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.

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.

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).

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.

 

[Frenchie]

I have always loved the leviathans concept I would like to do more interaction with them other than just killing them:

Maybe a project to remote study them: What can we learn/Maybe some extra lore on their physiology, giving you a breakthrough in tech or a buff to something like how you can research the Dimensional Horror when it is gone for jump drives or the dragon scales from the dragons horde, but to a lesser extent. More like learning about the creature before you encounter it, not just how to kill it from the curators

Some different options to interact other than killing them: For Xenophobic Authoritarians maybe after study/subdue an option to enslave them in their system e.g. the Stellarite Devourer used to mine energy from the star in its system or using the dimensional horror to open wormholes temporarily for tactical maneuvers. Capturing them using a megastructure project or a Psionic mind control. There could be peaceful options as well like relocating/corralling them to a system where the could continue to live that would cause them no harm while giving an option for study/research points. Just something other than the "Hulk Smash" option

I like this idea
Most of time, i like all ideas who gives to players more options or more playable content without stopping them to play as they want using some obscure and stupid gamey mechanisms to give the feeling to be "grand" strategic. (Attrition/ white peace where you can't keepwhat you've taken at your ennemy if you only take 75% of their territory and come back to 0/ more you colonize to grow your empire, more your research will slow, etc...)

 

[Tobasco da Gama]

This is great. I've been waiting for this kind of new content for a long time.

 

[Murray Rothbard]

I'm going to buy it straight away. Just won't play it until it's in a better condition.

Caveat emptor. This strikes me as a sub-optimal strategy of purchasing goods. My recalcitrance is a method of signalling I would like more polish before piling on.

While I'm totally understanding as to why there are so many bugs after the seismic shift that was 2.0, I do find it odd that they add more stuff before they fix the current version.

Yes, it is odd.

 

[Nox Eterna]

I wish you would address multiple issues with titans at some point before releasing the next paid DLC. Nevertheless I am all for the story-based content and will await it eagerly regardless.

 

[TurtleShroom]

@yerm

This story pack sounds awesome but unless it allows me to right click the diplomacy notifications and have that just close without triggering the pop up, all is for naught, the game is unplayable. Having to actually communicate to alien scum that they walk the path of heresy for each and every little rodent I encounter breaks my immersion and will ruin the thrill of new events as a result.

New Anamolies and Event chains will appear in the Situation Log, not the Contacts screen. You will not have to speak to anyone to pull up or locate an Anamoly you seek out. The same goes with Stories such as the Worm.

 

[BlackUmbrellas]

@yerm New Anamolies and Event chains will appear in the Situation Log, not the Contacts screen. You will not have to speak to anyone to pull up or locate an Anamoly you seek out. The same goes with Stories such as the Worm.

I think you misunderstood. They're saying that having to pick a reply during the "first contact" pop-up is breaking their immersion. They're (humorously) implying that even dignifying the utterances of alien scum with any response at all is rendering the game Literally Unplayable.

 

[ShyFlamingo]

Caveat emptor. This strikes me as a sub-optimal strategy of purchasing goods. My recalcitrance is a method of signalling I would like more polish before piling on.


Yes, it is odd.

Excellent point. I shall postpone purchase until it looks as if the bugs are sorted. Quite Right, voting with my wallet is probably the best way forward.

 

[Krellak]

@Wiz will the distant stars DLC break saves?

 

[doomwarrior]

I have an idea for a paid DLC, it would add a feature we all are really lacking and most of us really would love to have in the game: Proper AI

Patch Name: Mühlen-Schulte

Features:

• Working Sector AI with tons of configuration options for specialisation, optimisation and automation including sector defense budgets, Space Station focus, Ship construction based on what has been built in the fleet manager
• New carefully rewritten AI with capable planet management, fleet analytics and intel based fleet composition for whoever it fancies to go after, highly capable diplomatic ai that crafts alliances, federations based on geographical and relation based factors.
• Battle hardened AI based upon pro gamers input how to play properly and how to avoid being a shamefull mess
• Proper Federation management including votes, fleet management, fleet composition, budget management throughout several involved federation ai's
• Carefully crafted strategies for all kinds of different ethics, civics and race compositions which take into account starting locations and surrounding aswell as neighbours and their preferences and setup
• and a ton of new scripted and dynamic ai events and triggers to make it more dynamic and fun...

(if you find some irony in here you can keep it ;-) )

 

[14tarkus96]

looking forward to this dlc

 

[SacremPyrobolum]

I hope they'll add a slider that lets you add as many or as few of special anomalies/leviathans/solar systems as you like. I currently use mods that is supposed to spawn all those things in but it doesn't always work...

 

[Kthene]

Considering the subject of Anomalies, I have a few ideas that you guys may or may not have already thought of, but one particular shared thought seems to be about late game anomalies. Bearing in mind i'm not a veteran at this game, merely a casual.

One, has anyone ever considered having the 'Assist Research' or a similar new ability to be able to find more anomalies on colonised planets that haven't already been fully saturated with buildings? (Excluding the initial planet at the start of the game, since logically the home species should theoretically have fully surveyed their own planet by the time they become a space-faring civilisation.) At a suitably very low percent chance of occurring, and even then, only rolling that 'dice' once a month or something similar. And it's not like all anomalies have a good outcome either. Not to mention it gives more new anomaly options for the future.

Two, following on from the previous point, the ability to scan other species' owned space stuff, providing you have open borders and/or a Research Agreement/New diplomacy Agreement. You could have the potential to discover anomalies, and either, be able to let them know... or not, especially if you plan on owning their space someday. Perhaps you have the ability to sabotage that anomaly, or even to fully research it yourself. You could trade this information for increased opinion, but the AI could also do the same with you. It's almost a slight cloak and dagger thing with scientists and diplomatic relations. You could help an ally to increase their resources, strengthening each other in a Federation, for example.

This kind of stuff probably best fits into a Diplomacy/Exploration themed expansion anyway, but it's something I thought could be interesting.

 

[Abbta]

@Wiz can we have some form of fleet designs list where you can rename designs etc? I appreciate the removal of civilian ship designs but I am bummed about the loss of renaming capability. To me it is a big thing to be able to remove even the civilian ships for roleplay immersion (one of the biggest reasons I love and still play Stellaris).

Secondly is also a potential expansion of the gender system for different species. What I mean is that alien species probably don't adhere to our human conceptions and the future and sci fi most likely have a lot of changes to all of this. I know some people will probably instantly hate me for this but considering the wide variety of reproductive systems in nature it kinda feels logical to have species that maybe clone themselves to reproduce or only have one gender or three etc. It is purely a cosmetic thing and won't really change the game in any way but it would sorta aid in immersion imo

 

[LeSingeAffame]

We already mono-gender species, but it's currently defined in the species' archetype (humanoid, mammalian, artropoid, ...), the Fungoid and the Plantoid. But I agree that it should be expanded

 

[I am Goot]

I wish they would rework the pre-cursors, other then the Cybrex who upon finding their home system gives you access to a ringworld, the others give access to well absolutely nothing. a couple mineral/energy credit stations...which is utterly pathetic for all that effort finding precursor anomalies, to the point, if I don't find Cybrex intel in my galaxy, I just don't bother with the rest, they're a waste of time.

In my opinion, each of the pre-cursors home systems should provide access to a Megastructure which no one can build which gives reliable resources/benefits which are worth fighting for, if you've done the research and then found the system in occupied territory or need to defend it against an aggressive neighbour who wants it for themselves.

Sure new Leviathans are nice to have, sure having more anomalies to XP your scientists is nice, but it sounds like a piss poor showing for what will likely be paid for content.

Wish the current leviathans were worth having.

You kill the Elder Drake, and have the chance to get a baby Elder Drake in your fleet, however the baby is really underpowered and never gets anywhere near its mommy. In my opinion, it should have a experience bar, and levels similar to a leader, upon reaching max level, its on par with its mommy in firepower and capabilities.

The Automated Dreadnought is stupid, you need a 30kish fleet to take it on, but yet upon repairing it...it comes out at a pathetic 5k firepower. You look at its weapon/defense loadout, how did this thing pose a threat to a less than 30k fleet. Stupid. Again like my suggestion of the Elder Drake, this thing should grow more powerful the longer its in your fleet, to reflect your engineers figuring out new systems and technologies on it, expanding its abilities.

The Enigmatic Fortress, you should get one chance to learn its secrets, not spend the entire game checking out this option and that. failure to get it right first time, should result in something close to a crisis, perhaps it should spectacularly go BOOM, taking out the entire system ie wiping it off the map, as well as potentially wiping out everything within a few star systems, that would make this Leviathan event something to fear. And when you finally unlock whats it can give you....its absolutely useless compared to your current tech level, by time you have a fleet capable of neutralizing its defenses and disabling it, you have out teched its benefits... the POINT?

The Gargantua Research Sphere, another epic fail of a leviathan encounter, you spend ages researching it requiring a level 5+ scientist, a time period which many a time kills the scientist requiring you to bring in another level 5+ researcher and for what..... absolutely nothing worth it.

I have killed the Spectre and unsure if it leads to anything, I have encountered but ignored the Stellarite Devourer. I just don't see the point in exploring either, they ooze more epic fail from the devs part. And the one that has got its fat arse stuck in subspace..... what the feck?

 

[BlackUmbrellas]

I wish they would rework the pre-cursors, other then the Cybrex who upon finding their home system gives you access to a ringworld, the others give access to well absolutely nothing. a couple mineral/energy credit stations...which is utterly pathetic for all that effort finding precursor anomalies, to the point, if I don't find Cybrex intel in my galaxy, I just don't bother with the rest, they're a waste of time.

They give you 9999 Unity, which is usually an instant Ascension Perk unlock at that stage of the game.

Also, the Enigmatic Fortress gives some of the most powerful tech in the game and the Infinity Machine gives (variably) a higher-tier tech or a quite impressive research buff.

You obviously don't understand what you're talking about.

 

[TheDungen]

I wish they would rework the pre-cursors, other then the Cybrex who upon finding their home system gives you access to a ringworld, the others give access to well absolutely nothing. a couple mineral/energy credit stations...which is utterly pathetic for all that effort finding precursor anomalies, to the point, if I don't find Cybrex intel in my galaxy, I just don't bother with the rest, they're a waste of time.

In my opinion, each of the pre-cursors home systems should provide access to a Megastructure which no one can build which gives reliable resources/benefits which are worth fighting for, if you've done the research and then found the system in occupied territory or need to defend it against an aggressive neighbour who wants it for themselves.

Sure new Leviathans are nice to have, sure having more anomalies to XP your scientists is nice, but it sounds like a piss poor showing for what will likely be paid for content.

Wish the current leviathans were worth having.

You kill the Elder Drake, and have the chance to get a baby Elder Drake in your fleet, however the baby is really underpowered and never gets anywhere near its mommy. In my opinion, it should have a experience bar, and levels similar to a leader, upon reaching max level, its on par with its mommy in firepower and capabilities.

The Automated Dreadnought is stupid, you need a 30kish fleet to take it on, but yet upon repairing it...it comes out at a pathetic 5k firepower. You look at its weapon/defense loadout, how did this thing pose a threat to a less than 30k fleet. Stupid. Again like my suggestion of the Elder Drake, this thing should grow more powerful the longer its in your fleet, to reflect your engineers figuring out new systems and technologies on it, expanding its abilities.

The Enigmatic Fortress, you should get one chance to learn its secrets, not spend the entire game checking out this option and that. failure to get it right first time, should result in something close to a crisis, perhaps it should spectacularly go BOOM, taking out the entire system ie wiping it off the map, as well as potentially wiping out everything within a few star systems, that would make this Leviathan event something to fear. And when you finally unlock whats it can give you....its absolutely useless compared to your current tech level, by time you have a fleet capable of neutralizing its defenses and disabling it, you have out teched its benefits... the POINT?

The Gargantua Research Sphere, another epic fail of a leviathan encounter, you spend ages researching it requiring a level 5+ scientist, a time period which many a time kills the scientist requiring you to bring in another level 5+ researcher and for what..... absolutely nothing worth it.

I have killed the Spectre and unsure if it leads to anything, I have encountered but ignored the Stellarite Devourer. I just don't see the point in exploring either, they ooze more epic fail from the devs part. And the one that has got its fat arse stuck in subspace..... what the feck?

I added a mega structure to each of the precursor systems.

 

[AndragonLea]

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?

Afaik for the same reason we can't choose which precursor event we get, which unique systems spawn or which/how many anomalies there will be: they want some of the stuff you find to be a surprise you work around if and when you find it, not a fixed variable to build a race around. That and not everything spawning every game means that players will play multiple sessions finding stuff they hadn't encountered before, extending the time between when you first boot Stellaris up and when you have seen everything it has to offer.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this update will also mean more anomalies in the future.

 

[grandad1982]

@Wiz will the distant stars DLC break saves?

Reading the diaries I would have thought so yes.

 

[James Fire]

I have an idea for a paid DLC, it would add a feature we all are really lacking and most of us really would love to have in the game: Proper AI

Patch Name: Mühlen-Schulte

Features:

• Working Sector AI with tons of configuration options for specialisation, optimisation and automation including sector defense budgets, Space Station focus, Ship construction based on what has been built in the fleet manager
• New carefully rewritten AI with capable planet management, fleet analytics and intel based fleet composition for whoever it fancies to go after, highly capable diplomatic ai that crafts alliances, federations based on geographical and relation based factors.
• Battle hardened AI based upon pro gamers input how to play properly and how to avoid being a shamefull mess
• Proper Federation management including votes, fleet management, fleet composition, budget management throughout several involved federation ai's
• Carefully crafted strategies for all kinds of different ethics, civics and race compositions which take into account starting locations and surrounding aswell as neighbours and their preferences and setup
• and a ton of new scripted and dynamic ai events and triggers to make it more dynamic and fun...

(if you find some irony in here you can keep it ;-) )

Wow. This is so incredibly stupid.

AI fixes should not be a DLC.

The rest of your post is fine, but suggesting it as a DLC is moronic.