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Loving the new patch. Lots of old habits to break and systems to relearn. Here's a bug I found: If an enemy system has two colonized planets with FTL inhibitors, and you send in the Marines to conquer one of them and succeed, the troop transports seem to "forget" what hyperlane they originally entered the system through when they're ejected back in to space, and are unable to leave the system at all until the second planet is captured.
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Feb 23, 2018 14:18
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One thing that has always confused me about this game, and also something that seems to change in almost every patch, is the efficacy of missiles vs. point defense. Can someone explain, without going into the math, if bringing missiles to a fight where you have as many Guided slots as the enemy has PD slots is worth it? Where is the break point of missiles vs. PD where missiles are negated as a weapon?
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Feb 25, 2018 15:14
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Staltran posted:So, uh, regarding the previous discussion on system/planet tradition/tech cost increases and figuring out if a system is worth it, I think a good way is to basically calculate how much unity/science you're losing to inflation. Now, if you're not an idiot, you write a function to do that in whatever programming language. If you are an idiot, after that you decide that a simple web page would be a more convenient UI, and wouldn't take that long to make. Future idiots don't need to do that though. Unless they want to make one that's not kinda lovely I guess. If you have any complaints/suggestions you can post them here but I'm not guaranteeing that I'll care enough to spend more time on this. (The source code also badly needs refactoring so I don't really want anyone to see it.) Wow that's really cool. I was just thinking last night how lovely it is I'm making these decisions to expand based on "feel" when the math is right there for me to "know". Not a very fanatic materialist decision-making process! Thanks!
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Feb 28, 2018 15:34
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Minerals are the key bottleneck in the early game and you should prioritize getting more of them when you decide to expand. The 75 influence per starbase cost will naturally slow down your expansion, so strategically pick systems with great mineral resources. Try to have 6 Corvettes or so by end of the 10th year when the pirates come. Slaves and caste systems are thematic and fun, but require a good amount of micromanagement and don't really give much better results than an empire where everyone is equal and have high happiness. If you're learning the game, be an egalitarian. My first moves when starting a new game are: pause - pick research (generally grabbing the advanced labs if available. Planetary Unification is a first pick from Society if available) - build a monument in an empty tile - build a mineral mine with your constructor - send science ship in direction you most want to expand based on geography - unpause. Expansion and Discovery are both solid traditions to pick up early. As soon as I have 200 energy, I build another science ship and hire a scientist and send him exploring in a different direction than the first one. Those are my general starting tips, if you have more specific questions people are happy to help.
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Feb 28, 2018 16:31
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Bobfly posted:Is it me, or is peace kind of boring? I'm just kind of filling out my arm of the galaxy and tech/unity trees. Not a lot going on, not a lot of interesting decisions to make except which tech to research every year. But someone else splatted the exterminator empire next door, so now it's just a big NAP-fest. Theoretically I'm pleased with it, peacenik that I am, but, yeah. What year is it? The mid and late game crises are designed to shake up the military and political landscape of the galaxy in dramatic ways. I do agree that pacifist is a bit of a trap ethic to take, however, as it cuts out a large chunk of your ability to interact with other empires without really making up for it.
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Mar 20, 2018 15:16
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I gotta agree with you about Beautiful Universe. The default backgrounds are definitely uninspired, but some of the ones in BU are just bad. Like, of all the colors the nebula in the background could be, why pick brown? I like mods that spruce up the place (love the tile blockers in Giulli's!) but there is some room for a competing background replacer mod in Stellaris.
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Apr 9, 2018 17:03
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Pretty aggravating that you can't attempt to subjugate another empire unless the game thinks you're "superior" to them. Even with a fleet that's "pathetic", if their tech and naval cap (which you can't do anything about nowadays) are good enough they'll stay "equivalent". I just want to be a xenophobic species of cyborgs who exploit their immediate neighbors as tributaries while ignoring the greater galactic political situation!
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Apr 15, 2018 04:33
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For people wanting more consistency and storyline to the AI empires in the game, check out ACEP https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=925031358 It adds 35 custom empires that will always spawn (randomly and up to the number of AI empires you specify at game start) and they cover all possible AI behavior profiles and government types. The cool thing about it are the first contact events, where after initial contact a dialogue box opens up where the different empires can be asked questions about their history, society, and intentions. They also have a 'last contact' event, where they send a final message to you after they are destroyed. It's well written, which is a must for me with mods (I don't care how cool the mechanic is, if the associated text and writing is bad I, personally, can't look past it). I will warn, though, that the empires have a more humorous bent than a serious or hard sci-fi one. Its good for a couple playthroughs until you've seen it all, at the very least!
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Apr 17, 2018 23:58
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Chalks posted:I'm always a bit afraid of downloading mods as soon as they're released, and this one looks like it needs to ripen a bit. Plantains are supposed to eaten while green. Please don't waste food.
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Apr 19, 2018 16:16
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After spending a couple months going down a mod rabbit hole, I disabled all of them to do some achievement hunting with a random species. Ended up with a peacock hivemind with cutesy names and a predilection for scientific progress. So far it's been one of my more memorable campaigns. The AI is surprisingly aggressive, and I had my first war declared on me within 20 years of the start, which I've never had happen. Now that 2300 is approaching, distinct power blocs are forming among the galactic nations, I have a federation with 2 low-average powered spiritual seekers, and I find myself constantly playing international politics, making tough decisions about how to spend limited resources and time, and have had some narrative style surprises thrown my way (like what those despotic slavers did to those iron-age primitives I had been curiously observing!). I guess now that I'm playing vanilla again I'm qualified to criticize the design once more. My main problem, I suppose, is that the pendulum has swung too far as far as combat lethality goes in 2.0. Obviously wars lasting 15 days until the one and only fleet action ended was no good, but now it feels like the fighting is almost pointless. A huge battle means maybe <10% of the fleet is actually destroyed and costing minerals to replace. It also means the two admirals might as well be messaging each other to take bets on who will "win" when the same battle is repeated every 6-9 months until someone says uncle. Overall, battles don't feel decisive enough. The consequences of losing don't seem serious enough, or costly enough. I like the disengagement mechanic, but I think it could use some tinkering. Like, if I'm going to battle with beat-up ships that disengaged without repairing last time, they shouldn't get a an equal chance to escape again once their shields go down, they should just get blown up. Repairing ships should be more than just a commitment of a little time until the gauges fill up, it should cost minerals/energy as well, in amounts proportional to their build cost. Fleet capacity ought to be revisited and lowered, as most empires will have fleet capacity = naval cap for a very long time, maybe halfway through the game, and 2 small fleets are rarely worth one big one, as bigger numbers still always win battles. In summary - the consequences of a battle between 2 galactic fleets, representing the sum of the political, economic, and technological power of it's builders, had ought to feel more meaningful than it does right now. And to complete this compliment sandwich, I just want to say Stellaris is my favorite game since Civ IV and I am at once proud, yet deeply, deeply ashamed of how many hours Steam says I've logged into it at this point.
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Apr 24, 2018 20:11
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StashAugustine posted:Btw I had a game as a devouring swarm where I conquered a planet during a war and it tanked my food output because no one was working but apparently were still eating and weren't being turned into food. Is that a bug or something? Yeah, this happens to me too. Like, I don't expect anyone to be happy about being worked to death before I move my superior species into all the newly vacant real estate. The interaction between the happiness system and the unrest system on production could stand a revisit. I feel like there ought to be a certain grace period after a world is conquered and peace is declared where the survivors are too cowed to go on strike after watching their planet be bombed from orbit and all their friends and family killed in a grinding ground invasion afterwards.
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Apr 26, 2018 17:46
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From a purely mechanical point of view, federations do have a lot of downsides. The only true advantage I can think of is allowing you to have more war buddies to discourage an aggressive AI than defensive pacts alone could, since pacts cost influence for each one you have. Allegedly a federation will also help you wage offensive wars, but given the AIs erratic behavior with allied fleets, that's a real questionable "perk". The downsides are many, though. Less fleet cap, a huge and ongoing and inflexible influence drain, less control over your sovereignty and foreign policy from getting dragged into wars that probably won't benefit you, etc. All that aside, the idea of a multi-species federation is pretty integral to most sci-fi tropes. When I enter or create a federation, it's almost always from the perspective of lore and flavor, and much less frequently as the best of two bad choices if I'm worried about some galactic threat vassalizing or conquering me. I imagine someday we'll get a politics themed DLC that make feds more interesting, along with the faction on system. Until then, the Star Trek has a very satisfying take on federations to get your fix of a kumbaya space utopia!
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May 1, 2018 17:15
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Oh dang, my favorite game turned 2 on may 9 and I forgot to send a card! In honor of this belated birthday, I'd like to take a moment to argue that assigning liberal, democratic values to the "individualism" ethos, while authoritarian, slave-keeping, tyrannical values are assigned to the "collectivism" ethos is an intellectual, political, and moral outrage. Here is why, in 8 parts;
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May 15, 2018 16:24
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Space nomads will also sometimes offer to sell you mid-tier cruisers for a few thousand energy. If you get the event before you have the tech yourself or mercs become available, they can be a real game changer in wars.
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May 16, 2018 14:39
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The cultural, political, and genetic purity of my ship crews are what win my battles. The technology at play is really irrelevant.
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May 16, 2018 21:03
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I question how useful the range extenders are - I would say don't bother, I doubt they'll mean you get off more than a single shot when the fighting starts than you would without them. The communication jammer, or whatever gives -20% disengagement chance to the enemy, is fantastic though. Win or lose, you'll be making the enemy feel the impact a lot more. It's also the reason black hole system choke points are so amazing.
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May 27, 2018 15:02
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Not strictly related to Stellaris, but Alexis Kennedy, the writer of the Horizon Signal DLC has released his first game under his own development company - Cultist Simulator. Definitely more of a Fallen London and Sunless Sea vibe than Worm-In-Waiting, but the writing style and themes of half-glimpsed, extradimensional horror are unmistakable. If you like reading, it's a good game to check out.
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Jun 1, 2018 15:25
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Truga posted:it's really weird how much stellaris thread hates endless and endless thread hates stellaris, to me. The schism is the church of MOO2 has been difficult for all true believers. It is my hope, and the hope of all the 4X priests, that this rift can be mended. We've eliminated the GalCiv heretics and the reconciled the Doctrine of Ship Design with the Revealed Truth of Real-Time Combat. It is time for us to come together!
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Jul 12, 2018 23:00
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Federations as implemented are not worth doing. It's such a critical function for roleplaying a xenophile, but I always regret going down that path in the end. The Star Trek mod does an admirable job with the capital-F Federation, basically upgrading you from leader of the human empire to leader of a multi-species alliance with direct control over production and fleets. I know expanding the role and functionality of feds is a stated goal of future patches, so I look forward to that. Until then, though, being a space jerk is the way to play to game!
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Jul 22, 2018 17:06
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Yeah, The Federation in New Horizons is a unique mechanic and how feds ought to be in the base game. They really ought to rename the current vanilla federations to "mutual defense pacts" and remove the ability to declare war when you're in one or something, and steal the New Horizons idea for a Federation as a cohesive and streamlined political unit the player is in complete control of.
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Sep 11, 2018 19:27
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Mechanical Ape posted:"Feeling a sense of godlike satisfaction, Stanley cleared a tile blocker." Oh my God, yes!
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Sep 21, 2018 00:50
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When the Khan awakes, I take it they immediately annex the other Maurader culture into their new horde? I'm noticing the other Mauraders still show up in my contact list and let me buy leaders and fleets from them, despite apparently owning no territory. They've been instrumental in holding back the horde, honestly!
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Sep 25, 2018 17:39
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Wow, pleasantly surprised at how much earlier this is coming out than expected. Love the flavor the megacorp empires are going to add to the game, and looking forward to learning the economy changes as well.
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Nov 20, 2018 15:33
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Started a new campaign as a random empire last night. Fanatic xenophile, materialist megacorporation. Clearly a sign! There's something magical about the early game, when you count the alien empires you know about on one hand, your science ships have plenty of exploring to do, and your economic output hasn't gotten silly yet. I always end up losing interest when things get too big and too abstract for me to make up stories about my head about what's going on, but I'm determined to either win or grab a handful of late-game achievements before the DLC drops!
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Nov 28, 2018 13:55
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Hot Karl Marx posted:Ya I installed that mod after someone suggested it here and it's awesome. Are they adding any new music to this DLC? Or is there a mod with more stellaris like music? I really like the soundtrack to this game They usually dedicate a dev diary to music when they plan to add more, even if it's remixes. Since there's only one more diary due before release, and it will presumably be the patch notes, I don't think we're getting anything new. It's a pity too, I like the music a lot, and all my attempts to find a Pandora station or YouTube channel to replace the soundtrack with has been disappointing. I'd pay for a new music dlc as readily as I'd pay for a new portrait pack, personally.
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Nov 28, 2018 16:30
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I'm really curious what "sectors are now created automatically" means, but I'm really happy to see they now contribute directly to the economy instead of creating their own mini economy you spend influence to pry away from them.
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Nov 29, 2018 21:40
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I wish agrarian idyll and citizen service weren't mutually exclusive. A race of gentlemen farmers banding together as a militia for mutual defense as needed seems like a fun concept to roleplay.
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Dec 3, 2018 14:32
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Black Griffon posted:Decided to power through Shadow of the Tomb Raider to dull the pain of waiting, but now I'm done with that so what the gently caress. Thief: The Dark Project turned 20 last week. I've been playing that, reconnecting with my childhood and impressing myself with the fact that my muscle memory navigating Lord Bafford's Manor hasn't diminished at all in all that time. But yeah, it's just a time filler until Thursday's release, haha.
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Dec 3, 2018 16:46
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Broose posted:Game recently got my attention and now I'm waiting for winter sales to pick it and all its DLC up. Can I play Homeworld in this game? Be aware combat is barely tactical. It's just a graphic of a fleet with a number attached to it. Mash it against an enemy number and the bigger one usually wins. As far as a sci-fi empire simulator, though, it's pretty great.
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Dec 3, 2018 17:51
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Crazycryodude posted:Mark me down for "uplifting horses to ask for consent is woke as gently caress" My vote as well
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Dec 5, 2018 20:25
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Very happy with the update. The game's economy feels more deliberate now. The ability to specialize and use the market is a great innovation. Between the more realistic economic simulation, and the fleshed out social class differences, it's even easier to roleplay the exact kind of society you have in mind, which in the end is what I play Stellaris to do. Megacorps themselves are surprisingly underwhelming compared to how unique feeling playing other "specialized" empires (hives, machines, purifiers) are. The main upside, branch offices, are not a big deal and hard to establish in the first place. The main downside, increased admin penalties, are similarly not a big deal and easily countered. My main complaint with Stellaris has always been the huge swing we went through when the fleet engagement mechanics changed from "the war is decided in a single battle" to "we're going the fight this same battle over and over again every few months, and the winner is whoever is closest to a starbase to repair in between". With alloys being relatively hard to stockpile and acquire, it's harder for losses to be replaced now. Things that die tend to stay dead longer, so you at least feel like you're making progress. Hopefully a step in the right direction to making battles more interesting, but I need to fight more wars to really see.
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Dec 7, 2018 15:35
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Zeron posted:I love the patch and the new economy, but yeah I have to agree with a lot of the stuff said so far. Agreed on loving the patch, and this point in particular. A per-planet option to have the airport take over with a certain priority would be great. It doesn't make sense that it's a sector based thing, and frankly feels like a waste of the sector concept, since "automate or not" is the only interesting decision you make on that screen. I'd love to see sectors get some love in some future politics-themed DLC, alongside factions and federations. I don't want to go full ck2, but giving sectors political personality and making governor's feel more special and interesting would be a fun direction to go.
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Dec 9, 2018 18:20
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Huh, observation posts do not appear to be adding their social research to the monthly production in the main build.
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Dec 11, 2018 12:54
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I wish the game gave you more information on the actual benefit of commercial and research pacts before you agreed to them, now that they cost influence to maintain and can't simply be spammed.
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Dec 11, 2018 20:27
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CommissarMega posted:Are Criminal Empires worth it? I want to start a Brotherhood of Nod empire, but I've heard that criminals are hit hard, any tips? I also read upthread that if you let the AI close down a criminal outpost on a worthless planet, you'll have 20-odd years to place and build up a new one- is this still viable? I haven't played more than 50 years or so with one, but it's got it's pros and cons. Probably the best way to think about it is that you're a normal empire and the megacorp-specific branch offices are just a cool bonus. As a criminal, your major advantage is that you don't need a trade treaty to build an office, which is good because everyone will hate you anyway. A branch office on a capital planet with a smuggler port as your first building is going to earn you ~20 credits a month, which is pretty great in the early game. The problem is that the AI is good at shutting you down over time, and there's really nothing you can do about it. Your branch office will dry up, and you can't ever really go back because the AI has so many enforcer jobs there. Play a criminal enterprise like you would any "rear end in a top hat" species (despoilers, purifiers, ravenous hordes, etc), except your trading innate wartime bonuses for a slightly better diplomatic game. Bribe people into liking you enough for a NAP so you can focus on taking down another neighbor one at a time, rather than a constant forever war like the other 'rear end in a top hat' empires are consigned to. Since you don't need to ever worry about trade treaties, you can also afford to take the xenophobe ethic, which is incredibly powerful right now. Honestly they feel a little undertuned. Great flavor and roleplay potential, and the closest we have to an espionage/sabotage system right now, but it's not easy going. They're fun in multiplayer games where other people are playing megacorps, because no one can compete with the ease at which you claim planets with branch offices, and the diplomatic landscape is much different too.
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Dec 12, 2018 15:22
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Is anyone doing anything clever with the markets ability to execute monthly buy/sell orders? It seems like there must be a way to use it to either a real advantage, or just to automate something. I have a hard time wrapping my head around this kind of thing, but I recognize there is probably some potential there.
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Dec 14, 2018 16:01
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When I win a war and take over an upgraded starbase, how do I make it part of my trade network and get rid of the annoying red icon?
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Dec 17, 2018 23:43
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Do megacorps get some kind of innate buff to trade value generation, or more benefit from trade value, than a regular empire does? I swear, in all my games as a corp, I'm much more flush for cash in the early game than I am as a regular empire. The tooltip for corporate authority doesn't say anything though, so maybe it's just in my head?
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Jan 15, 2019 21:44
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It's 2209 and I can apparently equip my corvettes with level 2 plasma cannons. Is this from an anomaly I clicked through?
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Jan 21, 2019 02:23
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So given the new malus to pop growth and productivity on low-habitability worlds, and absent any larger strategic concerns, what's the minimum habitability % of a planet I should consider when founding a new colony that I want to be a net benefit to my research and economy?
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May 31, 2019 16:32
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