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Stellaris Dev Diary #286 - Fear and Archaeotechs in First Contact

Hello everyone! I am PDS_Iggy, and I’m here to tell you all about Fear of the Dark!

This new narrative origin for First Contact focuses on a people divided. After a planet in your solar system blew up, fear and xenophobia spread to such a degree that a large portion of your population decided to flee your homeworld. Their goal? To hide from the rest of the galaxy.


Incoming Transmission:​

You mean, “The sane individuals of our species took the only prudent action possible when being attacked by an alien force capable of destroying planets!
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This split in your population is reflected in the effects of the origin. With a sizable section of your empire living on a neighboring world, your research alternatives and choices for leaders are reduced. Yet, even more inquisitive than a regular empire, you will have no difficulty discovering more anomalies as you explore the void.

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No doubt you’ll return from your galavantings the next time we reach a breakthrough! Our scientific research is one of the few way we can even hope to delay you from dooming us all. Once you lead the aliens back to our home, it will all be over.

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Additionally,Fear of the Dark starts with quite a unique system, one that will have you starting with binary planets - your ‘cousins’ are living just a rocket jump away. (a Sol start will have them placed on Mars).

It will be up to you to make the best of this situation. Your partner planet can be a powerful ally, yet they are also very skittish. Ensure that they don’t torpedo your entrance on the galactic stage.

Perhaps you will stop treating the alien threat so lightly when our upcoming study of ‘the Divider’ is finished. Just you wait. We won’t be hunted.



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Whatever happens, remember that you are one people and you are stronger together. Oh, and your partner planet has cloaked ships.


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Now off to MrCosmogone and his wondrous archaeo-technologies for this patch's custodian update!



Did you ever think, as you pass by an old laser cannon in a glass case, that not everything belongs in a museum? That perhaps, the Irassian tractor beam could be used for your cause instead of gathering dust?

Well, so do I. And if you own Ancient Relics, I have good news!

Excavated dig sites will now sometimes generate minor artifact deposits that can be exploited by orbital stations, or by colonizing the planet.

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There could always be more trinkets to find!

Your income in minor artifacts can then be put to good use with the new archaeo-technologies that will unlock buildings, starbase modules and ship components, all costing minor artifacts to build.
There are several ways to acquire these archaeo-technologies. Completing the Secrets of the [PRECURSOR] special projects will now give you a research option to unlock some unique archaeo-components:
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The power of a precursor in the palm of your hand.

Several of our dig sites can now grant you access to one of the new technologies. This is a very reliable way of acquiring them.

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Get to work, Oxygal, I want this research on my desk by the end of the week!

All these new technologies are found in the society field, in an all new “Archaeostudies” category which is all about fitting ancient tech into your machines and weapons. Discovering these archaeo-technologies by yourself is a long and hard process, but luckily, you can be assisted by dedicated researchers who share your interest in ancient things.

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They largely just make old things go boom.

Should you decide to pick the Remnants origin that starts you on a relic world, you will now start the game with the Faculty of Archaeostudies unlocked and replacing your starting research lab.

And if this still does not quench your thirst for specialization in archaeo-technologies, if you still want to dig deeper, we even have a new ascension perk for you!

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For all you history lovers!



With increased minor artifact generation, the scale of the existing economy needed to be increased, but we also took this opportunity to now display artifacts in the topbar alongside the other strategic resources.

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Bigger numbers mean better game, right?

And while you still can’t buy them on the market, you can trade them to other empires!

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It belongs in MY museum!

I don’t really have the space here to show you ALL the things, but here, have a tease.

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Archaeotitan go brrrrrrrr

Oh and one last thing before we wrap things up. I might have made a Devolving Beam for colossi, to return those pesky humans from the UNE back to their origins:

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Return to Monke!

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They’ll make good pets.
 
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Fear of the Dark does seem a bit nonsensical. If they truly believe that your naive explorations are an existential threat, they should be seizing power and forcibly preventing it all costs. "Hiding" in plain sight on another planet in the same system is about the least effective thing they could possibly be doing, and waiting until you've half explored the galaxy and encountered a bunch of aliens before the make their move is equally stupid.

I haven't read TBP, so if that is actually the plot of the books that's also disappointing.
 
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Yeah, it looks like a really good synergy with catalytic empires of any stripe. As in "reroll your precursor until it's baol" good.

Another reason I wish there was a "select precursor" setting in game set up. I've seen them all multiple times and would love to be able to pick one when I have a particular RP in mind.
Fortunately there is Assorted Precursor Adjustments to get them all for unlimited power.
 
Just to clarify: the second planet in the starting system is a sort of "special primitive empire"? I.e. it owns its planet (and some ships) but no systems? Can it be interacted with beyond the events (i.e. through diplomacy)?
 
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Fear of the Dark does seem a bit nonsensical. If they truly believe that your naive explorations are an existential threat, they should be seizing power and forcibly preventing it all costs. "Hiding" in plain sight on another planet in the same system is about the least effective thing they could possibly be doing, and waiting until you've half explored the galaxy and encountered a bunch of aliens before the make their move is equally stupid.

I haven't read TBP, so if that is actually the plot of the books that's also disappointing.
Well, forcibly taking power is evil and undemocratic - not to mention that they are a minority, making the success chances for civil war low
So they just provide you with tech in exchange for making you agree to their demands

Also they seem to be working on something called "the Divider" and have stealth ships, so I assume they are using their independence to properly protect themselves from foreign threats by researching towards their own goals

Maybe they plan to shield themselves, wouldn't be the first civilization to do so after all
 
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I love the "devolving beam", is something so gratuitously unethical that makes the average real world dictator look at most like a schoolyard bully in comparison XD
 
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So happy to see minor artifacts being a renewable source (aside from rubricator relic), and new stuff on how to further use them are great. Im extremely happy about getting new tech content
A minor note that i will add is gestalt empires are a little bit left out. Normal empires can use selling minor artifacts early-mid game and gain a substantial economical advantage while gestalts can only make use of them by boosting unity-spam planets slightly. Any plans on making us machine/hive only players happier? :, ) I dunno, maybe a similar but unique gestalt exclusive action?
U forget that u now can just sell them to other AI empires as they become tradable.
 
I really like this new ancient relics stuff. Looks awesome.
But now that precursors are much more important, could multiplayer get the option to disable "duplicate" precursors (As in, could we make it so you can prevent two players from getting the same precursor)
 
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All of this is really great!
About cloaking, I really hope that Cloaked ships/fleets DO NOT count for your Military diplomatic weight and Relative Military Power, otherwise, surprise effect strategies won't be available (and that would be really sad)
 
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All of this is really great!
About cloaking, I really hope that Cloaked ships/fleets DO NOT count for your Military diplomatic weight and Relative Military Power, otherwise, surprise effect strategies won't be available (and that would be really sad)
Could be an interesting stealth buff to pacifists who rely on enemy thinking they are weak and declaring war.
 
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not to mention that they are a minority, making the success chances for civil war low
So they just provide you with tech in exchange for making you agree to their demands

They're a large enough minority they managed to get themselves a whole ass planet, indeed they are a full third of the population, more than large enough to take a chance on seizing power rather than fleeing next door which does exactly nothing to protect them. Even if they are somehow morally opposed to seizing power and would rather just let xenos wipe them out than do so (which seems unlikely, given their desire to preemptively commit xenocide), the whole going to another planet in the same system thing remains a complete non-sequitur.
Also they seem to be working on something called "the Divider" and have stealth ships, so I assume they are using their independence to properly protect themselves from foreign threats by researching towards their own goals
"The Divider" is just the name of the planet that was hit by an asteroid (Venus in the Sol start), the project would seem to be an analysis of the impact that they hope will prove it was an attack rather than a natural occurence.

Maybe they plan to shield themselves, wouldn't be the first civilization to do so after all

If they posses the technology to create a literally impenetrable shield that will protect them from literally everything, or believe they are soon to develop such technology, they have nothing to be afraid of in the first place. And if they are just playing for time whilst they bring this magical deus ex shieldima online, impotently requesting that you pretty please explore slightly slower is not really the way to achieve that.

Maybe it all ends up making sense in the end, and they are just avoiding spoilers.

It's not the end of the world, of course, it's not the first bit of nonsense to be added to this not very sensical game.
 
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Oh and one last thing before we wrap things up. I might have made a Devolving Beam for colossi, to return those pesky humans from the UNE back to their origins:

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Return to Monke!
So we finally get to use the weapon from the On the Shoulders of Giants event chain, neat! :)
 
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Not big on the new origin.

It looks cool, but I wonder how much replayability these story-focused origins have versus a generic version. I’ve played Knights of the Toxic God only once or twice whereas I would probably have played a generic knighthood origin more. Same deal here. The storyline sounds cool, but it doesn’t feel like my empire’s story. Kinda wish we got a more generic dark forest origin instead.
 
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About cloaking, I really hope that Cloaked ships/fleets DO NOT count for your Military diplomatic weight and Relative Military Power, otherwise, surprise effect strategies won't be available (and that would be really sad)

There's a different between not knowing exactly where the enemies ships are and having no idea they exist at all. The various powers on earth probably have reasonable estimates on the number of SSBN's fielded by their rivals, even if they can't pinpoint the location of them all at all times. Definitely something that can be worked into the intel system though.
 
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With the increases costs of MA, have the original ways to obtain MA increased as well?

(Remnants blockers, shoulders origin, vanilla events/digsites)

Paying 500 energy, clearing a blocker, or doing a digsite for 1-3 MA would really hurt
 
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Whelp, I almost always play Humans from Sol and wanted something new to change my games up. First game after the release will be as Humans, in Sol, with this origin. Sounds interesting, new and unique!
 
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Okay, those changes to minor artifacts are great and improve a lot the DLC :D
Since they were scarce and you could only get that much many times didn't bothered with them. This makes is great and makes the minor artifacts decisions much better.

Just to know:
"Should you decide to pick the Remnants origin that starts you on a relic world, you will now start the game with the Faculty of Archaeostudies unlocked and replacing your starting research lab."

But then what happens when you restore the ecumenopolis on your homeworld or any other relic world? Do you loose the minors artifacts income? You need to move the faculty? Asking since many time i pick remnants to restore the ecu and just skip the need to taking the ascension perk :)

Other than that doubt the DD about Archeotech looks great. Really makes me want to play with the new alien and ancient totally discovered by our scientist toys :D
 
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I think it'd be cool if Sol's Divider were the Moon instead of Venus.

The destruction of the Moon would freak out humans so much more than the destruction of Venus.
that it would, definatly more than a third would side with The Paranoids in that case! especially considering the effects on tides and The Entire Culture
 
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Is it possible to uplift devolved species?

I'm thinking devolve, colonize, uplift as a way of gaining a planet with all the pops, long and convoluted as it may be.
 
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