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Stellaris Dev Diary #175 - Space Fauna

Hello everyone!

As I mentioned last week, we have begun working on a larger free update targeted for May, and it would be fun to share some of the new things you will be able to discover.

2.6.3 is still planned to be released as an opt-in beta SoonTM, so stay tuned for more information about that.

But for now, let’s continue and talk a little bit about what you’ll expect to see in the free May update.

Background
We’ve felt that the galaxy sometimes feels a bit empty now, compared to how it used to back in the day. Since the AI is a bit more proactive in hunting down hostile space fauna you are encountering these alien lifeforms much more seldom. We wanted to reinvigorate the galaxy with more alien life, and allow them to continue existing for a longer period of time.

Tiyanki
The tiyanki now have a home system, Tiyana Vek, which can continue to spawn more space whales throughout the continuation of your game, unless the tiyanki in the system have been hunted to extinction. The spawning of new tiyanki will also depend on galaxy size, which sets an upper limit for how many fleets can spawn (in relation to already roaming around).

upload_2020-4-2_11-42-6.png

Tiyana Vek, in all its gaseous glory.

The tiyanki themselves have also been updated, and there are now hatchlings in addition to the previously existing Bulls, Cows and Calves. The roaming tiyanki fleets are now also a bit more randomized in their compositions.

upload_2020-4-2_11-42-38.png

Space whaling.

Hunting the tiyanki will yield energy credits and exotic gas, but xenophile empires will not approve.

upload_2020-4-2_11-43-0.png

Successful hunt. No, bounty numbers are not final.

Space Amoebas
Similar to the Tiyanki, the space amoebas now also have a home system from which they can spawn. The space amoebas spawning behaviour is slightly different from the space whales. The amoebas that spawn in the home system will have a cooldown, but may occasionally leave their system in large numbers and seek a new home.

upload_2020-4-2_11-43-27.png

Behold! Amor Alveo, home of the amoebas.

As before, it's possible to complete the Amoeba Pacification Project to turn them non-hostile if you are a xenophile or pacifist empire. If you have pacified the space amoebas, it's possible for some of them to spawn in your territory. These amoebas will be friendly towards you, but perhaps not to your enemies!

Galactic Community
As we showed last week, there will also be a few new resolutions that allow you to decide how the galaxy should feel about the tiyanki.

upload_2020-4-2_11-43-52.png

With the Tiyanki Conservation Act, an empire that kills a tiyanki will become in Breach of Galactic Law.

With the Tiyanki Pest Control, an empire will be in Breach of Galactic Law while they are harboring any Tiyanki within their borders.

We’re also working on a resolution for pacifying amoebas, which you can propose if you have already pacified them. Empires will get a choice whether or not they will agree to pacifying the amoebas, which will share pacification if they agree.

-----

These are the first steps we’re taking towards reinvigorating the galaxy a bit. We’ll give you more information in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for future dev diaries!
 
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Interesting ideas. Is there anything else planned for the GC? Like more Authoritarian or Spiritualist resolution chains? Or even Xenophobe ones?
 
I have to say, I'm both chuffed and miffed by this. I don't want to say what is or isn't on the table but it's a bit like the crisis': it is nice to see them updated, but it would also be nice to also see some new ones. We've had the same space fauna in the game since launch, if I recall, so while getting a new lease on life is welcomed, it would also be exciting to hear of some new possible fauna to spawn. This is one of those, seemingly, low-hanging fruits that having lots of could help make each play-through feel more distinct. That said, I am positively excited to see an old feature get integrated into a new system, and it will be nice to know we can do something about their extinction, for or against, via gameplay mechanics.
 
But...but.. Amoeba aren't fauna. What are you trying to pull here?


Sounds really cool. I hope you also have stuff planed for the other creeps. Maybe a law that requires all empires to sacrifice a colony ship to the space dragon every deacde! :D

Also, now that you are doing a "make creeps great again" patch, I think the next content pack should be space creep centered :)
 
^stellaris in general needs some more...

EDGE
 
... And what's the purpose of this addition? How do space cows, that players can micromanage-harvest for an irrelevant amount of energy+stratresource gain, enrich the core gameplay of Stellaris?
 
No, now I remembered Tiyanki are supposed to be space cattle.

yes, tyaki are, the dev diary said amoeba were the space cows instead
 
The point of this free patch is to give the content designers something to work on while the programmers are fixing bugs. It's a win/win for us. We shouldn't complain.

Whilst I can see the direction of your point
there's so much content that could be done for either Senate, or Federations (i.e. coming up with actual AI decision making instead of static YES/NOs), that would fall into the content design territory as well. Deciding to do Space Cows instead is just adding insult to injury.
 
Any plans to expand creature taming to turn them in to weaponised, trained, beasts that we can breed/build (maybe via a special "nursery" starbase module)?

A la the Sonic Dolphin or Giant Squid from RA2 - or even war elephants if you want a more realistic analogue.
hqdefault.jpg


Or let us go the impossible creatures route and cross-breed/Gene-mod Tianki and Space amoeba to create new war-beasts lol.
 
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Does this mean we might get new fauna?

Whilst I can see the direction of your point
there's so much content that could be done for either Senate, or Federations (i.e. coming up with actual AI decision making instead of static YES/NOs), that would fall into the content design territory as well. Deciding to do Space Cows instead is just adding insult to injury.
This is senate content though? They are adding a resolution with this. And this also doesn't mean they're not doing other stuff, since this is only the first content diary, so I fail to see what your complaint it.
 
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Hello everyone!

As I mentioned last week, we have begun working on a larger free update targeted for May, and it would be fun to share some of the new things you will be able to discover.

2.6.3 is still planned to be released as an opt-in beta SoonTM, so stay tuned for more information about that.

But for now, let’s continue and talk a little bit about what you’ll expect to see in the free May update.

Background
We’ve felt that the galaxy sometimes feels a bit empty now, compared to how it used to back in the day. Since the AI is a bit more proactive in hunting down hostile space fauna you are encountering these alien lifeforms much more seldom. We wanted to reinvigorate the galaxy with more alien life, and allow them to continue existing for a longer period of time.

Tiyanki
The tiyanki now have a home system, Tiyana Vek, which can continue to spawn more space whales throughout the continuation of your game, unless the tiyanki in the system have been hunted to extinction. The spawning of new tiyanki will also depend on galaxy size, which sets an upper limit for how many fleets can spawn (in relation to already roaming around).

View attachment 562262
Tiyana Vek, in all its gaseous glory.

The tiyanki themselves have also been updated, and there are now hatchlings in addition to the previously existing Bulls, Cows and Calves. The roaming tiyanki fleets are now also a bit more randomized in their compositions.

View attachment 562263
Space whaling.

Hunting the tiyanki will yield energy credits and exotic gas, but xenophile empires will not approve.

View attachment 562264
Successful hunt. No, bounty numbers are not final.

Space Amoebas
Similar to the Tiyanki, the space whales now also have a home system from which they can spawn. The space amoebas spawning behaviour is slightly different from the space whales. The amoebas that spawn in the home system will have a cooldown, but may occasionally leave their system in large numbers and seek a new home.

View attachment 562265
Behold! Amor Alveo, home of the amoebas.

As before, it's possible to complete the Amoeba Pacification Project to turn them non-hostile if you are a xenophile or pacifist empire. If you have pacified the space amoebas, it's possible for some of them to spawn in your territory. These amoebas will be friendly towards you, but perhaps not to your enemies!

Galactic Community
As we showed last week, there will also be a few new resolutions that allow you to decide how the galaxy should feel about the tiyanki.


With the Tiyanki Conservation Act, an empire that kills a tiyanki will become in Breach of Galactic Law.

With the Tiyanki Pest Control, an empire will be in Breach of Galactic Law while they are harboring any Tiyanki within their borders.

We’re also working on a resolution for pacifying amoebas, which you can propose if you have already pacified them. Empires will get a choice whether or not they will agree to pacifying the amoebas, which will share pacification if they agree.

-----

These are the first steps we’re taking towards reinvigorating the galaxy a bit. We’ll give you more information in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for future dev diaries!
It's great, but it feels a bit like a missed opportunity to some regards.

- the homesystem of the Tyanki should probably be a gigantic graveyard (a place where the tyanki come to die, with huge and old tyanki), and make tyanki spawns here + some other systems.

-The homesystem of the Amoeba could probably become a chain of even involving a Hivemind that went down gigantism and couldn't handle it thus regressed to a dormant state (that you could awake?).

I hope there will be more to this than just "it's their home system" .