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

[Ursul]

Can you explain why you mean by "modularity"?

Having more choice about what you want in the ring world. If you have one district, for exemple, you can only have the one. It's all of nothing. With more district, you can make adjustments if you need more of one resource or another.

 

[Methone]

Please consider giving Ringworlds Alloy districts instead of Consumer Goods districts. Non-Gestalt Empires already have Ecumenopolis for Consumer goods and Alloys. But Hiveminds do not get the great Alloy output like Machines and they have no Ecumenopolis either. I think its not fair to have 1 District be useless to Gestalt Empires. Better to simply add Alloy districts so everyone can use Ringworlds to the same Degree.

It seems reasonable to assume non-Gestalts don't get the Consumer Goods option.

 

[BlackUmbrellas]

Having more choice about what you want in the ring world. If you have one district, for exemple, you can only have the one. It's all of nothing. With more district, you can make adjustments if you need more of one resource or another.

Okay, but... 5 ultra-powerful districts does provide modularity, especially when you have all four segments.

 

[FiddleSticks96]

Hmm, some interesting things in this DD, although I think @grekulf's idea of reducing robotic pop habitability to 80% is pure nonsense, but I do agree that low habitability is currently a toothless penalty that needs to be adjusted. On the subject of robots, is anyone else curious as to how well servitors will synergize with the coming changes to RWs? Just fill up those building slots with sanctuaries and watch the bonus to resource production grow.

I am happy to see that GW is less of a "choice" and more of a choice now. I am doubly happy to see that habitats aren't their own AP anymore either. The mental gymnastics required to justify taking Voidborn over the many other APs has been dizzying.

It would be nice tho have an idea of what the other RW segments will be like. I'm seeing CG and science icons on the other two, but that could just be placeholder art, if not, it looks to be like a bigger version of the Ecu but with science/food (presumably energy for MEs) instead of alloys/unity.

 

[RabbaDooDabba]

I really like the changes to ringworlds and am eager to get my hands on them but I am waiting with bated breath.

Habitats are no longer locked behind the Voidborne ascension perk but is rather a technology [...]

Making habitats a technology and therefore available to every AI... I dread every system will be filled with habitats :\

I mean... I am not absolutely sure but... the AI really does like to spam habitats, right ?
Or am I thinking of some behaviour that was fixed in earlier versions ??

 

[Vitruvian Guar]

I really like the changes to ringworlds and am eager to get my hands on them but I am waiting with bated breath.



Making habitats a technology and therefore available to every AI... I dread every system will be filled with habitats :\

I mean... I am not absolutely sure but... the AI really does like to spam habitats, right ?
Or am I thinking of some behaviour that was fixed in earlier versions ??

Yeah, that's indeed is a concern. Not only AI spams habitats - it doesn't colonise them. I hope it will be fixed.

 

[WhiteKyubey]

I don't get new ringworlds.
- So we have 5 districts instead of 50. Great..but each new big agri district gives the same stuff as 10 old small districts. It looks like it will take less minerals and time to build 1 big district (if numbers can be trusted), but that's it. Same big farm if you want to build agri.
- Bonus +5% food for each agri will make the 5xSame districts the best build. Well, that's already how Ecu, Hive, Machine worlds work - hyper specialization is the best. Well, until you start to lose planets ofc.
But I'm happy to see rings will have their strenghts. I like the idea of science districts.

 

[Vitruvian Guar]

I don't get new ringworlds.
- So we have 5 districts instead of 50. Great..but each new big agri district gives the same stuff as 10 old small districts. It looks like it will take less minerals and time to build 1 big district (if numbers can be trusted), but that's it. Same big farm if you want to build agri.
- Bonus +5% food for each agri will make the 5xSame districts the best build. Well, that's already how Ecu, Hive, Machine worlds work - hyper specialization is the best. Well, until you start to lose planets ofc.
But I'm happy to see rings will have their strenghts. I like the idea of science districts.

Ten times less micro and admin cap usage, which makes RW most admin cap efficient planet class + stacking bonuses for every district built. It indeed will still be able to be a huge farm but also huge science complex, huge city and so on.

 

[Urloc the Great]

I don't get new ringworlds.
- So we have 5 districts instead of 50. Great..but each new big agri district gives the same stuff as 10 old small districts. It looks like it will take less minerals and time to build 1 big district (if numbers can be trusted), but that's it. Same big farm if you want to build agri.
- Bonus +5% food for each agri will make the 5xSame districts the best build. Well, that's already how Ecu, Hive, Machine worlds work - hyper specialization is the best. Well, until you start to lose planets ofc.
But I'm happy to see rings will have their strenghts. I like the idea of science districts.

The new Ringworlds won't kill your Empire with Empire sprawl anymore.

 

[laptor]

Voidborne (and habitats) still seem to be a bit weak. Individual habitats depending on the planet beneath sounds great - in my opinion the current districts are not always useful (enough).
The rest sounds good.

 

[Tech Noir Synth]

It seems reasonable to assume non-Gestalts don't get the Consumer Goods option.

I don't know how that would work out. Its not like there will be 2 different Types of Ring worlds. And what happens if a Gestalt takes over a non Gestalt-made Ringworld? Should all consumer good districts get flipped into Alloy districts immediately?

I don't care much about how its done in the end. But Gestalts need the option for Alloy districts on Ringworlds. Otherwise non-gestalts are just getting another feature that gestalts cannot make use of.

 

[Methone]

ts not like there will be 2 different Types of Ring worlds.

Why not? They have different Habitat districts, no?

 

[Tech Noir Synth]

Why not? They have different Habitat districts, no?

Do they? I have never used Habitats since 2.2

 

[Methone]

Do they? I have never used Habitats since 2.2

Nongestalts have Trade Districts. Gestalts have Generator Districts.

 

[Kaigen]

I hope the farming segments will also see proportional housing increases for Agrarian Idyll empires, given their increased housing on farming districts from the civic and their unique tech, and especially given that they see those bonuses on the current ringworlds.

In fact, I would suggest that having any of the ringworld segments have additional housing for Agrarian Idyll would be nice. AgId currently suffers from not being able to get Arcology Project, and if any empire would embrace the idea of the massive amount of open space a ringworld provides, one with the AgId civic would. Being particularly good with ringworlds would be a nice counterpoint to not having ecumenopoleis.

 

[Ur-Quan Lord 13]

I hope the farming segments will also see proportional housing increases for Agrarian Idyll empires, given their increased housing on farming districts from the civic and their unique tech, and especially given that they see those bonuses on the current ringworlds.

In fact, I would suggest that having any of the ringworld segments have additional housing for Agrarian Idyll would be nice. AgId currently suffers from not being able to get Arcology Project, and if any empire would embrace the idea of the massive amount of open space a ringworld provides, one with the AgId civic would. Being particularly good with ringworlds would be a nice counterpoint to not having ecumenopoleis.

Well, technically, they are already particularly good with ringworlds, just ringworlds aren't particularly good.

But yah, it would disappointing if agrarian idyll didn't get their bonus housing, or hive minds their bonus jobs, on the new districts.

 

[pi.sigma.zero]

Eh, make the segments show up in the planet screen as hexagons instead of squares. Nice Visual Flair to separate the idea of mega-Segments from Districts.

I know I've been put off every time I find the Cybrex homeworld in 2.2, as the thought of 200 additional sprawl while being limited the same ol' building slots is just painful in the early game...

That bit aside, loving these changes!

 

[SeekingEtermity]

Instead take the idea of upgrading Habitats and expand on it. Early habitats are small and uncomfortable at 60 percent habitability with only a few districts. Then you unlock two tech paths; one that increases habitability by 10% and another that allows you to invest more alloys to expand the habitat like you would a space station to get more district slots.

Here's an idea:

1. Habitat size:
   1. Habitats base technology gives you a very limited habitat, with 2-4 usable districts.
   2. Habitats also start with 4-6 "blockers" (each "covering" one district) that actually represent not-yet-built sections of the habitat.
   3. Initially, you have the tech to "clear" 1-2 "blockers" (representing expanding the habitats to size ~6), but not any of the others.
   4. Once you've colonized a habitat, you have a chance to draw the tech(s) that unlock "clearing" 1-2 of the remaining "blockers" (same way that techs to clear planetary blockers work today). Making it multiple different techs makes it take time to fully unlock habitat sizes.
   5. Normal research should be enough to "clear" all but two districts of the habitat; the final "blocker" or two can be a kind that you never naturally draw the tech to clear.
   6. Habitat "blockers" cost alloys to "clear"; the base price of the habitat should be reduced to compensate (that is, a now-smaller base habitat is cheaper than today, but growing it to full size costs at least as much as today just spread out over a longer time).
   7. Voidborne AP should reduce the cost and time of "clearing" Habitat "blockers" by ~50%, and unlock the tech to "clear" the last two districts.
2. Habitat habitability:
   1. Habitats have ~50% base habitability (representing the difficulty of early efforts at hosting a large population in space).
   2. Habitat habitability is not impacted by normal habitability techs, but is impacted by species traits.
   3. There exist 2-4 techs, each of which increase habitat habitability by 5%-10% (the total final habitability from techs alone should be ~75%).
   4. Voidborne AP should increase habitat habitability by ~25% (in addition to the above effect), making habitats immediately nicely habitable to everybody even without full research.
3. Optional additional changes for habitats:
   1. Let Expansion tradition finish give habitats the bonus district (with these changes it will be more viable to just mostly go for habitats / ringworlds; those empires should still be able to benefit from that tradition finisher).
   2. Let habitats have a "shipyard" building (max of 1) that gives soldier jobs (or something else with a similar impact on naval capacity) and also lets them build ships; an upgrade to this building could give more shipyard slots and also a bonus to new ship experience.
   3. Have a "Voidborne"-like background (non-swappable) civic where your population starts out in ~3 habitats, and with the tech to build more (but none of the techs to make them good), and unable to take the Voidborne AP but with its affects already applied, but with Habitat habitability that makes planets awful to live on (basically, Life-Seeded but for habitats).
   4. Some way to give habitats engines, allowing them to move around in space and (very slowly) flee hostile fleets (though they wouldn't be able to go into systems you don't control, or to move while under attack); part of the reason for this is to allow habitats to take advantage of different planets with the new "harvest the nearby spatial body" districts.

Many (maybe all?) of these changes could be made just using mods, without changes to the actual game code. They would represent the reasonable ability of all spacefaring races to eventually live in artificial worlds, while still allowing players a meaningful choice between ignoring habitats, using them sparingly, or going hard-core into them.

 

[Scribbit]

Isn't the 20% increased habitability from the Ascension perk bit pointless as empires should get about that much from tech alone?

I'd guess that the bonuses for habitability on planets and habitats will be separated in the files.

 

[SeekingEtermity]

Have a "Voidborne"-like background (non-swappable) civic where your population starts out in ~3 habitats, and with the tech to build more (but none of the techs to make them good), and unable to take the Voidborne AP but with its affects already applied, but with Habitat habitability that makes planets awful to live on (basically, Life-Seeded but for habitats).

I want to expand on this idea a bit. The basic idea is to let players have something akin to a marauder empire, living in space habitats instead of on planets.

Background:
Something drastic happened to this species' homeworld's biosphere - or the whole planet - before they developed interstellar flight. Desperate to survive as a species, they built massive but primitive space habitats and packed as much of their population aboard as possible. Conditions were terrible and supplies were short, and for decades it looked like they might perish anyway, but eventually the population stabilized at a fraction of what it had been before the collapse. A century of selective breeding and primitive genetic engineering later, these people are now well-adapted to their void dwellings (and the dwelling to them), at the cost of having lost much of their ability to cope with planetary gravity and natural biospheres. Their population rebounding, the inhabitants of the <N> void dwellings have turned to other scientific pursuits, and have developed the first hyperdrives. A galaxy full of open space awaits...

Start Conditions:

• Starts with <N> (probably 2-4) habitats in one system, each "built" to size ~5 (if enlarging habitats by building or "clearing blockers" is a thing) but possibly having some special blockers like "long-depressurized module" that block some districts without costing as much to clear as it would to build the habitat out to full size.
• No habitable or inhabited planets, but one of the planets has the Terraforming Candidate modifier, representing either the original homeworld or a planet that could one day become habitable.
• Starts with one habitat each around good sources of mining and generator districts, with enough of those districts to provide a starting income.
• Starts with enough hydroponic farms to feed the population, and a small surplus.
• Standard starting starbase, navy, civilian ships, leaders, and home star system size, etc.

Civic Properties:

• Starts with the Habitats technology.
• Starts with the technology for hydroponic farming.
• Starts with Habitats preference: +<H>% (H ~=30) habitability on habitats, but all planets have base 0% habitability (like Life-Seeded).
• Starts with the benefits of the Voidborne AP (however it ends up being implemented, it should be enough to give Habitats full habitability, possibly unless the species is non-adaptive) but cannot select this AP.
• Starts with <N> habitats and the ability to build more, but no homeworld.
• Incompatible with Agrarian Idyll, Life-Seeded, and Post-Apocalyptic (and with any other "background" civics that wouldn't make sense).
• Cannot be added or removed after the start of the game.

Balance:

• This empire has no lack of potential habitable space, but needs to spend massive amounts of alloys and influence to build it.
• Early-game, saving up for even one more habitat will mean neglecting your navy and outposts for a long time; mid-late-game, you'll finally be able to comfortably settle all those planets you found.
• You won't need to expand as much in order to find habitable space (promotes tall play), but your economy will probably be unusually dependent on mining stations and you will need more colonies (produces 2 sprawl each even before districts) than a normal empire (promotes wide play), so you can go either way.

Problems to address:

• The existing building and district availability on habitats might make this idea inviable, in which case either they will need to be changed (which it looks like might already be happening, even beyond the "mine orbital body" districts?) or need to be special-cased for empires with this civic.
• The existing (and silly) population growth mechanic would reward having multiple "colonies" like this from the start of the game; this could either be "naturally" balanced against in other ways (such as lack of housing), balanced by penalizing growth rate of empires with this civic, balanced by reducing growth rate on habitats in general, or balanced by making population growth sane and reasonable (i.e. based on population, so it doesn't matter whether an empire has 30 pops on one planet or spread across three habitats, in terms of total growth rate).
• It's unclear what Habitat habitability would mean for ringworlds, ecumenopoli, and Gaia planets. I'm inclined to say the first is fully habitable (what is a ringworld but a habitat on a system-wide scale?), and both of the others are base of 50% habitability at best. The civic might also forbid building ecumenopoli, which would be a significant penalty unless ecumenopoli are nerfed hard or habitats are buffed hard enough (say, by giving them ecumenopolis-like districts) to make up for the lack.