Stellaris Dev Diary #355 - It Belongs in a Vivarium: Announcing Grand Archive

[qwary]

Impressive, how did you manage this? Outsourced completely or in parts?

In the trailer you can see that this was made with/by abrakham studios(probably botching the name. The astral rift guys)

 

[Ikael]

Sounds super interesting, intriguing, and something that would be integrated with other game systems, too! I now wonder, however, how are we supposed to get new specimens. Perhaps un-terraformed worlds would offer greater chances of finding new fauna worth our vivarium?

As for getting more Tradition slots: nah. One thing is to have many different TTs, and another very different thing is to have many useful, equally attractive Tradition Trees. We are far from being there, I think (and we don't know yet if the new Archivism & Domestication trees will be akin to Politics, or something far more useful).

However, more civic slots could perhaps be a thing, yes.

 

[Uhlume]

ohh, I absolutely need to create a CrimeSyn, Letters of Marque, Treasure Hunters Empire.

So the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in space then.

 

[Me_]

I haven't yet had time to play the Storms Mechanical!

 

[Vlad123]

My custom (modded empire) we are pirates,raiders,scavengers...but we care space fauna!

 

[Nis Baggesen]

Now I want to make a species collecting Rogue Servitor. Pampering all levels of sentience!

 

[StellarisPlayer]

Seconding the hope that these treasures can be traded, if not stolen. It would be great to bid them off in multiplayer games, even if the AI is programmed to never do it.

 

[LavanGrimwulff]

I mean, those things always had synergy

If you take both you can have your cordiceptic ships eat the fruits and drop them on planets of your choice

Might even work with bubbles and potentially dragons and leviathans, as well as scourge fleets?

I assume the same mechanic that's already ingame will just automatically work for the new fleets

Sure they have synergy but fruitful partnership doesn't feel good and could use some tweaks, this DLC is the perfect time to do so.

As for cordyceptic, honestly I'm expecting cordyceptic to be to strong on DLC release just from the bonus to organic fleets and then it get nerfed into the ground. I'd much rather them say they're preemptively nerfing cordyceptic but giving it something like stormchasers "% higher chance to get storm tech" or starts with a relevant tech

 

[Scanz]

What about
Stellaris: Distant Stars Story Pack ? it is useless now ?

 

[Imp0815]

In the trailer you can see that this was made with/by abrakham studios(probably botching the name. The astral rift guys)

Your are right!

The last one was already outsourced to them(in parts).

If past year was done by outsourced work, what is the PDX team working on in the mean time?

 

[Soranya]

This was soon after the last DLC. Interesting - how comes?

 

[LavanGrimwulff]

This was soon after the last DLC. Interesting - how comes?

They want people to forget the mess that was the last DLC, it wasn't received as well as they hoped so they're giving us a distraction.

 

[Dr. B]

So.. about Xenocompatibility..... The potential for unethical experiments is fantastic.

You have all these delicious specimens available, just begging to be crossbred!

Please say this is an option. For science.

 

[Calvax]

They want people to forget the mess that was the last DLC, it wasn't received as well as they hoped so they're giving us a distraction.

Given that Grand Archive was advertised for Q4 way back at the start of the year it seems extremely unlikely it's release was brought forward due to Cosmic Storms. But it is a legitimate concern that its release will mean Cosmic Storms will receive no further updates. The previous shortest release was First Contact to Paragons and after the latter First Contact got no more updates. This being despite the fact enlightenment takes so long as to never be worth it and the pool of primitive events being so tiny that it's a guarantee you'll get the same meteorite and rogue scientist over and over in the same game.

We know the custodians are working on "something big", but hopefully they also have time to deal with all the technical debt and balance issues that have accumulated. The fact recent patches have ended up introducing bugs that ruin certain empires doesn't speak well to their capacity right now.

 

[Foxosaur]

Only just gave myself time to read the DD, it sounds really good. With the domestication civic and all the new fauna mean that the pathfinding of these beasties has in anyway changed? I remember you saying Eladrin you hoped to revisit Fruitful Partnership to make it more hit and less miss in them collecting fruits but in a recent playthrough, I think they were pretty good.

The blooms of Gaea might pair well with this civic.

 

[LavanGrimwulff]

Only just gave myself time to read the DD, it sounds really good. With the domestication civic and all the new fauna mean that the pathfinding of these beasties has in anyway changed? I remember you saying Eladrin you hoped to revisit Fruitful Partnership to make it more hit and less miss in them collecting fruits but in a recent playthrough, I think they were pretty good.

The blooms of Gaea might pair well with this civic.

They're still very hit or miss, had a game about a week ago with 1 seed planted in the first 50 years and it was on a planet I could've colonized with ships easily, shortly before that I had another game with probably 20 seeds in the same time period, the rng is just insane. I'd love to see this revisted, at the very least give it some sort of bad luck safety so you don't get games where it does literally nothing for you.

 

[Gabarius]

With the ability to breed space fauna in captivity, will there be the option to restore Tiyana Vek and Amor Alveo if they’re purged (by crises, normal empires, purifiers, etc.)

Also, I would really to see some ways for the Environmentalist civic to alter one’s interactions with space fauna—maybe not requiring pacifist/xenophile ethics.

 

[KNakamura]

Given that Grand Archive was advertised for Q4 way back at the start of the year it seems extremely unlikely it's release was brought forward due to Cosmic Storms. But it is a legitimate concern that its release will mean Cosmic Storms will receive no further updates. The previous shortest release was First Contact to Paragons and after the latter First Contact got no more updates. This being despite the fact enlightenment takes so long as to never be worth it and the pool of primitive events being so tiny that it's a guarantee you'll get the same meteorite and rogue scientist over and over in the same game.

We know the custodians are working on "something big", but hopefully they also have time to deal with all the technical debt and balance issues that have accumulated. The fact recent patches have ended up introducing bugs that ruin certain empires doesn't speak well to their capacity right now.

tbf, they said they'd roll fixes normally in the .2 and .3 patches, if possible, into 3.14

I do agree though and I'm glad they slowed their cadence down for next year. Supposedly.

 

[Archael90]

View attachment 1190077
I’m pleased to announce that the third Episode of Stellaris: Season 08, the Grand Archive Story Pack, will be released alongside the Stellaris 3.14 ‘Circinus’ update on Tuesday, October 29th, 2024. This release completes the Stellaris: Season 08 Expansion Pass.

"The Grand Archive preserves and exhibits the most valuable artifacts we have collected throughout the galaxy..."​

The galaxy is vast and filled with artifacts!

Grand Archive adds 151 specimens to the base game, but we have revisited all of the content ever created for Stellaris to add more. The overall total is over 240 unique specimens!

Collect them all and display the prize pieces in your own Grand Archive.

View attachment 1190079
“This is no mere rock collection.”
​

“…Reserved within is also a dedicated Vivarium for live Space Fauna containment and observation.”​

Contained within your Grand Archive, the Vivarium is a controlled environment where wild space fauna can be cared for and studied. Space fauna in captivity will grow faster and breed more easily than in the wild. These creatures can then be dissected for research, resources, or their genetic material.

With the development of the Controlled Mutations technology, Space Fauna can be customized to form a fleet which will grow and become stronger over time.

View attachment 1190080
“These non-lethal projectiles can safely capture and transport Space Fauna to our Vivarium, where they can continue to reproduce new specimens of their kind.”
​

The void is full of life.​

Two new forms of Space Fauna are coming in the Grand Archive Story Pack.

Cutholoids are ambush predators that lurk within asteroid belts, waiting for prey.

View attachment 1190081
“Culling and dissecting these creatures will allow the harvesting of their Genetic Material for cloning purposes as well as other resources.”


Voidworms are a more active parasitic threat with a full life cycle that can grow into a mid-game Crisis if their populations are left to breed.

View attachment 1190082
"If this variant species were allowed to spread unchecked, it could upset the balance of the galactic ecosystem entirely."
​

“With the mysteries of the galaxy at our doorstep, there is everything left to learn.”​

The Grand Archive Story Pack comes with two Civics, two Origins, and two new Tradition trees, each focusing on either different aspects of coexistence with Alien Fauna or the hunt for the hidden mysteries and treasures of the universe.

View attachment 1190083


The Corporate, Hive Mind, or Machine Intelligence versions of these Civics require access to their Authorities - MegaCorp, Utopia, and either Synthetic Dawn or The Machine Age, respectively.

View attachment 1190084

​

Stellaris: Grand Archive includes:​

• Space Fauna capture, breeding, and modification systems​
• 151 Specimens to collect and display across events from Grand Archive and the base game
  • Over 240 Specimens total including those distributed across other Stellaris content​
• 15 new Relics​
• Two new Tradition trees
  • Archivism​
  • Domestication​
• Two new Origins
  • Primal Calling​
  • Treasure Hunters​
• Two new Civics
  • Beastmasters​
  • Galactic Curators​
• Two new forms of spaceborne life
  • Cutholoids​
  • Voidworms​
• A new possible mid-game crisis - the Voidworm Plague​
• Three new music tracks​
• Events, Anomalies, Archaeology Sites, Technologies, Galactic community resolutions, and more!​

Note: The Grand Archive Story Pack also unlocks access to the Curator Order Enclave, which is also unlocked by Leviathans or Distant Stars.


Dev Diary Schedule​

Sept 26​	Announcing Grand Archive​
Oct 3​	Building a Grand Archive and Displaying Your Collection​
Oct 10​	The Care and Feeding of Tiyanki​
Oct 17​	New Life in the Galaxy​
Oct 24​	3.14 “Circinus” Preliminary Release Notes​

The Grand Archive Story Pack can be purchased as part of the Stellaris: Season 08 Expansion Pass, or as a standalone purchase for $14.99 (regional pricing may vary).

It is also included as part of the Stellaris Expansion Subscription

View attachment 1190085

Pre-purchase Stellaris: Grand Archive alone or with a discount as part of Stellaris: Season 08!​

What about this Archives?

Edit. idk why question is disagreed. I mean... someone is angry that i ask questions?

Edit 2.
And also - how this breeding and modify space fauna feature will interact with:
Fruitfull partnership: will those empires be able to release space fauna into the wild neutral to them?
Cordyceptic drones: will this hives be able to infect breeded fauna and use them as their undead version?
Reanimator empires: will they be able to ressurect fallen fauna fleets and gives them second chance like they can do with Bubbles?

 

[Me_]

Any new Leviathans?