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Stellaris - Paradox new sci-fi grand strategy game
- Thread starter Perkel
- Start date
DD
Hello everyone and welcome to this very special triple digit Stellaris development diary! Today's dev diary marks the start of talking about the Apocalypse Expansion that will be accompanying the 2.0 'Cherryh' update. We still can't give you an ETA on the release of either, and there's a fair bit to cover in the expansion before then, but we're getting closer. As this is the start of talking about paid features, I just want to take a moment to reiterate that everything talked about in dev diaries 91-99 (with the exception of Dev Diary #95 which was about Humanoids) were about the Cherryh update and all features and changes mentioned in these previous dev diaries are part of the free update, NOT the expansion. Everything mentioned in this dev diary will be part of the paid Apocalypse expansion, however. Please note that some of the screenshots in this dev diary feature placeholder art and icons.
Planet Destroyers (Apocalypse Feature)
As mentioned all the way back in Dev Diary #50 and again in Dev Diary #69, Planet Destroyers have been on our wish list for quite some time, but wasn't something we could make work with restrictive nature of the old warscore system. Now that this is no longer a concern thanks to the new war system we talked about in Dev Diary #93, we finally have our chance to implement this beloved sci-fi staple.
Planet Destroyers come in the form of a new ship class called a Colossus. Though nominally a military ship, the Colossus has no actual fleet combat capability, but is instead a single massive weapon solely dedicated to the purpose of laying waste to enemy planets. To build a Colossus, you must first already know how to build Titans (more on those below) and then take the Colossus Project Ascension Perk, which unlocks a special project to research and design your first Colossus. Each Colossus mounts a single World Devastator-class weapon, and during the course of the project you will be given the option to choose which such weapon you want to focus on, with five potential options to choose from:
(Weapon icons are placeholders)
Additional types of World Devastator weapons that are potentially available to your empire can be researched as rare technologies after finishing the Colossus project. Once the project is complete, you will be able to build a Colossus at any Starbase with a shipyard where you have the Colossus Assembly Yards building built. Once built, the Colossus functions similar to a civilian ship, in that it is own fleet, and cannot be merged with other fleets. Each empire can only have a single Colossus active at the same time, but can build a new one if their active one is destroyed.
Colossi have no conventional armaments (though we are discussing a few medium/PD turrets to them), and their real purpose is to target enemy planets. When a Colossus is ordered to target a planet, it will travel straight towards it, ignoring enemy ships entirely even if they fire on it. The Colossus will travel to the planet, take up position and begin charging its weapon. The weapon takes quite some time to charge, giving enemy fleets a chance to try and destroy the Colossus to stop it from firing (though Colossi naturally can take a great deal of punishment, they are not invincible). Once the weapons is fully charged, it will fire, executing its effects (as described above) on the hapless planet. The Colossus is then free to continue on to the next planet if you so wish. Most Colossi weapons can only target planets owned by empires you are at war with, though some of them can target primitive worlds and the World Cracker can be used on uncolonized rock-type worlds (but will not always generate a mineral deposit in that case).
(Animations & interface are partly WIP)
The system for creating World Devastator weapons is fully scriptable, and modders will be able to create their own planet-destroying/changing effects.
Titans (Apocalypse Feature)
Titans are another new ship class available in the Apocalypse expansion, but unlike the Colossus they are much more like conventional warships. Titans are researched through a regular tier 5 technology, and can be built in any Starbase with a shipyard and the Titan Assembly Yards building. Titans are massive flagships that come equipped with an array of heavy long-ranged weaponry and layer upon layer of shields and armor. Their front section has a single Titanic-size slot that can fit weapons even stronger than XL weapons, such as the immensely powerful Perdition Beam that can fire across a whole system and potentially destroy a battleship in a single shot. Titans also have an aura slot that can fit a single offensive or defensive aura that can buff friendly ships in the same fleet or debuff nearby enemy ships. Titans are intended to be the flagships of your fleets, and as such are limited in number: You can always field at least one Titan, plus an additional amount dependent on your overall naval capacity.
Ion Cannons (Apocalypse Feature)
Finally, there is one last Apocalype feature to talk about for today: Ion Cannons. Ion Cannons are stations that can be built as part of the defense platform fleet of a Starbase. Each Ion Cannon is essentially a single massive gun emplacement that mounts a single Titanic weapon, allowing the Starbase to engage enemy fleets at massive ranges and greatly improving the Starbase's ability to deal with enemy Battleships and Titans.
That's all for today! Next week we'll continue talking about Cherryh and Apocalypse expansion, on the topic of Marauders, Pirates and the Great Khan.
Planet Destroyers (Apocalypse Feature)
As mentioned all the way back in Dev Diary #50 and again in Dev Diary #69, Planet Destroyers have been on our wish list for quite some time, but wasn't something we could make work with restrictive nature of the old warscore system. Now that this is no longer a concern thanks to the new war system we talked about in Dev Diary #93, we finally have our chance to implement this beloved sci-fi staple.
Planet Destroyers come in the form of a new ship class called a Colossus. Though nominally a military ship, the Colossus has no actual fleet combat capability, but is instead a single massive weapon solely dedicated to the purpose of laying waste to enemy planets. To build a Colossus, you must first already know how to build Titans (more on those below) and then take the Colossus Project Ascension Perk, which unlocks a special project to research and design your first Colossus. Each Colossus mounts a single World Devastator-class weapon, and during the course of the project you will be given the option to choose which such weapon you want to focus on, with five potential options to choose from:
- World Cracker: Shatters a planet, leaving behind a broken debris field that can be mined for resources. Available to non-Pacifists.
- Global Pacifier: Encases the planet in an impenetrable shield, permanently cutting it off from the rest of the galaxy. A research station can be built to study the planet afterwards.
- Neutron Sweep: Destroys most higher forms of life on the planet but leaves the infrastructure intact for colonization. Available to non-Spiritualist, non-Pacifist empires.
- God Ray: Converts all organic Pops on the planet to spiritualist and destroys all machine/synthetic pops, as well as massively increasing spiritualist ethics attraction on the planet for a time. Available to Spiritualist empires.
- Nanobot Dispersal: Assimilates all Pops on the planet, causing it to defect to your empire with its newly cyborgized population. Only available to Driven Assimilators (and thus requires Synthetic Dawn as well).
(Weapon icons are placeholders)
Additional types of World Devastator weapons that are potentially available to your empire can be researched as rare technologies after finishing the Colossus project. Once the project is complete, you will be able to build a Colossus at any Starbase with a shipyard where you have the Colossus Assembly Yards building built. Once built, the Colossus functions similar to a civilian ship, in that it is own fleet, and cannot be merged with other fleets. Each empire can only have a single Colossus active at the same time, but can build a new one if their active one is destroyed.
Colossi have no conventional armaments (though we are discussing a few medium/PD turrets to them), and their real purpose is to target enemy planets. When a Colossus is ordered to target a planet, it will travel straight towards it, ignoring enemy ships entirely even if they fire on it. The Colossus will travel to the planet, take up position and begin charging its weapon. The weapon takes quite some time to charge, giving enemy fleets a chance to try and destroy the Colossus to stop it from firing (though Colossi naturally can take a great deal of punishment, they are not invincible). Once the weapons is fully charged, it will fire, executing its effects (as described above) on the hapless planet. The Colossus is then free to continue on to the next planet if you so wish. Most Colossi weapons can only target planets owned by empires you are at war with, though some of them can target primitive worlds and the World Cracker can be used on uncolonized rock-type worlds (but will not always generate a mineral deposit in that case).
(Animations & interface are partly WIP)
The system for creating World Devastator weapons is fully scriptable, and modders will be able to create their own planet-destroying/changing effects.
Titans (Apocalypse Feature)
Titans are another new ship class available in the Apocalypse expansion, but unlike the Colossus they are much more like conventional warships. Titans are researched through a regular tier 5 technology, and can be built in any Starbase with a shipyard and the Titan Assembly Yards building. Titans are massive flagships that come equipped with an array of heavy long-ranged weaponry and layer upon layer of shields and armor. Their front section has a single Titanic-size slot that can fit weapons even stronger than XL weapons, such as the immensely powerful Perdition Beam that can fire across a whole system and potentially destroy a battleship in a single shot. Titans also have an aura slot that can fit a single offensive or defensive aura that can buff friendly ships in the same fleet or debuff nearby enemy ships. Titans are intended to be the flagships of your fleets, and as such are limited in number: You can always field at least one Titan, plus an additional amount dependent on your overall naval capacity.
Ion Cannons (Apocalypse Feature)
Finally, there is one last Apocalype feature to talk about for today: Ion Cannons. Ion Cannons are stations that can be built as part of the defense platform fleet of a Starbase. Each Ion Cannon is essentially a single massive gun emplacement that mounts a single Titanic weapon, allowing the Starbase to engage enemy fleets at massive ranges and greatly improving the Starbase's ability to deal with enemy Battleships and Titans.
That's all for today! Next week we'll continue talking about Cherryh and Apocalypse expansion, on the topic of Marauders, Pirates and the Great Khan.
Average Manatee
Arcane
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2012
- Messages
- 14,284
>Remove auras from battleships in patch
>Sell DLC for bigger battleships with auras.
>Sell DLC for bigger battleships with auras.
Space Satan
Arcane
Battleship with auras was the worst design decision. Every goddamn fleet was brighter than galactic core. Like a big christmas tree. Nothing of value was lost
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2008
- Messages
- 5,511
So I decided to set crisis strength to x5 and this is the result.
Billions massacred every day by evil murderbots from the distant past. I'm barely keeping them at bay, but they have dozens of 450k fleets, along with 1mil fleets guarding their four primary systems. I'm by far the most powerful empire in the galaxy at this point, but I can only muster about 700k, which is enough to take out one of their 450k fleets without severe losses, but it's a war of attrition the robots are slowly winning. The whole empire is geared towards producing battleships with long range weapons, almost all non-mineral or energy tiles have been replaced to produce more.
So now I'm wondering if I can turn the war around and actually win. I did have some success by conquering nearby planets and immediately setting them to mineral and energy production, so I will probably continue doing that to take over more of the galaxy while using the bulk of my fleet to keep the robots from taking too many planets.
My ace up the sleeve is the Shroud, which I've been using at every opportunity to boost my empire any way I can. As a last resort I'm willing to trigger the End of the Cycle if will mean victory over the robots.
Billions massacred every day by evil murderbots from the distant past. I'm barely keeping them at bay, but they have dozens of 450k fleets, along with 1mil fleets guarding their four primary systems. I'm by far the most powerful empire in the galaxy at this point, but I can only muster about 700k, which is enough to take out one of their 450k fleets without severe losses, but it's a war of attrition the robots are slowly winning. The whole empire is geared towards producing battleships with long range weapons, almost all non-mineral or energy tiles have been replaced to produce more.
So now I'm wondering if I can turn the war around and actually win. I did have some success by conquering nearby planets and immediately setting them to mineral and energy production, so I will probably continue doing that to take over more of the galaxy while using the bulk of my fleet to keep the robots from taking too many planets.
My ace up the sleeve is the Shroud, which I've been using at every opportunity to boost my empire any way I can. As a last resort I'm willing to trigger the End of the Cycle if will mean victory over the robots.
The Cybrex showed up after the Contingency took a large amount of space, but unfortunately their 70k fleets are no match for them.
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The Contingency relies mostly on large and extra large weapons, so corvettes often dodge their attacks. Same goes for strike crafts. Reinforce your fleet with a swarm of corvettes and equip battleships with hangar bays. They will act as cheap living shields and should drastically improve your chances in the war of attrition.
If you have any ascension perk left, pick up the Defender of the Galaxy. The +33% damage bonus is often the game changer, I have once came back from the brink thanks to this perk when fighting the Unbidden.
You must find and destroy the Contingency's core systems. It is there that their fleets are spawned. There's usually a strong fleet and a few defence installations guarding each hub, but each fleet can be lured out and destroyed separately. One by one you can cut down the Contingency's reinforcement system. Once you do it, it's just mopping out.
If you have any ascension perk left, pick up the Defender of the Galaxy. The +33% damage bonus is often the game changer, I have once came back from the brink thanks to this perk when fighting the Unbidden.
You must find and destroy the Contingency's core systems. It is there that their fleets are spawned. There's usually a strong fleet and a few defence installations guarding each hub, but each fleet can be lured out and destroyed separately. One by one you can cut down the Contingency's reinforcement system. Once you do it, it's just mopping out.
There are scores of interesting teasers. Among other things, it looks like there will be space mercenaries and more fleshed-out pirates.
Also, they seem to introduce some sort of mid-game crises. This includes something that looks like space Mongols.
Also, they seem to introduce some sort of mid-game crises. This includes something that looks like space Mongols.
can you spot something new in this picture?
Space Satan
Arcane
razvedchiki
Erudite
how are the battles atm?
Castozor
Scholar
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2014
- Messages
- 151
Finally a chance to properly LARP wh40k Orks.
Also, the map looks awesome. Empires sprawl along hyperlines and finally there are systems worth fortifying and defending in order to keep the enemy from reaching our core systems.
8-10 more updates and it will look like this:
Space Satan
Arcane
Wiz showed a map with custom hyperlane density setting maxed out and every system was connected.
At max density hyperlines are indistinguishable from old warp.
Average Manatee
Arcane
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2012
- Messages
- 14,284
Not a fan of the new border colors. Looks artificial and cartoony. I quite liked how things looked previously, it looked very natural. Is that the new default mode?
Are the hordes new playable starts? That sounds way more interesting than previous additions, which mostly boiled down to numbers tweaks on various things.
Yes, lets remove actual game content rather than fix ugly graphics, something any modder could do in about 20s by removing it.
Are the hordes new playable starts? That sounds way more interesting than previous additions, which mostly boiled down to numbers tweaks on various things.
Yes, lets remove actual game content rather than fix ugly graphics, something any modder could do in about 20s by removing it.
Oh shit, the game does include alien romance!
Playing as a human empire I decided to bring some freedumz to the machine-age primitives that were scratching their asses in a system I already owed. And by freedumz I mean being part of my glorious nation. I started to infiltrate their civilization by my agents. It all went smoothly until one of my agents eloped with a native chick and was never seen again.
To make matter more hilarious (or creepy), the primitives in question were of that blue humanoid type. And they have the Repugnant trait. This means that my agent fell for a blue, vaguely human-like woman who by nature secretes stinking mucous or does something equally nasty. It's late 23rd century, but humans are still absolute perverts!
In overall, the events that relate to primitives are really hilarious. My favourite one is about my scientists making pranks ands causing the natives to build a pyramid to deities in the sky. I wish there was more content and that we could somehow interact with the primitives.
Playing as a human empire I decided to bring some freedumz to the machine-age primitives that were scratching their asses in a system I already owed. And by freedumz I mean being part of my glorious nation. I started to infiltrate their civilization by my agents. It all went smoothly until one of my agents eloped with a native chick and was never seen again.
To make matter more hilarious (or creepy), the primitives in question were of that blue humanoid type. And they have the Repugnant trait. This means that my agent fell for a blue, vaguely human-like woman who by nature secretes stinking mucous or does something equally nasty. It's late 23rd century, but humans are still absolute perverts!
In overall, the events that relate to primitives are really hilarious. My favourite one is about my scientists making pranks ands causing the natives to build a pyramid to deities in the sky. I wish there was more content and that we could somehow interact with the primitives.
- Joined
- May 25, 2009
- Messages
- 9,927
That's a good way to get xeno-STDs, don't do it men.
Massive epidemic of Xeno-chlamydia would be a great mid-game crisis.
Space Satan
Arcane
DD: Pirates and marauders
Hello everyone and welcome to another Stellaris development diary. Today, we continue talking about the Apocalypse expansion and 2.0 'Cherryh' update, on the topic of Marauders and Pirates.
Marauders (Apocalypse Feature)
Marauders are a new type of non-playable empire that those with the Apocalypse expansion can encounter in the galaxy. They are essentially nomadic FTL societies that have eschewed planetary living in favor of living on ships and stations in and around a handful of resource-rich systems, subsisting largely on raiding each other and extorting tribute from settled empires. Being born spacefarers, they are hardy warriors and expert ship crew, able to muster impressive fleets despite their relative lack of technology compared to other older civilizations (such as Fallen Empires). Marauders are always hostile to regular empires, but will generally not attack them unless you attempt to enter their home systems, or they are in the process of raiding them.
Marauders will occasionally set out to raid settled empires they have established contact with. Before raiding, they will offer said empire a chance to pay them off with a hefty tribute of minerals, energy or food. If you refuse, they will send a fleet to that empire's territory, pillaging stations and raiding planets for slaves, stopping only when they are either destroyed or satisfied with the amount of booty they have amassed. While in the process of raiding, they can still be bought off with tribute, but the price will be raised significantly from if you just agreed to pay them off from the start. Settled empires can pay a Marauder empire to conduct a raid on one of their rivals, both diverting their attention from yourself and potentially weakening that rival's military and economy. A Marauder empire can be wiped out by destroying all stations and ships in their home systems, but these systems are well defended and will take a powerful mid to late game navy to deal with.
Settled empires can also enlist the aid of Marauders as mercenaries. At the start of the game, it is possible to hire them as Generals or Admirals with a high starting skill and special traits, and after a certain amount of time has passed, the option to hire their fleets will also be unlocked. Marauder fleets cost a large energy payment up-front, and consist of a fixed-size fleet that cannot be split, merged or disbanded, with a leader that cannot be reassigned. The fleet does not count towards your naval cap and will not cost any maintenance, but will only serve you for a period of 5 years, after which you will have to renew their contract by paying the full cost again.
Horde Mid-Game Crisis (Apocalypse Feature)
Also new in the Apocalypse expansion is something we're calling the Horde Mid-Game Crisis. This is an event chain that can trigger after the first 100 years of the game, where one of the Marauder empires unifies under a Great Khan. Once this happens, the Marauder empire becomes a Horde, and will begin expanding in all directions, claiming empty systems and sending fleets to destroy the Starbases of any empire that will not submit to the Khan. At any time, it possible for a regular empire to submit to the Khan and become a Satrapy, a type of subject that has to pay part of its income and naval capacity in tribute to the Khan, but is otherwise left to its own devices. The Horde will grow stronger for every system it conquers and Satrapy it acquires, but it is a fragile construct, held together only by the personality of the Khan. If the Great Khan is killed in battle, or falls victim to disease or assassination, the Horde will collapse, at which point one of several things will happen to the Horde and its Satrapies: It may dissolve into a myriad of squabbling successor states, or a new, democratic Federation may form out of its ashes. Regardless, the appearance of the Khan and the Horde is sure to shake up the galactic scene of any game in which it makes an appearance.
Pirate Rework (Cherryh Feature)
Finally, though not directly related to Marauders, we wanted to mention that we have made some changes to pirates in the 2.0 'Cherryh' update. Back in the dev diary about Starbases, we talked about discouraging 'snaking' and leaving empty systems inside your borders by adjusting the influence costs. This turned out not to work so well in testing for a variety of reasons, and so we decided on a different solution, by expanding on the concept of pirates. Now, once the Birth of Space Piracy event has fired, Pirates will be able to spawn in empty systems bordering your empire. These pirates will attack your systems and pillage your stations until they are destroyed, and will grow stronger and more numerous over the course of the game. They are especially likely to spawn in systems that are fully surrounded by your borders, making any empty systems in the middle of your empire into potential hotbeds of trouble that you are likely going to want to take control of sooner or later. As part of these changes, we have removed most of the static pirate spawns in the galaxy, leaving only their home system with the Pirate Galleon.
That's all for today! Next week we'll continue talking about Cherryh and the Apocalypse expansion, on the topic of Edicts and Unity Ambitions.
Marauders (Apocalypse Feature)
Marauders are a new type of non-playable empire that those with the Apocalypse expansion can encounter in the galaxy. They are essentially nomadic FTL societies that have eschewed planetary living in favor of living on ships and stations in and around a handful of resource-rich systems, subsisting largely on raiding each other and extorting tribute from settled empires. Being born spacefarers, they are hardy warriors and expert ship crew, able to muster impressive fleets despite their relative lack of technology compared to other older civilizations (such as Fallen Empires). Marauders are always hostile to regular empires, but will generally not attack them unless you attempt to enter their home systems, or they are in the process of raiding them.
Marauders will occasionally set out to raid settled empires they have established contact with. Before raiding, they will offer said empire a chance to pay them off with a hefty tribute of minerals, energy or food. If you refuse, they will send a fleet to that empire's territory, pillaging stations and raiding planets for slaves, stopping only when they are either destroyed or satisfied with the amount of booty they have amassed. While in the process of raiding, they can still be bought off with tribute, but the price will be raised significantly from if you just agreed to pay them off from the start. Settled empires can pay a Marauder empire to conduct a raid on one of their rivals, both diverting their attention from yourself and potentially weakening that rival's military and economy. A Marauder empire can be wiped out by destroying all stations and ships in their home systems, but these systems are well defended and will take a powerful mid to late game navy to deal with.
Settled empires can also enlist the aid of Marauders as mercenaries. At the start of the game, it is possible to hire them as Generals or Admirals with a high starting skill and special traits, and after a certain amount of time has passed, the option to hire their fleets will also be unlocked. Marauder fleets cost a large energy payment up-front, and consist of a fixed-size fleet that cannot be split, merged or disbanded, with a leader that cannot be reassigned. The fleet does not count towards your naval cap and will not cost any maintenance, but will only serve you for a period of 5 years, after which you will have to renew their contract by paying the full cost again.
Horde Mid-Game Crisis (Apocalypse Feature)
Also new in the Apocalypse expansion is something we're calling the Horde Mid-Game Crisis. This is an event chain that can trigger after the first 100 years of the game, where one of the Marauder empires unifies under a Great Khan. Once this happens, the Marauder empire becomes a Horde, and will begin expanding in all directions, claiming empty systems and sending fleets to destroy the Starbases of any empire that will not submit to the Khan. At any time, it possible for a regular empire to submit to the Khan and become a Satrapy, a type of subject that has to pay part of its income and naval capacity in tribute to the Khan, but is otherwise left to its own devices. The Horde will grow stronger for every system it conquers and Satrapy it acquires, but it is a fragile construct, held together only by the personality of the Khan. If the Great Khan is killed in battle, or falls victim to disease or assassination, the Horde will collapse, at which point one of several things will happen to the Horde and its Satrapies: It may dissolve into a myriad of squabbling successor states, or a new, democratic Federation may form out of its ashes. Regardless, the appearance of the Khan and the Horde is sure to shake up the galactic scene of any game in which it makes an appearance.
Pirate Rework (Cherryh Feature)
Finally, though not directly related to Marauders, we wanted to mention that we have made some changes to pirates in the 2.0 'Cherryh' update. Back in the dev diary about Starbases, we talked about discouraging 'snaking' and leaving empty systems inside your borders by adjusting the influence costs. This turned out not to work so well in testing for a variety of reasons, and so we decided on a different solution, by expanding on the concept of pirates. Now, once the Birth of Space Piracy event has fired, Pirates will be able to spawn in empty systems bordering your empire. These pirates will attack your systems and pillage your stations until they are destroyed, and will grow stronger and more numerous over the course of the game. They are especially likely to spawn in systems that are fully surrounded by your borders, making any empty systems in the middle of your empire into potential hotbeds of trouble that you are likely going to want to take control of sooner or later. As part of these changes, we have removed most of the static pirate spawns in the galaxy, leaving only their home system with the Pirate Galleon.
That's all for today! Next week we'll continue talking about Cherryh and the Apocalypse expansion, on the topic of Edicts and Unity Ambitions.
Does it mean there will be an option to assassinate leaders?
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