended coordinates
* Fixed bug where the reclaimed ship obtained from Horizon Signal did not have a model in the ship view
* Fixed bug where is_boss setting could propagate to other ships
* Use move order to check if a colonization order is possible
* Fixed science ship trying to research anomaly in inaccessible system getting getting stuck
* Fleets that are already in combat will no longer get the 'hostile fleet engaged' sound effect playing for additional enemy engagements.
* Fixed a potential failure for an anomaly category to generate an anomaly
* Fixed debris sounds sometimes playing in galaxy map
* Fixed text/effect mismatch in Wraith event
* Fixed missing species names in events related to Shielded Planets
* Fixed agendas and mandates not being available for the first ruler, and rulers not clearing or generating agendas or mandates when switching between government types
* Fix ship designer sometimes trying to equip a component for the wrong slot size
* Fix some ship components not auto-upgrading after researching the next tier component technology
* Fix advisor sound volume not being saved between game launches
* Fix hostile intel persisting past the end of hostilities
* Fixed anomaly generation chance from scientist trait or ship components never getting applied
* Fixed Curator Archeology Lab's anomaly fail risk and research speed effects not working correctly
* Fixed Curator Archeology Lab's Anomaly Research Speed bonus effects not working correctly
* Fixed Curator Explorer Lab's survey speed effect not working correctly
* Fix science ship trying to research an anomaly in an inaccessible system getting stuck
* Fix weapons with limited firing arc sometimes not firing at all
* Fixed a bug where it was possible to move your capital to a planet that is under colonization
* Pops should no longer modify themselves on planets of the same type as their species' homeworld
* Fixed a bug where fleets could in some cases attack a disabled fleet
* Fleets cancel all orders when they are forced out of a system
* Fixed broken Manhattan-distance calculations for ship targeting
* Fixed issue with Support Independence not working
* Pops can no longer migrate away from occupied planets

# Sector
* Fixed so that spaceports in a sector have their maintenance paid for by the sector

# Events
* Fixed a bug where some events could spawn Pops with no name and portrait
* Fixed several cases where precursor anomaly generating events would not properly spawn anomalies
* Fixed a Horizon Signal event chain outcome not affecting Continental-preference Pops properly
* Fixed localization/scope issue in country.209 so that the radical_cult event target points to the cult and not your own empire
* Improved reliability of Old Gods event chain
* Fixed the second Horizon Signal chain not terminating correctly in all instances
* The Artisan Troupe Enclave will no longer ask you to take in Pops if they would have low habitability on your colonies
* Nomads will no longer ask you to take in Pops if they would have low habitability on your colonies
* Causing the Enigmatic Fortress to catastrophically explode will turn uninhabitable planets into Molten rather than Tomb Worlds (gas giants and asteroids will not change)
* Pops from a certain tomb world-related event now have their habitability traits set properly
* Fixed unintended behavior in the outcome(s) of the Syzygy fight in the Horizon Signal event chain
* Fixed the Redirected Delivery of Nomad ships not being delivered when appropriate
* Fixed missing event reward related to the ancient mining drones
* Fixed Primitives sometimes building certain structures on tile blockers
* Fixed missing species names in events related to Shielded Planets
* Fixed faulty event title in Enclave Trader menus
* Rogue covert infiltration agent can no longer appear on multiple planets

# Achievements
* Fixed Deus Vult achievement ignoring Spiritualist requirement

# Interface
* Added missing commas in Federation Association Status listing
* Fixed some cases where the warning that a planetary invasion was likely to fail showed up incorrectly
* Fixed a bug with fleet box health bars overlap icons when more than four designs in fleet
* Fixed faulty event title in Enclave Trader menus
* Fixed inconsistent naming of Swarm and Amoeba strike craft in localization
* Fixed a case where Automatic Exploration would fail due to incorrect pathfinding checks
* Disabled the expansion planner colonization button if the colony ship has no valid path to the planet
* Planet view: Rally point toggle now shows when it's enabled
* You will no longer close windows when you accidentally release mouse outside of the window (after drag)
* Fleet transfer window will no longer close when you release the scrollbar
* Fixed incorrect production and station energy income in budget view if there were sectors
* Fixed Using the X (or Esc) in top right corner of diplomatic dialog events leads to event having no effect
* Fixed a bug where Debris and similar projects would not be researched from the galaxy map when clicking project icon
* Fixed some inconsistencies in top-bar resource tooltips
* Fixed endless "Evading hostile fleet" if the fleet had additional orders queued up in the system with hostiles
* Fixed Both 'Decline' and 'No' in a two option dialog on sector deletion
* Don't show warning when invading allied planet occupied by hostile empire
* Fixed so that Pop maintenance is paid for by the sector and displayed in the planet and economy balance
* Fix incorrect production and station energy income in Government Budget window if the empire has sectors
* Federation Victory progress now shows up for all members of a Federation correctly instead of just the leader
* Technology screen: Fixed Swapping between "Researched" tabs causes low FPS when a large amount of techs are researched
* Fixed Victory screen shows TITLE and DESC
* Situation Log: Condition text overlaps finish time text
* Situation Log: Updated VO is always triggered on load
* Situation Log: Fixed Text overlaps with buttons when the list of components is long in debris
* Situation Log: Fixed "Requires science ship" text overlap for debris
* Fixed Crash to Desktop when clicking a fleet in the Federation Window
* Identical movement arrows no longer stack, improving performance and reducing the very bright bloom when having multiple fleets selected
* 'Would likely be purged' will no longer apply when all wargoals are liberation-type goals
* Create proper tooltip for is_same_species trigger if the current scope is a country scope
* Connecting to a server no longer freezes the game
* System name background shows correct diplomatic status color
* Fleet order list is visible again when overing over the icon in the outliner
* Fix new traits missing from the Leaders window
* Make it less likely that projectiles of big weapons are not visible
* System name background uses correct diplomatic status color in systems with only stations (instead of planets
 

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9 minutes ago, Cordeos said:

Sounds pretty good to me!

 

As I said in my comment on that review, they haven't really done anything substantive about the immensely tedious and fiddly process of waging war in the game, nor in the game's insultingly arbitrary and unthematic "victory" conditions, so I'm still giving it the side eye.

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6 minutes ago, Gormongous said:

 

As I said in my comment on that review, they haven't really done anything substantive about the immensely tedious and fiddly process of waging war in the game, nor in the game's insultingly arbitrary and unthematic "victory" conditions, so I'm still giving it the side eye.

Stellaris may be one of the few grand strategy games where i am really interested in the non-war parts more than war.

That being said my first game will be creating a hive mind species, turning them into robots and spreading borg domination across the galaxy.

Aside from that I am excited about being able to build 'tall' because planets are for losers. Space stations are the best! It also makes becoming more powerful while trying to build a federation much more interesting. I will no longer just have to sit around and wait for an end game crisis.

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7 minutes ago, Cordeos said:

Stellaris may be one of the few grand strategy games where i am really interested in the non-war parts more than war.

That being said my first game will be creating a hive mind species, turning them into robots and spreading borg domination across the galaxy.

Aside from that I am excited about being able to build 'tall' because planets are for losers. Space stations are the best! It also makes becoming more powerful while trying to build a federation much more interesting. I will no longer just have to sit around and wait for an end game crisis.

 

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I'm excited that there are more peacetime options (and, especially, that they made factions actually do something) but knowing the belligerent way that Paradox AI behaves, especially in their "multiplayer first" designs, it's inevitable that you're going to have to spend a minimum of five or six hours in your average game drag-selecting several dozen fleets and watching them smash into each other, at some point, and they don't seem terribly interested in fixing that.

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25 minutes ago, Gormongous said:

 

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I'm excited that there are more peacetime options (and, especially, that they made factions actually do something) but knowing the belligerent way that Paradox AI behaves, especially in their "multiplayer first" designs, it's inevitable that you're going to have to spend a minimum of five or six hours in your average game drag-selecting several dozen fleets and watching them smash into each other, at some point, and they don't seem terribly interested in fixing that.

 

I haven't played in a long while, so now I'm curious about one war-related thing. I could tolerate the obnoxious fleet-wrangling portion of fighting but always felt let down that the game never seemed to favor a robust fleet composition. I dreamed of creating carrier groups, long range missile groups, anti-fighter screens, and tanky frontline ships, but it seemed to devolve into highest damage weapon spam plus evade. Is that still how it works because I'm SO close to being interested in this.

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5 minutes ago, Scruffy said:

 

I haven't played in a long while, so now I'm curious about one war-related thing. I could tolerate the obnoxious fleet-wrangling portion of fighting but always felt let down that the game never seemed to favor a robust fleet composition. I dreamed of creating carrier groups, long range missile groups, anti-fighter screens, and tanky frontline ships, but it seemed to devolve into highest damage weapon spam plus evade. Is that still how it works because I'm SO close to being interested in this.

 

I believe that they nerfed a lot of the evade-stacking strategies, and tried to make it so that larger ships with diversified weapon platforms were more viable, but a quick look at both /r/stellaris and the Paradox forums suggests that combat is still flat and privileges quantity over quality.

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I'm enjoying the Utopia DLC so far, but I haven't done a deep dive into war and combat. Re: Quantity over quality, you'll always have the equivalent of Zergling rushes; if you don't, then the game gets boring once you develop truly invulnerable ships - in fact, that development should become an automatic win condition as you can then effectively conquer the galaxy and it's just a matter of mopping up. Edit: If you're talking about how the paper/rock/scissors of attack/defense isn't fine tuned, I'm sure there's room for rebalancing there.

 

So far, the early and early-mid game (I play slow) is great IMO.

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I've been playing stellaris off and on for awhile now. I like it, but like others here, eventually walk away from it frustrated.

 

The utopia dlc seems interesting, but am a bit torn by it; stellaris feels like an unfinished game to me, or at least unfinished ideas implemented into a game. 

 

So for updates like utopia seem like they should be tweaks the debs to the main game and not something you'd charge for.

 

Is that an unrealistic/unwarranted expectation?

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8 hours ago, Murdoc said:

I've been playing stellaris off and on for awhile now. I like it, but like others here, eventually walk away from it frustrated.

 

The utopia dlc seems interesting, but am a bit torn by it; stellaris feels like an unfinished game to me, or at least unfinished ideas implemented into a game. 

 

So for updates like utopia seem like they should be tweaks the debs to the main game and not something you'd charge for.

 

Is that an unrealistic/unwarranted expectation?

 

No, and that is exactly what they did as well? If you read up a bit the patch notes are listed. There are a lot of free features that go a long way to fixing a lot of the issues I had at least. 

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The main paid DLC features of Utopia are the megastructures and the specialized race features (e.g. hive mind, fanatic purifiers).

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16 hours ago, Murdoc said:

I've been playing stellaris off and on for awhile now. I like it, but like others here, eventually walk away from it frustrated.

 

The utopia dlc seems interesting, but am a bit torn by it; stellaris feels like an unfinished game to me, or at least unfinished ideas implemented into a game. 

 

So for updates like utopia seem like they should be tweaks the debs to the main game and not something you'd charge for.

 

Is that an unrealistic/unwarranted expectation?

 

I have to admit, I'm not crazy about the development of Stellaris. Releasing an interesting but empty-feeling game and then releasing a big roll-up patch full of features nine or twelve months after the game's release is not far from the kind of Paradox that released Crusader Kings: Deus Vult and Victoria: Revolutions, patches-as-paid-expansions to unfinished games that sponsored a few more rounds of development. Utopia is better, because most of the features are free, but I still feel hard done by Paradox for getting what is properly getting a year's loan from me while they made their game more feature-complete. I know that's not fair, but still.

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I keep waiting for someone to say it is the unequivocal right time to jump back into Stellaris, and it keeps kinda not happening. I'm waiting for someone else's approval even though I basically like what's there.

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Stellaris feels like the best 4X game I have played in terms of scale and functionality, but it suffers from my higher expectations as much as anything. I wish the game had more depth, but I cannot think of any space 4X game with close to the depth Stellaris already has.

I loved MoO2, but that game is worse in almost every way.

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Having played a game up to the megastructures (so early late game?), I'd say that they still need to make mid-game events run a few story layers deeper than they currently do. I say this as a player that tends to avoid wars which could easily occupy your time during the mid-game (although I'm learning the ins and outs of wars more now). In fact, if all semi-large story lines in the game were 2-3 branches deeper that would be a big improvement. I have a feeling that the late game has gotten a bit deeper with the new 'transcendence' end goals, but I'm still getting to that stage of the game.

 

I did manage to infiltrate a couple atomic age civilizations and annex them this time, which was very satisfying.

 

One thing that I'm still confused about is if you can still get anomaly or story events once you've surveyed the entire galaxy. It would be nice to have those events triggering slightly more often.

 

Like Cordeos, I have high expectations. Stellaris works great as a 4X game; it just needs some improvements to realize its potential as 'a 4X game that suffers less from the problems of becoming a micromanage-fest or having a 'boring' cleanup phase in late game'.

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On 4/18/2017 at 11:31 AM, Cordeos said:

Stellaris feels like the best 4X game I have played in terms of scale and functionality, but it suffers from my higher expectations as much as anything. I wish the game had more depth, but I cannot think of any space 4X game with close to the depth Stellaris already has.

I loved MoO2, but that game is worse in almost every way.

 

I suppose that's true! I saw someone somewhere recommend Endless Space as a fun 4X space game. While I like that game, it is very dry and straightforward and feels very much like the 5 year old game it is. That studio nailed it much better with Endless Legend. I hope they crush it with Endless Space 2, but we're in a weird place right now where Stellaris suffers from expectations not totally meeting reality, but is also the space 4X game I would most likely recommend to someone who asked for my suggestion.

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I think probably my biggest problem with Stellaris is the inability for it to create interesting stories. The best part of Hearts of Iron or Crusader Kings is being able to tell a cool story.

One of my earliest HOI4 games I was playing as Turkey and I proceeded to conquer Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Then I built up my industrial capacity and military. As soon as the Germans started being pushed back by the Soviets I declared war on Bulgaria, got invited to join the Allies and was able to secure parts of Greece, Bulgaria and Syria for my new Ottoman state. There is no way to tell a story about a game of Stellaris in a similarly relate-able way. 

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