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Stellaris Dev Diary #78: Robomodding & Robot Changes

Hello everyone and welcome to another Stellaris dev diary. Today we'll be talking about some changes coming to robots in the 1.8 'Čapek' update, including the ability to modify Robotic pops. All changes mentioned in this dev diary are part of the free update.

Robomodding
In the 1.8 update, it will now be possible to create different 'models' of Robot, Droid and Synth pops through a system similar to genemodding. By researching the 'Machine Templates' engineering technology, you will get access to robomodding and a single robot trait point. More robot trait points can be gained through further engineering research. Using these points, you can create templates with different configurations of traits. Rather than using the basic biological traits, robotic Pops have their own set of traits, some of which are not available to the more basic robotic types. Once a template is created, it is immediately available to be used when building robotic Pops on a planet, and existing robotic Pops can be converted into that template through a special Robomodding project that uses Engineering research.
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In addition to adding robomodding, we've also added support for switching Pop portraits into the genemodding and robomodding systems. If set to be permitted for a particular species class, that species class can have its portrait changed to any other portrait in the same species class as part of the template creation process. This system is also fully accessible to modders. But more on that in a later dev diary.
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One final note: Since the addition of traits to robotic Pops will make them, and Synthethically Ascended empires, stronger overall, we're going to be doing a balance pass on them and possibly making changes and/or buffing the other ascension paths before 1.8 comes out.

Robot Building
We've also made some improvements to how you build robotic pops. Robotic pops are now built through their own 'Build Pop' interface in the planet view, which lets you select what robotic model you want to build and also has the option to start building several Pops at a time. If this option is checked, you will be able to build robotic Pops on any number of tiles with one simple click each, massively cutting down on the clicking needed to fill up a planet. Note that this is only a UI change, and does not in any way change the mechanics of how robotic Pops are built.
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AI Policy & Techs
The way the AI policy works has always seemed inconsistent: Outlawing AI prevents you from building dumb robotic workers, but does not prevent researching Sapient AI or installing it on a spaceship. To address this issue and open up for more varied use of robots, we've changed the AI policy to be about sapience rather than about robots, and reworked some related technologies. The Sentient AI technology has been renamed Positronic AI, and is no longer a dangerous technology in itself (its effect has also been reduced to +5% rather than +10% research speed). The AI policy will not appear until this technology has been researched, as it's simply not relevant up to that point. Once it *does* appear, it has the following effects:
Outlawed: Sapient AI is outlawed. No effect on robots and droids. Prevents research and use of sapient combat computers. Synths can be researched and built, but have their sapience removed, removing their ability to feel happiness and essentially making them into slightly upgraded droids.
Servitude: Sapient AI is allowed, but Sapient AIs are considered property and have their free will restricted. No effect on robots and droids. Synths can be researched and built, but have slight penalties to energy and research production as a result of these restrictions. They also cannot join factions.
Citizen Rights: Sapient AIs are given full individual rights. No effect on robots and droids. Synths have citizen rights and can join factions, but some traits that depend on Synths being property (such as Domestic Protocols, which increases happiness for owner Pops) lose their effect and can no longer be added to new templates.
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Manual Disassembly
Finally, since outlawing AI no longer purges robotic Pops, we've added back the option to manually disassemble them. This can be done to Robots, Droids and Synths without citizen rights, and works the exact same way as a regular 'extermination' purge, killing the Pop(s) off in a relatively short time.
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That's all for today! Next week we'll be talking about combat balance, ship components and the changes we're doing to put some clothes back on those naked corvettes.
 
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So, remind me why robots get a penalty to energy generation? I mean, besides being a gamey balance thing, what stops a droid from properly operating the controls of a power plant if they're capable of fully-automatic mining operations?
Mining operations which involve everlasting and regenerating mineral deposits, but that can't really be helped.
 
All of this sounds great but it is kinda worrying how every ascension path and endgame crisis seems to converging into too same-y options, so to speak. I just hope that synthetic traits and synthethic ascension related bonuses will be extremely different from their biological counterparts enought to feel like a wholly new path.
 
It wouldn't be too hard to add. Is there a real demand for it? (asking thread in general)
I would like that option, yeah. For example my current empire is a biological ascension empire, and despises droids. They're completely banned, disassembled the moment we conquer a degenerate droid empire.
 
I do have a question though, and I didn't see it asked directly: it sounds to me like synthetics are going to be improved greatly. Last patch it really appeared psionics were king. I hate to ask for a mountain, but what about genemodding? 1.8 sounds like quite a beast, I'm just wondering if we'll see any improvements here.
First post in this thread.
One final note: Since the addition of traits to robotic Pops will make them, and Synthethically Ascended empires, stronger overall, we're going to be doing a balance pass on them and possibly making changes and/or buffing the other ascension paths before 1.8 comes out.
 
Thank you for the update wiz!!!
Small question, will the 'bulk robot building' feature you mention, also be implemented for buildings?
One click for each tile that is

Going to be paid DLC in the future I guess. Paradox loves throwing at least a small slice of QoL features behind a paywall. :(
 
So, remind me why robots get a penalty to energy generation? I mean, besides being a gamey balance thing, what stops a droid from properly operating the controls of a power plant if they're capable of fully-automatic mining operations?
Mining operations which involve everlasting and regenerating mineral deposits, but that can't really be helped.
Please don't hide text with the text color options, it is annoying.
 
So, remind me why robots get a penalty to energy generation? I mean, besides being a gamey balance thing, what stops a droid from properly operating the controls of a power plant if they're capable of fully-automatic mining operations?
Energy also about money and financial sector.
Although in my opinion, this is not the area where people will be able to keep the leadership in 2300.
 
Good changes in regards to the management of mechanical (and biological) POPs ...

I don't know why, but I have the feeling, that you're wasting a lot of potential or work for your graphic-division since ...
1. You could use this example of a portrait as a "suit" (Babylon-5-reference) (for example) for the blorgs, which had mastered the transcendence-/psy-path of the game ...
001.jpg


2. For the synth-path of the game, you could slightly change the appearance of the biological POP-portraits, for example like this one for the humanoid elves ...
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3. For the bio-evolution-path of the game, there aren't any changes in regards to the biological POP-portraits needed.
 
What do you guys think about robot/ synth build times? I would really like to see a modifier to it, maybe in a civic or part of an ascension perk. Right now ascending to synths screws you over twice:
1. You need to manually add every pop to the build queue on every single planet. (somewhat addressed in this patch)
2. Your pop growth is slowed down as food surplus modifiers no longer reduce pop growth - synth build times remain the same.
 
What do you guys think about robot/ synth build times? I would really like to see a modifier to it, maybe in a civic or part of an ascension perk. Right now ascending to synths screws you over twice:
1. You need to manually add every pop to the build queue on every single planet. (somewhat addressed in this patch)
2. Your pop growth is slowed down as food surplus modifiers no longer reduce pop growth - synth build times remain the same.

If a planet is full in 1.8 it won't count towards population growth.
 
What do you guys think about robot/ synth build times? I would really like to see a modifier to it, maybe in a civic
Would be really cool if mechanist civic get buffed with +20% robot building speed. I think these permanent start locked civics should be more powerful then regular ones.
 
Sorry if this has been answered before but,

Is there any update on when Čapek will be released? I've got the itch to play Stellaris again but I am holding off until the new patch comes out. Can't wait!

Cheers

EDIT: Originally written Banks not Čapek!
 
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Sorry if this has been answered before but,

Is there any update on when Banks will be released? I've got the itch to play Stellaris again but I am holding off until the new patch comes out. Can't wait!

Cheers
Banks is already out. Has been for months...
 
Thank you for the continuous great work @Wiz and the team!

My 5 cents:

I normally don't play slavers, but this game I do. Planet is getting full with my preferred superior race. So it is time for the slaves to make way for their betters. Do I really need to purge at 12 of them? I would like to purge one or 2, so that I can grow....repeat. Should increase revolt risk like hell, as every slave sees what awaits them, but unfortunately in human history we have a precedence on how it is done.

@Wiz At some point I made a post in the improvement suggestions. The gist of it is that, if all your planet slots are filled with (at least some) organics and you clear a tile blocker with the intention of placing a robot there, you usually only have a brief period of time between the moment that the blocker is cleared and the moment an organic pop starts growing there.

And once the organic starts, you can't build a robot there anymore... You're left trying to hit pause at exactly the right time, otherwise you're stuck with your organic pop.

Since you're already reworking the 'Build Robot' interface, is there any chance you can find a fix for this?

I think these two post describe my needs best. I like the build multiple robots feature but that also requires the resources to be available at the time you are queuing the robots which is not that reasonable in the sense of min-maxing. Robots take so long to build that I am effectively binding 3000 energy and 1000 minerals if I want to fill a 20 tile planet, which could be better spent elsewhere if I had the option to block a tile from being used for pop growth and migration.
This would be a great feature imho. Also, please make pops that are moving to a planet visible on the target tile as well (the pop itself should be greyed out just like a growing one, but with a progress bar in another color than the one used for growing pops).

Also positronic inhibitors? Sounds much like this :D :

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First post in this thread.
I know it doesn't seem like it, but I did read that. But to me it says might and balance, and even so it's right next to psionics. So last patch, psychic was top dog, this patch synthetics are top dog. Genemodding has no distinct advantages or character, so I am interested if plans to flesh it out more as a distinct playstyle rather exist, than just buffing a few perks that psychics generally have access to as well.
 
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