Stellaris Dev Diary #364 - Sights Unseen

[Metzelmänchen]

For the Species Packs:
I was always wondering why Humanoids, Mammalians, Reptilians, Avians, Arthropoids, and Molluscoids haven't gotten the Species Pack treatment. I think would be nice to give them something unique. Maybe with overlaps for the Mammalians and the Humanoids, and for Molluscoids and Aquatics.

 

[kidwiz0101]

I would love to see spiritual empires be able to found a religion of a certain type based on ethics, civics, etc. if any culture mechanics were introduced. As a death cult I should be able to declare a holy war against my neighbor where just by winning the war sacrifices some of their pops and a leader. Im thinking like ck2

 

[TrueWolves]

Hot Take for new ascension/crisis dlc and empire differentiation:

Spin Ascension and Crisis off entirely. Have them unlock at 3 traditions completed or mid game (whichever first) and 6/end game, but not take a tradition tree or perk.

Instead, Ascension Path is a mid game path for all empires, maybe with 2 or 3 generic more tame cultural ascensions representing adaptation to being a space fairing civilization.

Crisis becomes a "Victory Path". This opens up "Crisis" mechanics into any sort of "victory" mecanics.

The default vanilla 3 for both can be based on the 3 main diplomatic stances and pre 2.0 victory types. Conquest/Domination, Friendship/Federation, and Isolation/Decadence. Federation victories could even declare more than one victor. True victory through peace.

Empires then flow fron Origin to Ascension to Victory/Apotheosis with possibly game play changing shifts along each step. DLC Ascension and Victory (particularly Crisis) becomes an avenue for the more extreme paths empires can take. This also frees up 1 tradition tree and 2 ascension perks for players in a growing list of options.

 

[LystAP]

Fallen Empires and old end game crisis are in desperate need of some love.

Old man empires still flying around on their base ships, while newer empires have juggernauts. Their shipset is incomplete, since their habitats are basic model habitats (no special FE version).

 

[ZomgK3tchup]

Scenarios
“Scenarios” are another proposal that I’ve seen a number of times over the years - would it be interesting to have scripted game modes with custom rules, and events already in motion?

This is the biggest thing I want that isn't a QOL feature or system rework.

Stellaris' gameplay loop is fun, but being able to go hogwild with starting conditions/scenarios has been something I've wanted since release.

 

[Superviviente03]

I would like to see any kind of mode in an advanced galaxy where we have an emperor and start a rebellion. Maybe, this emperor could be or not from a empire fallen.

 

[ieishrifi]

These feedback dev diaries are greatly appreciated.

I would very much support the expansion of the biological and psionic ascension paths, but I think the main issue with cybernetic/synthetic/machine ascension is just how much more powerful it is now in terms of bonuses rather than biological and psionic lacking content. Of course, expanding their features so all ascension paths are pleasantly diverse and feature-rich is always nice, but I would be mindful of introducing more power creep to combat existing power creep.

I like the sound of the warfare section. I would also particularly add the idea of expanding war exhaustion to tangibly - and severely - affect factions and your empire.

Biological ships would fit well with a biological ascension empire I think, despite some possible oddities with locking them behind the ascension path.

I absolutely agree with the factions and politics section. I have to add in particular that core gameplay systems should interact between each other, such as maybe expanding espionage to a wider system for interaction with another empire's factions. And basically anything that isn't direct dealings with the empire's government/player.

I'm not sure how well nomadic empires would work, or to what extent they'd be nomadic. They might work well enough if they too have, eventually, a set chunk of the galaxy as their territory like other empires, but if not I don't see how they would work long-term as the galaxy is filled up completely. A true nomadic playstyle kind of clashes with how thoroughly explored and claimed space eventually becomes in a regular Stellaris campaign.

Not sure how popular scenarios would be when it comes to cost of effort. Maybe certain static galaxy scenarios that would play as a more-or-less regular Stellaris campaign with a quirk or expanded galaxy generation options would work, but I'm not confident about the idea of specific short form scenarios. Those would kind of run counter to what most players play Stellaris for. Stellaris is a game where you make up your own scenarios rather than the game giving you pre-determined ones. The ST New Civilisations mod released a few simple war scenarios from Star Trek canon which were kind of met with a shrug and forgotten, so I'm not confident about their prospects for Stellaris proper either. They don't have the staying power after the novelty phase ends. I'd personally focus development resources on improving the main game and implementing the other ideas.

 

[Corvididae]

My personal thing I would like to see, but never really expect to, is some sort of return of the Collectivist/Individualist dichotomy. I agree that the old implementation wasn't good, but there are some fictions that just can't be done without those. Perhaps they would be civics instead of ethics.

Collectivist might reduce both the bonuses and penalties for pop happiness and give penalties to leaders, while giving a general boost to resource output and making the empire act a little like a hive mind. The people are willing to work for the greater good regardless of conditions, but aren't as willing to rise above their place in society. Something like the Tau Empire from 40k, which can't really be done in Stellaris right now.

Individualist on the other hand might be all about leaders, with bonuses for them but also a higher chance of negative traits. The negative effects of pop happiness would be increased, as unhappy people are more willing to force change. I'm thinking something like the Nietzscheans from Andromeda, where they pretty much only care about their own genetic lineage and will do whatever they need to in society to promote that.

There wouldn't be an ethics restriction. Both the examples from other fiction I gave are rather Authoritarian.

 

[BritoDiniz]

I now notice that my previous coment was on the wrong place. If only i knew there was going to be this chance...

Anyway, some of my ideas include:

A more complex system involving habitability, were it is less on how well a species can live on a planet, and more how much it can live in it, with things like underground using another area of the planet, and alied species posibly going to live in diferent parts of the planet, still under the empire, but as "leased pops" kinda(for example, a continental species lives in 80% of its planet, so the other 20% could be ocupied by a drasticaly diferent species, like an arctic or desert one, still under the empire, but not on the same "space")

An arcology type of planet transformation that would be like a better ecumenopolis, creating wild areas were life could grow, creating unity, decreasing upkeep, perhaps letting pre-ftl sentients develop in the world and, with that, has a personal species to observe

Better and more stuff to diferent than normal planets and ecosystems, perhaps with new planet types. Things like tidaly locked planets who are eyeball or twilight ring planets instead of continental or other enviroment, double planets that can latter be joined into a single planet, providing lots of boosts like reduced administrative cost and better habitability, some unique structure for binary and systems with three stars, and so on

Rogue planets and systems that have entire new types of planet like eternal dark, bioluminescent or thermal ocean, but also some dead ones.

Planetary ships that are somewhere between planet, megastructure and ship, able to move around and stuff, which could include capital ships that provide buffs by prodiving suplies, repairs and industry for a fleet, to true generational ships that can terraform and colonize multiple planets, to motherships that are an entire new form of playing

Planet states, which are indepedent planets which can become integrated into other empires by creating aliances and agreements, which can have weird stuff that would not be able to be playable normaly like psychic robots, a government based on cities on top of giant creatures, a planet with a strong magnetic field and lots of magnetic resources deposits, which is entirely unique in enviroment type and unlocks new techs, or sentient animals who can't realy develop tech, so instead developed a incredible society

Better multi species empires, a beloved fantasy that until now is too impratical in most cases

Conections between multiple empires, like origins that when present on the right situation, can connect to create a story not only in lore, but mechanicaly(like that colony offshoot, but can also include a machinist empire who actualy built another mechanical species, or a clone army that is actualy related with a fallen empire, stuff like that).

 

[one4crisis]

Pop system need remake.
Human's tech about robot in 2200 looks will better than Stellaris. I don't mean the robot will make out of better material, but they are auto. Virtual tradition can instantly fill positions, similar to what a real Gestalt mechanical empire would do.
Does strength affect job output? How do pops in Stellaris work? It's a problem.
There shouldn't be just one race growing at a time.
---
Commonwealth of Man should have more events. For example, diplomatic relations with the United Nations on Earth and the handling of internal problems. Become a vassal of the United Nations of Earth or vice versa, and can also ally with it or declare war on them to reclaim Earth.

 

[Thiend]

I think I agree on energy beings... being... too much into fantasy, but that also seems potentially appropriate for something psionic empires could do. This could also be a place to do something interesting with void clouds or the Stellarite Devourer.

I could see bioships being something genetic ascension and psionic ascension are  both good at, by integration with it for the former and by being able to directly communicate with it for the latter.

I would personally like for at least psionic ascension and perhaps also genetic ascension to get open beta tests. I think even at the outset when the system was reworked into four paths they (and cybernetic) had pretty major design flaws that needed to be addressed. Psionic having bad RNG issues and problems with stuff like the God-Emperor event overwriting your empire design (or having TOO much synergy with stuff like Holy Covenants) isn't new, nor is genetic having major QoL issues with the Species Piechart From Hell, or Cybernetic having problems produced by being unable to remove positive or add negative traits to fully utilize pop modification in an ascension that is primarily pop modification based. None of these are things that made (or even make) those ascensions unplayable, but all of them would have been caught with more playtesting before the designs were finalized.

 

[SkyGuy7617]

I still believe you need to do a proper religion expansion. Maybe even bring dynasties to work alongside the imperial authority.

 

[one4crisis]

Without the problems of this game's design, if we have a better engine it will be better. Now the engine can be said that it is rigid.
Like the 3.14's BOARDING CABLES, the engine donesn't have ability to judge actual situations. Or the information of things and rules is too less(If you can judge the type of ship and add the rule that you can't steal such a ship, you should be able to avoid this situation).
And it's not very good at dealing with things that change. Like plante ships. And the events of Bubbles use kill to make it become bigger. Bulwark upgrades will get advanced star base buildings (or modules), but bugs can cause them to appear in both cases.

 

[Zanza]

Good stuff, I will buy it.

 

[Koldizer912]

I thought of some more things to reply to this whole trilogy of dev blogs you've been requesting feedback with.

I've got my fingers crossed that you guys go all-in on bio ships/ascension. It's really cool. It's like, instead of trying to imitate natural functions and phenomena with non-organic materials, like emulating a brain with computer chips, instead you're just using the actual tools you've already seen working and growing some non-sentient brain matter in a jar to do computing, or growing buildings out of bone instead of mining stone, or using a cloned kidney or something to clean water instead of building a less efficient filter, etc. Get creative and inspired with it. There's so much potential there.

Factions/internals should probably consider better expressing things like corporate warfare, terrorism, and non state actors, like non mega-corporations, churches, syndicates. That branch office level/interface of a planetary view could more than it does currently.

I'd be fine with espionage as-is if I could just use it to achieve certain goals without starting a full on war. Demolishing a single starbase or branch office, for example, a large important ship or building or leader. It'd need to be balanced for PvP, but something that would allow you to avert a full on war over a single star or starting a branch office on an occupied planet, or discouraging an imminent attack by setting back a hostile military. It would obviously need some kind of counterplay/prevention. We are still missing a full-on espionage paranoid origin/civic, something like the Salarian government from Mass Effect.

Playable nomads or not, at least Bring back the NPC nomads they were unique and cool. They don't need to be excluded by presence of the caravaneers, they're distinct enough already to me that they should just be a base thing.

Terraforming ascension with detox and hydrocentric probably needs to be consolidated and refined somehow. Aquatics shouldn’t pay 2 species points just because they have the hydrocentric option they might not even take. Either that or hydrocentric needs to refund those 2 points when you take it. Idk. Either way isn't great, but hydrocentric is too cool to lose, unless it could be split and entirely spread out throughout the tech tree.

There needs to be an ancient aliens like civic or origin, unlike what we have. Closest would be playing as the antagonist npc from broken shackles.
“Your race visited the homeworld of another race before they were FTL capable and took some souvenir slaves with them as the connection between your two planets waned,” think the goauld from stargate, the ahannu/an from Ian douglas’ star corps books. Like the antagonistic xenophobic version of lost colony.
Should probably make it a civic locked to remnants or shoulders of giants or other history implying origins.

Whatever you guys do with trade and crime, as well as habitability and planetary development, I think y'all should probably tie it into some measure of infrastructure, a la the hyperlanes/gates/things, for example. As you move further out from your developed worlds' infrastructure and toward the 'frontier' of your empire, the roads get a little less paved, the supplies and support become a little more slim and basic, and the laws become a little less written in stone, etc.

Also, habitats shrinking to a single population point representing all the spaces inside a single system isn't ideal for me. It really hurt players' ability to turtle in the L cluster, build tall in general, etc. I think this shouldn't be the lasting, final iteration of the habitat system at present.

Also more paragons. Never ever stop adding paragons. I love them. I want one for every portrait, especially the arthropoid ones lol.

And I want a destroyer hull piece that has a missile slot but doesn't require me becoming the crisis to get it. Preferably a rear.

Also please give us a slider for galactic community speed.

Also please consider just letting us pick our forerunner already. If you don't want to balance/change them too much, just make non-random lock out ironman or not available in pvp or something.

Also just saying I think we're ready for another civic slot. The number of civics surely has more than doubled since the current limit was applied. The context and purpose and options of the whole system has definitely developed since then, too. Initially they were a lot more in parity with the number of species traits you could have. We don't need to go that far, but I think 3 ethics and 3 civics choices is a good initial balance to start a game from. The context and purpose and options of the whole system has definitely developed since then, too.

Thanks for your hard work, guys. I love this game. I love that y'all are still inspired and dreaming about it and working on it. It's been such a journey along the way, and it's been so worth it to me, there's nothing else like this game for me.

Also, seriously, SERIOUSLY, PLEASE, I'VE ASKED FOR THIS FOR YEARS: whenever you guys really are gonna stop development of content for this game to move onto the sequel or spiritual successor, PLEASE, get all the loading screens and start screens and everything else y'all have made over the years and PLEASE make a big hardcover art book for my coffee table, PLEASE.

It won't let me post this because it says it's spam. Which is not super cool.

 

[Enero]

Pls add an easy way to remove items from the game. Currentry it is very cumbersome.

Something like "remove = true" property would be handy, which will work for every item.

 

[LogicMage]

I'd like to see Psionic and bio rework. The Animator of clay should be a full patron for individual machines

 

[Aragon2.0]

On the topic of biological ships, and ships in general, I'd love to see more unique ships, especially in the form of controllable leviathans. We can already resurrect the dragons, tiyanki and reconstruct the Dreadnought, but I think it'd be awesome if we could do the same with the automated scav bot for example. Just more leviathans in general would be amazing, perhaps one or two tied in with the astral rifts? They could either be fail conditions or an option to summon a mechanical ship from beyond the rift and fight it to gain control, or some big creature we can resurrect after defeating it.

 

[TheUltimateGod4]

We NEED an internal politics rework. Like, badly. Your ideas of factions having their own tenets and goals that are shaped by your government are SO COOL I NEEEEEED IT.

That being said, the idea of biological ships seems really cool too. Definitely hyped for whatever you've got planned for Espionage too. I'd also be down for a Psionic rework, but I'm okay with the current system for now.

Molten and frozen world life in the same vein as Toxoids would be neat too, although I'd really like to see energy creatures. I know you said:

I feel that energy beings may go too far into fantasy “elementals”, so I’d like to stay away from them if possible.

But my brother in Zarqlan you literally have straight-up space wizards in your game. I don't think the idea of space "elementals" would be too far out of line there.

 

[Mech_infect]

If I roughly divide the thoughts of the community, I would highlight

1. Something completely new
2. very new, but touching on some semantic gap and giving new mechanics for this gap.
3. nothing fundamentally new, just an idea for a rebalance, a necessary rework and new events and relationships between existing mechanics and content.

It seems to me, if we talk in general, the most important now are 3 and 2.

Regarding 2 - we need a system against wide empires and a system of "administration tracking points" - if they are not enough, then all sorts of troubles, corruption, resource shortages occur. Well, and as the peaks of this "could not keep track" - disaster. (at a thermonuclear station, for example). A system for accounting for the delivery of a resource to the consumer also fits here. For example, if the alloy production center is 10 systems away from the shipyard, then let this logistics be reflected (maybe here the storage bunkers will play their new role) Yes, complication. But this is a NECESSARY complication in the context of the fact that broad empires generally don't care about current restrictions.

+
Regarding 3

need to deepen the interaction of what already exists. Personalize and deepen the role-playing interaction of all parts of the game + "thematically flavorful" interaction of EVERYTHING that exists. So that there are such thematic combinations as you wrote. Ideally with unique events, situations, etc.

Otherwise it feels like some parts of the game I don't know about the existence of others or they are connected by 2 seams (this is a metaphor)

I'm not even talking about how meager it looks now with only 3 Civics (Yes, I'm hinting at the gen-like system of Civics)