Stellaris Dev Diary #238 - Ascensions, Betas, and More

[Alfray Stryke]

will you be able to ascend habitats as VD? maybe even increasing size?

Planetary Ascension does work on habitats, but the only way to increase their size is still their upgrade.

 

[Eladrin]

Can hive minds get their own variant of Reanimators? I've been wanting to play as the Flood for so long.

Maybe, if we cram enough cinnamon buns into Iggy.

I'd want it to have some unique flavor though, so it wouldn't play exactly the same as the others.

 

[Eladrin]

Does this enhancement require the Federations DLC?

Yes. The different federation types are still part of Federations, this change provides more ways of gaining access to them.

 

[Eladrin]

Will monospecies/monoculture empires get more unity than multi-species empires?

We don't have any mechanics based on that currently, but it would be an interesting thing to explore, perhaps with xenophobic edicts.

 

[Alfray Stryke]

What about Culture Workers from Alien Zoo buildings?

Zoos give Entertainer/Duelist jobs.

 

[Eladrin]

Having zoos give Duelist sounds strange...

Gladiators!

 

[Eladrin]

Will the extra designation bonuses from the Greater Good resolutions also be buffed with planetary ascensions?

They should.

How does this work in a total war, where planets can "permanently" change hands many times before the war ends?

They will count as permanent owner change. Total Wars are nasty.

I wonder what this means for the pleasure seekers civic. Considering what it does to entertainers.

Time to find the brain bleach.

 

[Eladrin]

"Easier mod overwriting of objects that dynamically add modifiers."
This is huge. Can you expand on this please? Will this remove the need to do a full file overwrite of jobs, buildings, districts, etc?
What about the objects that will duplicate instead of overwrite if we don't do a full file overwrite, like technologies or planet classes?

Next week's dev diary will be all about the new powers in the modding section.

 

[Alfray Stryke]

Can I unlock achievements while running the Open Beta?

I believe so.

Also, can a Spiritualist empire with Discovery now start a Research Cooperative?

Yes, if they've also taken the Diplomacy tradition to found a Federation. Otherwise if they have completed Discovery, they can propose their current Federation changes to a Research Coop.

 

[Eladrin]

Why does Habitat Upgrade still cost Influence? Doesn’t it make more sense (as well as being more consistent) for it to cost Unity?

Things related to transport and living space remain Influence.

 

[Eladrin]

Zombie Mind Control Parasite Neurotoxin Shenanigans

Iggy keeps sending me a link to the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis wiki page.

I feel like ascension tiers representing "the active will of the people supporting your government and giving a little extra to do things the way they’ve always been done" doesn't really mesh thematically with the fact that you can change planetary designations at will...

In the first design draft we did have them lock the designation in, but it felt very punishing and unfun.

 

[Alfray Stryke]

Has the team thought about reworking on the Psionic Ascension; more specifically The Shroud and what you can get from it? Any possible events that maybe be added once you have gained access to it aswell?

I'd love to revisit the Shroud, but that requires time and resources and the blessing of those higher up the food chain than I.

 

[Alfray Stryke]

In the patch notes:

• Added ai_ignore_was_human console command for toggling ai passiveness after taking over a human controller empire on/off
  
  
  Can someone please explain what this means? Is it if I use the console to change to another empire and edit it a bit, I can unpause for a while without fear that my original empire will be ruined by the AI at the help, until I return? If so, then I have to input this code before I switch to another empire and back?

So there's a bunch of stuff the AI is banned from doing if the empire it is controlling was recently (within 10 years or so) a human player - this is made in the case that players drop out in an MP game. However for AI testing it isn't great, since it limits what the AI can do, ergo there's now this console command.

 

[Alfray Stryke]

Hi I am hoping someone can clarify/help me out. I opted in and downloaded the beta. But when I run the game it displays all the 3.2 info and what not, despite saying beta 3.3 at the bottom for the build. So it says I'm in 3.3 but it hasn't changed anything and is still running 3.2. Anyone know of a fix for this?

The welcome screen for 3.3 wasn't ready for the beta release.

 

[Alfray Stryke]

Is the Beta only available for the Steam version? Can I get it through the Paradox Launcher?

Yes, the beta is only available via Steam.