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Stellaris Dev Diary #144 - Megastructures, Habitats and Minor Artifacts

Hello everyone!

First of all, I’d like to follow up on last week’s dev diary by sharing some more things we’re trying out with Megastructures (and habitats!).

After all of that, we also have something new to talk about!

Let’s start from the beginning – which of course leads us to the Mega-Engineering technology itself.

As always, numbers may not be final and temporary things may be sighted.

Mega-Engineering
Mega-Engineering is still a rare technology, but will now be more likely to appear as you build more Habitats and Citadels. This means it is way more likely to appear if you are performing actions in the game that would lead you towards the route of building larger and more powerful structures.

Master Builders
The Master Builders ascension perk no longer unlocks mega-engineering or adds size to habitats, but instead increases the number of megastructures you can simultaneously build by +1. What about increased habitat size you ask? Well, keep on reading!

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Habitats & Voidborne
Habitats are no longer locked behind the Voidborne ascension perk but is rather a technology that branches off from the Star Fortress technology. Habitats now have a default of 80% habitability. We’re also experimenting with that some of the habitat’s districts will depend on which planet they are built over. In case you build one above a planet with mining deposits, this could happen:

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Voidborne ascension perk now increases habitat size by +2 and increases Habitat habitability by 20%. This should mean it becomes more of a choice for specialization, rather than feeling it is a non-choice.

As a final note on habitats, it might be worthwhile to reiterate my thoughts that I eventually want to add different levels/sizes to habitats. It is however not something for the immediate future, but a little further down the road.

Ring Worlds
We didn’t quite like how Ring Worlds ended up feeling like a vast farm, so we’re making some changes. Instead of being a size 50 with regular districts, we’re changing it to a size 5 with a unique type of districts – segments. A Ring World, as you know, has 4 planets. Each planet can now build 5 segments, which are very powerful districts with many jobs and a lot of housing.

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Minor Artifacts
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Some of you might recognize the icon for what was supposed to become arcane technology, that partially got into 2.2. It was something that I was personally working on, but that didn’t work out as I had imagined it, and that I didn’t get enough time to finish with other things taking priority.

In the next upcoming DLC, you will be able to come across Minor Artifacts. “Minor Artifacts” is a broad term that includes any smaller and nameless artifact left behind by ancient civilizations. They are never gained passively every month, but will rather have to be found.

What are they used for, I imagine you asking? Well, the basic functionality is that they can be consumed in so-called artifact actions. There are a bunch of different actions that can be performed by consuming Minor Artifacts, with varying effects for each.

Some of these actions will be locked behind a technology, which some may also recognize.

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Arcane Deciphering allows you to consume Minor Artifacts for a random technology-related bonus.

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That’s it for this week! Happy Easter everyone! Next week we’ll be back again :)

P.S. Attaching an Easter present

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As a final note on habitats, it might be worthwhile to reiterate my thoughts that I eventually want to add different levels/sizes to habitats. It is however not something for the immediate future, but a little further down the road.

O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you.
 
Ring Worlds
We didn’t quite like how Ring Worlds ended up feeling like a vast farm, so we’re making some changes. Instead of being a size 50 with regular districts, we’re changing it to a size 5 with a unique type of districts – segments. A Ring World, as you know, has 4 planets. Each planet can now build 5 segments, which are very powerful districts with many jobs and a lot of housing.

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Are you kidding me with these Ringworld changes?

They are Ringworlds they are supposed to feel vast.

I mean really from 50 to 5? How is that not a completely unwarranted nerf, regardless of how powerful the districts are?

I mean a habitat has 6 and each Ringworld segment has 5. I mean abstraction aside why does the much smaller habitat have more space then a single Ringworld segment?

Maybe I'm missing something but I'm floored by this change?

Why are we turning the great Ringworlds into slightly better habitats. They are supposed to feel vast not like 4 Habitats strung together.
 
When will you give a more "organic" feeling for swarm empires?
I'd like a run with an tyr like empire but research doesn't make sense, it will do with evolution.
Even the navy need an organic kind of ships.
Pleeeeeeaze :)
 
Hello everyone!

Mega-Engineering
Mega-Engineering is still a rare technology, but will now be more likely to appear as you build more Habitats and Citadels. This means it is way more likely to appear if you are performing actions in the game that would lead you towards the route of building larger and more powerful structures.

I still believe that main weight of Mega-Engineering can be safely increased as it would just unlock the research options for building megastructures, which are rare technologies themselves, rather than allow to build all the megas.

Your proposed approach is interesting but wouldn't it lead to a situation, where wide conquerors more likely get the research option as they simply have more starbases through conquering rather than building them?


Hello everyone!

Ring Worlds
We didn’t quite like how Ring Worlds ended up feeling like a vast farm, so we’re making some changes. Instead of being a size 50 with regular districts, we’re changing it to a size 5 with a unique type of districts – segments. A Ring World, as you know, has 4 planets. Each planet can now build 5 segments, which are very powerful districts with many jobs and a lot of housing.

YES! Thank you so much for this. It's the buff, RWs needed terribly. Fair buffs for Dyson Sphere and Matter Decopressor. Would Science Nexus yeild be encreased as well?
 
snip

I mean really from 50 to 5? How is that not a completely unwarranted nerf, regardless of how powerful the districts are?

I mean a habitat has 6 and each Ringworld segment has 5. I mean abstraction aside why does the much smaller habitat have more space then a single Ringworld segment?

Maybe I'm missing something but I'm floored by this change? Snip
Each district is 10x as powerful as planetside districts. So that's still 50 districts basically, but with the sprawl of 5. So no nerf.
 
so what happens when you build a habitat above a planet that produces a strategic resource instead of normal minerals/energy?
do we get districts that produces strategic resources?
 
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Have you guys considered a sort of “processing” megastructure? Ever since 2.2 and alloys it’s been excessively difficult for me (and I’m sure some other players) to create enough alloys without starving other tier-2 resources to even build up a proper fleet, much less more than 1 megastructure per 30 years of mid-late-game lag because of pop count limits and space, so maybe a sort of processing megastructure is an idea?

Like a Stellar Plasma Forge or something that takes in a lot of minerals to create alloys at a slightly higher efficiency (5-10% more alloys per mineral perhaps, due to the stellar plasma vaporizing impurities or making the metal easier to mix without ruining somehow) but perhaps it also functions as a small (size 5, maybe) planet with a special trait of having NO pop growth, you have to migrate in pops (a special exception for forced migration banned policy, you can move them there but you can’t force them off either) with special jobs that scale your production from 15% with no pops to 100% with 5 pops.

I don’t think this would be too out of place, because let’s be honest, what high sci-fi universe hasn’t had a species at least attempt to harness a star for processing basic metals and alloys.

(No, really, if you know of one, TELL ME. I want to know if you know of one and what it is.)
 
A Ringworld's Segment are much bigger than a District. Each farming Segment seems to be roughly equivalent to 10 Farming Districts, for example.

A.K.A. You get the same amount of jobs and housing per planet size as with a size 50 planet with default districts like farms, mines, and generators (aka the current, soon to be old, ringworlds)
 
Have you guys considered a sort of “processing” megastructure? Mega-snip

Yes please @grekulf !! I liked the Alloy forge in Gigastructures, but maybe the Stellaris tram could have something similar in mind?

I believe it's called "Ecumenopolis"
Oh, haha, I didn't read that far in, but I'd like to see something that produces raw resources like alloys without the need for pops in this case. That way I can just get the resources.
 
Have you guys considered a sort of “processing” megastructure? Ever since 2.2 and alloys it’s been excessively difficult for me (and I’m sure some other players) to create enough alloys without starving other tier-2 resources to even build up a proper fleet, much less more than 1 megastructure per 30 years of mid-late-game lag because of pop count limits and space, so maybe a sort of processing megastructure is an idea?

Like a Stellar Plasma Forge or something that takes in a lot of minerals to create alloys at a slightly higher efficiency (5-10% more alloys per mineral perhaps, due to the stellar plasma vaporizing impurities or making the metal easier to mix without ruining somehow) but perhaps it also functions as a small (size 5, maybe) planet with a special trait of having NO pop growth, you have to migrate in pops (a special exception for forced migration banned policy, you can move them there but you can’t force them off either) with special jobs that scale your production from 15% with no pops to 100% with 5 pops.

I don’t think this would be too out of place, because let’s be honest, what high sci-fi universe hasn’t had a species at least attempt to harness a star for processing basic metals and alloys.

(No, really, if you know of one, TELL ME. I want to know if you know of one and what it is.)
I believe it's called "Ecumenopolis"

Doeq starcraft count in the "didn't attempt making Solid materials out of raw energy"?
 
okay, I'm convinced. Together with last week (and more habitat tiers at some point) that sounds like a solid improvement to the current gameplay.
 
I hope there will be more differences between city planets and ring worlds. With the pop rework those two are too similar for my taste.

And I am not really impressed with minor artifacts. That reminds me too much of EU4s button DLCs and we already have this exact mechanic for unity.

Lets hope major artifacts prove to be more interesting like one of a kind things you have to slot on specific stations or ships and can also be captured or stolen.
 
What is the point for -20% penalty for habitability in habitats? It will be countered by research options alone. +20% from Voidborn will be quite useless in most. Rise it to -40%, or make bonuses from research not to affect for artifical environments at all.
 
I believe size 5 ringworld segments feel a little too cramped, even with each district creating 20 jobs and housing. Maybe it'd be better to go with size 10 ringworld segments, with each district creating 10 jobs and housing? It would imitate an Ecumenopolis in that regard.
 
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I don't know what to think. Some of this ideas can be good, still is in implementation where they can fail. The artifacts system is intriguing, It will be interesting if one could unlock special non-standard techs, something that you could only get from this collection of alien toasters. For example better toasters that produce food and energy :)
 
Are you kidding me with these Ringworld changes?

They are Ringworlds they are supposed to feel vast.

I mean really from 50 to 5? How is that not a completely unwarranted nerf, regardless of how powerful the districts are?

I mean a habitat has 6 and each Ringworld segment has 5. I mean abstraction aside why does the much smaller habitat have more space then a single Ringworld segment?

Maybe I'm missing something but I'm floored by this change?

Why are we turning the great Ringworlds into slightly better habitats. They are supposed to feel vast not like 4 Habitats strung together.

Your pre-2.2 intuition deludes you. Now it's not the number of districts which is important, but the size of them aka how many jobs&housing you get per a point of admin cap.

And that why currently RWs suck. They give you false feeling of grandeur while being terribly inefficient district wise. And it's going to change. Same pop count, more production due to stacking per district % bonus and 10 times less admin cap usage. Pretty sure it's not a nerf.