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Hello everyone and welcome to another Stellaris development diary. Today, we're going to continue talking about the Distant Stars Story Pack that will be accompanying the 2.1 'Niven' update, on the topic of exploration and new things to find in the galaxy. As with the previous dev diary, we're going to be fairly light on the details to avoid spoilering too much of what's out there to explore in Distant Stars.

New Anomalies
Distant Stars adds several dozen new anomalies to the game, with everything from simple discoveries to complex event chains (including the opportunity to make a new and very different kind of friend...) Overall, Distant Stars increase the anomaly count of the game by about 50%. We've also taken the time to go back and improve some old anomalies and fix up others that did not spawn correctly, so that even those without Distant Stars will be able to experience new discoveries in the Niven update.
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New Systems
Distant Stars adds around 20 new, unique systems to the galaxy, similar to Sanctuary or Zanaam in the base game. Most of these systems have unique encounters, event chains or anomalies related to them, and some are actually several systems with a common background or event chain tying them together. Overall, though none of these systems are guaranteed to spawn in any individual game, every randomly generated galaxy in Distant Stars should contain some new and potentially rewarding discoveries for your empire to make.
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New Leviathans
Distant Stars also adds 3 new Leviathans to the galaxy. Two of these Leviathans work in a similar way to existing ones, while one is altogether different from anything you will have seen before. As with previous Leviathans in the Leviathan Story Pack, these new Leviathans have curator dialogue and interactions related to them, which means that the Curator Enclave will appear in the galaxy if you have Distant Stars but do not own Leviathans (Traders and Artists do not spawn unless you have Leviathans, however).
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That's all for today! Next week we're going to talk about the Niven update, on the topic of Space Creatures and Strategic Resources.
 
anomaly update, ey? is this when we can start queuing up anomalies just like with special projects on the map instead of having to enter the system and click it?
 
I have seen Galactic Nomads post-2.0 in some games, after stabilish first contact they can be contacted in diplomacy tab now, but the options are just flavor dialogues.
The major part of the event work fine, but I see weird things sometimes, for example, in one game the nomads voluntarily leave some pops inside a hive mind empire, the pops become livestock...

I haven't seen them since 1.6, and definitely wish they get more fleshed out, and appear more often.
 
I think it would be good if they also make the events somehow spread throughout the game. So that I have surveyed the whole galaxy by mid-game, but new events still pop up in already surveyed systems later on. So theoretically in a 1000 year game you could experience most if not all events.
 
Nice! I hadn't notice.

I as thinking maybee every time you research a tech you have a chance that an anomaly will spawn on a planet in your space. To simulate that you have developed the technology required for discovering that anomaly. Or maybe it could be only if you have a certain ascension perk.
Yes. Anomalies for later game. Events when a certain building is built for the first time on a planet. Events when a high number of buildings (or a high number of same building) is built on a planet. Events when a planet fills up with pops. Events when jump drives are used. Oh wait... I went off on a tangent about events when you were talking about anomalies. :oops:

Anomalies spawning when jump drive used. Anomalies related to newly researched strategic resources. Anomalies after wormholes and gateways used. Anomalies spawning before, during and after the end game crisis. Anomalies sometimes (rarely) spawning in foreign empires (they may have missed something after all.)

I haven't seen them since 1.6, and definitely wish they get more fleshed out, and appear more often.
I've seen them once since 2.0 and they were bugged and didn't activate. :(
 
Anomalies and exploring space are the coolest part of the early game. I'd like to see some anomalies and so on be involved in the mid-game or late-game.

More events in general! Really looking forward to this.
 
I apologize for that and admit I was wrong. I have to rethink my stance on Distant Stars considering this.
More than anything else, you should wait they are at the last dev diary before the launch, and waiting to know the complete list of changes included in distant wars, before being happy or disappointed. It's too early. We have some ideas of course, because they gave us the list, but we don't know at this time exactly what the features will include, with more details.

I think the addition of new Leviathans is the chance to rework the rewards for defeating the existing ones.
At least buffing the repaired dreadnought and the baby drake.

Agree. More life in the galaxy is cool, but good and more balanced rewards are too :)

Edit for Wiz: The Leviathans are too rares, we don't see them enough in the random galaxy generation. Up their random generation probability number please.
 
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Two of these Leviathans work in a similar way to existing ones, while one is altogether different from anything you will have seen before
I sense a world eater leviathan coming that travels across the galaxy and eats planets. I think there was a Star Trek episode with that in. I know how to defeat it already.

Also why don't we have a slider for leviathan spawn?
 
@Wiz

Are you going to change how anomaly are discovered? Because as soon you crank up the number of AI, you will be lucky to experience a few anomaly if at all. Forget about finishing percursor event chain and the likes in a reasonable timeframe.

Are you going to fix the problem with science ships and auto-exploration where they will just refuse to survey the system they currently are in which hasn't been mapped by you just because the science ship itself is 100% stuck behind closed border. This is fairly easy to reproduce to be honest.

Is the science ship's new ability, the "go off hyperlane grid thingy", slated to be mid-game unlock or late-game unlock? Or hopefully earlier than that.
Wait what? What "go off hyperlane grid thingy"?
 
I really like the whole anomalies rework offering more outcomes than "failed anomaly VS benefitial anomaly". Perhaps there will be options as to how to proceed, depending on the scientist's personality? More ethoi-specific courses of action would be great to see as well.
 
Not saying that the current system is perfect, but I've never had an issue keeping track of what features are from what.
If you read the dev diaries, it's pretty clear what goes with what.
We will see that after Stellaris hits its 42. DLC, where you have to "study" the dev-diaries, the wiki, the steam-shop-page or the paradox-shop-page to figure out, which feature / improvement / what-ever belongs to which DLC since paradox is pretty "clever" to put stuff, which rather belongs into an (older) DLC or into the base-game - itself, into their (newest) DLC.
 
We will see that after Stellaris hits its 42. DLC, where you have to "study" the dev-diaries, the wiki, the steam-shop-page or the paradox-shop-page to figure out, which feature / improvement / what-ever belongs to which DLC since paradox is pretty "clever" to put stuff, which rather belongs into an (older) DLC or into the base-game - itself, into their (newest) DLC.
Does this mean that the dev diaries are anomalies? I'm guessing we need to send a "scientist" to ParadoxCon to investigate it...
 
r u fixing the new balderak chain? at the moment you cant build the research station for the +4 society... my OCD consumes me...
You can, but you first have to disband your mining station
 
Wait what? What "go off hyperlane grid thingy"?

In the 2.1 first look video there was an ability for science ship to basically go off hyperlane and show up in another solar system.

Not sure if it is something you can target or act on it's own like auto-exploration.

Time stamp at 20:50.

 
We will see that after Stellaris hits its 42. DLC, where you have to "study" the dev-diaries, the wiki, the steam-shop-page or the paradox-shop-page to figure out, which feature / improvement / what-ever belongs to which DLC since paradox is pretty "clever" to put stuff, which rather belongs into an (older) DLC or into the base-game - itself, into their (newest) DLC.
I'm really not sure what you're on about.

Nobody wants to have to "upgrade" their DLC. Paradox is perfectly fine to duplicate content between a few of them so long as the "duplicated" content is actually new, like in this case where Distant Stars gives you a small number of Leviathans and the Curator Order so you can learn about them.
 
Keeping my fingers crossed for one of the Leviathans to be a "scout" belonging to the "Hunters" of the prethoryn.