Stellaris - Paradox new sci-fi grand strategy game

[Joggerino]

The problem with stellaris is that it is not actually grand strategy game but just civ clone. It has the same exact issues as civ clone because it is civ clone.

The main feature of grand strategy game is uneven ground. How fucked you are depends only on your choice of nation. In Stellaris everyone starts from same point + some retarded "advanced civilizations" that stopped expanding.

Stellaris was always known to be a 4x game, that shouldn't be a problem by itself.

 

[thesecret1]

Stellaris was always known to be a 4x game, that shouldn't be a problem by itself.

It was actually marketed as a "4X/GSG hybrid".

 

[Space Satan]

DD

Spoiler

Hello everyone!

Today we’re back again with yet another dev diary; number 200 in fact. It sure has been a very exciting journey for Stellaris, and I think it is only going to get better! Nemesis is shaping up to be a very interesting addition to Stellaris, and today we thought we would talk about another headline feature for our upcoming expansion – namely the Custodian.

While some empires seek to set the universe on fire, others need to find their destiny as its defender. As we mentioned last week, the Galactic Community will get their own tools to fight the crisis, and that is what they can do by electing their chief crisis fighter.

We are setting the stage for these two nemeses to battle over the fate of the galaxy, and it is up to you who will win.

Becoming the Custodian
As soon as there is a Galactic Council, the Galactic Community can propose to elect one of the council members to become the Custodian. It is possible to have multiple proposals going at once, but as soon as a resolution is passed that elects a Custodian, others cannot be proposed anymore, as the choice has already been made.

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Time to get to work.
Powers of the Custodian
In order to be effective at their role, the Custodian must gain access to some special powers. The Custodian may need to be able to affect which resolutions move to the Senate Floor, so they have extended powers to be able to influence that more directly.

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The Custodian in the Galactic Community.
Prematurely End Session: A Custodian can end the current session after half of its voting period, which will pass or reject the resolution being voted on depending on the voting situation at the time.

Emergency Measures: The Custodian can use the Emergency Measures power to send a proposal to the Senate Floor, but has a much lower cooldown than regular council members.

Shared Intel: The Custodian will gain some Intel on all other members of the Galactic Community, such as knowing their Relative Fleet Power.

Freezing proposals: The custodian can pay 200 influence to freeze a resolution for 4 years, making it impossible for the resolution to move to the Senate Floor for the duration.

Brrrr. Will you be resolute and wait it out..?
Custodial Resolutions
There are a number of new Resolutions that are tied to the Custodian. Let’s take a look at some of them:

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Galactic Defense Force
In order to protect the galaxy from threats from within and from beyond, the Custodian is able to construct ships for a Galactic Defense Force. The GDF is very similar to a federation fleet in the way it works, with the exception that it’s under the control of the current Custodian.

Should there cease to be a Custodian, the GDF will become an independent entity until a new Custodian is established.

Once again, similar to federation ships, the GDF ships can be designed in the ship designer., which can be accessed from the Galactic Community UI.

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Nemesis. After one crisis has been defeated, maybe the next one is just around the corner… and this time it's a diplomatic one.

 

[Jonathan "Zee Nekomimi]

so more mana pp feature to hinder your progress and give u a feel of something happening on those long boring years mid-late game.

 

[Forest Dweller]

Wonder if they'll try to remove you from custodianship if you just start attacking people.

 

[Storyfag]

Wonder if they'll try to remove you from custodianship if you just start attacking people.

That seems to be the idea. Custodianship seems like something you can use to Become the Senate.

Because let us all be fair, we have been all wanting to do that for a while now.

Perfectly possible already at this point. Make it to the council, then reduce membership.

 

[Space Satan]

DD

Hello everyone!

Last week we talked about how the Galactic Community can elect a Custodian to unite them against an ongoing crisis, and this week we aim to continue that story.

The Unbidden invaded the galaxy, and in order to defeat the crisis you needed to ask for additional powers, and the length of the war underlined the need for more permanent powers. Those powers were very nice to have, and they are powers that you may not want to give up so easily.

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When a Custodianship is granted on a perpetual term limit, the Custodian can propose a resolution for the creation of a Galactic Imperium.
Proclaim the Galactic Imperium
Citizens of the galaxy! On this day we make history as we transition into a new, and brighter future! Under this New Order, our ideals and rights will be protected. We hold these rights to be self-evident and we will defend them by force of arms. No star shall be lost to the enemies of our Community and together we will repel all attacks from within or without. Let our enemies learn to fear us: those who challenge our resolve will be crushed.
– High Chancellor Nilapatep, during the proclamation of the Galactic Imperium

Long live the Imperium!

Long live the Emperor!
When the Galactic Imperium is created, all federations that were previously in the Galactic Community will be disbanded.

There is a New Order in town.
The Galactic Imperium cannot be proclaimed during a War in Heaven.

Galactic Imperium
Once created, the Galactic Community ceases to exist and turns into the Galactic Imperium instead. Some things will be familiar, and some things will be entirely different.

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Will the Imperial Senate Comfort the Fallen?
The Galactic Emperor will gain access to a number of new resolutions, and a number of resolutions that are similar to those that were available to the Custodian.

There is much work to be done in the Galactic Imperium.
The Galactic Emperor retains the powers available to the Custodian, e.g. such as Conclude Session and Freeze Resolution. They will also have a permanent Intel bonus against members, and gain an additional bonus to Diplomatic Weight.

Your Ethics will shift towards Fanatic Authoritarian, shift your Authority to Imperial, and you will get a new government form. Your Civics that are incompatible with your new position will be removed and you will gain a new unique Civic.

The emperor will gain a new unique Civic that doesn’t occupy a Civic slot.
Hive Minds, Machine Intelligences and Megacorps are not blocked from proclaiming the Galactic Imperium, and have their own slight twist on it.

A Megacorp that forms the Galactic Imperium gains access to regular civics as well as corporate civics.

Imperial Armada
If there was a Galactic Defense Force during the previous Custodianship, it will be converted into the Imperial Armada instead.

Imperial Authority
The power that the Emperor holds over the Galactic Imperium is reflected in Imperial Authority. Depending on the strength of the Imperial Authority, different things can happen.

Members of the Galactic Imperium can choose to Strengthen or to Undermine Imperial Authority.

The Galactic Emperor gains access to a new Operation – Target Seditionists – which will prevent the target from undermining Imperial Authority with their envoys for a certain amount of time.

Those opposing the lawfulness of this New Order will also gain their own tools. The Weaken Imperial Authority Operation will do exactly what it promises. Should Imperial Authority fall below 50, they also gain access to the Spark Rebellion Operation, which will also do exactly what you would expect.

Rebellion
The rebels have chosen to light the flame, and the galaxy is in turmoil once again.

Those who refuse to join the rebels will join a loyalist federation instead, and a war will be declared that pits these two federations against each other. All rebel empires will leave the Imperium for the duration of this war.

If the Rebels win the war, the Imperium is dismantled and reverts back into the Galactic Community. All Rebels will rejoin the Community, Council members lose their seats, and all Loyalists get a temporary debuff to their diplomatic weight for a few years, meaning their influence in the reborn Galactic Community will be limited to begin with. The former Emperor will get even greater diplomatic weight penalties which will also last longer.

If the Loyalists win, the Rebels are all forced back into the Galactic Imperium and they get temporary debuff which lowers their diplomatic weight for a few years. In addition, Imperial Authority is greatly increased.

Regardless of who wins, the Rebel and Loyalist federations are disbanded.

If the war ends in a Status Quo/White Peace, the Rebels secede from the Imperium, and their Federation stays intact.

A Galaxy on Fire
With Nemesis we wanted to focus on the things that can go wrong, we wanted to focus on disruption and chaos. With one crisis defeated, the next crisis might be just around the corner, and it will be up to you to navigate the delicate balance of the galaxy.

Will you light the flame, or will you restore the balance?

Who will be your Nemesis?

 

[Storyfag]

This is all fine and dandy, but... by midgame I could probably declare war on everyone (sans the fallen empires, ofc) and make them my bitches. Once they are my vassals and in my hegemonic federation, what's the need for this Community-into-Imperium business?

 

[razvedchiki]

larping.

 

[Mark.L.Joy]

100% sure someone saw Palpatine's unlimited power clip on youtube and came up with this expansion.

 

[RhodokMasterRaceOfficial]

The necessity for LARP in strategy games is always decline.

 

[Delterius]

This is all fine and dandy, but... by midgame I could probably declare war on everyone (sans the fallen empires, ofc) and make them my bitches. Once they are my vassals and in my hegemonic federation, what's the need for this Community-into-Imperium business?

I guess install Starnet AI to make the game into less of a foregone conclucion.

 

[Storyfag]

This is all fine and dandy, but... by midgame I could probably declare war on everyone (sans the fallen empires, ofc) and make them my bitches. Once they are my vassals and in my hegemonic federation, what's the need for this Community-into-Imperium business?

I guess install Starnet AI to make the game into less of a foregone conclucion.

Mmmyeah. Installing a mod so that planned official updates make any kind of sense does indeed sound logical. It's definitely not Paradox who should improve the AI first, no sirree!

 

[Delterius]

This is all fine and dandy, but... by midgame I could probably declare war on everyone (sans the fallen empires, ofc) and make them my bitches. Once they are my vassals and in my hegemonic federation, what's the need for this Community-into-Imperium business?

I guess install Starnet AI to make the game into less of a foregone conclucion.

Mmmyeah. Installing a mod so that planned official updates make any kind of sense does indeed sound logical. It's definitely not Paradox who should improve the AI first, no sirree!

None of the things you claim were said or even implied in the post you quoted. Help yourself, fucko. If your only impediment to enjoying Stellaris is installing a mod from the steam workshop then sulking in a corner is just self-cuckery.

 

[Storyfag]

This is all fine and dandy, but... by midgame I could probably declare war on everyone (sans the fallen empires, ofc) and make them my bitches. Once they are my vassals and in my hegemonic federation, what's the need for this Community-into-Imperium business?

I guess install Starnet AI to make the game into less of a foregone conclucion.

Mmmyeah. Installing a mod so that planned official updates make any kind of sense does indeed sound logical. It's definitely not Paradox who should improve the AI first, no sirree!

None of the things you claim were said or even implied in the post you quoted. Help yourself, fucko. If your only impediment to enjoying Stellaris is installing a mod from the steam workshop then sulking in a corner is just self-cuckery.

None were, but you completely missed the point of my original post, so I tried to make it again. I shall do so now, with quest compass just for you: Why the fuck does Paradox release systems that are unnecessary to achieve similar results in the current unmodded game? Yeah, if the game was harder due to smarter AI/whatever, the whole Imperium stuff would be appealing. But the game is not hard. This is the paradoxical lack of logic I mean to point out.

 

[Delterius]

This is all fine and dandy, but... by midgame I could probably declare war on everyone (sans the fallen empires, ofc) and make them my bitches. Once they are my vassals and in my hegemonic federation, what's the need for this Community-into-Imperium business?

I guess install Starnet AI to make the game into less of a foregone conclucion.

Mmmyeah. Installing a mod so that planned official updates make any kind of sense does indeed sound logical. It's definitely not Paradox who should improve the AI first, no sirree!

None of the things you claim were said or even implied in the post you quoted. Help yourself, fucko. If your only impediment to enjoying Stellaris is installing a mod from the steam workshop then sulking in a corner is just self-cuckery.

None were, but you completely missed the point of my original post, so I tried to make it again. I shall do so now, with quest compass just for you: Why the fuck does Paradox release systems that are unnecessary to achieve similar results in the current unmodded game? Yeah, if the game was harder due to smarter AI/whatever, the whole Imperium stuff would be appealing. But the game is not hard. This is the paradoxical lack of logic I mean to point out.

Their fans are always talking about doing star wars storylines. Now there's an expansion for becoming 'Galactic Emperor' and having a 'Rebel Alliance' try to take you down. Can't see what's the mystery here.

 

[lightbane]

Wow, every time I look new updates of Stellaris, it seems the game got worse somehow. Is this even playable right now, without mods? I'm always considering giving it a try at some point, by using alternate sources, of course. No way I'm going to pay that much for digital goods. At least train simulators run well and without bugs (I believe).

 

[Latelistener]

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/stellaris-discovery-bundle

 

[Ravielsk]

Wow, every time I look new updates of Stellaris, it seems the game got worse somehow. Is this even playable right now, without mods? I'm always considering giving it a try at some point, by using alternate sources, of course. No way I'm going to pay that much for digital goods. At least train simulators run well and without bugs (I believe).

Did it get worse? Definitely, after the update 2.2 whatever they had going started sliding downwards and the steps they have been taking to fix it had little effect if any. The game is currently effectively unplayable without extensive modding as many of its "advertised" features either do not work or are functionally nonexistent. Just to take a few examples directly from the steam page:
DEEP AND VARIED EXPLORATION
Every game begins with a civilization that has just discovered the means to travel between stars and is ready to explore the galaxy. Have your science ships survey and explore anomalies, leading you into a myriad of quests, introducing strange worlds with even stranger stories and discoveries that may completely change your outcome.
Reality: There is couple of text boxes for anomalies that mean precisely nothing outside of giving a planet a +2 mineral deposit. Besides that there is a couple of "archeological" digs but those are nothing more than multiple textboxes stacked on top of each other. These are static and remain the same for each game. Also there so few of both that by the time you start your second game you have seen 90% of what the game has in stock. There is no such thing as quests in Stellaris.

INFINITE VARIATION OF SPECIES AND ADVANCED DIPLOMACY
Through customization and procedural generation, you will encounter infinitely varied races. Choose positive or negative traits, specific ideologies, limitations, evolutions or anything you can imagine. Interact with others through the advanced diplomacy system. Diplomacy is key in a proper grand strategy adventure. Adjust your strategy to your situation through negotiation and skill.
Reality: Species generation is really extensive but unless you intentionally intend to handicap yourself there is only a couple of viable trait/government configurations. Also the "random" generator has a nasty tendency to spawn basically identical empires each game with some minor alteration(like instead of being materialists the empire is now spiritualist but otherwise its the same empire), it does not help that the AI makes all empires behave effectively the same(so the difference in behavior between "erudite explorers" and "rogue servitors" is effectively 0). There is also no diplomacy in the game. Best you can do is click a button to send envoys to improve relationship or to straight up bribe another empire into liking you, nothing else. There is nothing to negotiate or adjust, either you have the minerals to make them love you or you dont.

INTERSTELLAR WARFARE
An eternal cycle of war, diplomacy, suspicions and alliances await you. Defend or attack with fully customizable war fleets, where adaptation is the key to victory. Choose from an array of complex technologies when designing and customizing your ships with the complex ship designer. You have a multitude of capabilities to choose from to meet the unknown quests that await.
Reality: there is nothing eternal about it. Unless you intentionally hold back or get a really shitty setup you effectively become unbeatable after the first war you win as the AI is effectively unable to grow its fleet after it expends it starting pool of cheat resources. Diplomacy is immaterial and suspicions are not even remotely a thing as the contact screen always exactly tells you your standing towards other empires along with their military/economic/science level relative to yours. You can customize your fleet but there is no actual reason to do so as which a exception or two no one has any specific weaknesses or strengths that you could exploit.

ENORMOUS PROCEDURAL GALAXIES
Grow and expand your empire with thousands of randomly generated planet types, galaxies, quests and monsters lurking in space.
Very little is actually procedural. Almost everything is prescripted the only real thing that changes is the location where it spawns and if it spawns. Ironically this means some pieces of content are needlessly rare to see as they have a low spawn chance.

PLAY THE WAY YOU WANT
Customize your Empire! The characters you choose, be it a murderous mushroom society or an engineering reptile race, can be customized with traits like ethics, type of technology, form of preferred space travel, type of habitat, philosophies and more. The direction of the game is based on your choices.
You can customize but it does not matter as you will always inevitably be pushed towards becoming a hyper aggressive warlord with the biggest fleet. Also there is no more any way to choose type of space travel as those were all removed with patch 2.0.

This just the lies on the steam page. The total list would be much longer as effectively 80% of the games features either do not work or are best ignored/ non-functional. To have a good experience with the game I would say that you need a minimum of around 20-30 mods of which shockingly one is porn mod. Not because of the sex shit but because it adds a viable way to accelerate population growth to a point where colonizing a planet is not a 2 hour affair(before it become more than a net loss that is). But those tend to have compatibility issues which are not really easy to resolve and require atleast some knowledge of how the game is scripted to resolve.

In summation its shit.

 

[Average Manatee]

Even if you like the idea of Stellaris the game has unplayable performance currently unless you have a miniature galaxy size.

 

[lightbane]

Figures. Did they ever fix that "feature" where aliens could instantly deduce if your civ was xenophobic, or not xenophile enough, thus giving you penalties no matter what?

 

[Ravielsk]

Figures. Did they ever fix that "feature" where aliens could instantly deduce if your civ was xenophobic, or not xenophile enough, thus giving you penalties no matter what?

No, as of 2.8 the AI immediatly knows everything there is to know about you the second you make contact. Supposedly they will be fixing this (partially) in the latest update where they are introducing fog of war where you will no longer know exactly how strong or weak other empires are upon contact but how will that affect the AI is questionable as PDX has yet to prove they can even adjust its behavior let alone overhaul it operate within a new system.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

No, as of 2.8 the AI immediatly knows everything there is to know about you the second you make contact.

we just met. you wave your hand, i answer "suck mah wallie". oh wow, how smart are you to deduce i'm not really fond of your company?

 

[lightbane]

No, as of 2.8 the AI immediatly knows everything there is to know about you the second you make contact.

we just met. you wave your hand, i answer "suck mah wallie". oh wow, how smart are you to deduce i'm not really fond of your company?

It's a bit more complex than that, as unless your negotiators are idiots who insult the xenos at first sight and happily reveal everything about your empire, the other party shouldn't be able to correctly deduce so much info about yours in the first contact. Nevermind the language barrier.
Do you get to know everything about the other party at least, or is that an AI privilege?

I remember the Endless games had you requiring to research special communication tech in order to properly talk to aliens.

 

[Storyfag]

I remember the Endless games had you requiring to research special communication tech in order to properly talk to aliens.

Same with MOO.

Let's face it, even if you are a xenocidial fanatic purifier, you would do well to conceal it until such time as you know as much about your future victims as possible. Coming up with faux casus belli and concealing the extermination of conquered species from empires stronger than your own would make for a fun game in itself. Might be a bit harder for devouring swarms or determined exterminators due to their simpler natures.