• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

Stellaris Dev Diary #130 - New and Changed Technologies in Le Guin

Hello everyone and welcome to another Stellaris development diary. Today we're going to continue talking about the 2.2 'Le Guin' update, on the topic of new technologies that we have added in the update. As said before, screenshots will contain placeholder art and interfaces and non-final numbers.

New Economic Techs
As part of the economic system and planetary management changing, we also had to deal with how the various technologies governing resources and the economy would change. Previously, new economic technologies would usually unlock building upgrades, leading to a spree of upgrade-clicking across your planets when your empire got access to a new level of mining technology or similar. As one of the stated goals of the planetary rework was to remove unnecessary micromanagement, we decided to split resource technologies into two types: Raw Resource Technologies, affecting jobs that produce basic resources such as Minerals, Food and Energy and Advanced Resource Technologies, affecting jobs that produce advanced resources such as Consumer Goods and Alloys.

Typically, Raw Resource Technologies provide an instant and straightforward bonus to production, such as a bonus to mineral output from Miners, while Advanced Resource Technologies offer upgrades to buildings such as Foundries into more efficient versions that provide more of that particular type of resource production job. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule (for example, buildings like Mineral Purification Plants that improve planet-wide mineral yields) but as a general rule it holds true. Also, we are aware that some people consider straight bonus technologies to be boring, but it would both be unfeasible and entirely undesirable for all of the hundreds of technologies that you can research in Stellaris to require active engagement on the part of the player - we'd simply end up with a whole lot more of the same kind of tedious chore that was the old building upgrade system.
2018_10_18_1.png

2018_10_18_3.png

2018_10_18_9.png


We've added several new technologies for Mining and Research stations that increase their efficiency, so space-based resource extraction now increases with time and technology just as planet-based resource extraction does. There's also a number of new technologies related to rare resources such as Exotic Gases to either be extracted from natural deposits, or synthetically created in the event your natural deposits are insufficient for your needs.
2018_10_18_2.png

2018_10_18_4.png


Specialized Planet Technologies
Of course, not all the new technologies are related to resources. One of the advantages of the new planetary management system is that it allows us to create planets that are truly different from each other, and one of the applications of this potential will be technologies that allow you to designate a highly specialized role for a planet. Currently, there are two specialized planet technologies planned for Le Guin, Penal Colonies and Resort Worlds, each of which unlocks a decision that allows you to transform a newly colonized planet into a Penal Colony or a Resort World, respectively. At time of writing, you can only have one of each of these in your empire at a time, though this may change before release.
  • Penal Colonies are planets where the other colonies in your empire can dump their criminal elements. Penal Colonies have vastly increased crime, but get an increase to immigration pull and also reduce crime on all your other planets. You can only make a planet a Penal Colony while it still in the newly colonized stage (ie: before upgrading the capital at least once). The planet must also be at least size 15 to qualify for being a Penal Colony.
  • Resort Worlds are planets that have been set aside for tourism and leisure. Resort Worlds cannot have any districts built on them, and cannot support resource-producing buildings, but have maxed-out habitability for all pops (representing climate-controlled resorts) and increase amenities on all other colonies in the empire. Resort Worlds have their own special set of capital buildings that provide some housing. You can only make a planet into a Resort World if it has no districts and no buildings (besides the capital) constructed on it. The planet must also be at least size 15 to qualify for being a Resort World. Depending on what we have time for, it's possible that the 'quality' of the resort world will impact how much amenities it will give other planets (for example, a Gaia World would be an ideal resort).
2018_10_18_5.png

2018_10_18_6.png


Finally, in no specific order, here's an assortment of some (but far from all) of the new and changed technologies you can expect to see in Le Guin:
2018_10_18_7.png

2018_10_18_8.png

2018_10_18_10.png

2018_10_18_11.png


That's all for today! Next week we're going to be doing a dev diary, I just can't tell you what it's going to be about just yet. I'm pretty sure you're going to find reading it to be a net gain though, so stay tuned!

announcement%20teaser.png
 
I know it's moddable, but how moddable? Say I want a new "Holy Enclave" planet type that allows urban districts, but not other districts. Will I have to overwrite the vanilla district files to special-case each type and disable it for the new world?

Likewise, what if I want a new Casino building that is allowed on resort worlds but not penal colonies? Do I have to overwrite the planet type definitions to make it work?

I would think that a hotel/Leisure/Casino planet (or moon or habitat) would be a thing, or a even a holy planet/shrine world. I can see lots of these single use planets being modded in.

Forgeworlds, Shrine Worlds, Agriworlds, Mining worlds, Penal, City/Hive Worlds, Research, Fortresses, Capital/Administrative worlds, Resorts/Tourists/Casino. I think it will be even more powerful if applied to habitats and small moons to just make them a little more powerful.
 
Immigration Pull for a Penal Colony sounds a bit weird at first glance, but I understand that's just abstraction, and this is probably the most elegant if not the only way to handle this.

It makes perfect sense mechanic-wise (the most unhappy are also the ones who produce most crime, so they should "automatically" leave for the Penal Colony), the issue is that it really doesn't sound good when it's explained. I think @Wiz should add a custom tooltip in the lines of "The most criminal elements of our society will be gradually moved to this colony over time".
 
I'm hoping that this makes it in, as otherwise it would be pretty silly, since it would be best to make a tomb world or some other barely inhabitable world into a resort to take advantage of the maxed out habitability.

I'll have you know that my culture considers radioactive desolation the apex of aesthetic sensibility, thank you very much.
 
Do Egalitarians like Penal Colonies?

There's a lot of scope of ideas with that!

I can imagine there'd be policies on them with different conditions for prisoners. The penal colony might just be a giant "reeducation" facility. It might also just be a forced labour camp or liquidation facility. What about a giant arena to fight for freedom?... or it could actually be a place where people are treated fairly and justly and are suitibly rehabilitated. I would assume that you could also ban them and have a malus towards civilisations who like to be really harsh.
 
I love those world specializations. I hope we get, either through expansions or mods, Delirius-style casino worlds that increase energy credits, and Holy Terra-style (either one) shrine worlds that increase unity.
 
World specialisations are cool and all, but I also hope they don't go too far with them. I don't want every world to be a special world; they should remain a minority. Otherwise... what's so special about them?
 
The revelation of penal colonies gave me an idea.

Currently, when you blow up someone else's planet, you get a pretty hefty malus to your relationship. How about, depending on the target empire's ethics, you get a reduced malus or even a bonus?

"You just vaporized the dregs of our society, while it does suck that we now have to pick a new prison world, we thank you for disposing of our dirty laundry, albeit inelegantly."
 
Also, we are aware that some people consider straight bonus technologies to be boring, but it would both be unfeasible and entirely undesirable for all of the hundreds of technologies that you can research in Stellaris to require active engagement on the part of the player - we'd simply end up with a whole lot more of the same kind of tedious chore that was the old building upgrade system.

You could split the difference and have more techs which have some kind of conditional or otherwise interactive element to provide an empire wide bonus?

So for an example "synthetic biodiversity": +X% habitability per planet in your empire and +Y% per different planet type, up to maximum total of Z%. Later techs in the chain might increase Z or add in new conditions (maybe the first tech gives +Y per different planet type, then the second increase the cap and allows different planets of the same type to contribute, then a final tech increases the cap again and adds an additional bonus for owning Gaia worlds or something?).

Of course there are other options, for example there might be techs which offer some kind of choice (e.g. do you want better or cheaper for various ship parts). This could be done with more (minor) policies? Techs which unlock new Civics would be another way to have a tech unlock a bonus but have some amount of interactivity involved.
 
Hello everyone and welcome to another Stellaris development diary. Today we're going to continue talking about the 2.2 'Le Guin' update, on the topic of new technologies that we have added in the update. As said before, screenshots will contain placeholder art and interfaces and non-final numbers.

Are you going to change how tech card work? One thing I am worried about in the future is technology list getting bit bloated and harder to target a tech. I had some game where there were a long stretch where I couldn't get destroyer/cruiser to show up for example despite having all the required tech done.

From those screenshot I see 21 new technologies and I wouldn't be surprise to find more later.
 
Can we use the penal colony to recruit Sardaukar super soldiers?
 
This are the kind of things i like of Stellaris and his community, the DD announces resort planets everyone talks about gulags :confused:

Great news, the new research can be interesting and useful, waiting the next dev diary and the announcement :eek:
 
I guess that you invent the forum, singular, and then build multiple.
Would kinda suck for everyone to have to travel to Samarkand when you could build several on a planet.
Yeah, most of the buildings are plural now because the idea is that (for the most part) individual buildings in the interface are actually a bunch of buildings built all over the planet.
 
Forgeworlds, Shrine Worlds, Agriworlds, Mining worlds, Penal, City/Hive Worlds, Research, Fortresses, Capital/Administrative worlds, Resorts/Tourists/Casino. I think it will be even more powerful if applied to habitats and small moons to just make them a little more powerful.

All of those other types are not unique special worlds. Like a forge world (even saw it in a screenshot as a description, fittingly for Sacred Mars) is any world you stuff to the stratosphere with manufactories and mines. Same for stuff like research etc. So those kind of worlds will be in the game, they're just not something you set up with an edict, they're something you build up.