Hello everyone and welcome to another Stellaris development diary. Today's dev diary is about new interface functionalities for navies in the 2.0 'Cherryh' update that we collectively call the Fleet Manager. Please note that the interfaces shown in this dev diary are early WIP versions that have not yet seen an artist's touch, and will look very different in the finished product, meaning that feedback on their look/layout is pointless at this stage. Thank you!
Fleet Manager
The fleet manager is a new interface accessible from the top bar, that as the name implies, allows you to overview and manage your navies. The fleet manager lists all fleets in your empire, filtering away small splinters that are in the process of being merged into another fleet. Each fleet has something we call a Fleet Template, which is a stored configuration of what that fleet *should* look like. Fleet Templates keep track of not just ship sizes (such as corvette or cruiser) but also of individual designs, so a Fleet Template might be set up to contain 10 Torpedo and 5 Interceptor-class corvettes alongside a mix of Picket and Gunboat style Destroyers, for example. Templates can be edited directly through the Fleet Manager without needing to build ships, by for example deciding to add another 5 Interceptor-class corvettes to the above listed fleet. Templates can be created directly without making a fleet first, and then reinforced to create the actual fleet. We are also planning to add template duplication and copy/paste functionality in order to be able to quickly set up a new fleet or make your fleets conform to a desired standard.
Whenever a fleet is missing ships that are listed in its Template, the option exists to Reinforce that fleet, which can be done either from the Fleet Manager or directly from the fleet view itself. Issuing a reinforce command will start production of as many missing ships as you can afford at your current amount of minerals, which will be automatically distributed among appropriately placed shipyards and sent to join and merge with the fleet once finished. In addition to the ability to reinforce fleets individually, there is also a Reinforce All button, which will attempt to reinforce missing ships in all fleets up to the amount you can afford with your current level of minerals, and can be used to fully replenish your navy in a single click if you have enough resources on hand. The Fleet Manager also offers the option to Retrofit ship designs. Let's take the example of the mixed Interceptor and Torpedo-class fleet above, where you have 10 Torpedo and 10 Interceptor-class ships. If you decide that you no longer need the Interceptors, you can use Retrofit to easily switch one class to another, selectively upgrading the Interceptor-class ships into Torpedo-class ships.
Home Bases
Also being introduced along with the Fleet Manager is the concept of Home Bases. Each fleet will be able to have a Home Base set, with any friendly upgraded Starbase being valid as a Home Base. This is where the fleet will return when the Return Home order is issued, gets slight priority for actions such as reinforcing (though the focus is on distributing production sensibly rather than always using the home base), and is intended to tie into other fleet mechanics planned for Cherryh that we are not quite ready to talk about yet.
That's all for today! Next week we'll be continuing to talk about Cherryh, on the topic of armies. See you then!
Fleet Manager
The fleet manager is a new interface accessible from the top bar, that as the name implies, allows you to overview and manage your navies. The fleet manager lists all fleets in your empire, filtering away small splinters that are in the process of being merged into another fleet. Each fleet has something we call a Fleet Template, which is a stored configuration of what that fleet *should* look like. Fleet Templates keep track of not just ship sizes (such as corvette or cruiser) but also of individual designs, so a Fleet Template might be set up to contain 10 Torpedo and 5 Interceptor-class corvettes alongside a mix of Picket and Gunboat style Destroyers, for example. Templates can be edited directly through the Fleet Manager without needing to build ships, by for example deciding to add another 5 Interceptor-class corvettes to the above listed fleet. Templates can be created directly without making a fleet first, and then reinforced to create the actual fleet. We are also planning to add template duplication and copy/paste functionality in order to be able to quickly set up a new fleet or make your fleets conform to a desired standard.
Whenever a fleet is missing ships that are listed in its Template, the option exists to Reinforce that fleet, which can be done either from the Fleet Manager or directly from the fleet view itself. Issuing a reinforce command will start production of as many missing ships as you can afford at your current amount of minerals, which will be automatically distributed among appropriately placed shipyards and sent to join and merge with the fleet once finished. In addition to the ability to reinforce fleets individually, there is also a Reinforce All button, which will attempt to reinforce missing ships in all fleets up to the amount you can afford with your current level of minerals, and can be used to fully replenish your navy in a single click if you have enough resources on hand. The Fleet Manager also offers the option to Retrofit ship designs. Let's take the example of the mixed Interceptor and Torpedo-class fleet above, where you have 10 Torpedo and 10 Interceptor-class ships. If you decide that you no longer need the Interceptors, you can use Retrofit to easily switch one class to another, selectively upgrading the Interceptor-class ships into Torpedo-class ships.
Home Bases
Also being introduced along with the Fleet Manager is the concept of Home Bases. Each fleet will be able to have a Home Base set, with any friendly upgraded Starbase being valid as a Home Base. This is where the fleet will return when the Return Home order is issued, gets slight priority for actions such as reinforcing (though the focus is on distributing production sensibly rather than always using the home base), and is intended to tie into other fleet mechanics planned for Cherryh that we are not quite ready to talk about yet.
That's all for today! Next week we'll be continuing to talk about Cherryh, on the topic of armies. See you then!
I'm loving Stellaris' trend of keeping interface improves free and filling DLC with actual gameplay additions!
