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Stellaris Dev Diary #207: Challenging Origins

Hi! Happy April Fool's Day!

This week we want to show off some of the challenging new Origins that are not coming soon.

The first, titled Surviving the Aftermath, is a variant on Void Dwellers.

The Surviving the Aftermath origin starts with the premise that a construction ship and colony ship were lost in MIA when a Crisis nation activated the Aetherophasic Engine and destroyed the galaxy, and you're left in a habitat to pick up the pieces.

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Your home system.

As the galaxy has been destroyed and there are no resources anywhere, we expect this to be an exciting and challenging origin to play.

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The local cluster.

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The galaxy. So alone. So very alone.

The next is the Crusader King Origin, where you begin the game as the ruler of a primitive civilization in the late medieval time period.

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Living in luxury.

This origin starts at a significant tech disadvantage, but our playtests suggest that you should achieve spaceflight within a few hundred years.

Several events have been added in case another empire wishes to enlighten your civilization, as well as a "burn the alien at the stake" minigame.

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Includes special diplomatic options!

Winning the game as a Crusader King grants the new Universe Universalis achievement.

The Prison Architect Origin is restricted to Rogue Servitors only, and drastically changes their gameplay. Instead of pampering their organic charges, they seek to collect all organics and like the Criminal Syndicate, are affected by and gain bonuses for having high Crime. They also gain extra Unity for each Criminal Syndicate pop they collect.

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Gotta catch ‘em all!

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Some minor changes to the Organic Sanctuary.

Open to all empire types, the This is Fine origin has a new twist - your empire thinks it’s hot stuff and is limited to colonizing stars.

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Is it warm in here, or is it just me? Looking pretty radiant though.

Your buildings have a chance of being ruined each month due to fires, but your energy production is vastly increased.

Last but not least, the AI Custodianship Origin is our most challenging yet, where you and the AI both control your empire simultaneously. This Origin is also open to all empire types, and represents a fractured leadership or gestalt intelligence where two leaders struggle for power, sometimes issuing contradictory orders. The AI Custodian will act to implement its flawless and foolproof algorithms, undoubtedly bringing your empire success in the long run, if you would only listen to it.

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The AI has great plans for my homeworld. The greatest of plans.

That's all for this week. As a reminder, the Stellaris 3.0 'Dick' update and Nemesis arrive two weeks from today on the 15th of April.

What Origins would you create if you wanted a special challenge?
 
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Inb4 this was a serious dev diary and the actual April Fools' joke was that these origins were NOT being released.
 
Try running human_ai in the console when playing normally. (It's technically a debug command to observe the AI, but it'll do the trick).
I've always been curious what the difference is in AI behavior between this and the regular "observe" command. Would it be possible for you to explain more?
 
I would like it when you choose the Crusader Kings Origin it just loads up Crusader Kings 3 and you have to play all through that to get to space before you start the main Stellaris game.
 
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I do now really like a 'sole survivor' type start; One sparsely inhabited (even mixed species?) habitat or incorrect habitability (IE an arid species on a desert world) world on the edge of the galaxy with no guaranteed habitable worlds but bonus technology as you try to figure out what happened. Maybe some events that rarely give you reinforcements as other survivors follow you/you find the failed leavings of other refugees. The only way it could be more on point is if you start with a colony ship but no planet, but I don't think the game will support that.
 
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Any chance we can get that last one with the AI as an actual player only option? I'd actually enjoy a front row seat watching the AI play while being able to issue orders to refine things.
 
The next is the Crusader King Origin, where you begin the game as the ruler of a primitive civilization in the late medieval time period.

Living in luxury.

This origin starts at a significant tech disadvantage, but our playtests suggest that you should achieve spaceflight within a few hundred years.

Several events have been added in case another empire wishes to enlighten your civilization, as well as a "burn the alien at the stake" minigame.

Winning the game as a Crusader King grants the new Universe Universalis achievement.

The Prison Architect Origin is restricted to Rogue Servitors only, and drastically changes their gameplay. Instead of pampering their organic charges, they seek to collect all organics and like the Criminal Syndicate, are affected by and gain bonuses for having high Crime. They also gain extra Unity for each Criminal Syndicate pop they collect.

Gotta catch ‘em all!

I'd be very happy for the 2 origins (in the quote) to be added to the game . I know they are all a joke (I read 'This week we want to show off some of the challenging new Origins that are not coming soon.') but still..........
 
Read this thinking it was real. I was like hmm these sound very interesting... I was especially interested in the last one.
 
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Took me until the title and concept of the second one to realise it was a joke :p.

(On a serious note: yes please to challenge origins and traits ;). Not as extreme as starting in a galaxy without resources or as a primitive civilization, obviously, but something that makes your game require more skill and insight to pull off)
 
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Hi! Happy April Fool's Day!

This week we want to show off some of the challenging new Origins that are not coming soon.

The first, titled Surviving the Aftermath, is a variant on Void Dwellers.

The Surviving the Aftermath origin starts with the premise that a construction ship and colony ship were lost in MIA when a Crisis nation activated the Aetherophasic Engine and destroyed the galaxy, and you're left in a habitat to pick up the pieces.

View attachment 699567
Your home system.

As the galaxy has been destroyed and there are no resources anywhere, we expect this to be an exciting and challenging origin to play.

View attachment 699568
The local cluster.

View attachment 699569The galaxy. So alone. So very alone.
The hilarious thing is that this one actually sounds like it has potential to be interesting.
 
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