Are large galaxies pointless?

[gathomas88]

Is there any point in even *trying* to play on 1000 star galaxies, let alone using mods that make galaxies even larger?

First off, if you play on anything larger than 800, the lag simply becomes unbearable after 100 years or so (and at any galaxy size greater than 1000 - even just 1250 - the lag is there pretty much right from the start). To date, the largest map I've ever been able to "win" on was about 800 stars. Anything larger, and I've simply been forced to abandon the game around the 2400 - 2500 mark due to extreme lag.

Secondly, ever since 2.0, and the establishment of the "build an outpost in every system" mechanic, 1000 star maps aren't even especially fun to colonize or explore. It costs so much in the way of time and influence to carve out a decent sized and moderately defensible space for yourself that it just feels like a damn chore. The greater fluidity of 1.9 was a definite boon in this regard.

It's really kind of a shame. I'd *like* to be able to play Stellaris on "epic" sized maps. Maps large enough where civics like "Feudal Empire" are actually a benefit, rather than a gimmick. Maps large enough to be true "sand boxes," where you could have "exploration missions" like EUIV, or run away from your enemies like BSG and not immediately run into another empire.

No such luck, unfortuantely...

 

[Truly_xtreem]

I exclusively play on large maps, anything smaller just seems boring, however the game performance has got worse since the new patch, but still playable just a little slower on the ticks.

 

[Madzai]

Yeah, bigger maps are kind of pointless, but small maps makes exploring (and everything around it) like non-existent. And you can't go wide without Wars.

 

[gathomas88]

I exclusively play on large maps, anything smaller just seems boring, however the game performance has got worse since the new patch, but still playable just a little slower on the ticks.

What sizes do you play at? Personally, I *refuse* to go any smaller than 800, and that seems "okay" (though not great).

I've tried to play a couple of 1000 star games since 2.2, and I simply couldn't. I've only got a few hours a day to play, and with the lag, it just didn't feel like I was getting anywhere.

 

[Truly_xtreem]

I only play on 1000 star maps as exploring is one of my favorite activities.

 

[gathomas88]

Yeah, bigger maps are kind of pointless, but small maps makes exploring (and everything around it) like non-existent. And you can't go wide without Wars.

Immediately having aliens all up in your grill a decade after leaving your home system is just immersion breaking, IMO.

Space should feel *BIG*.

 

[Agamemnic]

My PC can handle it. It's the micro that's driving me nuts. I'm certainly in the minority here but I'm not enjoying the extra planetary handholding required. Miss being able to just take over planets and hand them over to a sector (with minimal touch-ups to the planet buildings). Now, take over a planet and you have to micro the buildings and districts otherwise an imbalance can easily swing your resources into the red.

I miss my grand strategy game. Not this Space Planet Manager 2.2

 

[Truly_xtreem]

My PC can handle it. It's the micro that's driving me nuts. I'm certainly in the minority here but I'm not enjoying the extra planetary handholding required. Miss being able to just take over planets and hand them over to a sector (with minimal touch-ups to the planet buildings). Now, take over a planet and you have to micro the buildings and districts otherwise an imbalance can easily swing your resources into the red.

I miss my grand strategy game. Not this Space Planet Manager 2.2

I 100% agree with you and is exactly what I used to do as a ME DA, now i world crack them after a certain point as I just can't face the epic scroll bar of handholding I need to do for each new world I assimilate

 

[gathomas88]

My PC can handle it. It's the micro that's driving me nuts. I'm certainly in the minority here but I'm not enjoying the extra planetary handholding required. Miss being able to just take over planets and hand them over to a sector (with minimal touch-ups to the planet buildings). Now, take over a planet and you have to micro the buildings and districts otherwise an imbalance can easily swing your resources into the red.

I miss my grand strategy game. Not this Space Planet Manager 2.2

The irritating thing is that the speed's really not hardware dependent. I've got a four grand Alienware laptop from a year after Stellaris' release date - by any objective measure, a fairly beefy rig. Game still crawls at a glacial pace after a certain point, just because of the outdated engine and poor optimization.

I'd *love* to think that I could just overclock the Hell out of my system, and instantly be able to play a 10k star map. But nope! Lol

 

[Wolfgang I]

My PC can handle it. It's the micro that's driving me nuts. I'm certainly in the minority here but I'm not enjoying the extra planetary handholding required. Miss being able to just take over planets and hand them over to a sector (with minimal touch-ups to the planet buildings). Now, take over a planet and you have to micro the buildings and districts otherwise an imbalance can easily swing your resources into the red.

I miss my grand strategy game. Not this Space Planet Manager 2.2

Ditto. Although I never conquered an entire huge galaxy in 2.0 either but I got at least a hundred planets on a regular basis.
Conquest was only fun with total war though and even with a total war civic there was really no point in conquering an entire galaxy.

 

[AmpsterMan]

I, on the other hand, only play small and tiny maps with maxed out civilizations xD. The only thing I wish is that with small maps I could guarantee a war in heaven.

 

[Madzai]

Immediately having aliens all up in your grill a decade after leaving your home system is just immersion breaking, IMO.

Space should feel *BIG*.

Indeed. I like to play "big". But space start to become empty with bigger maps. You have almost nothing to actually look forward to, because the further you explore from Starting system the less each new explored system means to you since there is simply not enough Influence to get there while it's matters (with exclusion of some rare cases). Also, the travel speed of exploration phase is too slow.

It's actually sad that Stellaris being a hybrid of GS and a 4X fails to really make use of any systems that may make Exploring and conquering systems fun in those too genres. There is almost no really "special" systems what makes difference at all - Huge Ultra-Rich Gaia world from MoO2, a world with a bunch of good tile and rare resource in GC3, a rich Province with a very important location( a center of trade?) from EU, etc. Stellaris have almost nothing like this. I though at least new Strategic Resource system will fix this a bit, but it did nothing, since you have to convert minerals in them anyways, since amount of deposits aren't enough at all. As special planetary features, that, quite frankly, are toothless and bland.

 

[Terkhev]

Explore and colonize 1000 star galaxy? With 32 total empires (24 + 5 FE + 3 Marauder - my usual setting) and only advanced starts I barely have time to grab 30 systems. Such galaxy feels alive even if I don't do anything for 50 years. Can't imagine playing on anything smaller.
As for lag, idk. I mostly play on Normal speed after first ~10 years. When game starts to slow down around 2300 I just change speed to Faster and it's as if I were on Normal again. I haven't gotten much further in 2.2, so no idea about later lag.

Tbh with over 500 hours in game, I played non-1000 star galaxy only once and it was just to test some mechanics. If anything, it feels pointless to play on anything smaller than largest lol

 

[Attitude Adjuster]

Used to play on huge when the game came out, no problem.

2.0 i was forced to play medium or suffer through a crawling end game.

Now i just don't play. at all.

 

[Mikhail_Mengsk]

People like different things. I like smaller maps (400 to 600 stars), but it also has its downsides.

 

[1Evilgenius]

1000 star galaxy are the most fun. It has most of the leviathans and all the fallen empires, i populate it with 30 agressive AI's and watch the chaos unfold. One negative aspect is that i cant play with gateways or wormholes active, because that makes my game go into stutter mode. And flying from one end of the galaxy to the other end takes some time. I would love if they fixed that.

 

[Askorti]

I used to play on 1000-star galaxies exclusively, but since 2.2 I saw myself forced to take it down a notch and play on 800. And honestly, it just doesn't feel right. It feels a bit too crowded for my liking.

 

[Losttruppen]

I only play 1000 stars, but with 2.2 space resources are so lackluster compared to planets that I rarely need anything more than 3-5 planets before I get the snowball rolling downhill and I've pretty much won the game by 2300. I'm really liking Life-seeded with 5x habitable planets and 5x primitives, as this makes the AI a bit more competitive and gives me something to look forward to when you find another wild gaia world or an actually decent system.

 

[Elordis]

Yes, anything beyond 600 is pointless. By the time you start to even remotely care for what happens in those extra 400 systems, game is already over anyway.
Oh, and all galaxy sizes actually have the same default/maximum empire density, so gameplay doesn't really change much.

 

[permeakra]

Is there any point in even *trying* to play on 1000 star galaxies, let alone using mods that make galaxies even larger?

Yes.
Larger galaxies provide more space for exploration and special systems. The lag, of course, is an issue, but can be combated off
- Traditional suggestion - reduce number of habitable worlds.
- Another one - reduce connectivity of the hyperlane graph, i.e. keep small amount of gateways and wormholes
- Don't go crazy with amount of AI empires.