Stellaris Dev Diary #350 - Storms and their Aftermath

[Navar]

Will the storms add planetary features to Habitats and Ring Worlds? Will they get planetary modifiers from the storms?

 

[Alfha_Robby]

Is there any options to choose which Fallen Empire and Precursor Chain Spawn in the Game Setting at the beginning please.

Sometimes i want to play random, sometime i want to choose which one it's.

 

[Rafss]

Hopefully the new Precursors don't favor certain ascensions and empire types (like baol/zroni), or else the increasing RNG will make it very frustrating. At one point Paradox will have to budge and let people pick precursors in single player settings if one wants to.

 

[Extrym]

I really like the idea of the storms it adds variety to the map of the galaxy which is normally very empty.

 

[Ajacoba]

Hopefully the new Precursors don't favor certain ascensions and empire types (like baol/zroni), or else the increasing RNG will make it very frustrating. At one point Paradox will have to budge and let people pick precursors in single player settings if one wants to.

Baol and Zroni both have lots of stuff that everyone can use though

I think the only one who get no profit out of baol are pure machine hives - even the caretakers or assimilators can use the food and consumer goods from the special buildings

And zroni gives temporary combat buffs to literally anyone when activated

I think it even used to let hives tap into the shroud for super simplified rewards?

 

[Zeta-0]

Please give an option to turn off the storm. As I worried before, -50% sublight speed is not amussing at all.

 

[Ajacoba]

Please give an option to turn off the storm. As I worried before, -50% sublight speed is not amussing at all.

I mean, we already have that with the current galaxy wide storms

The new system with tiny storms that only affect a few systems at a time will be a massive improvement still

That's barely more annoying than dealing with a neutron star (less speed) or a black hole (less emergency jump)

 

[Zeta-0]

Counterpoint: RNG is the only thing that keeps computer strategy games from being economic optimization homework, and every conversation about RNG throwing off plans reveals how much a playerbase cohort thinks agency and control with a singular plan in hand is the essence of strategy. And yeah, I am absolutely dinging people for complaining about RNG fucking up their strategy games because they had a singular plan with no fallback and are stuck, like, omg this is working me up so bad at my desk right now, how people think they're playing a strategy game and being completely undone by not engaging with it in any strategic sense.

I swear to Zarqlan, y'all sound like a bunch of cooks who have a singular meal in mind and don't know the first thing about substitutions and audibles if you have a rotten bulb of garlic in your grocery bag and consider a meal completely unavailable to make if that happens.

After word 'RNG' has been known by many, I found players love to refer this word to complain their failure, but still make them look smart.

 

[Zeta-0]

I mean, we already have that with the current galaxy wide storms

The new system with tiny storms that only affect a few systems at a time will be a massive improvement still

That's barely more annoying than dealing with a neutron star (less speed) or a black hole (less emergency jump)

If so, I am glad to hear that. The Storm in current game is most annoying events. I can not remeber how many times my fleet got stuck in the storm, and my system was under attack from multiple directions.

 

[SS Boss]

The storms being a more complex mechanic is a good thing looking forward because theres potential to make them part of some crisis (End of the Cycle, Gray Tempest, etc). Its not the most thrilling mechanic addition tho.

Also, I hope the new precursors use a bif of the Astral Rift system for their event chains instead of the linear archaeology site chain used by some others.

 

[stuffedhampster]

Storms will make that stale part of your territory interesting again. They leave new anomalies, deposits, and events. They can also make a "meh" starting area more interesting. Storms do that with a very believable and role-play-friendly mechanic. That is pretty cool.

I also like that storms contribute to theme of "The galaxy is full of terrors, but it is also full of beauty". Our real-life galaxy is indeed full of many powerful explosions, implosions, collisions, and other phenomena. Some of those events can impact the nearby start systems, or even most stars in a group or Nebula. It just feels right to me that galaxies in Stellaris would also have space weather at a galactic scale.

Storms also add a degree of unpredictability that I think will be fun. They add a new choice about what to prioritize while also providing good options to make those choices with. You can protect key systems and lets the others hunker down. You can try to protect everything, or just let it all ride and see what happens. I don't think there should be any play though where everything goes according to plan. Part of the fun is adapting to the changing and unpredictable landscape. Storms are also a new mechanism that the modding community can use to add their creative twist to the game.

The current storms were a good way to learn how that mechanic will feel to the player. They are also good for learning how the mechanic would impact calculations & performance. Now that they have that info, they can drastically expand on it. Maybe its just me, but that sounds like a good approach to game development.

Sometimes a player may want a more casual, or predictable, play-through. That is still possible. They are including game sliders with the initial release so players can choose. That is pretty forward-thinking. Players can also just disable a DLC.

I have worked in software development. I think the Stellaris team is doing it way better than most organizations.

I like everything so far, and they still have more to share!

 

[indalecio248]

Storms will make that stale part of your territory interesting again. They leave new anomalies, deposits, and events. They can also make a "meh" starting area more interesting. Storms do that with a very believable and role-play-friendly mechanic. That is pretty cool.

@Eladrin How often will storms leave behind new stuff like anomalies, deposits or events? If its pretty often, then the storms would likely be a whole lot more welcome.

 

[Eladrin]

Will the storms add planetary features to Habitats and Ring Worlds? Will they get planetary modifiers from the storms?

Planetary features are limited to non-artificial planets.

They still get the aftermath modifiers.

How often will storms leave behind new stuff like anomalies, deposits or events? If its pretty often, then the storms would likely be a whole lot more welcome.

Each storm has a chance to leave something behind in every system they pass through. It's relatively rare so you won't feel spammed by them, but many storms will leave something behind in their path. If I remember correctly, uncovering planetary features is a bit more common than the anomalies.

The storms being a more complex mechanic is a good thing looking forward

Personally, I am very much looking forward to what our modders end up doing with them. I know they'll come up with some wild stuff that we didn't even dream of.

 

[qwary]

Do storms spawn only storm specific anomalies/sites. Or can they also generate them from the pool of old, planet based, anomalies?

Is there any events when a primitive planet you are surveing gets hit by a nasty storm?

 

[George Fernell]

Seems like just another completely detached gameplay element that will be nothing but annoying.
You will not re-structure your planet in order to benefit from the effects of a TEMPORARY storm, the PERMANENT planetary features dictate how you build planets.
If the aftermath effects were permanent, in a form of a blocker perhaps, there could be a consideration.
As is - the system will be ignored 99% of the time.
And obviously dumping the work load onto modders, what a Paradox thing to do xD

 

[Ajacoba]

Seems like just another completely detached gameplay element that will be nothing but annoying.
You will not re-structure your planet in order to benefit from the effects of a TEMPORARY storm, the PERMANENT planetary features dictate how you build planets.
If the aftermath effects were permanent, in a form of a blocker perhaps, there could be a consideration.
As is - the system will be ignored 99% of the time.
And obviously dumping the work load onto modders, what a Paradox thing to do xD

But I might restructure my planet in order to benefit from the permanent aftereffects

Or I may use one of my free building slots for the storm laboratory, so I can get some temporary resources

I might even be tempted to intentionally summon storms or redirect them so I can use their temporary buffs on already established colonies

 

[Aid7en]

1 Does the storm affect the operation of fighter jets and missiles?
2 Does an electric storm interfere with the operation of an energy weapon?
3. Can the player choose which storm to launch into enemy territory?

If some storms affected the weapons, it would add an interesting strategic element to the game.
It would be possible to launch a storm that interfered with the operation of enemy weapons, and upgrade the flotilla in advance to use other weapons that the storm would not affect.

 

[Bismarck-sama]

The existing hyperspace storm is being removed. We really didn't like how it played, since it was pure negatives randomly scattered across half the galaxy.

During my one and only x25 GA run the second storm hit right as the 2nd crisis (Unbidden) has arrived.
Needless to say without that x25 shields modifier they were butchered within months, it was pretty funny, especially after the 50 years slog that was the contingency.
1% yearly chance and coinflip on a system.

Also a question: will the hyperspace storm be removed with the update or with the DLC on like the caravaneers?

 

[George Fernell]

But I might restructure my planet in order to benefit from the permanent aftereffects

Or I may use one of my free building slots for the storm laboratory, so I can get some temporary resources

I might even be tempted to intentionally summon storms or redirect them so I can use their temporary buffs on already established colonies

U huh, sure
Sooooo you got a world with 3 yellow / 10 red / 4 food
You have it build up for mining, with a +2 base booster building & mining planetary designation.
Storm with +80% alloys come around, by the time you rebuild your districs (and that is 1 yer district) the storm is gone and you get no aftermath modifier.
Gj engaging in 4000 useless clicks of micro just to do it all over again.

 

[mrt1212]

U huh, sure
Sooooo you got a world with 3 yellow / 10 red / 4 food
You have it build up for mining, with a +2 base booster building & mining planetary designation.
Storm with +80% alloys come around, by the time you rebuild your districs (and that is 1 yer district) the storm is gone and you get no aftermath modifier.
Gj engaging in 4000 useless clicks of micro just to do it all over again.

I will never ask you to describe how you think anything works because you're just going to sarcastically act out something from your imagination at the most extreme and then get huffy about having to do it for real, according to how you acted it out.

"George, how do you put on a raincoat" and you're gonna imagine the most arduous process imaginable and tell us it can't or shouldn't be done, and you won't do it.