Stellaris - Paradox new sci-fi grand strategy game

[Space Satan]

ts tragic that we didnt get "Dune" the grand strategy game (ck2 in space) given this was the best opportunity to ever see this created.

Dune is one of the most boring and tedious settings.

 

[fantadomat]

The only 4x i ever played was Alpha Centauri, is this game more complex?

Do yourself a favor and stay the hell away. This is one of the worst strategy games ever made. The biggest gaming disappointment in 5 years, not least because it means we will probably never get a real CK2 style grand strategy set in space. It's a far worse letdown than Pillars of Eternity or Tides of Numenera, which were merely mediocre in all respects. Instead, Stellaris is plain awful in every way except the graphics, which are just average. And it's all because of the utter incompetence of the designers. Everything about this game is retarded, from the original pitch of having Paradox make a straight MOO clone with no experience instead of a real grand strategy, to the breathtakingly abominable UI, to the idiocy of randomly generated races, to the game elements scavenged from random Paradox games and haphazardly assembled in a primitive tribesman's cargo cult idea of 4x gameplay. Every time I think of this unspeakable disaster of a game, my heart is stricken with grief at the thought of what could have been, if they had just let Doomdark make his CK2 in space. Such massive potential incline, lost forever like tears in rain. I appreciate what Wiz is trying to do, but it's like putting makeup on a harlequin baby. Just kill it!

Well said sir! Its tragic that we didnt get "Dune" the grand strategy game (ck2 in space) given this was the best opportunity to ever see this created. Its interesting you mention POE as it seems to be a trend with current "nu-retro-wave" developers, to make games with all the mechanics and themes of games we used to love, but utterly devoid of the heart and soul of those old games. There is something mechanical and corporate about these games, sure they are not made by the big evil companies but it still feels like they have been developed by a boardroom of accountants ticking all the feature boxes. Both stellaris and POE have a deadness that lies just underneath their shiny graphics and over tuned "balanced" gameplay. I get a similar feeling playing both games, boredom, tedium and ennui. There is no joy or excitement here.

You guys get it all wrong.

I just discovered a hidden attribute of Stellaris: It is a great way to get people to learn grand strategy games. It probably wasn't designed to be this way, but hey, it works.
Seriously, I wanted to try getting my GF to play grand strategy games. Who never played strategy games before other than Civ, let alone those intimidating excel-sheet-like experiences like EUIV or CK2 (that's what they appear like to outsiders).
We're only about 4 hours into a Stellaris game with the Star Trek mod - it upgrades the entire game and gives you something recognizable (if you're a Trekkie like us, that is) - and she is playing along just fine, needing to pause less and less often, grasping the concepts of where to build what for maximum effect, managing your resource incomes, building ahead of need, balancing troop production with income production, etc.

That the game is so... basic and generic mechanics-wise is actually helping her learn all of that.

So, not only is the game good for zen-like LARPing for those who already know their grand strategy games, it is also a good entry into the genre.
If you play it for the challenge, well... bad luck.

Wouldn't it be easier to let her play CK2? It comes natural to all women,the backstabing and the poisoning that is. Just tell her that it is a game of throne like game or download the mod,and she will master it in a week .

Otherwise i do agree,stellaris is basic as they can get....until we see imperator.

 

[Agame]

ts tragic that we didnt get "Dune" the grand strategy game (ck2 in space) given this was the best opportunity to ever see this created.

Dune is one of the most boring and tedious settings.

Its simply impossible that any setting could be even remotely more boring than Stellaris: "lets mash together extremely generic sci fi tropes with random generators". The only thing this game is good for is a cure for someone who suffers insomnia.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

i created my races and my backstories. lots of fun.
yes, as lophiaspis said it's a game for larpers.

 

[Space Satan]

DD Slave market

Spoiler

Hello everyone!

We’re back for this week’s installment of the Stellaris Dev Diary. This week we will covering a mix of paid and free features. More exactly, we’ll be talking about the Slave Market, Unity Ambitions and new Mandates. I bet I know which one you’ll want to read about first, so let’s start with that one.

Before we start I need to reiterate that this dev diary contains things that are WIP, with non-final numbers, interfaces or mechanics that might change.

The Slave Market (PAID)
To better facilitate slaver playstyles, we’ve added the Slave Market feature to MegaCorp. This will allow more easy transfer of slaves between empires. In MegaCorp, nothing can stand in the way of the pursuit of profit.

Access to the Slave Market is granted once the Galactic Market is founded. Only empires that also have access to the Galactic Market will be able to use the Slave Market. Only Pops that are currently Slaves are able to be sold on the Slave Market, but anyone can buy them (either to set them free or to put them to work). We're also considering making (non-Gestalt) robots that do not have citizen rights buyable and sellable on the market.

To sell a slave you select one or more Pop(s) on a planet (it must be enslaved). Right now the interface shows planets as the drop-down, but we will be changing it so that you first select a species, and then the list shows the different planets. We’re tweaking the interface right now, so some things might look a bit different as the next couple of weeks pass.

When you have decided which slaves to sell, they will be put on the market. The price of slaves is 500 ± the cost affected by traits. The traits that make them good slaves drives the price up, while things that make them bad slaves drives the price down. Many traits will not affect the cost of a slave.

To buy a slave, you select a destination planet and then simply click the buy button. This will complete the transaction and move the pop to your selected planet.

We are considering adding a simple bidding process as an additional step, but at this time we cannot promise that we will have time to add it before the release of MegaCorp.

Unity Ambitions (FREE)
Because of the changes to the economy system, with Unity coming from multiple sources and being a more integrated resource, we wanted to make sure that Unity is always useful. Previously a paid feature in Apocalypse, Unity Ambitions have now been made a free feature in 2.2 'Le Guin'.

Mandates (FREE)
Since we've added a bunch of new mechanics with 2.2 'Le Guin', we now have a lot more things that we can hook into. As a result of that, we have reworked and added a bunch of new mandates for democratic empires. They usually go along the lines of building more districts, building more stations to gather resource, to increasing monthly income etc.

That is what we have for this week. Next week we’ll return with a Dev Diary about what the community can expect in terms of new Modding capabilities for 2.2 (hint: It's a *lot* of newcapabilities).

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

This only makes the highly bio-unethical sex pervert empire all the more viable.

 

[thesheeep]

I always use "Domestic" slaves, if you know what I mean.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Obviously though, the sex pervert hybrid empire shouldn't stop conquest in the name of making sweet love down by the fire planet-by-planet just because they can buy hybridization stock. It just means you can also get far-flung empires in stock if you're lucky.


Also of note, you could also make it a religion instead and preach that message of universal (very physical) love.

 

[thesheeep]

I also wonder... if you can just outright buy slaves from anywhere, how that is that not utterly superior because it allows you to settle anywhere, too.
Given a somewhat even distribution of empires with and without slaves, chances are you can get slaves for pretty much every planet type.

Of course, I'm not sure when that slave market is open, it might just come too late and most of the universe is already taken.

 

[Space Satan]

Devs said you can buy slaves to eat them or use as livestock. Robots use them as a matrix-like batteries but that is the form of extermination so heavy penalties will be imposed.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

stellaris is not going anywhere until we get rebellions at least as threatening as an eu4's mid-high level one. i want to have to build police forces to beat the shit out of any hippie i find. also the script for spawning neutral enemies on a planet has always been there. i want expanding into somebody else's territory to feel like a huge deal, as "rise of mankind" for civ4 did several builds ago.
also in stellaris sieges don't feel like sieges at all. let planets shoot back! and hard! maybe not as hard as in moo3 where a planet could annihilate fleets alone, but that's the right direction.

 

[Grotesque]

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Devs said you can buy slaves to eat them or use as livestock. Robots use them as a matrix-like batteries but that is the form of extermination so heavy penalties will be imposed.

But how will the galaxy react to you using those slaves to BREED livestock hybrids?

 

[Grotesque]

"In 2.2, the planetary features, come with tile blockers too. In the case of Earth, some of them are unique. It's high time someone took out the trash"

 

[Delterius]

 

[Space Satan]

Release date - December 6

 

[Jimmious]

29 November Battle Brothers DLC - 6 December Stellaris DLC

 

[Space Satan]

 

[tindrli]

for all that dont want to spend precious time looking shitty trailer
its 06.DEC.2018

 

[razvedchiki]

any good mods?

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

alphamod.
start from there, looking for "compatible with alphamod".

 

[razvedchiki]

some good combat mods?

 

[Grotesque]

"Let's talk pops in 2.2

Note the importance of Enforcers here. They spawn when provided buildings that offer them jobs and keep down the crime generated by unhappy pops. They also produce unity, augmented by the "Police State" civic, high stability and quarrelsome trait here.

As always, remember that some values, as well as art, can still change by release!"

 

[Grotesque]

"In the 2.2 "Le Guin" update, production is sometimes a multi-step process. You start with one resource and end up converting it into other goods or services, which require different buildings, pops and are, in the end, spent on different things."

 

[Destroid]

Does all that have to happen on one planet or does it get pooled in sectors/empires?