Stellaris - Paradox new sci-fi grand strategy game

[sser]

Do hope they'll take a bit from EU: Rome regarding governers and generals. Nothing like having to watch your most succesfull rulers and troops like a hawk since you can't trust them not to stab you in the back. Entire provinces rebelling and succesfull generals marching on Rome was amazing. Hope this space opera will have the interstellar variant. Or at least the option for it.

Oh, and you can defenitely bet on a portrait DLC appearing sooner or later...

Seems inevitable, right? Time and space give opportunities to rebel; modernity have eliminated both to the point where a dude sipping Red Bull in Arizona can thumb-stick a missile to your doorstep before you can even say Fuck the police. But space...? Space is too fucking big. Space is literally space and time sighing forever. You gotta wait on light to arrive, much less news that Joe Blow doesn't take kindly to your taxes no more. I certainly hope that system makes its way into the game.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

Dev Diary #7 is up.

Greetings Earthlings!

Today’s dev diary is an important one, because it deals with something that makes Stellaris stand out, something that really defines the early stages of the game: the Science Ships. These bad boys are necessary to survey unknown planets and other objects in space, finding out which resources they contain and making sure habitable planets are actually safe to colonize. Although a Science Ship can operate without a Scientist character as captain, it is strongly discouraged because skilled Scientists are required to research many of the strange anomalies you will find out there...

I like to compare these intrepid explorer-scientists with the questing heroes you might see in an RPG. They fly around the galaxy exploring, having little adventures, gaining experience and perhaps picking up some new personality traits. The galaxy is, after all, ancient and full of wonders. The way this works in the game is that when a Science Ship completes a survey, it might uncover an Anomaly of some sort. Each Anomaly has a difficulty level, so you often want to delay researching some of them until you have a Scientist with a high enough skill. Researching an Anomaly takes time and may result in success, failure, or, sometimes, catastrophic failure… For example, if the Anomaly consists of some strange caves on an asteroid, the Scientist could find out their origins and learn something of value, come to a wrong conclusion (the Anomaly would then disappear forever), or accidentally trigger a fatal explosion which might knock the asteroid out of orbit and put it on a trajectory towards an inhabited planet.

Anomalies are thus quite like little quests, and usually require some player choices (exactly like the “events” you’ve seen in our other games.) Some options are only available under certain conditions. For example, a special option might require that the Scientist or empire ruler has a specific personality trait.

The biggest challenge we face when writing these Anomaly events is to provide enough variation that players keep getting surprised even after several complete playthroughs. Therefore, we work with rare branches and having multiple start and end points, so that you might initially think you’ve seen the Anomaly before, only to find that this time it plays out differently...

There are other important tasks for Science Ships as well; they are required for many special research projects and for analyzing the debris left behind after a battle, perhaps managing to reverse engineer some nifty technologies (the subject of a future dev diary…)

That’s all for now folks! Next week Henrik "GooseCreature" Eklund will talk about the “Situation Log” and special research projects.

 

[Space Satan]

Terraformation. Expected, but still awesome.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

this is killing me :/ this game could be everything i've ever dreamt of (other than tits), or my worst nightmare.

 

[Spectacle]

I hope that someone will make a Kerbal race mod for this game.

 

[Irenaeus II]

Leave be for now.

 

[Space Satan]

this is killing me :/ this game could be everything i've ever dreamt of (other than tits), or my worts nightmare.

mods probably fix it

 

[CrimsonAngel]

mods probably fix it

Your right the game needs more women with dicks.

 

[Space Satan]

Your right the game needs more women with dicks.

Technically, you CAN create a race of trannies there and according to devs have game use yourown list of names for leaders etc. In other words, you can have a race of tumblerinas and indie developers.

 

[RhodokMasterRaceOfficial]

This game is sounding more and more like what I'm hoping to receive from Distant Worlds 2, but I'm not going to hold it to that standard to avoid disappointment when I play it and it's just another shallow procedural generation game.

 

[Space Satan]

Dev Diary

Spoiler

Fellow sentients!

Do not be alarmed. I have been summoned to your pitiful quaint planet to tell you a little bit about Special Projects and the Situation Log.

As you play the game and venture out into the galaxy, you will eventually come upon Special Projects. These projects are sometimes spawned by the Anomalies that were discussed in last week’s Dev Diary, but they can also be triggered by other events. They typically represent a specific action that can be performed by the player, and in that respect they function a bit like the decisions you might find in some of our other games.

Most projects are centered around a location (often a planet, but it could also be an object in space), and many require the presence of a Science Ship and a skilled Scientist before they can be started. Others may require the presence of a warship, or a troop transport, or something else entirely. It depends on the project.

While the cost of some projects is only a time investment, others will require research efforts within a particular field, such as physics, to complete. Technology research progress is diverted to the project at the expense of your current technology research in that field, temporarily halting all progress. In other words, you may want to hold off on that physics project for a while if you are just about to finish researching a new shield system!

A few examples of Special Projects could be boarding and investigating a derelict space hulk, performing an archeological dig on the homeworld of a dead civilization… or perhaps fishing something out of the atmosphere of a gas giant. Projects can also appear on your colony worlds, and they may be time sensitive.

So what do you get for completing a Special Project? Well, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, that depends on the project. You might get an advanced alien warship, or a new technology, or any number of other bonuses and advantages. Sometimes the reward might simply be staving off an imminent disaster on one of your colonies.

To help players keep track these projects, we have added something called the Situation Log to the game. This screen works like a quest log in many ways, and you will find all currently available Special Projects here. You can also follow your progress in certain event chains, with various Points of Interest listed that can be visually tracked on the map. A Point of Interest could be a strange signal emanating from a distant star system, which will remain in your log until you send someone to investigate.

That’s it for now. Next week, renowned interstellar gangster Daniel “grekulf” Moregård will take time out of his busy schedule to tell you more about how planets work in Stellaris - including planet modifiers, surface tiles, buildings and resource collection!

 

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

PLEASE HAVE MULTI-EMPIRE PLANETS!

I really want to recreate our old Aurora LP with this game.

 

[Krash]

I have to reluctantly confess that I'm getting hyped about this.

 

[Space Satan]

DD as usual

Spoiler

We have spoken earlier about how the galaxy is generated, and today I aim to expand on that somewhat by telling you about the planets and how they differ from each other.

Planet Tiles
Each habitable planet has a number of tiles on its surface, representing the planet’s size. Some tiles might be blocked by natural barriers, such as mountains, and can be cleared to open up new space. When the galaxy is generated, each tile generates a random number and checks if a deposit will be spawned there. A tile can be worked by having a Pop placed in it.

Buildings can also be constructed in tiles, and they often have adjacency bonuses for the resource they are producing. Therefore it will be advantageous to construct your power plants in proximity to each other, to achieve optimal efficiency.

Planet Modifiers
Celestial objects come in many different sizes and shapes, and planet modifiers are a part of what can set two planets apart. In the example above, Omaggus III has particularly large lifeforms on it, which could prove fruitful to study.

Deposits
Resources are generated as deposits and they spawn on planets depending on the type of planet, and which modifiers can be found on the planet. Certain resources are also more likely to be found in systems that lie in specific parts in the galaxy, like inside a nebula. All resources cannot appear on all planets, and some planets have a higher chance of hosting certain resources. Asteroids are very likely to have minerals on them, for example.

Orbital Resources
Planets that cannot be colonized do not use surface tiles, but they can still generate deposits. Each planet has an orbital resource slot that can be worked if a Mining Station or Research Station is built in orbit around that planet. Sometimes you encounter planets that you could potentially colonize, but that is not habitable enough for you to want to colonize it. In those cases you may also want to construct an orbital station.

The Basic Resources

Food is a requirement for Pops to grow. If there is plenty of Food, Pops will grow faster. If there is a lack of Food, Pops will be unhappy.

Minerals are used to produce most things in the game. If Minerals represent matter, Energy Credits represent work.

Energy Credits represent all liquid assets and energy produced by our Empire. Actions, such as clearing tiles, cost Energy Credits to perform. This resource is mainly used for upkeep, and although it can be hoarded, that might not be the best way of handling it.

Physics Research, Society Research and Engineering Research are used to advance technologies in different fields of science.

Here, have a bonus screenshot! As an interstellar rogue I'm used to breaking the rules.

Join us again next week when we will be telling you about Rare Resources and the Spaceport.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

please don't suck please don't suck please don't suck please don't suck.

 

[Space Satan]

With buildings and adjacency bonus Stellaris came dangerously close to a boring mediocricy that is Galactic Civilization II and III. Which also had tiles for buildings. I pray that Paradox would not add Planet Quality mechanics. Especially where most actions decrease it permanently - the most disgusting, idiotic, halfwit and retarded decision in 4X gaming design ever.

 

[Irenaeus II]

It did remind me of Gal Civ, a game series I like very much and isn't boring.

 

[MoLAoS]

Its adorable how people in this thread think this game won't be a major letdown.

 

[MasterSmithFandango]

With buildings and adjacency bonus Stellaris came dangerously close to a boring mediocricy that is Galactic Civilization II and III. Which also had tiles for buildings. I pray that Paradox would not add Planet Quality mechanics. Especially where most actions decrease it permanently - the most disgusting, idiotic, halfwit and retarded decision in 4X gaming design ever.

Yeah - this dev diary gave me a step back for that very reason.

I will say I do like the points for physics/engineering/whateverthethirdthingwas instead of some global "SCIENCE!" thing. I guess I kind of wish resources were local instead of global though, and required trade to move around your Empire.

 

[Space Satan]

DD

Spaceports

Good news everyone! We are back with another dev diary! This time we’ll look at the spaceport.

Spaceports are permanent off-world installations that, depending on size, may support thousands of crew and inhabitants, acting almost as a city in itself. As the main hub for anything moving planetside it becomes a natural focus for interstellar trade and production as well as a vital strategic point in any conflict. All types of ships are built and serviced in the spaceport, from smaller vessels like science ships to enormous battleships. As it is too large for a construction ship to build, the spaceport is instead constructed by an established colony. When finished, the spaceport orbits the planet offering basic off-world defenses and the ability to construct and repair ships. The spaceport starts out small and can be upgraded in steps, a total of five times, where each upgrade adds additional toughness, damage output, the ability to build larger ships and most importantly additional module slots.

Modules are attachments that can be added to spaceports, allowing further specialization or utility. Like many other things in Stellaris, some modules may only be available to empires of a specific ethos while others may be the result of a rare scientific breakthrough. Their effects can range from additional defenses (Reinforced Hull Structure for added toughness, Fighter Squadron to combat raiders), benefits to economy (Hydroponic Farms to grow additional food, Solar Panels to gather energy) and ship support (Crew Quarters for lowered upkeep of ships while docked) as well as refining and utilizing different rare resources. This all comes at a cost of course. A fully upgraded and equipped spaceport is a huge investment and the loss of one may alter the course of a war.

A rare resource is any resource showing an abnormal or useful behavior when processed. The uses can range from financial to destructive and some resources offer multiple effects depending on their use. A source of Engos Vapor could either be used to boost the thruster speed of all ships built within the spaceport or be pumped into the local atmosphere to soothe the local populace. Monopolizing a few of these resources offers great potential for a trade empire to flourish, or a warlike one to take whatever else they desire.

We’d like for spaceports to be something players customize and develop according to their playstyle, either by covering weak areas or further enhancing their strengths. The decision where, when and with what modules to build a spaceport will also be heavily influenced by the planet it orbits and how close it is to potential danger.
The rare resources should ideally provide a source of power and tension in the game. We’ve seen some players go for strategies based on controlling specific resources while some players prefer a more opportunistic approach, adapting to whatever they might happen upon. Others simply prefer to grab everything they can to better control where, and by who, they are used. Why risk the uncertainty of war when supplying both sides with the means of destruction ensures profit regardless of outcome?

 

[Irenaeus II]

They mixed Shipyards and Space Stations from GalCiv3 into a single thing. I'm ok with this, I guess.

 

[Lone Wolf]

I really like this change from the stock 4X formula.

Especially the bit about space ports requiring upgrades to build larger ships. Actual military infrastructure, in the SEIII style. That was always a significant weakness for Paradox games outside of Vic II. Any shithole province can produce endless quantities of fully equipped troops. Makes taking provinces meaningless outside of straight up winning the war by occupying everything.

 

[Grotesque]

Stellaris Preview
http://www.gamerevolution.com/preview/stellaris#/slide/1

 

[Irenaeus II]

Popamole writer, useless preview.

 

[Space Satan]

DD - Research

Spoiler

It’s Monday and you all know what that means! Today I am going to talk about the technology system in Stellaris. If you have stayed up-to-date with the information flow, you probably know the basics already: there are three types of technology: Physics, Society and Engineering. Each one has its own research track, and each department is headed by a scientist character. You thus normally research three technologies in parallel.

Now, I want each new game of Stellaris to be a new and different journey. That is why the game does not have a “tech tree” in the classical sense. Instead, each time you start up a new research project, you are presented with three semi-random choices. This is a bit like drawing three cards from a deck of cards, picking one and returning the other two to the deck. However, to continue with this metaphor, the trick is in the shuffling... The deck is very much stacked, so to speak. Especially in the early game, some cards are extremely likely to end up in the top, so that all players get a fair start. What happens in the background is a complex weighting of various factors, like the ethics of the empire, the traits of the scientist character in charge of the department, the techs you already have, etc. I guess you could say the result is something like a fuzzy, hidden tech tree.

Certain technologies are considered rare or very rare, and these are clearly marked so that you know you should probably pick them lest you never see them again... There are also “tech cards” outside the deck (this card metaphor is really useful!), that can only be drawn in special circumstances, like when researching certain Anomalies, investigating debris, etc.

Of course, there are only so many normal technologies to research, so you will eventually have most of them. To keep things interesting even in a very long game though, there are also many procedurally generated “improvement technologies”. For example, techs that improve all types of laser weapons by a small degree. These technologies are a bit like the “Future Technologies” in Civilization except that you can start getting them long before you’ve actually run out of scripted technologies.

As with any game like this, techs get progressively more expensive, meaning you cannot neglect building research labs and stations lest you fall behind the other empires of the galaxy (however tempting it might be to use your precious real estate to produce more Minerals and Energy Credits…)