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Stellaris Dev Diary #15 - Fallen Empires

Hello and happy new year! I’ll be your substitute Doomdark for today and in this week’s dev diary we’ll take a closer look at Fallen Empires.

The galaxy is vast, old and unknown. New species constantly flare into existence and some are even able to take their first cautious steps towards other stars. Of those that do some are arrogant enough to assume that they are the first and only chosen. They fail to realize that others may have taken those same steps before them, others who have found amazing wonders and unraveled their secrets, others who reached the furthest edges of knowledge only to crumble away. Those others are called Fallen Empires.

These are once-glorious empires that for unknown reasons have stagnated and often fallen to infighting or crippling apathy. That which once covered hundreds of systems have shrunk to a fraction, barely held on to by superior technology and what little remains of a once glorious fleet. Fallen Empires are isolationist and will look at newer species with disinterest or outright contempt. Diplomatic attempts are futile and they will most likely attack any unknown ships entering one of their remaining systems.

stellaris_dev_diary_14_01_20160104_diplomatic_contact.jpg

The response of Fallen Empires vary greatly when approached. It is rarely friendly though.

Design Reasoning

We’ve added Fallen Empires to the game for a couple of reasons. They have the potential to enable some really cool stories and there is a bunch of different directions we can take to ensure players get a different experience from game to game. Players should never feel confident in how a Fallen Empire may react to different events in the galaxy. If left alone they might resurge as a reaction to a galaxy-wide threat or become outraged when their most holy planets are colonized by lesser races.

Gameplay-wise the Fallen Empires can act as a potential source of advanced technology for players willing to invest the military forces required to defeat one of their fleets in battle. In Stellaris, all ships destroyed in combat will leave debris behind and through reverse engineering a player may discover the technologies required to build the weapons and components equipped by those ships. Players can also invade planets belonging to Fallen Empires, allowing them to utilize whatever advanced buildings placed there. This of course means dealing with a new species within the Empire.
While the rewards may be tempting, players may want to consider the risks before attacking a Fallen Empire. Who knows what horrors they have unearthed during the ages, what forbidden secrets their planets hold within, what captives might be unleashed should their wardens be struck down.

stellaris_dev_diary_14_02_20160104_fallen_empire.jpg

Fallen Empires will use a separate series of models for their ships and stations.

Next week the good Goosecreature will be back with a dev diary on the events and mishaps that may befall colonies and their inhabitants. Until then!
 
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Multiple kinds of Fallen Empire would be great. Having both a single-system godlike Empire like the Vorlon, or more traditional Fallen Empire like the Min'bari would be great.

Hell. The Minbari are already flippin' terrifying. For a single (major) diplomatic incident, they went on a full genocidal war on Humanity.

Just think what would happen if a Fallen Empire behaved like that.
 
Hell. The Minbari are already flippin' terrifying. For a single (major) diplomatic incident, they went on a full genocidal war on Humanity.

Dukhat was the most important and holiest leader of their entire race, who was simultaneously a beloved leader in the Warrior Caste who was, without precedent, also loved by and sympathetic to the historically antagonistic Religious Caste.

Not only that, he was a major voice of seeking first contact with humans in the name of friendship and diplomacy.

The humans opened fire without provocation (in the minds of the Minbari) and devastated his ship, killing him, during a series of meetings where he was advocating to the Grey Council that they open friendly relations with said humans.

It would have been like if, instead of Cortez, the Pope had lead the trip to Mexico and personally met with Moctezuma II seeking peace and trade, and Moctezuma II proceeded to walk up to and suddenly behead the Pope in front of all the Catholic Kings of Europe.
 
Minbari are still utter dicks for refusing any sort of surrender.

One death, no matter the importance, can justify the wholesale genocide of an entire specie.
 
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To be fair to the Minbari, council was split whether to go on holy war with Earth or not. Delenn's vote was a deciding one.
 
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Because killing an entire specie just for kicks is an horrible, horrible thing to do. 99.9999999% of the population have never even came close to a flippin' Minbari.

Minbari could have asked that the humans be relegated to the stone age and the humans would have accepted.


Says who?

Me. And also pretty much anyone who has a basic concept of morality. Here is a tip:

Killing sentient beings is bad
 
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Because killing an entire specie just for kicks is an horrible, horrible thing to do. 99.9999999% of the population have never even came close to a flippin' Minbari.

Just for kicks? Hyperbole much?

Minbari could have asked that the humans be relegated to the stone age and the humans would have accepted.

No they wouldn't have; did you even watch the whole show?

Me. And also pretty much anyone who has a basic concept of morality. Here is a tip:

Killing sentient beings is bad

What if they killed your leader, and dozens of his aides, in cold blood?

Besides, survival of the fittest, bro.
 
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No they wouldn't have; did you even watch the whole show?

What part of "unconditional surrender" you did no understand during the President's speech?


What if they killed your leader, and dozens of his aides, in cold blood?

I wouldnt go and murder billions of people in retribution. Goddamnit, what part of "disproportional retribution" you dont understand? Killing billions and billions of people as an act of vengence is being both petty and completely mental.

Besides, survival of the fittest, bro.

I never saw ever use that argument in a way that isnt meant to justify bully behavior.
 
What part of "unconditional surrender" you did no understand during the President's speech?

Reducing the population of the human race to the stone age would have been an impossibility.

Even if the President and Senate agreed to that, they couldn't enforce it on the common man without violating the terms, themselves, to have any hope of enforcing it.

The Minbari believed they were doing everyone a favour by eliminating such a hostile and violent little galactic pest as 'man'.

I wouldnt go and murder billions of people in retribution. Goddamnit, what part of "disproportional retribution" you dont understand? Killing billions and billions of people as an act of vengence is being both petty and completely mental.

I never saw ever use that argument in a way that isnt meant to justify bully behavior.

Your limited human perspective might be considered small to the minds of giants.

If a spider bites you, do you not squash it?

If a few ants crawl into your food, do you not hunt down their trail and exterminate their nest?
 
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Do we have any more information on the diplomatic options we'll have with fallen empires? Will we be limited to 'avoid' or 'war for tech' or could we trade with them or somehow convince them to be allies? For example if another empire attacked them could we intervene in exchange for tech, resources or just a boost in relations?
 
Do we have any more information on the diplomatic options we'll have with fallen empires? Will we be limited to 'avoid' or 'war for tech' or could we trade with them or somehow convince them to be allies? For example if another empire attacked them could we intervene in exchange for tech, resources or just a boost in relations?
Probably depends on their personality.

"Currently, only Xenophile/Xenophobe Materialist/Spiritualist are valid FE traits. More may be added.

The FE personalties are:
Xenophile: Benevolent Observers
Xenophobe: Militant Isolationists
Spiritualist: Holy Guardians
Materialist: Keepers of Knowledge"

From Wiz in the Dev Diary about AI.
I imagine Xenophiles are easier to handle in diplomacy, and xenophobes borderline impossible. I have a theory that Keepers of Knowledge have a larger store of technology, and as such may be able to grant you tech bonuses if you trade with them...should you be able to get that close to them. No clue about Holy Guardians, however it has been hinted that they dislike aliens settling on certain planets considered holy.
 
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