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Stellaris Dev Diary #207: Challenging Origins

Hi! Happy April Fool's Day!

This week we want to show off some of the challenging new Origins that are not coming soon.

The first, titled Surviving the Aftermath, is a variant on Void Dwellers.

The Surviving the Aftermath origin starts with the premise that a construction ship and colony ship were lost in MIA when a Crisis nation activated the Aetherophasic Engine and destroyed the galaxy, and you're left in a habitat to pick up the pieces.

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Your home system.

As the galaxy has been destroyed and there are no resources anywhere, we expect this to be an exciting and challenging origin to play.

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The local cluster.

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The galaxy. So alone. So very alone.

The next is the Crusader King Origin, where you begin the game as the ruler of a primitive civilization in the late medieval time period.

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Living in luxury.

This origin starts at a significant tech disadvantage, but our playtests suggest that you should achieve spaceflight within a few hundred years.

Several events have been added in case another empire wishes to enlighten your civilization, as well as a "burn the alien at the stake" minigame.

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Includes special diplomatic options!

Winning the game as a Crusader King grants the new Universe Universalis achievement.

The Prison Architect Origin is restricted to Rogue Servitors only, and drastically changes their gameplay. Instead of pampering their organic charges, they seek to collect all organics and like the Criminal Syndicate, are affected by and gain bonuses for having high Crime. They also gain extra Unity for each Criminal Syndicate pop they collect.

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Gotta catch ‘em all!

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Some minor changes to the Organic Sanctuary.

Open to all empire types, the This is Fine origin has a new twist - your empire thinks it’s hot stuff and is limited to colonizing stars.

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Is it warm in here, or is it just me? Looking pretty radiant though.

Your buildings have a chance of being ruined each month due to fires, but your energy production is vastly increased.

Last but not least, the AI Custodianship Origin is our most challenging yet, where you and the AI both control your empire simultaneously. This Origin is also open to all empire types, and represents a fractured leadership or gestalt intelligence where two leaders struggle for power, sometimes issuing contradictory orders. The AI Custodian will act to implement its flawless and foolproof algorithms, undoubtedly bringing your empire success in the long run, if you would only listen to it.

1617207971107.png

The AI has great plans for my homeworld. The greatest of plans.

That's all for this week. As a reminder, the Stellaris 3.0 'Dick' update and Nemesis arrive two weeks from today on the 15th of April.

What Origins would you create if you wanted a special challenge?
 
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I'm actually not convinced we've been shown every bit of content for nemesis, remember, every single expansion has included at least one origin in it, it'd be frankly shocking if we didn't get one for nemesis.

And also like, I'm pretty sure they've never informed us of every last detail of what would be in an expansion dlc before, suprises can be fun after all
 
- The terraformation :
After a collision with an asteroid, the orbit of the planet has been altered. Now, the biome of the staring planet has changed into a random one, granting only 20% habitability !!
So +80% of pop upkeep and -40% of pop production !!
The player will have to figure out how to save his economy...
Don't restrict it to specifically an asteroid collision. "Due to some catastrophe, the climate of your home planet has shifted rapidly". Could be Asteroid, could be natural, could be climate change. Due to the +30% modifier homeworlds get, you'd either have 50% habitability or 90% habitability base depending on if the new climate is your type or not. I'd actually rather if this wasn't a challenging origin, and rather just a normal one: give a special planetary modifier boosting up the habitability if you are on a 50% world, maybe a lot more sprawling slums blockers (more pops, but with flavor!), Some empire modifier, there are tons of ways to make it balanced with the other starts.

Frankly this should be added for no other reason than it fits two of the prebuilt empires already in the game (Voor Technocracy and Chinorr Combine)
 
A primitive start is a very cool idea and seems to be very simple to realize, not as an origin but in new game options.
Just add a line on the new game screen with buttons "primitive start" or "classic start" (and maybe "advanced start") and that's all.
 
There's actually some information to be gleamed from the screenshots.
The Prision Architect one for example, shows a ringworld, which as they had mentioned, has 10 districts per segment rather than 5. Seems it has 1 agri district, 1 energy district, and 1 housing district active. Organic Sanctuaries seem to take building slots as normal, even after the building rework, though we don't have info about the changes to the bonuses they provide because they've been replaced for the joke.
It also has one roboticist job which is producing 3.4 drones monthly, which seems similar to current version despite the changes in pop growth. That might be broken IDK.
 
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the fun thing is that these are interesting. I have to tell you that I am currently "Resting" stellaris for a while but this made me consider buying the DLC before I realised that it's aprils fools.
 
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33 pops starting on the ringworld? That seems simmilar to how pops worked before.
 
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That's actually the worst April Fools day joke i have seen because those would be unironically fun and original ways to play.
Some would be. Others are memes.
 
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Hi! Happy April Fool's Day!

This week we want to show off some of the challenging new Origins that are not coming soon.

The first, titled Surviving the Aftermath, is a variant on Void Dwellers.

The Surviving the Aftermath origin starts with the premise that a construction ship and colony ship were lost in MIA when a Crisis nation activated the Aetherophasic Engine and destroyed the galaxy, and you're left in a habitat to pick up the pieces.

View attachment 699567
Your home system.

As the galaxy has been destroyed and there are no resources anywhere, we expect this to be an exciting and challenging origin to play.

View attachment 699568
The local cluster.

View attachment 699569The galaxy. So alone. So very alone.

The next is the Crusader King Origin, where you begin the game as the ruler of a primitive civilization in the late medieval time period.

View attachment 699615
Living in luxury.

This origin starts at a significant tech disadvantage, but our playtests suggest that you should achieve spaceflight within a few hundred years.

Several events have been added in case another empire wishes to enlighten your civilization, as well as a "burn the alien at the stake" minigame.

View attachment 699572
Includes special diplomatic options!

Winning the game as a Crusader King grants the new Universe Universalis achievement.

The Prison Architect Origin is restricted to Rogue Servitors only, and drastically changes their gameplay. Instead of pampering their organic charges, they seek to collect all organics and like the Criminal Syndicate, are affected by and gain bonuses for having high Crime. They also gain extra Unity for each Criminal Syndicate pop they collect.

View attachment 699573
Gotta catch ‘em all!

View attachment 699574
Some minor changes to the Organic Sanctuary.

Open to all empire types, the This is Fine origin has a new twist - your empire thinks it’s hot stuff and is limited to colonizing stars.

View attachment 699622
Is it warm in here, or is it just me? Looking pretty radiant though.

Your buildings have a chance of being ruined each month due to fires, but your energy production is vastly increased.

Last but not least, the AI Custodianship Origin is our most challenging yet, where you and the AI both control your empire simultaneously. This Origin is also open to all empire types, and represents a fractured leadership or gestalt intelligence where two leaders struggle for power, sometimes issuing contradictory orders. The AI Custodian will act to implement its flawless and foolproof algorithms, undoubtedly bringing your empire success in the long run, if you would only listen to it.

View attachment 699602
The AI has great plans for my homeworld. The greatest of plans.

That's all for this week. As a reminder, the Stellaris 3.0 'Dick' update and Nemesis arrive two weeks from today on the 15th of April.

What Origins would you create if you wanted a special challenge?
origin idea: Amoeba spawn
You start out as an Amoeba fleet and can colonize asteroids. You get tech from munching on science ships.
You use asteroids for food to get more fleets
 
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I know it's april fools but this actually seems pretty fun if you take away the internal self promotion of other acquired titles
 
So most of these are just nonsense, but I'd actually really like a version of the "This is Fine" origin. It sounds like an interesting variation on gameplay.
Origin idea:Star Dwellers. This species. Agianst all know laws of physics. Evolved as an energy lifeform inside a star. Effects: Gain the ability to select starting star type. +100% habitability on selected star type, +50% habitability on all other star types that aren't neutron stars or black holes. Depending on slelected star class gain modifiers to energy. Cannot colonize normal planets. +200% energy output. -50% mineral output. Allows you to research the dyson sphere early. -50% to minerals. Allows you to make special buildings and districts on stars. Gain the star dwellers trait.
 
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Hi! Happy April Fool's Day!

This week we want to show off some of the challenging new Origins that are not coming soon.

The first, titled Surviving the Aftermath, is a variant on Void Dwellers.

The Surviving the Aftermath origin starts with the premise that a construction ship and colony ship were lost in MIA when a Crisis nation activated the Aetherophasic Engine and destroyed the galaxy, and you're left in a habitat to pick up the pieces.

View attachment 699567
Your home system.

As the galaxy has been destroyed and there are no resources anywhere, we expect this to be an exciting and challenging origin to play.

View attachment 699568
The local cluster.

View attachment 699569The galaxy. So alone. So very alone.

The next is the Crusader King Origin, where you begin the game as the ruler of a primitive civilization in the late medieval time period.

View attachment 699615
Living in luxury.

This origin starts at a significant tech disadvantage, but our playtests suggest that you should achieve spaceflight within a few hundred years.

Several events have been added in case another empire wishes to enlighten your civilization, as well as a "burn the alien at the stake" minigame.

View attachment 699572
Includes special diplomatic options!

Winning the game as a Crusader King grants the new Universe Universalis achievement.

The Prison Architect Origin is restricted to Rogue Servitors only, and drastically changes their gameplay. Instead of pampering their organic charges, they seek to collect all organics and like the Criminal Syndicate, are affected by and gain bonuses for having high Crime. They also gain extra Unity for each Criminal Syndicate pop they collect.

View attachment 699573
Gotta catch ‘em all!

View attachment 699574
Some minor changes to the Organic Sanctuary.

Open to all empire types, the This is Fine origin has a new twist - your empire thinks it’s hot stuff and is limited to colonizing stars.

View attachment 699622
Is it warm in here, or is it just me? Looking pretty radiant though.

Your buildings have a chance of being ruined each month due to fires, but your energy production is vastly increased.

Last but not least, the AI Custodianship Origin is our most challenging yet, where you and the AI both control your empire simultaneously. This Origin is also open to all empire types, and represents a fractured leadership or gestalt intelligence where two leaders struggle for power, sometimes issuing contradictory orders. The AI Custodian will act to implement its flawless and foolproof algorithms, undoubtedly bringing your empire success in the long run, if you would only listen to it.

View attachment 699602
The AI has great plans for my homeworld. The greatest of plans.

That's all for this week. As a reminder, the Stellaris 3.0 'Dick' update and Nemesis arrive two weeks from today on the 15th of April.

What Origins would you create if you wanted a special challenge?
I was kinda hoping these would be in the game
 
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You had me until the crusader kings one.
 
AFD joke or not, the idea of an origin where one tries to survive in a galaxy-scale post-apocalypse sounds very interesting to me. I would play it if it were a real origin. Or even its own galaxy setting independent of origin. lol
 
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welp i guess all of you are really pumped for the espionage. I am not, simply because espionage is always just an annoyance in the game and by stellaris track record it will be one here too but oh well at least i can see from otehr comments that many people agree on the origin proposals being actually good especially if you take away the last sentence or 2 in each one which were just used to make sure we dont think its a real update. big shame these origins are just a joke to paradox despite being possibly one of the best ideas they had in teh past year or so.
 
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