Stellaris - Paradox new sci-fi grand strategy game

[Kazuki]

The Fallen Empire sounds interesting, now if the Fallen Empire mechanic is happening to player as well and add some Lucky Empire that will pop up in mid-game that will be the one challenging your Hegemony in Galaxy at the end gameplay scenario.

 

[Trash]

When it comes for DLC swarm, most of their DLC is, like, nigger face pack, beard pack, music pach, coat of arms pack and other useless shit like unit models that no one ever noticed in Paradox games.

I happen to enjoy stuff like the face, coat of arms and music packs. Not necessary but nice. Although I was pissed that you had to mod the music packs to play for every culture. Stellaris seems like it could be a goldmine. More alien races (and more alien types. I mean, where are my biomechs?), more portraits, more different graphics for fleets and so on (unit packs), more music, more alien artifacts, more events, more and bigger building options (ringworlds) and so on. And that's before they start adding the real substantial stuff.

What went wrong with CK2 is that they lost focus on what worked and started throwing in everything and the kitchen sink. Medieval europe and the middle east was enough. Add more character interaction options, a theology dlc with cathedrals and the like and focus on medieval knights and the crusades. Instead of that they expanded the timeframe and the map. I sincerely hope they won't make that mistake here. Focus on the core game and what expands that, not on adding unrelated stuff just because.

Btw, Kazuki for the endgame they seem to have gone with Galaxy wide disasters like AI uprisings, intergalactic invasions and the like. Hope it works as good as it sounds.

 

[Kazuki]

I know that already, but surely to have that mechanic for player as well wil not hurt, no ?

I like my Big Galaxy Spanning Empire will crumble at the end-game phase due Stagnancy and Decadence over the time and not some External Issue and threat.

 

[Trash]

Haven't seen a decadence modifier mentioned yet. Didn't work that well when they introduced it in CK2. Methinks they'll go for big cataclysm. Who knows what mods and dlc's will bring tho...

Anyway, looking forward to hear more about combat. Orbital bombardment, planetary defences, space monsters, minefields, boarding actions, fleet actions. All stuff I enjoy in some of the better 4x games. We'll see how they handle it here. Though I will be pissed if I can't drop viral bombs and/or big rocks on enemy planets. Internal politics is also something I'm quite keen to learn about. They already hinted at factions earlier...

 

[Space Satan]

Ship design is useless. It's like ship designs in galactic Civilizations and endless Space. Fun for the first time but then noone will waste a minute on this boring and useless shit as it does not matter if your ships are super-elegant masterpieces or flying grey blocks. The only difference is that you wasterd several hours on this autism.

 

[Trash]

I don't give a fuck about ship design. Different looks in units for different races is however something I dig. I can see them selling stuff like that as they did with the unit packs in their other games. When they go for a strong narrative angle it helps when they deliver strong and distinct visuals to go along.

 

[Raghar]

wasterd several hours on this autism.

I also spend about half hour on making character in RPGs.

 

[Lone Wolf]

What? Half an hour? Gone are the halcyon days of rolling the perfect attribute set for two hours, without regrets. These are fell times.

When it comes for DLC swarm, most of their DLC is, like, nigger face pack, beard pack, music pach, coat of arms pack and other useless shit like unit models that no one ever noticed in Paradox games.

Portrait packs and ship sets are a given. Unlike in EU4/CK2, though, they make sense in Stellaris. Who gives a fuck about what color sweater a German princeling's Landsknechts wore in the 16th century? Ships are a different ballgame due to the potential variation in their look and how much they add to the character of an alien civilization.

I also imagine additional technologies, planet types, disasters/events, leaders as DLC content.

Expansions will cover the big ticket items: new alien phenotypes, mainly, with a few new mechanics to differentiate the game a bit over the course of its lifespan.

I can't adequately explain how fucking psyched I am for this game. I've learned nothing from MOO3.

 

[MoLAoS]

The fact that people think this game isn't going to be a total shitfest make me ashamed. This isn't the Codex I mostly hate but sometimes agree with. Where did that codex go?

 

[Irenaeus II]

It's too early to call this a total shitfest. Let's wait until something horrible appears in the development diaries. Trust me, eventually something will. Have faith!

 

[Lone Wolf]

The fact that people think this game isn't going to be a total shitfest make me ashamed. This isn't the Codex I mostly hate but sometimes agree with. Where did that codex go?

EU I/II/III/IV
EU: Rome
Vic 1/2
CK 1/2
HoI 1/2/3

That's twelve titles, right there. When all is said and done, every single one of the listed games was solid->excellent (yes, most required patches/expansions to get there). Even if 1.0 is deeply flawed, nothing about Paradox's past performance over the last fifteen years suggest Stellaris will be a failure. This is the most experienced grand strategy team in existence, using an engine they created for the 3rd/4th time.

There's pessimism, and then there's what you're doing.

 

[GarfunkeL]

You forgot the Japan/Shogun game and Two Thrones, their two attempts at strategy lite that were pretty awful.

 

[Lone Wolf]

You forgot the Japan/Shogun game and Two Thrones

Forgot? Nothing is forgotten...



Sadly.

 

[kris]

The fact that people think this game isn't going to be a total shitfest make me ashamed. This isn't the Codex I mostly hate but sometimes agree with. Where did that codex go?

You made your view perfectly clear though.

 

[Jarpie]

You forgot the Japan/Shogun game and Two Thrones, their two attempts at strategy lite that were pretty awful.

I don't think Sengoku is that bad, it just should've had more meat on the bones. Though it was obviously dry-run for CK2 and they tested the waters how game set outside their normal setting sells, and obviously it didn't sell enough as they didn't make expansions.

 

[Destroid]

You forgot the Japan/Shogun game and Two Thrones, their two attempts at strategy lite that were pretty awful.

I don't think Sengoku is that bad, it just should've had more meat on the bones. Though it was obviously dry-run for CK2 and they tested the waters how game set outside their normal setting sells, and obviously it didn't sell enough as they didn't make expansions.

I don't see a reason why the Japanese setting would have impacted sales, there are many strategy games set strictly in Japan, including two Total War titles.

 

[Irenaeus II]

I would bet Rome and Medieval Total Wars 1 & 2 outsold their glorious Nippon counterparts.

 

[MoLAoS]

The fact that people think this game isn't going to be a total shitfest make me ashamed. This isn't the Codex I mostly hate but sometimes agree with. Where did that codex go?

EU I/II/III/IV
EU: Rome
Vic 1/2
CK 1/2
HoI 1/2/3

That's twelve titles, right there. When all is said and done, every single one of the listed games was solid->excellent (yes, most required patches/expansions to get there). Even if 1.0 is deeply flawed, nothing about Paradox's past performance over the last fifteen years suggest Stellaris will be a failure. This is the most experienced grand strategy team in existence, using an engine they created for the 3rd/4th time.

There's pessimism, and then there's what you're doing.

Those games are mediocre.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Name a better grand strategy game than any of the EU series.

 

[MoLAoS]

Name a better grand strategy game than any of the EU series.

Name a better grand strategy game? Paradox is the only company that makes grand strategy games...

 

[Lone Wolf]

You don't consider CA's games or those of BattleGoat Studios 'grand strategy'?

Fine, retune the question: in what way are those games 'mediocre'?

 

[MoLAoS]

They are just transparent optimization equations. They rely mostly on the human attachment to history to carry them forward. Paradox also has to constantly redo everything cause they fuck it up every patch. The technology system blows, the governments are mere stat bonuses, same for religions, the revolt system is shit. Coring, annexation, diplomacy are all lame. Paper and bird mana everywhere.

 

[Lone Wolf]

You don't like the abstractions the EU series relies on. Fine. Sounds like you won't enjoy Stellaris, either, then.

Weren't you in the process of making a strategy game of some description? I look forward to your take on the genre.

 

[MoLAoS]

You don't like the abstractions the EU series relies on. Fine. Sounds like you won't enjoy Stellaris, either, then.

Weren't you in the process of making a strategy game of some description? I look forward to your take on the genre.

Calling them abstractions is an understatement.

 

[Space Satan]

DD:Events

Events in Stellaris will not be limited to the Anomalies you find in space. Another event category that you will encounter as you play the game are colony events. Fairly self-explanatory, colony events are events that can trigger on your colonies. Our goal with these events is to provide a bit of identity to the planets you colonize, and set them further apart.

Some events will have situations that you can respond to in a number of ways, and in many cases you will have to deal with the fallout (positive or negative) of your choices in follow-up events that can fire many years later.

Minutes from the Board of Inquiry into the loss of colony NSD-578 (New Albion)
2279.244, 14:01 hours local station time

GIDDINGS, AMANDA (Advocate General, ISFA)
State your name for the record, please.

BORLAND, S. ERIC (PN-2344-D-1)
Eric Borland.

GIDDINGS
You served as the planetary governor of NSD-578, otherwise known as ‘New Albion’ to its inhabitants, for a period of seven years. Is this correct?

BORLAND
It is.

GIDDINGS
As I’m sure you’re aware, all contact was lost with New Albion four months ago, less than a year after your governorship ended. The relief expedition, led by the cruiser Vikramaditya, found no trace of the colonists.

BORLAND
I am aware of this, yes.

SWEENEY, LEONARD (Senior Representative, RCC)
We were hoping that you would be able to shed some light on what happened, Mr. Borland. The disappearance of an entire colony with over 100,000 inhabitants is a source of… some concern to us, as I’m sure you understand.

BORLAND
As I’ve said at all the other hearings you’ve put me through, these are things that can happen when you colonize a new planet. How many times do you want me to say this? There are always risks involved, especially when a colony is young!

ISHIKAWA, MIYU (Junior Commissioner, GTSA)
Would you care to elaborate?

BORLAND
It’s very simple. We are dealing with planets that are completely alien. Their ecosystems are still being mapped, and in many cases the planets in question have been visited, or even inhabited, by other spacefaring cultures.

ISHIKAWA
I’m not sure I see how this pertains to the situ-

BORLAND
The orbital surveys our Science Ships perform only reveal the tip of the iceberg. Once your colony starts growing, and you have thousands of colonists running around in the wild building settlements, you will sometimes run into things that weren’t in the survey reports. Look at what happened on Las Veredas, for example.

SWEENEY
I’m not quite up to speed on events from that sector. What exactly happened there?

HAGNER, L. TIMOTHY (Senior Investigator, BRSF)
I believe they found an old drone on the surface.

BORLAND
Not just one - there was a whole fleet. The drones evidently thought our colony belonged to whoever had originally built them, as they began to sporadically assist our colonists by gathering minerals and terraforming uninhabitable sections of the surface.

SWEENEY
But it sounds like that had a positive effect on the development of the Las Veredas colony. What happened on New Albion is quite the opposite.

BORLAND
Of course it is, you pompous fool! We’re dealing with the unknown here! Our colonists will sometimes find that the planet they settled is even more valuable than the initial survey indicated, like when prospectors on Acrisia unearthed an intact battleship.

HAGNER
Really now, Mr. Borland, you need to -

BORLAND
Other times, the outcome can be disastrous, like when the colonists of Xianyang activated that ancient abandoned terraforming equipment, only to discover that the aliens who built it breathed ammonia!

GIDDINGS
Sit down, Mr. Borland! Sit down, or I will have security restrain you -

BORLAND
So what do I think happened on New Albion? I haven’t the slightest idea! Maybe the colonists were enslaved and brought underground by some kind of subterranean civilization. Maybe they were all consumed by a type of predator that hadn’t been encountered before! All I know is that while you’re sitting here safe and sound on your fat asses in low Earth orbit, there are… no, get your hands off me! Let me finish! There are colonists out there who -

GIDDINGS
Remove Mr. Borland from the room! The rest of us will reconvene in ten minutes.

BORLAND
<unintelligible shouting>

Next week Game Director Henrik "Doomdark" Fåhraeus will tell to you about War, Peace, Influence and Claims!