Anyone else simply don't like the design/system/mechanics changes, even if they all functioned as intended?

[BigPoofyJacket]

I know it must have been a titanic project for the developers to get 4.0 and Biogenesis put together. However, the 4.0 launch has been plagued with more issues and questionable design decisions than any other update I've been present for since I started playing. I came to this patch with an open mind and optimism, knowing that established systems and mechanics would be changing and I was prepared to listen, learn, and adapt to move forward with them. However, after over 80 hours of gameplay after the update, I found myself realizing that even if the bugs, balance oversights, rough implementation of new and revamped mechanics, and other technical issues were solved, I just don't think I would like the game as it stands right now.

When it comes to the new ways jobs function, pops are handled, and the way planetary building and management work (aside from the difficult design of the UI), I just...don't like it. I just don't. I've been holding off on making these kinds of posts as I usually want to avoid letting any bad first impressions cement any opinions I form, but it's been a long time trying to ignore my gut response to it and this is just how I feel about the whole thing. I don't like the new scale of pops and jobs, it's harder to see the relevant information at a glance when value is 3-5 digits long (with no commas or "k" when it hits the thousands to break them up) rather than 1-3 digits. I always have to do an extra step of math and consideration in my head when I'm planning out my planets, pop distribution, and considering potential changes to pop traits thanks to how input/output and scales have changed. I don't like all the extra clicks I have to do to achieve the same outcomes when it comes to constructing buildings, districts, and specializations. On top of that, you're actively discouraged to build things in a queue, and that causes you to have to constantly come back to each planet and babysit the construction and development of it.

I've been playing for a long time and I'm sure there are many people who have played longer than me who have insight into more difficult patches in the past, however this is the first time I've been tempted to check out of Stellaris as a developing game, and to roll back my game version to 3.14 to play during that stage, even though the bio ascension rework + advanced authorities was my most anticipated wish ever since synth/cyborg ascension got theirs. I miss how clean, intuitive, and accessible the UI used to be for managing your planets and pops, and I actively abhor the moments when I need to go back into managing these things in 4.0 because it's just such a headache. In addition, it doesn't seem like I'm getting any of the performance improvements that were promised from this rework in the first place, which was apparently the entire reason it all had to change. The scary thing is, like I said before, even if all the wrinkles were ironed out and everything was working as intended, I still don't think I would enjoy the game any more.

I do like the trade and logistics changes though, funnily enough. This feels like it is currently what it always should have been. Figured I'd end with a little bit of positivity on what I do like...

 

[Trigaea]

I've been playing for a long time and I'm sure there are many people who have played longer than me who have insight into more difficult patches in the past, however this is the first time I've been tempted to check out of Stellaris as a developing game, and to roll back my game version to 3.14 to play during that stage, even though the bio ascension rework + advanced authorities was my most anticipated wish ever since synth/cyborg ascension got theirs. I miss how clean, intuitive, and accessible the UI used to be for managing your planets and pops, and I actively abhor the moments when I need to go back into managing these things in 4.0 because it's just such a headache. In addition, it doesn't seem like I'm getting any of the performance improvements that were promised from this rework in the first place, which was apparently the entire reason it all had to change. The scary thing is, like I said before, even if all the wrinkles were ironed out and everything was working as intended, I still don't think I would enjoy the game any more.

It's the UI that really does this update dirty.

I've played since launch, all the way back when we had tiles and different FTL types, and I don't remember the UI being as misaligned with the game's core loop as it is right now. There have been some sorely missing QOL features, including many that are still missing, but I don't think even the tile system actively worked against the player like the current UI does.

As you mentioned, important information is hard to find, which i something I never felt about the pre-4.0 planet view other than minor gripes like planet features being hidden in a submenu.

My hope is that when they come back at the end of summer, they decide they need an entirely new planet view to accommodate all the changes that came with 4.0 because this tweaked version of the 3.14 planet view is not doing its job.

 

[CocoCincinnati]

I was not a fan of the way things worked previously, not at all, so I am willing to give just about any system the benefit of the doubt. But more than that, after playing I can see the possibility of a really good system that I will really like.....eventually...hopefully. Still lots of tweaking, bug fixing and balancing to do...and we really need to see that late game performance improvement. If they can do that, I think this will be great.

I can empathize with anyone who is unhappy with this change though....I can remember when patch 2.2 came out., I rolled back to 1.9 and stayed that way for more than 2 years.

 

[L-Histidine]

Coming back from pre-Cosmic Storms, the strangest design-level thing to me right now is how deliberate unemployment is not only viable but possibly meta. Like, I've seen a screenshot of someone getting >1400 science and >1.2k trade 22 years in just from a homeworld full of civilians.

 

[Dayknight]

Storm work as promised and it is bad. Not only it create lot of lags with adding already lag producing ship modifiers, they clog tech choices with tons of techs. At least devastation can be controlled though.

 

[Enero]

I think that district rework is a degression. I root for multiple district types.

 

[aadf97799c]

new ui suck

old one are not great but nowhere near this awful

not sure if this could count as working as intended because it certainly not working well

 

[TheHostName]

I dislike the current district system. I think its 2 steps back and 2 steps forward. I 100% think that a system with specializations modifying the jobs per distric is a good idea. 100% a step forward. But its sadly this isnt also done for Buildings. It would make far more sense if they do this aswell. I do recognize though that this would make them clash with specialisation of districs. maybe Instead of Districs giving jobs per lvl, they should be like planet specialisations in that they buff the buildings in that district. Forcing people to place buildings in their appropriat specialisation.
And the +1 output of something per 100 jobs buildings might need to go. Those are far too weird in this. The rare resources ones infact are soo dumb in how they work, that it might be the only building where i want a flat output on a per disctrict lvl. Like 1 per mining disctrict while increaing miner mineral upkeep.

Otherwise Back in pre 4.0 times: the way i build my planets was: spamm science buildings. Get some districs you need, but usually industry and city districs. Some planets rather just minerals or cash. Now in 4.0 Iam building mono city planets where i have over 10k and more housing then i need. I do make mono mineral planets and so on. But they are soo strong now from an eco perspective. And then when i get to ecus i suddenly have this planet where i build 1 bottom district just for the 3 buildings. This just feels so wrong. Everything being a city disctrict on planets should not be the case.

Also i really dislike that civillians are the lowest lvl of pops and dont show up as unemployed. I just look at my planet and see no available jobs. But i dont see how many unemployed i have here. Sure i see the specialists and elite, but i want to see at a glance that i can resettle 400 civilians to a mining world

 

[Kainser]

I'm fine with most of it, but the addition of 'civilians' really bothers me. The concept just bothers me. It is so unintuitive compared to employed vs. unemployed pops in previous versions and I don't like the idea of having a vague civilian sector which you have very little input on. The flavor of them also doesn't work for me.

 

[I_Relaxxx]

The job system is horrible because it forces you to engage in either job or building micro. If you build all your stuff at once all your lower class workers instantly rank up to fill the urban jobs leaving you in an energy/mineral/food deficit. The way around that is to just build one district/building at a time and wait till the jobs fill up again or to manually reduce the amount of jobs and then increase them again later. Those are both bad.

 

[Dr. B]

It is too complicated and micro-intensive for my taste. A simpler economy would be better imo. But it is not my game.

 

[Red Death]

The job system is horrible because it forces you to engage in either job or building micro. If you build all your stuff at once all your lower class workers instantly rank up to fill the urban jobs leaving you in an energy/mineral/food deficit. The way around that is to just build one district/building at a time and wait till the jobs fill up again or to manually reduce the amount of jobs and then increase them again later. Those are both bad.

This is how 3.14 works as well?

I dislike the current district system. I think its 2 steps back and 2 steps forward. I 100% think that a system with specializations modifying the jobs per distric is a good idea. 100% a step forward. But its sadly this isnt also done for Buildings. It would make far more sense if they do this aswell. I do recognize though that this would make them clash with specialisation of districs. maybe Instead of Districs giving jobs per lvl, they should be like planet specialisations in that they buff the buildings in that district. Forcing people to place buildings in their appropriat specialisation.
And the +1 output of something per 100 jobs buildings might need to go. Those are far too weird in this. The rare resources ones infact are soo dumb in how they work, that it might be the only building where i want a flat output on a per disctrict lvl. Like 1 per mining disctrict while increaing miner mineral upkeep.

Otherwise Back in pre 4.0 times: the way i build my planets was: spamm science buildings. Get some districs you need, but usually industry and city districs. Some planets rather just minerals or cash. Now in 4.0 Iam building mono city planets where i have over 10k and more housing then i need. I do make mono mineral planets and so on. But they are soo strong now from an eco perspective. And then when i get to ecus i suddenly have this planet where i build 1 bottom district just for the 3 buildings. This just feels so wrong. Everything being a city disctrict on planets should not be the case.

I think giving districts specialisations was a fun enough idea. But I would have preferred having more different districts. And I certainly wouldn't have merged the industrial district into the city district. I would have preferred creating separate research and unity districts (and thus not having those primarily use buildings anymore).

Also the basic resource specialisations on the city district (and to a lesser degree the research support specialisations on the basic resource districts) might have been a mistake: They encourage extreme specialisation too much.