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Stellaris Dev Diary #146 - The Baol and The Zroni

Hello everyone!

As promised last week, we’re back to talk about something old that’s new – which, as many of you correctly guessed, is about new precursors. Adding new precursors has been something we’ve been wanting to do for quite a while now, and we’re very happy that we can now finally provide what’s been asked for.

In the next DLC you will be able to explore the fate of two new precursors, namely the Baol and the Zroni. To not spoil too much, I’ll only give a basic description of their respective backgrounds and lore.

The Baol
The Baol Organism was once a sprawling interstellar Hive Mind comprised of trillions of psychically-linked plantoids. With their ability to slowly terraform a planet's ecosystem and atmospheric gases via centuries of sustained photosynthetic processes, the Baol civilization produced a plethora of rich flora and fauna on otherwise unremarkable worlds. The Baol Organism curated lush planetary gardens and arboretums across many systems, forming mutualistic symbiotic relationships with local alien wildlife.

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The Zroni
The Zroni were possibly the most powerful psionics to have ever existed, or at least they were the first to discover the dimension which has come to be known as The Shroud. Once the Zroni population reached a certain critical mass it seems that their collective unconscious minds began to make contact with the proto-shroud in dreams, leading to mass lucid dreaming. Soon the phenomenon was studied and the Zroni discovered how to psionically project themselves into the Shroud, where they found that they could manipulate the very fabric of reality with their psionic powers. It wasn't long before the Zroni discovered they could physically enter the Shroud and live like Gods, transforming the dimension to suit their whims.

Precursor changes
One of the more impactful changes we’ve made is that we have now made the precursor spawns randomized so that they will no longer spawn in a specific part of the galaxy.

We have also added some more features and rewards to the old precursors. For example, after having found the Irassian home system, you can now spend minor artifacts to unravel some of the secrets of the Irassians. The new artifact actions aren’t the only new things though, and there’s some more cool things that you will be able to find.

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Additional precursor plans
Some of you have been asking about archaeology and adapting some of the old precursor content to use the new system. In regards to that question I will say that it is something that I always planned to do, but due to other things taking priority we can’t promise that it will happen immediately. If those changes don’t make it into the next update, it's very likely they will appear in the next big update after that. Changing that content would of course still be a part of the base game.

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That is all we had to share for this week’s dev diary. Next week we’ll be back again, which also happens to be the 3 year anniversary for Stellaris :)
 
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A 64 bit update will be coming. They don't really have much choice seeing as they're selling the game on Macs which I believe when the new Mac OS releases close to the end of the year will only support 64 bit apps.
Just because they haven't announced it yet doesn't mean it's not happening. EU4 is going to be 64 bit, as is HOI4 apparently, Stellaris will too.

Actually, a dev said in a thread not long ago that they are indeed working on a 64-bit version of Stellaris. So it's happening, but no timetable for release. And sorry, I don't remember the thread but I'm sure someone else can dig out the link to it.
 
In: [Dev Team] 2.2.7 patch released [checksums ea03 and b1a8]
Any news regarding a 64-bit upgrade to the engine?
We are planning to, but we can't commit to a definitive timeline yet.
 
A 64 bit update will be coming. They don't really have much choice seeing as they're selling the game on Macs which I believe when the new Mac OS releases close to the end of the year will only support 64 bit apps.
Just because they haven't announced it yet doesn't mean it's not happening. EU4 is going to be 64 bit, as is HOI4 apparently, Stellaris will too.
There's always a choice, but we are indeed switching to 64 bits. No ETA yet.
 
can't wait to pay another $10 for a ridiculous story feature nobody asked for, huzzah!
i wonder how long it will take to start with customizable starting solar systems, a feature that would literally take like two days to add
or ironman-compatible customizable name lists
maybe i'm asking for too much, let's just develop the Schlurpaburb Maccaroni precursor storyline....
 
can't wait to pay another $10 for a ridiculous story feature nobody asked for, huzzah!
Nobody's forcing you to pay. If you don't want the content, don't buy it.
i wonder how long it will take to start with customizable starting solar systems, a feature that would literally take like two days to add
Pretty sure it's a bit more involved than that.
 
can't wait to pay another $10 for a ridiculous story feature nobody asked for, huzzah!
i wonder how long it will take to start with customizable starting solar systems, a feature that would literally take like two days to add
or ironman-compatible customizable name lists
maybe i'm asking for too much, let's just develop the Schlurpaburb Maccaroni precursor storyline....

Huzzah, somebody agrees with me at last.

I've been posting for the last dev diaries about this problem. All new features of this new development cycle feel too much like shuffling already extant things from here to there, creating boring 'collect trinkets, chase the bonus' kinda of improvements, and now more precursors (which feels like more of the same).

There are some many bigger things the dev team could be devoting themselves to, and the next DLC is shaping up to be a bag of minor changes.

I'll say that the only welcome thing I've seen so far is the evolution of the story GUI created for archeology, which seems nice, and would do nice for other things too like anomalies or even complex events. The rest is just a glorified 'enclave slot machine'.
 
Huzzah, somebody agrees with me at last.

I've been posting for the last dev diaries about this problem. All new features of this new development cycle feel too much like shuffling already extant things from here to there, creating boring 'collect trinkets, chase the bonus' kinda of improvements, and now more precursors (which feels like more of the same).

There are some many bigger things the dev team could be devoting themselves to, and the next DLC is shaping up to be a bag of minor changes.

I'll say that the only welcome thing I've seen so far is the evolution of the story GUI created for archeology, which seems nice, and would do nice for other things too like anomalies or even complex events. The rest is just a glorified 'enclave slot machine'.
The "bigger things" the devs are devoting themselves to right now is fixing bugs, improving performance, and enhancing the AI's ability to deal with the new economy. Y'know, the stuff that they get endlessly heckled about.

This is a minor update so they can keep doing all that in the background. A story pack is fine, Jesus.
 
Nobody's forcing you to pay. If you don't want the content, don't buy it.

If it was just for the story feature i might not care but small features are always included behind the paywall as well. Also, i'm a completionist, i feel awful when i play a game -- and i mostly play paradox games -- without all content active; in a sort of way it is an abuse committed by the company. I would be way happier to pay $10 a month and have access to all paradox games, like netflix but for grand strategy games.

Pretty sure it's a bit more involved than that.

It's literally just developing a gui for a txt file and defining some rules. That is all.
 
If it was just for the story feature i might not care but small features are always included behind the paywall as well. Also, i'm a completionist, i feel awful when i play a game -- and i mostly play paradox games -- without all content active; in a sort of way it is an abuse committed by the company. I would be way happier to pay $10 a month and have access to all paradox games, like netflix but for grand strategy games.

How is it an abuse by the company to make new content and then have the apparent gall to sell you that new content?
 
Also, i'm a completionist, i feel awful when i play a game -- and i mostly play paradox games -- without all content active; in a sort of way it is an abuse committed by the company.
This sounds very much like a 'you' problem.
It's literally just developing a gui for a txt file and defining some rules. That is all.
Right, and both the 'developing a gui' and 'defining some rules' I suspect are more complex than you're glossing over.
 
Right, and both the 'developing a gui' and 'defining some rules' I suspect are more complex than you're glossing over.

Listen, I know it's an appeal to authority but i've developed user interfaces for mri machines for five years in a language way more complex than paradox's easily readable texts. I know exactly what it takes and i think it is a damn shame it wasn't included in the very first patch that was released for this game. And I haven't even touched on the more complex empire creation features in your suggestions' thread that might take some time to develop but this one is an easy. But sure, it is easier to add 2 new predefined empires with some scripted events and run for the quick bucks.

I can still remember when Wiz advertised Stellaris as the ultimate sci-fi game, the game where you will eventually be able to create any empire from any space saga imaginable... the directions the devs are taking just seem weird with this future goal in mind.
 
can't wait to pay another $10 for a ridiculous story feature nobody asked for, huzzah!
i wonder how long it will take to start with customizable starting solar systems, a feature that would literally take like two days to add
or ironman-compatible customizable name lists
maybe i'm asking for too much, let's just develop the Schlurpaburb Maccaroni precursor storyline....

I for one am quite looking forward to it. If you dont want it, do not buy it.
 
can't wait to pay another $10 for a ridiculous story feature nobody asked for, huzzah!
i wonder how long it will take to start with customizable starting solar systems, a feature that would literally take like two days to add
or ironman-compatible customizable name lists
maybe i'm asking for too much, let's just develop the Schlurpaburb Maccaroni precursor storyline....
You don't have to buy it. And if its so easy why don't you make a mod for it? There are already mods that add custom systems to start in (some which are amazing). Maybe it will take you 4 days instead of 2 but who cares. Maybe some people like story packs, or maybe some people like bugs getting fixed instead of adding more.