Hey all!

Today’s topic will further explore the subjects of fleet movement, FTL-travel and the general wonders one might happen upon when ripping holes through subspace. As the writing of this is a bit sudden the dev diary came out late today, our apologies!
The galaxy is a pretty huge place and to get anywhere in a timely manner you’ll want to travel faster than the speed of light, or use FTL-travel for short. Stellaris will have three methods of FTL that players can use; Warp, Hyperlanes and Wormholes. They all have distinct advantages and disadvantages when it comes to the strategic movement of ships and fleets causing expansion paths, diplomacy and wars to be quite different depending on the method used.

Warp
Warp requires each ship in the fleet to be equipped with a Warp Drive. These are quite costly to build and cause a major drain on each ship’s available power, but allows unconstrained travel to any system within range. When travelling to a system outside the range of a single warp-jump, the fleet has to make a sequence of jumps through a number of systems. Any jump puts a considerable strain on a ship’s Warp Drive, causing the fleet to not be able to jump again for a short while after arrival. While this can be reduced by more advanced technology, it does remain a weak point throughout the game for any species using this method.
Fleets using Warp Drives to travel will need to do so at the edge of a system to lessen the gravitational pull of the local star. This in combination with the fact that warp-jumps have the slowest FTL-speed of the three methods means that the arrival point of an incoming warp-fleet can be identified, and possibly ambushed. The cost of freedom is potentially high!

Wormhole
Some species have decided to sidestep this whole business of blasting through the void at ludicrous speed. They prefer to open up a temporary wormhole that a fleet may use to instantly travel to a distant system. These wormholes can only be generated by a Wormhole Station, a type of space station that can only be constructed on the outer edge of a system. Any fleet wanting to travel will have to use the Wormhole Station as a connecting point, passing through it whenever they leave the system. The station may only generate a single wormhole at a time, forcing all ships and fleets to wait while one is being prepared. The larger the fleet, the longer it takes for the Wormhole Station to be ready. The wormhole generated does allow two-way travel, but will collapse almost instantly after sending a fleet through.
Constructing and maintaining an efficient network of Wormhole Stations is vital to any species using wormholes, as it will allow sending huge fleets from one part of the galaxy to another in very short time. It also allows striking deep inside enemy territory with little warning. This great strength can also be a great weakness, as fleets are left with no means of further offense or retreat should the network be disabled through covert attacks by enemy strike-fleets.

Hyperdrive
The galaxy in Stellaris has a hidden network of hyperlanes connecting the systems, only visible for those who know where to look. Ships that are equipped with a Hyperdrive can access these lanes and use them to traverse the galaxy at incredible speed. They are however bound by the preexisting network, and has to path through each system connecting their current location and target. Galactic voids lacking systems are in effect huge movement-blockers for any species using hyperlanes, having few systems allowing possible crossings. An enemy could potentially fortify these vital systems should they become aware of their existence, creating strategic choke-points. As the hyperlanes exist in subspace, fleets may access them from anywhere within a system and does not have to travel from the gravitational edge as Warp Drives and Wormhole Stations do. As such, catching a fleet using hyperlanes can be tricky. Correctly identifying the paths to intercept and interrupt their somewhat long charge-up is probably your best bet.

All methods of FTL-travel can be improved by researching more advanced technologies. While their exact effects differ some they all improve the speed, range, efficiency or cooldown of FTL-travel. However, being able to casually bend time and space with increased power does not necessarily mean using it with more responsibility. As additional species bend the laws of physics to send larger and larger fleets through the galaxy, there is always the risk of something, or someone, noticing...

Next week we’ll talk more about the different species in the galaxy. Look forward to it!

 

[Enlil]

Is it possible to travel without faster than light methods? I don't know if it has been answered before, but wouldn't it be a very impractical way of travel which exists as a last resort?

 

[Boristus]

King, Perhaps.
Warpdrive = Star Trek
Hyperdrive = Star Wars
Wormhole = Stargate/Mass Effect

Not quite. Star Wars Hyperdrives would also be considered Warp Drives under Stellaris classification (Star Wars hyperlanes are simply well-charted routes that don't require you to navigate around any of the various stellar objects that cause fun™ things to happen if you encounter their Mass Shadow in Hyperspace. They're faster to use, but not a requirement). Stellaris Hyperdrives are more like the subspace corridors that one race in Voyager used.

 

[sirdinksalot]

Awesome diary. I am super interested in what some other people of asked: Will Federation Fleets be populated with ships using the three different types of FTL travel? That could make a federation quite difficult to fight. You can't just blockade hyper-lane choke-points, they can teleport past. Destroying a wormhole station might cut off immediate reinforcements but you are still vulnerable to warp and hyperlane fleets. I wanna know more. Keep up the great work guys, Stellaris sounds awesome.

 

[TheDungen]

You read it right, so wormholes are actually a pretty good option for exploration. Your station can connect to any system in range, both to send ships and collect them. It sounds like it could be my favourite FTL method.


Well in theory the stations could just service civilians as lowest priority, forming a queue to send them off or collect them whenever no military ships need them, then whenever a military ship needs to go somewhere the station cancels what it's doing to service them, resuming the queue when available again.

Well for me it takes away all appeal they held, stable wormholes DS9 style (or wh40k eldar, though they cross over into hyperspace lanes territory) would've been cool, magical portals you can open anywhere is just cheap.
Even stargate style where one gate can call anyother prexisting gates would've been better than this.

 

[blackchoas]

this design sounds literally perfect, I'm sure it needs lots of balance to get it right but A+ for the concept

I love the strategic weaknesses and strengths you have already suggested, warp drives can only do sort jumps and will often come out of warp weak and vunerable, not to mention being generally slower, the main strength here being freedom of movement

However wormholes and hyperlanes both have their own weaknesses, wormholes are a one way trip and if they wormhole generator is destroyed the fleet could be stranded, I could easily see this in wormhole vs wormhole warfare, sending a strike team on a suicide mission to destroy a wormhole generator and leave the enemy fleet stuck at the far side of their empire while your main force invades.

I really would love to see some game play of this sometime it all sounds so cool, especially if you can mix and match fleets in later stages of the game when you have federations, send in a strike force via wurmhole to hold a beach head on the edge of the system so that the main fleet can warp in without getting bombarded right away

The only other question I have is, how well can ships work when not using FTL travel? exactly how screwed am I if my wormhole generator is destroyed but my fleet is needed on the other side of my empire? would it be nearly impossible for me to bridge the arms of a spiral galaxy if I use hyperlanes?

 

[Soranya]

So, when you say "will stay with the chosen FTL version the mayority of the game" does this mean we can not research the other types by normal means or just that it is usually unfeasible to do so. And when you say "ships can not use different FTL versions at the same time" does this mean a ship is built to either use one of the three FTL version and can never use another one. (E.G. a warp capable fleet flying through a wormhole or ships that have both Warp and Hyperdrive engines and use one or the other depending on whats the fastest method in a given moment?)

 

[Krajzen]

"Fleets using Warp Drives to travel will need to do so at the edge of a system to lessen the gravitational pull of the local star."

I expect this game to be incredibly badass.

 

[DC123456789]

Is it possible to travel without faster than light methods? I don't know if it has been answered before, but wouldn't it be a very impractical way of travel which exists as a last resort?

Wouldn't that take thousands to millions of years on the scale of the game?

 

[Attalus]

Even stargate style where one gate can call anyother prexisting gates would've been better than this.

Problem is that it doesn't allow you to explore outside of your system of origin unless there is already a system of gates like in ME or SG.
I think we might see better worms later in the game once you have installed your web of gates and have mastered the technology. So far I don't see the problem with these stations, it's actually the one I look forward the most.

 

[TheDungen]

Problem is that it doesn't allow you to explore outside of your system of origin unless there is already a system of gates like in ME or SG.
I think we might see better worms later in the game once you have installed your web of gates and have mastered the technology. So far I don't see the problem with these stations, it's actually the one I look forward the most.

Well if you could like I suggested buy warp or hyperlane engines from others then you may buy outdated scout ships from them and use for exploration and then when you find a suitable place you build a gate. Making them diffrent from the others in that they suck at exploring but are absolutly superb at intrastructure.
King of like mass effect, simple FTL for short distance movement of first push into a area but then you build (or in their case find and identify) a mass relay and can get there much faster from there on.

 

[Attalus]

Well if you could like I suggested buy warp or hyperlane engines from others then you may buy outdated scout ships from them and use for exploration and then when you find a suitable place you build a gate. Making them diffrent from the others in that they suck at exploring but are absolutly superb at intrastructure.

And so you wait for the others to find you and can't explore before ? Nobody would choose them because it would mean you'd have nothing to do for quite a lot of time.
I think they've hit a good balance here. And in a sense they already "suck" at exploring since they have a more limited range than others and they'll have to build other wormhole station before expanding it. Moreover I'm confident in late-game unlocking advanced options like having the gates forming a web from which you could freely travel.

 

[Kurospidey]

Just wanted to say this game looks awesome! I can't wait till it gets released.

 

[ASmallFish]

Possibility of mounting a wormhole generator on a supercapital ship?

 

[Attalus]

Possibility of mounting a wormhole generator on a supercapital ship?

That would be so OP but so much fun

 

[aitaituo]

Possibility of mounting a wormhole generator on a supercapital ship?

Just like Homeworld!

 

[brobman22]

This is really cool.

 

[EU3NOOB]

Wouldn't that take thousands to millions of years on the scale of the game?

No. That's only at our current IRL tech. Theoretically a ship can travel to 99.99% light speed without special FTL methods, which would mean that in order to get to say, 47 Ursa Majoris(around 46 light years from Earth), it would take about fifty years.

 

[Tim_Ward]

Warp requires each ship in the fleet to be equipped with a Warp Drive. These are quite costly to build and cause a major drain on each ship’s available power, but allows unconstrained travel to any system within range.

So, that's a pretty interesting line. Does that mean that reactor power is a mechanic in ship design, or is this more in terms of fluff?

 

[Finnway]

So, from what I understand.

Wormholes have a have a very long range and allow you to warp to virtually any solar system in the galaxy almost instantly. However, they require constructing a worm-hole station first and take a long time to charge up. You have to wait for them to charge up again before returning home.

Warpdrives let you choose from a list of nearby systems to warp to. Their range is not as far as wormholes, but further than hyperlanes. They don't require a preparation time, but have to recharge between jumps. They make your fleets very expensive.

Hyperlanes are essentially "roads" between solar systems. They let you travel to "adjacent" systems rather quickly. Thus they have the shortest range of any FTL travel. Their advantage is they're fast, inexpensive, and require no preparation time.

In summary:

• Wormholes have the fastest travel time, the longest range, and the longest preparation time of any FTL travel.
  
• Warpdrives have the slowest travel time, second longest range, and second longest preparation time of any FTL travel.
• Hyperlanes have the second fastest travel time, shortest range, and shortest preparation time of any FTL travel.

*puts on speculation hat*

I'm predicting Wormholes will be the chosen FTL of "tall" empires. You won't need Hyperlanes or Warpdrives if you're only occupying four Solar systems.

Hyperlanes will be the chosen FTL of "wide" empires. They'll let you colonize faster early game and make it easier to defend big empires.

Warpdrives are the most versatile FTL. They have no natural hardcounter. Their only disadvantage is they're slow and expensive.

edit: or maybe it's the other way around. Maybe Wormholes are best for militaristic empires, Hyperlanes are best for "wide" empires, and Warpdrives are best for "tall" empires (expensive early game, well rounded for attack or defense).
Or maybe I should just take off the tin-foil hat.

 

[DC123456789]

No. That's only at our current IRL tech. Theoretically a ship can travel to 99.99% light speed without special FTL methods, which would mean that in order to get to say, 47 Ursa Majoris(around 46 light years from Earth), it would take about fifty years.

The distance between each start looks like a lot more than 46 light years though. Even with that the timeframe would be on the order of decades or centuries, which kind of renders it useless.