Hello everyone and welcome to another Stellaris development diary. Today's dev diary will be focusing on the road ahead after Cherryh and Apocalypse, and our long-term priorities going forward.

Cherryh Post-Release Support
As mention in last week's dev diary, the immediate priority for the team is post-release support for Cherryh and Apocalypse, fixing bugs, addressing balance/feature feedback, and working on quality of life and performance improvements. We are maintaining a running 2.0.2 beta patch which we will continue to update every few days or so until we are happy with the state of the game.

The Post-Apocalypse
Apocalypse and Cherryh were an expansion/patch focused almost exclusively on war, and with it out, we are now going to be moving on to other, non-war related priorities for future updates, expansions and story packs. To give you an idea of what's coming, we're going to revisit the list of long-term goals for Stellaris I made and updated for Dev Diary #50 and Dev Diary #69. This time, we're going to organize the goals into the ones we feel have been delivered on, old goals that were added to the list before 2.0, and new goals that we have set for ourselves after 2.0 (there is no prioritization difference between goals based on when they were added or whether they are considered old or new for this particular list).

As before, the list is NOT in order of priority, and something being considered completed NOT mean we aren't going to continue to improve on it in future updates, just that we consider it to be at a satisfactory level.

As before, THIS IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE OR FINAL LIST, NOTHING NOT ALREADY COMPLETED IS CERTAIN TO HAPPEN AND THERE ARE NO ETAS

Completed Goals

• Ship appearance that differs for each empire, so no two empires' ships look exactly the same.
• More potential for empire customization, ability to build competitive 'tall' empires.
• Global food that can be shared between planets.
• Ability to construct space habitats and ringworlds.
• Factions that are proper interest groups with specific likes and dislikes and the potential to be a benefit to an empire instead of just being rebels.
• Ability to set rights and obligations for particular species in your empire.
• Buildable Dreadnoughts and Titans.
• Deeper mechanics and unique portraits for synthetics.
• Reworking the endgame crises to be more balanced against each other and the size/state of the galaxy.
• Reworks to war to address the 'doomstacks' issue and make the strategic and tactical layers of warfare more interesting and less micro-intensive.
• Superweapons and planet killers.

Old Goals

• A 'galactic community' with interstellar politics and a 'space UN'.
• Deeper Federations that start out as loose alliances and can eventually be turned into single states through diplomatic manuevering.
• More story events and reactive narratives that give a sense of an unfolding story as you play.
• More interesting mechanics for pre-FTL civilizations.
• 'Living systems', making empire systems feel more alive and lived in

New Goals

• Less micromanagement and more focus on interesting choices in regards to planets, the ability to grow planets beyond current fixed size.
• Empire trade mechanics and trade agreements.
• A galactic market where resources and strategic resources can be imported and exported.
• Espionage and sabotage mechanics.
• Improved galaxy/hyperlane generation with better placed systems and dangers.
• More anomalies and unique systems to explore.

That's all for today! Over the next few weeks, dev diaries will continue to focus on post-release support. Feature dev diaries will resume when we have new features to talk about. Finishing off this dev diary is a screenshot of how we're reworking difficulty modes in the next update to the rolling 2.0.2 beta:

 

[FortunaDraken]

Thank you for update but I wish that this goal would not remove micromanagement but give an option for non-micromanagement. Some of us really like having micromanagement in games.

I do have to agree with this. I'm one of those people that really enjoys all the small micromanaging things. I hate sectors (they get nothing but fully developed planets because of their dumb AI; they're literally "This is the only way to choose what's on my Outliner" for me) and I like getting to develop each planet exactly the way I want it. Having games with 15+ core systems is something that tends to happen a lot when I play.

Don't even get me started on the sector AI moving pops around and not leaving pops with good traits on buildings they boost...

 

[MacGillivray]

How you declare you "won" in a galaxy? Like, you get a lot of Book Mana and declare you won and everyone concedes?

I think there are loads of potential mechanics that could work here, and I think stellaris would be a better game for having a more engaging or varied victory mechanic than the current one. A couple of people have pointed towards a score counter which I think makes sense.

 

[Silvanus]

Thanks for your great work!

But one thing bothered me for a long time. Why doesn't machine Empires start with the ability/tech to modify themselves? Like, why don't they have different templates right from the start? Is it a balancing issue? Because for me it just seems logical that machines are build for specialized tasks(one template with Energy production bonus, one with mineral production bonus, one with science bonus).

Same thing with ship models. I bet you heard that argument way too often, but for machines there is no logical reason to stick with the ship models of their creators, if there is a more efficient way of building something with an equivalent task.

Thanks for your support! Keep it up!

 

[EntropyAvatar]

• Less micromanagement and more focus on interesting choices in regards to planets, the ability to grow planets beyond current fixed size.

Let us hope that the days of the tile system are numbered!

 

[McUH]

I love the idea of scaling difficulty! Sometimes I wish I could start on normal but then raise it to hard once I'm in the midgame and this is exactly that, only automated! I love it <3

Well, this is one idea which looks great on paper, but often turns out badly in reality. Scaling usually kicks in when you already snowballed and try to wrap-up the game. As the late-game is the most boring part in 4x, the scaling often just prolongs pointless grind at the end.
Also if you have bad start and try to catch up, scaling often makes that very difficult.

But you can try and see if it turns out different in this game.

 

[Nyrael]

But one thing bothered me for a long time. Why doesn't machine Empires start with the ability/tech to modify themselves? Like, why don't they have different templates right from the start? Is it a balancing issue? Because for me it just seems logical that machines are build for specialized tasks(one template with Energy production bonus, one with mineral production bonus, one with science bonus).

Everything in the game is for gameplay reasons. Justifications just explain why it fits in.
One such justification can be that they are not advanced enough to modify themselves. At start, they can copy themselves by using blueprints left behind by their creators, but tey need to research those and themselves to learn how to safely modify themselves.

Basically, it takes time for a machine to learn how to use C++.

 

[Destruction935]

how many bugs did 2.0.2 fix

 

[Samlow]

• A galactic market where resources and strategic resources can be imported and exported.

This is something that can go hand in hand with bringing more "life" into stellaris.
My suggestion:

Create a mini-megastructure that acts as a inter-empire trading hub, with its own UI. Trader Corps automatically have one of these at their base. Their function being two fold:
- Allow the creation of trade ships that carry out trade agreements (which follow a trade route. Can be intercepted, but individual ships only represent a small % of the agreement)
- Give access to a localised supply demand market. As the owner you get a fee based on transactions by other nations. You can set buy and sell orders as usual. All markets link together in 1 UI to show supply and demand, and distance (delivery times). Allow the player to set up smart orders to minimize micromanagement.

I would envisage the Trade hub would have its own localized reserves, which hold a % of the active trades.

On the anti-trade front, one could now create blockades without outright war, have pirate empires raid trade stations for their localized reserves. Have marauders get a new option to target a trade hub. Cutting off a trade hub could pauze ongoing trade agreements, making them a strategic asset.

 

[Fortune_Silver]

Well, we can't build dreadnoughts...

Agreed, I SOOOO want buildable dreadnaughts.
And maybe a ship set based off the automated Dreadnaught? I really like that ships aesthetic.

 

[Matrim_Cauthon]

Hello everyone

Hello

First of all I like Stellaris and loved Apocalypse and 2.0. I like your goals as well.

New Goals

• Less micromanagement and more focus on interesting choices in regards to planets, the ability to grow planets beyond current fixed size.
• Empire trade mechanics and trade agreements.
• A galactic market where resources and strategic resources can be imported and exported.
• Espionage and sabotage mechanics.
• Improved galaxy/hyperlane generation with better placed systems and dangers.
• More anomalies and unique systems to explore.

Now I made this suggestion on reddit, and don't know if it's feasible, but I think a planet manager would be nice, just like we have a fleet manager now.

I can make the game save a fleet design number 4 (which is 6 battleships and 6 corvettes, for example) and build it from scratch. So I'd like a planet design, so I can do the same with planets I colonize or even conquer. Fill it entirely with mines or labs. Or make 3 farms, 3 mines, 3 power plants and 3 fortresses in this order.

Again, I don't know how feasible it is, how to solve the issue of placement or the planet designer dealing with a planet that has less tiles than the design it has been ordered to do. Maybe put numbers on the all the tiles, from 1 to 25, and make it ignore the planet administration tile.

I think this could also help improve the AI. The AI is terrible at building stuff on its own, if it had preset planet designs to follow maybe it could act smarter without actually needing to be smarter.

Old Goals

• A 'galactic community' with interstellar politics and a 'space UN'.
• Deeper Federations that start out as loose alliances and can eventually be turned into single states through diplomatic manuevering.
• More story events and reactive narratives that give a sense of an unfolding story as you play.
• More interesting mechanics for pre-FTL civilizations.
• 'Living systems', making empire systems feel more alive and lived in

I want space Japan to happen. A pre-FTL civilization that either is enlightened or achieves FTL on its own and becomes a great power in the galaxy. Maybe giving this pre-FTL civilization bonus due to events (first pre-FTL to make FTL?). Maybe a slider in galaxy settings saying how many pre-FTL species we want to have this ability.

 

[Elfwind]

I'm gonna be honest the main thing that makes me not want to play a new stellaris game is the insane amount of tedious clicking that has to happen to upgrade a planet to full. Please give us an upgrade all to max level button or something for late game at least!

 

[Nyrael]

how many bugs did 2.0.2 fix

From front page: LINK

 

[Coconut_Cookie]

Let us hope that the days of the tile system are numbered!

The tile system isn't necessary bad but there are a number of issues. Most importantly the ai is not adaquate to handle development competently. Also the ceiling of development of a planet is rather limited and is more or less fixed other then the repeating techs for energy and minerals. I'd like to see an economic system a bit more based on pops and pop numbers that way immigration could prove to be far more valuable. And finally all planets are more or less the same and the way to developm them is quite similar as wel. More specified planets or even celestial bodies could be interesting. Like a research facility specifically for a field of science or more planetary modifiers with passive and active effects. Or when the tile system will be kept there could be bonusses to tile blockers like vulcanos providing industry or energy to adjacent tiles.

 

[Garfazz Steamfang]

Glad to see that diplomatie and trade are on the road. I guess i will have to wait for this before playing again (being a pacifist/tall empire you have Nothing to do in this game...).

 

[Icemania]

Finishing off this dev diary is a screenshot of how we're reworking difficulty modes in the next update to the rolling 2.0.2 beta:
View attachment 343256

It's interesting that if Captain is the equivalent of Normal that the AI is still going to get some bonuses. Many competing Space 4X games do NOT give the AI buffs on Normal. It's traditionally the level known for the AI and player to be playing the same game. Specific recent examples are Gal Civ III, Endless Space 2 and Distant Worlds. None of them have the equivalent of half maintenance bonuses for the AI on Normal. The Distant Worlds AI even simulates vision and has to explore as does Gal Civ III these days (wasn't always the case).

Being previously unaware of those hidden bonuses, I had thought the AI was in relatively good shape compared to other games. Particularly when it comes to planet management it's highly likely the AI is actually not strong as compared to it's competition in the market, although of course that is hard to evaluate objectively. Either way, I would propose the buffs are removed from Normal entirely, and there is also consideration of improving AI planet management in particular.

 

[Silvanus]

- Allow the creation of trade ships that carry out trade agreements (which follow a trade route. Can be intercepted, but individual ships only represent a small % of the agreement)

Actually I think it would be cool, if the routes would make the actual benefit of this trading. Why? Because now you need to protect the trading routes and they have some value.
Imagine this. You could trade with an empire, but between you two is a third one. Now you need to be on good terms with the empire in between because you want their space for trading usage or you need to fight them and make specific claims for trading routes to use. it would have a huge impact on diplomacy.

 

[Xephos Demonslayer]

Any chance you could fix auto cannons saying in their description that they fire "armor piercing" explosive shells when said shell have a MINUS 75% damage modifier to armor? Maybe script it to say it drains shields very fast due to the repeated impacts to fast to compensate for or something like that? Liking the list, still don't like that it says an AI has an "equivalent" fleet when it has 15k more than I do, and when I have two fleets and a station that outclass him by 6k power he still stack wipes me.

Also, VERY annoyed at ridiculous mineral upkeep on ships now. THREE times the energy cost for a corvette in minerals, and about 15 to 17 minerals for a BASIC battleship. I get if it was the same level of upkeep, or even 2 times mineral cost as the energy cost, but it just cripples my economy because I can't get enough minerals to do everything I need to. It gets even more ridiculous when the AI seems to just outright ignore it. I'll check by tagging over in the original save after I lost, just to check to see what I'm doing wrong in between achievement hunts, and despite having 3 times the planets 6 times the income of an AI, and straining my economy to ruin maxing my fleets, on NORMAL he still pulls a fleet that equals mine out of his ***, even when his ships are more expensive. I love this game, and I've been working since day one to grab every realistic achievement (because let's face it, outside context is pure, 100% RNG, and I just don't have the luck that I'll even get the chance for it EVER), and love every new mechanic that's been added (except the 2.02 upping starbase upkeep, because why can't an outpost have built in solar panels?) Yeah, I get the AI cheats to compensate for our exploitative monkey brains, but there's a line and my inability to mineral snowball at all has crossed it.

 

[Kerby87]

Things i like to see in an upcoming update:

- a symbol in the outliner behind planets (only for playing a robotic race), so a player knows when he can build a new robot/there is an empty place on a planet, like you did it with a "blocker" symbol when a blocker could be removed or a "building" to be build/upgraded
- the starbase military power on the galaxy map, when you hold on to the starbase symbol of a system
- a symbol for stargates on the galaxy map, when they are ready to upgrade after finishing to build them with your construction ship (so that you know where you built a construction site for it)
- terraform ringworlds into machine worlds

 

[Auspex29]

I LIVE for updates like this.

 

[-Marauder-]

I'm going to add a couple society techs that give Hive Minds and Machine Empires substantial resource production boosts in the mid-game.

I believe the DE tooltip is fixed in the beta.

Ah, that's good to hear. It's just that with the removal of some society techs in 2.0 they lost 5% robot production, a 15% resettlement cost decrease and a 15% edict cost decrease. With the Machine World and Mass-Produced nerfs this felt, a tad extreme. It kinda adds up.