Stellaris Dev Diary #95: Humanoids Species Pack

[bloodyglasspuppet]

I stopped caring about realism right around Leviathans. Orks and Squats are a little silly, but so are fox people. It's not that much of a tone-change. I'm just gonna lean into it I like the ship sets, I'll roll with the dwarves, and I think the orc guys actually look pretty cool.

It's not about realism. Would you want to see orcs, elves and halflings in Star Wars? I think not. It's about the internal consistency of a fictional universe, not so much about realism. Yes, the setting of Stellaris is all over the place and intentionally so. But the idea of different races followed a consistent logic: Different species we know developing into conscious beings on other planets. I never had a huge problem with that. I wouldn't mind the introduction of other, strange forms of conscious life into the game. But to simply go into the fantasy direction simply feels wrong und a bit lazy too. I also don't mind the other humanoid portraits which were shown. I only wanted to voice my opinion about one little step in a direction i find wrong.

 

[Hatsune Miku]

Would you want to see orcs, elves and halflings in Star Wars? I think not.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Fay
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Gamorrean

Honestly, Star Wars is as fantasy as it gets (you might argue whether it's sci-fi or not, but it's definitely within the realm of high fantasy), so it might not be the best example for this. Also, Star Trek, which is definitely sci-fi and arguably the biggest inspiration for Stellaris, has their own "space elves" so I don't really see the point.

It's just a matter of what you personally find immersion-breaking. I, for one, look forward to playing a sci-fi version of Lord of the Rings.

 

[Vityviktor]

I really love the portraits, but i think you could add some settings allowing (or not) some portrait groups (like Humanoids or Cute ones) to appear in the game. I'm ok with having as much variety as possible, but sometimes i would like to play in a galaxy without Humanoid or Cute races, only weird space aliens.

 

[bloodyglasspuppet]

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Fay
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Gamorrean

Honestly, Star Wars is as fantasy as it gets (you might argue whether it's sci-fi or not, but it's definitely within the realm of high fantasy), so it might not be the best example for this. Also, Star Trek, which is definitely sci-fi and arguably the biggest inspiration for Stellaris, has their own "space elves" so I don't really see the point.

It's just a matter of what you personally find immersion-breaking. I, for one, look forward to playing a sci-fi version of Lord of the Rings.

I don't care for extended universe stuff (and don't know about it) and the Gamorrean would fit into Stellaris quite well actually: Pigs that developed into conscious beings.
But it's really not about the details, it's more about the general feeling of a setting which is deeply connected with the art design. With your last sentence you answered the question i was asking earlier quite well. It seems you represent a part of the community which could lead the game into a wrong direction from my point of view. This is not meant to be an insult, you have the right to an opinion of course.
Now i think i will end the conversation. I think my posts gave away the wrong impression that i make a big deal about what is in fact a minor quibble at this point for me... We will see how it goes in the future.

 

[forest cat]

will we have Amphibia species pack？

 

[bitmapmedivh]

I will admit that it feels a bit lazy to go for Orcs, Devils, Dwarves and Halflings in a humanoid pack when both Star Wars and Star Trek contains dozens upon dozens of examples of humanoid aliens without tapping into fantasy race stereotypes (Vulcans excepted). Those two franchises have examples of fantastically lazy design choices, true. But none of them had an explicit Bilbo Baggins-copy walking around on a starship. I mean, even Pillars of Eternity managed to do something new with their totally-not-Halflings race.

The inclusion of Halflings and Dwarves in this pack kind of soured me on it, I have to admit.

 

[richardpull83]

Looks to me as if the art department have taken inspiration from the Imperial fleet; those Corvettes look a little inspired by Imperial Star Destroyers. Loving the look!

 

[basserg]

I can get behind a portrait enabler. It wouldn't really be that different from the spawn options for custom empires.

I hate Halflings with the burning passion of a thousand exploding stars. Worst fantasy race ever made.

To each their own, but I will buy this pack just for space halflings, Agrarian Idyll, inward perfection. One can always just remove their portrait from files if it really bugs someone. I'm sure that someone will mod out the more "fantasy" portraits first thing when DLC comes out.

 

[GloatingSwine]

The inclusion of Halflings and Dwarves in this pack kind of soured me on it, I have to admit.

If we're going to have new space fortresses, we need dorfs to go in them.

 

[Nippleworthy]

@bloodyglasspuppet, @Hatsune Miku

You two do not have to worry, because you are actually of the same opinion! Such things must be seen by the developer or he is in the way of himself (and I am in good hope.) It's essential that 1.9 offers the opportunity to exclude species.

It makes no sense to allow the player a lot of choices and then frustrate him with exactly this!

Players must be allowed to enjoy a startrek-feeling while others chase orks with space dwarves. We must remember that we all love the same game, that should connect us. The rest we can ask from the developers.

 

[Darrenb209]

I still refuse to buy DLC for a game that has not even reached a point worthy of being called a Beta.

You must have played some pretty ridiculous Beta's if you think they have more content than Stellaris. And by betas I don't mean the kind EA throws out that are more early demo than beta.

Edit: An alpha is a game with a few core features needing testing and little else. A beta is a game with most base game core features available but needing intensive testing.

A game by a big company that runs a beta is just running a restricted early access demo with feigned exclusivity.

Stellaris is well past any of those stages. It's in the DLC adds extra content stage which most companies do minimal amounts of before abandoning the game for other enterprises that make more money.

 

[bitmapmedivh]

To each their own, but I will buy this pack just for space halflings, Agrarian Idyll, inward perfection. One can always just remove their portrait from files if it really bugs someone. I'm sure that someone will mod out the more "fantasy" portraits first thing when DLC comes out.

I'll probably even do it myself. I think I'll ultimately get the pack, since the rest seems too good an addition to miss out on. But to me it seems like the wrong creative decision to make the Humanoid Pack include 3-4 obvious fantasy races.

 

[GabeC1997]

Instead of a giant design flaw our star destroyers get giant a$$ guns instead? Hell yes.

 

[Beagá]

Can we see something similar to Gurren Laggan´s ship types?

To be honest having a crisis similar to the one in the series would be awesome

 

[Kayttajatili]

I adore this demon-like humanoid. It is amazing!

It seems we now have Humans, Elves, Dorfs/Halflings and also Tieflings.

DnD in stellaris, anyone?

 

[Druplesnubb]

Don't play much Stellaris anymore as I await it to be fleshed out some more. But the space orcs look really tempting. (Hmmm, Maybe as a slave species to the space elves, so many possibilities for roleplay).

I use the dragon species for this.

 

[DaStormDragon]

I approve of the dwarves and orcs because i like LoTR and Warhammer so much, also dwarves/elves are always my favorite in any genre

 

[Dr_Gentech]

Shame I won't be purchasing this due to the Cherryh update. Even if it comes out before, that's not the kind of conduct I want to condone.

Looks nice though. :I

Edit: Unless you plan on forcing me at gun-point to buy this, your disagreement is meaningless, so save the click.

Unless you plan on forcing all of us at gunpoint to avoid and not enjoy the update, your comment is meaningless, so save everyone the time.

 

[Beagá]

I approve of the dwarves and orcs because i like LoTR and Warhammer so much, also dwarves/elves are always my favorite in any genre

Isn´t there already an elvish humanoid species? Just not with a very "elvish" ship type (the mammalian ship set is so ugly, ewww)

 

[Mavkiel]

Yeah people having very different ideas on what makes an ideal universe. Personally I like space elves, would even go for demon creatures and space cthulhu. The only way to make everyone happy is the ability to pick and choose what species portraits are allowed to be pulled or not.

On a side note, I wonder if they have considered making a space monster ship set. Think of space horrors as space stations, and other critters to make the various ship types.