Stellaris Dev Diary #69: Beyond Utopia

[akeean]

Late-/Endgame performance?

 

[Emraldis]

For the love of God, focus on bugfixing for a while!

Not just hotfixing the worst issues, but addressing the significant and ever increasing backlog of bugs such that the game doesn't feel overall buggier with each new major update and DLC. That backlog hasn't reached critical mass yet, but it is only a question of time.

This update, named after Douglas Adams, is going to focus completely on bug fixing and quality of life changes

 

[TheDungen]

Why did you chose Adams for a bug fix patch? I mean Douglas Adams is the greatest sci-fi writer of all time.

So that list, is that like in the "to-do" order of priority or unsorted? Because I'd like to see this...

• Reworks to war to address the 'doomstacks' issue and make the strategic and tactical layers of warfare more interesting and less micro-intensive.

... Like, way, way before some of those other features.

Yeah or well ahead of everything except the federation rework perhaps.

Looking forward to more great stuff from you, but (and not a complaint) this

• More story events and reactive narratives that give a sense of an unfolding story as you play.

Should never be crossed out.

Yeah I totally agree there, there should be an event and story expansion in between each regular expansion, it generates revenue which you can put towards the major expansion, and it helps make the game more and more immersive. More Events, more anomalies, more leviathans and so on. Perhaps some more prebuilt civilisations that can spawn in or games.

More potential for empire customization, ability to build competitive 'tall' empires.
I think you excludedthat way too fast.

Yeah that needs to be ongoing.

Yeah, I have too agree with this. The main issue IMO is that Spaceports ( and to lesser degree fortress/defenses ) don't scale in defensive powers at all so they become roadkills later in the game, and that there is very little in terms of logistics or harassment of supplylines ( which should be the main weapons against putting everything in a single doomstack ).

Yeah I can second this, also I would like a even bigger defence platform above fortress, perhaps called a citadel, with the ability to have extra large weapons such as giga canonn and their counterparts. Beyond that I could even see a mega structure defence platform, perhaps say a sphere of liquid metal.

you defiantly forgot one point, make planetary warfare actually have meaning and a effect in the game

I would say it is meaningful in game, it generates loads of warscore, it's jsut that it's cumbersome and boring and there are simpler ways to get warscore. They need to make it fun and interesting.

What exactly do you mean by 'less micro-intensive'? I personally wouldn't call Stellaris warfare very micro-intensive since you don't have to control individual units.

Stellaris follows the micro heavy trend of EU4 and Ck2 (as well as older paradox games) I imagine les smicro heavy means something more like HoI4.

Have you considered modeling ship combat after the idea of individual crews and the importance of individual ships?

Think about Star Trek and the Enterprise.

Individual ships should matter. Large fleets should only be needed and come together in dire circumstances.

Dialing down the limit on how many ships you cna have actually works wonders for getting that feeling, though I would like to see some of the stuff you mention too.

I would really like to see a federation mapmode that shows every federation and something similar to the expansion planner for anomalies.

Seconded. And very Seconded.

Space UN sounds rather goofy, with the game already having Federations. How would that Space UN come to be, how would it enforce its authority?

Imo it'd ruin that wild west lawless borderlands feel, that the galaxy has no ultimate authority unless Federation/Domination/Vassalize Everything Victories happen.

Deeper Federation mechanics sounds great, though.

Think along the lines for the would council in the civ games.

So...basically the space HRE?

Well no the HRE started out as centralized and drifted apart, this would be more like a space EU.

I would like to see "More Mapmodes, statistics and Charts" on that list.

To see how much better I am than the rest is very satisfying..

It's a paradox more mapmodes and especially more statistics and charts are always welcome additions. I keep telling you, lately there haven't been nearly enough pie charts in paradox games.

Id like the ability to click a solar system from galaxy view and select it as a tactical target for "fleet 1" " fleet 2" etc, so without micro managing everything inside the galaxy, the fleet will fly there and clear it out automatically. And a similar mechanic for my landing ships. This wouldnt overide the current ability to zoom in and select but make larger empires easier to manage with many fleets and targets

I would rather they exchanged the whole individual control of feets entirely with a more HoI4 sort of system.

One feature I'd really love is the ability to rename species after genetic modification. I want to create a superior humanoid race and subjugate my old race.

Actually let's take it a step further and let us rename any species at will in singleplayer.

Would it be possible to make this a game rule? At least, being one of those people who never enjoyed the concept of planetkillers.

Yes this so much this! I don't like the trope and I have explained at length elsewhere why it's ridiculous, now if people like it let them have it, me I want nothing to do with it.

Stellaris galaxy still seems remarkably lifeless and the economy is still rather bland. Would love to be able to SEE commerce between planets and develop semi-complex economies, maybe not on the level of Vicky, but Vicky would be a good inspiration.

There's nothign that can't be improved by adding some vicky to it.

Looking at the list, I'm guessing that means the next two updates will be (in some order) diplomacy-focussed (federations, primitive civilizations, UN) and war-focussed (planet-killers, dreadnoughts, doomstacks). Sounds like good priorities to me!

You forgot the total rework of the naval mechanics.

DIE KAISER REINHARD!

... What does that have to do with destroying planets? I mean ok I never did finish LoGH but as far as I've gotten there has never been any planets gotten blown up. Only one planet even gets glassed, and Reinhard might have allowed that to happen (sort of) but he didn't do it.

I just wish the factions got more dangerious more quickly. a faction on 30% hapiness should revolt eventually no matter what.
as it is right now the smallest factions will basically never revolt - at all. Not even try, just sit there and be unhappy.

I could accept that if putting them down meant I got to get rid of them. I keep having upset egalitarians because I play monarchies. I wish they'd just try their little coup so I could line them up and excute them.

 

[Pandoricus]

UN should only form when super weapons are developed

 

[jaydee69]

Looking really good. Still hoping for an in-game notepad function somewhere down the road

 

[Sindai]

Why did you chose Adams for a bug fix patch?

1.6 Changelog:

Spoiler

- "Harmless" corrected to "mostly harmless."

 

[Spidee]

Sorry, I can't be the only one.....Influence projection of Frontier outpost.....I can't be the only one who guestimates which systems will fall into the zone of control.

 

[ECFOX]

Sorry to seem Disrespectful but wiz, will there be in the future in the end game the ability to travel to different galaxies and start colonizing there to keep expansion and discovery relevant in the end game?

 

[pheonicia]

Better federations and Spess UN! [sic]

 

[GC13]

Does this mean we won't be getting a 1.5.2 patch? Because there are quite a few annoying bugs in 1.5.1, some which completely invalidate a playstyle (xenophobe/egalitarian still can't enslave aliens) and many which are just incredibly annoying (psionic ascension eventually changing your primary species, needing access to a species' homeworld to gene mod it), etc...

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

@Emraldis Yes, I read that too. And since designing and implementing QOL changes are much more interesting to developers than bug fixing ever was and can easily expand to fit any available time slot, and since implementing any QOL changes is bound to introduce new and exciting bugs, I wanted to chime in with regards to what I personally consider essential for my enjoyment of the game at this point in time: the bugfixing.

 

[Derp]

can we seriously get some better map overlays or something?

right now there is literally zero visual difference between the various intel levels you can have on a system, which is pretty frustrating when you're trying to scout

 

[Maverikfreak]

@Wiz Is there any plan in 1.6 to make useful the Unity when we complete tradition tree?

At least a little function, hurts me when i see hundreds of Unity stored for nothing,some governors, civis and ethics converts into trash and the reconversion of the Unity buildings in wide empires is a pain in the ass.

A quick and temporary solution would be to let us use the unity to make edicts, with very expensive costs (1k or more) for the excesses of the late game.

 

[markmid]

You know most of the time I look at a game and realise how I could have designed it better. I genuinely have felt that way for a couple of decades of playing games, seeing what can be improved on so the next game gets better.

Recently I sat down and thought what could they add to stellaris next or sequel, and I didn't even come up with half that list. This looks great. I don't even really have a preference as to what i'd prefer first.

I play with buildable dreadnaughts already modded, so I guess that one would be top of a hard to pick from list.
Space UN , can't wait. I hope we can both support the UN or go against it. The really big 70 empire games I play will become even more interesting with this.
More story events and reactive narratives that give a sense of an unfolding story as you play. - Fantastic!
More interesting mechanics for pre-FTL civilizations. - Also fantastic! But then all of this list is, look forward to it.

*I only have one suggestion, more new game+ starts like the shroud chain for other ethos. Its a unique mechanic to start over that i've not seen before.

 

[alteration]

Is there any plan in 1.6 to make useful the Unity when we complete tradition tree?

At least a little function, hurts me when i see hundreds of Unity stored for nothing, and the reconversion of the Unity buildings in wide empires is a pain in the ass.

A quick and temporary solution would be to let us use the unity to make edicts, with very expensive costs (1k or more) for the excesses of the late game.

Yeah it's a shame they didn't think about this.

 

[Jamey]

@Wiz:

Thanks for the update. I am loving Utopia as it really gives end game goals for me to work towards beyond painting the galaxy map my color.

I'd also like to thank you and the team for getting the Precursor quests in decent shape. After failing many times to complete one, I have completed it in all 3 of my long games in Utopia. I've complained about that a few times (OK, maybe more than a few), so it has been good to see that in good shape.

I hope that you and the team can look at further UI improvements to help with the number of core planets and habs you can have in Utopia. I'm finding the outliner pretty frustrating once I have enough planets and habs to each take up a screen or more. The UI just doesn't scale well, and there isn't enough information in the outliner to help guide me to planets that need attention.

I'd also like to see a reduction in the number of clicks for managing planets. I'd love to be able to budget for fully upgrading a building when I build the basic building and have it auto-built when idle, for example (so many less clicks later in the game!). I'd also like to see an option to auto-build synths (especially after you have upgraded your entire empire to them via ascension).

Anyway, I'll put some detailed suggestions in the appropriate subforum when I have some spare time. I'm going to say again how happy I am with Utopia, as it is the most fun I've had in Stellaris. I hope that the team keeps moving forward with both improving the current game and adding engaging content.

 

[btxsqdr]

Thank you, guys.

@Wiz Could you look into making the mid to late game more challenging in terms of mechanics? More EU4, so to speak. Story and late game crisis are nice, but the game feels still a bit dull there.

Stellaris is right now a game that, for me, always works the same. After 10 years I have 5 systems, and after 20 years 10 systems. From there I basically snowball the 50-65 % of the galaxy until 2200. Which means: the conquest, combat and diplomacy mechanics of Stellaris are rather simple and not challenging (not even compared to Pax Imperia 2 or MOO2). If you could change a few things we know from EU4, for instance, I suppose it should help to prevent that big blob gameplay that is excessive in Stellaris. For instance: When I have a fleet in Stellaris, I have a big fleet and basically steamroll through the galaxy with my stack-of-doom. Combat is not really fun when I basically a) build up a huge fleet and then b) throw it into one big battle. The combat and naval warfare is, compared to HOI4, EU4, but also MOO2 or the mentioned Pax Imperia 2, very boring and old school (i.e. stack-of-doom). By design you are saying that all players need a huge fleet and when they lose that single big battle, their war is basically over, unless they are able to rebuild their losses, which doesn't work in mid to late game. It feels very boring and repetitive if you conquer 50-60 % of the galaxy, to be sure. Certainly more of a game design decision.

 

[Emraldis]

@Emraldis Yes, I read that too. And since designing and implementing QOL changes are much more interesting to developers than bug fixing ever was and can easily expand to fit any available time slot, and since implementing any QOL changes is bound to introduce new and exciting bugs, I wanted to chime in with regards to what I personally consider essential for my enjoyment of the game at this point in time: the bugfixing.

Just wanted to make sure. And to be fair, QoL changes tend not to be massive investments of time or resources, so I feel like we'll probably get a good chunk of bugfixing in this patch. I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[Riconudo]

It seems next xpac is focused on war. I'm okay with it but I would prefer a diplomacy overhaul with espionage and culture system. Anexation of planets with pops loving my culture, a civil war or diplomatic conflicts caused by spies... these are things we can't do at this moment. On the other side, Death Star >>> Everything else. Don't forget we NEED Death Stars on base game.

 

[NoxMortem]

Please improve combat result and information. We just had two fleets and several savegame reloads and tries to find out why one fleet completly dominates the other and it is frustrating to not see it.

2 Fleets. Fleet A 45 Corvettes. Fleet B 41 Corvettes.

Fleet A 3.1K Power with 53% Fire Rate Bonus and 5% Weapon Bonus equipped with 3x Small Fusion Missiles and 120 Shileds (2x Mk II), Intermediate COmbat Combuter, Plasma Thrusters, 2% Damage Reduction (no Plating)
Fleet B 2.1 K Power with 10% Fire Rate Bonus and 3x Small Coil Guns, Ion Thrusters, Ship mounted Gravitic Sensors, 40 Sheilds (Mk1 ) and 8% (1x MkI Plating).

Fleet B utterly destroys Fleet A with 12 Corvettes left. This is not something that should happen - at least not without ANY way to estimate that from the values in the the game interface. Our only guess so far after many tries is that the missiles are too slow and the corvettes fly away long enough from them to deal so much more damage.