I've been a long-time Stellaris player, and whenever I get time off work, I love diving into the game. That said, after spending several sessions with the 4.0 patch, I have to say — something feels fundamentally broken right now, especially around pop growth and job functionality.
In my latest test game, it took nearly 10 in-game years to grow from 100 to 200 pops, despite establishing new colonies and focusing heavily on growth. Compared to 3.14, where planetary setup and expansion flowed much more naturally, 4.0 feels like it's artificially bottlenecking growth.
I even tried multiple games stacking pop growth modifiers:
Honestly, it didn’t feel like they made any noticeable difference. Planets seemed to stagnate unless they were highly developed, with most jobs filled and specialist roles satisfied. Only then did pop growth start to pick up — and by that point, you're already deep into the mid-game.
But what’s worse is this: new colonies with mostly worker jobs barely grow at all. Unless you specifically unlock Cloning or Xeno-Compatibility, it seems like early and even mid-game colonies are essentially frozen in population terms. That’s not just frustrating — it undermines the entire early expansion phase of the game.
Another issue is the way worker jobs function — or don’t. Workers feel much less valuable than they did in 3.14. Without specialists present, it’s as if growth is disabled, and most new colonies start off with just worker jobs. This creates a negative feedback loop where growth stalls, productivity is minimal, and planetary development becomes painfully slow.
One more point: the UI doesn't clearly show per-job resource output anymore. Hovering over a job only gives you total output, not the specific breakdown per 100 pop. For those of us who like optimizing and managing our economy closely, this lack of clarity is a real step backward.
Pop Growth is Severely Stunted
In my latest test game, it took nearly 10 in-game years to grow from 100 to 200 pops, despite establishing new colonies and focusing heavily on growth. Compared to 3.14, where planetary setup and expansion flowed much more naturally, 4.0 feels like it's artificially bottlenecking growth.
I even tried multiple games stacking pop growth modifiers:
- Xenophobe ethic (+20% pop growth)
- Pharma State civic
- Overtuned traits for growth bonuses
Honestly, it didn’t feel like they made any noticeable difference. Planets seemed to stagnate unless they were highly developed, with most jobs filled and specialist roles satisfied. Only then did pop growth start to pick up — and by that point, you're already deep into the mid-game.
But what’s worse is this: new colonies with mostly worker jobs barely grow at all. Unless you specifically unlock Cloning or Xeno-Compatibility, it seems like early and even mid-game colonies are essentially frozen in population terms. That’s not just frustrating — it undermines the entire early expansion phase of the game.
Worker Jobs Feel Useless
Another issue is the way worker jobs function — or don’t. Workers feel much less valuable than they did in 3.14. Without specialists present, it’s as if growth is disabled, and most new colonies start off with just worker jobs. This creates a negative feedback loop where growth stalls, productivity is minimal, and planetary development becomes painfully slow.
Lack of Job Output Transparency
One more point: the UI doesn't clearly show per-job resource output anymore. Hovering over a job only gives you total output, not the specific breakdown per 100 pop. For those of us who like optimizing and managing our economy closely, this lack of clarity is a real step backward.
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