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Stellaris Dev Diary #196: [REDACTED]

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Attn: Spymaster Utra, daughter of Roba,


Our operatives have provided information on the activities of the vile Paradoxians. Despite their attempts at secrecy, we have managed to acquire some intel. The images our agents have taken appear to be of crude prototypes that they are still refining, but we thought it best to pass this dispatch along now so you can better prepare for the future.

Agent Tiny Sorbet signing off.

-‚ا© ŘŮ æ¢Ã£»£æ¢Ã -•

Hello and happy new year!

In Dev Diaries 193 and 194 we explored the mysteries of first contact, hidden information, and intelligence gathering through diplomatic means.

It may come as a surprise to many, but sadly there are starfaring civilizations out there with whom peaceful co-existence and mutually beneficial diplomatic ties are simply not an option. Against these threats, it may prove useful to utilize the more intrigue-oriented members of your society, and turn to espionage.

Espionage and covert operations are a frequently requested feature that seem to be natural extensions of the intel system that we’ve described in the recent dev diaries. With the obfuscation of knowledge, naturally there should be systems to acquire that information.


Envoys and Spy Networks

Envoys will have a new diplomatic task available to them called Build Spy Network. They will take their place as the Spymaster of a network of covert operatives and agents that they will grow in power over time. Needless to say, the other empire will not be informed of your envoy's new position.

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Build Spy Network diplomatic action

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Baby steps.

While an envoy is managing a Spy Network as Spymaster, the Network will grow over time - quickly at first, but slower as the Network gains in strength. Networks are far faster to build in large, sprawling empires, and if the target empire’s Encryption rating is much stronger than the spying empire’s Decryption, growth may also slow to a crawl. (Machine Intelligences have a natural knack for Encryption and Decryption, while Hives and psionic empires tend to excel at Counter Espionage.)

Unmanaged Spy Networks (those without an envoy directing them) pause all ongoing activities and rapidly decay.

Spy Networks initially cap out at a maximum level of 50. Several things such as civics or edicts can increase it, and if you have acquired (disposable) Assets within the target empire they also provide a boost - each Asset increases the Spy Network cap in that empire by 5.

Assets are useful pawns, hacked backdoors, deviant drones, or other resources that could come in useful to your Spy Network. An Asset could be a disgruntled Bureaucrat that's been passed over promotion one too many times, a faulty Pheromone Emitter that your operatives have found a way to manipulate, or even a Logistics System that you've hacked into. More details about the acquisition of Assets and their uses will be in a future diary.


Changes

Here’s a non-comprehensive sample of some civics, ascension perks, and edicts that have been updated during this espionage pass. Several new Encryption and Decryption related technologies have also been added. (Numbers are still subject to change!)

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Some civics lend themselves nicely to covert activities.

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Others can modify Counter Espionage, making the lives of enemy Spy Networks easier or more difficult.

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Tell us your secrets.

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No, really.

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More of the new Edicts.


Putting Your Spies to Work

Now that you’ve built up your Spy Network, what can you do with it?

Back in Dev Diary 194 we had a redacted value shown in the Intel breakdown tooltip - Spy Network level is that third hidden value alongside Diplomatic Pacts and Trust.

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No more redactions here.

While your Spy Network passively provides intelligence, you can also have them be more active. Your Spymaster envoy can send agents out, using the Network's bandwidth ("Spy Power") to run Operations within the targeted empire while they stay safely at their base.

Operations exist in the following major categories:

* Subterfuge - Information gathering and operations that improve the spy network itself
* Sabotage - Ruining things (physical or immaterial)
* Manipulation - Replacing the truth with your own improved version
* Provocations - Don't do these, they're bad

Most Operations also have a subcategory of Government, Diplomacy, Economic, Technology, or Military, matching the Intel Categories.

More details on how to perform Operations (and how Assets can be used to improve them) will be the focus of next week’s diary. See you then!

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However, it would still be a boon to Authority and a loss to overall happiness, the result is the same...
exapt that if it would be against spies, why isn't there a + to counterspionage on it?
No, if so, it should be +% to government ethic attraction, not authoritarian ethic attraction.
But it is not that.
There is +1 to counter espionage, and -10 to crime, so yes it is against spies, not citizens with different political views.
 
Now imagine if the AI could inflict an "arrested development" trait on your leader... Doesn't sound so fun anymore, does it? :D

This. That direct affecting leaders is pretty bad. However using the negative trait of the leader ("corrupted" or "addicted" for example) as advantage in spying is internaly good idea. It gives another decision making factor for a affected party. Or rather it would give, as deposing the leader with bad traits is too easy and the Leaders are now nothing but glorified bonus cards. It would require complete rework of the gouverement/Leader system and making it akin to CK to make it work.
 
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No, if so, it should be +% to government ethic attraction, not authoritarian ethic attraction.
But it is not that.
There is +1 to counter espionage, and -10 to crime, so yes it is against spies, not citizens with different political views.
well, but also, if you have the tech, why just use it against spies if you also can use it against not-matching citizens? and that is the point where defferent ethics than authoritarian also gets "taken away", together with these spies, thats the point of -happiness +authoritarian ethics attraction and +counter espionage
 
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Are there any plans to make Envoys individuals with traits like other leaders? Envoys with different Leader levels, envoys you can choose which to employ?
 
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The people are generally unhappy at having subdermal tracking implants forced upon them recording everything they're doing, but over time may grow to start agreeing to a degree that "it's keeping us safe!" and "if you don't have anything to hide..." as they are indoctrinated by the state's propaganda.
Agreed though the happiness malus should be at least partly over time because after like 50 years of implants for everyone its kind of like breathing that you have one of those implants... basically 5% could maybe be a permanent happiness reduction while there is maybe a larger temporary penalty like 10% (on top of the permanent 5%) or maybe even 20% for like 10 years where people need to get used to it...
 
So far they have been against the idea to make Envoys fully fledged leaders.
However I am of the opinion, that they should.
But what was the point of creating envoys then? Why add a new leader type if the existing leaders could have filled the role of envoy. What would the difference be if they would have that function with maybe a modifier based on their profession and traits?
 
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But what was the point of creating envoys then? Why add a new leader type if the existing leaders could have filled the role of envoy. What would the difference be if they would have that function with maybe a modifier based on their profession and traits?

It could be that they're unsatisfied with the current leader system and plan to change it.
 
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It could be that they're unsatisfied with the current leader system and plan to change it.

I mean, the current leader system is kinda unrealistic, but that has more to do with the utter lack of internal politics than anything wrong with the current system itself. Add some more things for idle leaders to do and you'd be golden.
 
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I like the current leader system. True, there is always room for improvment but still.

At this point there is no sense in the Envoy system.
"Envoy Paul V have died, he has been replaced with Paul VI." Nothing to be done, nothing changes. At the moment the envoy system feels like a quick and dirty stopgag solution to a problem.
Thats why I'm hoping for a more individual approach. Why not give your envoys traits. So you have to decide to employ anenvoy who is great at diplomatic small talk, great let them be the ambassador to the GC.
Someone who can seduce every species? Awesome let them be your 770 secret agent Jane Blorg.
 
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But what was the point of creating envoys then? Why add a new leader type if the existing leaders could have filled the role of envoy. What would the difference be if they would have that function with maybe a modifier based on their profession and traits?
It could be that they're unsatisfied with the current leader system and plan to change it.
Ambassadors will need ur and character traits
 
My primary concern is for Machine Intelligence players, save for them though this update looks absolutely magnificent. Machine Intelligence players currently can only reliably have -one- envoy, which horribly cripples how effectively they can utilize this new mechanic,

Rather than giving Machine empires a bump in envoys to keep them competitive, I wonder if it would be better to make Machine Empires different and/or unique in that they acquire Intel in a different manner than other Empires.

Instead of tying their espionage to diplomacy and envoys, perhaps they should gain a unique unit of some sort--unique A.I. hacking technology and unique probe units that can be dispatched to other empires.

That might also help make Machines more distinct in gameplay from the other empires..... Just brainstorming here.
 
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Bad rng stuff happening that can be prevented by you investing in another rng mechanic is exactly what a lot of people dont want. It is what other games did with espionage and it has never worked in one of those games.

Agreed. It brings to my mind Civilization: Beyond Earth's spy mechanics. Tedious assigning agents to mission, tick-tock for 13-14 years, then random chance it worked or didn't with a pop-up message--but no real sense of excitement.

In movies, spy books, and real world history, part of what makes espionage intriguing is the excitement and uncertainty, watching narrow escapes and daring-do and bold-faced clever lies and deceptions. It's fun to have that sort of cliff-hanger. Part of the challenge to creating a good espionage system in an empire-simulation game is capturing that feeling of nail-biting suspense.

Most strategy games don't really address that part of espionage. Instead, it's frequently fire-and-forget. You assign an agent a task, then wait... and wait.. and wait... then at some random point, something random happens with no real intervention on the player's part. That's....anti-climactic. That's paperwork rather than wetwork.

I'm not sure what the best way to handle espionage is in Stellaris--but it sure ain't the Civilization: Beyond Earth method of slotting them into particular jobs and forgetting about them, in which only two possible outcomes (success or failure) will be determined by RNG battles between defender and attacker.

None of that captures the *feel* of a spy movie or a spy book or that sort of tension they rely upon. The intangible components of mood are important in any espionage system, and I frankly see more of that "mood" in the Developer's entertaining posts than I do in the actual game mechanics being proposed.
 
Rather than giving Machine empires a bump in envoys to keep them competitive, I wonder if it would be better to make Machine Empires different and/or unique in that they acquire Intel in a different manner than other Empires.

Instead of tying their espionage to diplomacy and envoys, perhaps they should gain a unique unit of some sort--unique A.I. hacking technology and unique probe units that can be dispatched to other empires.

That might also help make Machines more distinct in gameplay from the other empires..... Just brainstorming here.

I would love to have something like this - but regular hive minds would need an equivalent.
 
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