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Stellaris 3.99.4 'Phoenix' Open Beta Release Notes

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Worked this out and figured I'd share for anyone else with the same issue, you can fix the no election support due to missing factions issue by using the console command effect remove_country_flag = first_faction. This'll cause your leaders to have a base support based on whether they match your empire's ethics instead of trying to base it off despawned factions.

Note that you'll need to reuse the command every time a faction reforms during the election, however.
 
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The Beta is coming along quite fast, they are working very quickly. But all of the origins and all of the civics need to be working and rebalanced, which is something serious.
 
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I thought the pops multiplied by 100 would be good, but in pratice I noticed it was bad for the UI.

Its not that simple anymore to look at a planet and have an idea of things because you have 10000 housing, 15000 amenities, etc.... and other productions are just two digits like 50 unity or research.

Maybe a multiplication by 10 would feel better and comunicate better the numbers.
 
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Technotopia said:
I tested, started a new game on 3.99.4, still no factions in 11 years.

Faction tabs shows that 0% pops have ethos for every ethos.
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2275 and of my 13975 pops about 500 are in factions, factions grow slowly over time but ae no longer the primary source of unity, at least not yet, total unity produced 7.
however im a fanatical materialst empire and currently the corresponding faction has 0 pops, despite 87% attraction value, likely the faction system still needs work.
 
Troyen said:
I think it's mentioned in a few places, but the easiest one to find is DD 375:

Same with a reddit comment on the same DD asking about future beta updates:


That doesn't mean they're going to stop working behind the scenes. But it does mean you likely aren't going to see many major changes beyond this point (e.g. Planetary UI, Zones). There will probably be a big 4.0.1 and 4.0.2 with a bunch of bugfixes for stuff found in the beta that didn't make the initial 4.0 cutoff. (Per the Overload retrospective, they'll build a 4.0 and then try to build a 4.0.1 before May 5 with fallback to the original 4.0 if they run out of time, and so on.)

Launch feedback will take a bit longer. When 3.10 launched with the New Outliner to much outcry, it took 3-4 weeks to get adjustments there to make it customizable.
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At some point the branches with new content needs to get merged so it can be finalized, in the last stages marketing will take over to promote the new DLC. And from all that happened in the last years... just expect a rough release when so much mechanics are changes with an update.
 
clearly a fair few of the tasks are broken and dont complete, factions seem half baked, enough to give a feel i guess, personally i like the zone system, game needs a refresh
 
exi123 said:
At some point the branches with new content needs to get merged so it can be finalized, in the last stages marketing will take over to promote the new DLC. And from all that happened in the last years... just expect a rough release when so much mechanics are changes with an update.
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Theyre probably doing internal testing too, not just the open beta. So yall dont get to see everything theyre working on, only what theyre willing to show publicly.
 
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I have a Betharian deposit:
Screenshot 2025-03-27 at 6.59.51 AM.png

I have the Betharian tech:
Screenshot 2025-03-27 at 7.01.17 AM.png

What do I click to build something Betharian related?
Screenshot 2025-03-27 at 7.01.46 AM.png
 
KNakamura said:
"I didn't like the UI changes because I have to spend some time relearning the UX flow." would have been quicker. Disliking scrolling is super funny.

Admittedly I do have worries, but I think I'll hold off on doom saying for another 2 weeks, myself.
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This is utter nonsense. The issue is not Relearning the UI. Is the UI being worse, period.

In the current UI you can see the same amount of information (sometimes more, depending on which window we are talking about) without having to navigate to other tabs, nor having to scroll a lot etc.

What is funny is that you say that it is a matter of learning the UI, when it literally has nothing to do with it. You like scrolling? Nice, most people here want to play Stellaris instead, if we wanted to scroll we would watch our facebook feeds or similar.

The current window for Modification Template shows the exact same info, but in a much more amicable and navigable window, which by the way are two prime design aspects to take into account when doing UI design.

And the planetary one literally forces you to click on one button every single time you Tab over your planets just to know what is going on there. How is that relearning? i already learnt I need to click the button, as I am clearly mentioning it. So no, that is not the issue.

In fact, I am utterly convinced you have not even tried the beta because what you say I so extremely wrong and out of reality that that is the only explanation. Instead of asking others to relearn the UI go check for yourself how awful it is compared to what we have now, then you might actually know what you are talking about.

EDIT: Not to mention, that it is not doom saying, it is giving feedback so that things that are wrong dont go live as they are. But sure, go and wait 2 weeks without actually trying the beta, and then complain after release about the things that should have been mentioned in the beta so that they get fixed. That kind of attitude is what makes possible for several issues to reach production. If more people took the time to actually test the betas and provide actual feedback (instead of accusing others of not wanting to learn the new UI, when it is obvious that the one that didn't even check the stuff is you) then we would (probably) have better releases.
 
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tappi said:
There is a betharian building for government or urban zones, but I don't remember if it did anything at the moment. Betharian stuff isn't in yet properly.
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Here's me clicking on Replace for the Government Zone Stronghold:

Screenshot 2025-03-27 at 7.11.17 AM.png

It should be under "B" right?

It's not in the rest of the list either, but I want to show the appropriate part.
 
HFY said:
Here's me clicking on Replace for the Government Zone Stronghold:

View attachment 1272342

It should be under "B" right?

It's not in the rest of the list either, but I want to show the appropriate part.
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Probably best to ignore for now. Theyre likely gonna be on it. If its anything that needs looking at, im sure a dev or community manager will comment on it.
 
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SarahGabriella said:
Probably best to ignore for now. Theyre likely gonna be on it. If its anything that needs looking at, im sure a dev or community manager will comment on it.
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This thread is so devs can see problems which we find in play.

You seem to be trying to prevent the discussion of problems.

Why are you trying to hinder the devs by shutting down the discussions that they need to see in order to fix the problems?
 
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After playing a couple of times, I genuinely like the new design in principle. The only aspect that feels foundationally bad is building slots and in my opinion we need either more general slots or more lenience in terms of which buildings can be built in which zones.

And the specialized science labs should be per zone and only affect the jobs of said zone.
 
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Bergest said:
After playing a couple of times, I genuinely like the new design in principle. The only aspect that feels foundationally bad is building slots and in my opinion we need either more general slots or more lenience in terms of which buildings can be built in which zones.

And the specialized science labs should be per zone and only affect the jobs of said zone.
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I think my second biggest problem with the system is that, and I also think having some kind of "residential" Zone with 6 slots would mostly solve it. That could hold a lot of the "general use" stuff.

You'd want it as an inherent zone planets just have, and which doesn't cost one of our slots.

There's no planet that doesn't have permanent residents, so it should work thematically.
 
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I've been playing Stellaris since its release in 2016. Over the years, through every major expansion, rework, and overhaul, I've never once felt confused or lost. One of Stellaris’ greatest strengths—especially compared to other Paradox titles—has always been how accessible and intuitive it is to pick up and play. It struck the perfect balance between complexity and clarity, and that’s something I’ve deeply appreciated as a long-term player.


That changed when I tried the 4.0 Beta.


For the first time in almost a decade of playing Stellaris, I genuinely hated the experience. The new UI, in its current state, is—without exaggeration—the worst I’ve encountered in any game I’ve played. I understand it’s unfinished and still in beta, but with a full release slated for next month, I find that extremely concerning.


The new Planetary UI in particular is a massive step backward. It feels inefficient, cluttered, and unintuitive—actively obscuring information that used to be easily accessible. I play on a 4K resolution monitor, and like many others, I rely heavily on UI Overhaul Dynamic just to make the interface usable. Unfortunately, even that can’t salvage the new planetary interface. It’s not just a matter of needing polish—it feels fundamentally flawed in terms of UX design.


This is the first time since 2016 that I’m seriously considering not updating the game. If 4.0 releases in anything close to its current state, I’ll be sticking with an older patch indefinitely. The UI overhaul doesn’t feel like a modernization—it feels like a regression that needs another year (or two) of iteration and testing.


I say this not out of malice, but because I care about the game. I want Stellaris to succeed and continue evolving. But this particular direction feels like it’s abandoning what made the game so enjoyable in the first place.


Please, take more time. Reconsider the direction of the UI changes. Listen to player feedback—especially from veterans who have been with the game since the beginning.
 
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HFY said:
[Betharian plant stuff in the current version]

It's not in the rest of the list either, but I want to show the appropriate part.
Click to expand...

I got one built in 3.99.3, but I've not yet got a relevant planet in 3.99.4 to test. I think on 3.99.3 it was under the "do everything" Urban Zone? Split off a save game, try building an Urban Zone and see if it's available there. I assume you've tried your Generator Zone? That would be a logical location, except that in many cases you don't get that active until weirdly late.
 
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