Explore other galaxies?

[Vyrec]

Do you think developers will consider the idea of being able to explore other galaxies? Perhaps with an expansion that adds new FTL technologies can cover long distances between one galaxy and the next. These technologies will be available after at least 300 years game, only that these engines will be installed in the Titan-class ships (Warfare Expansion?) Because of the enormous amount of energy they require. It will be a one way travel seen that once you get the engines will be unusable, so if you're lucky you can establish yourself in a living planet that are in the system in which arrivals, or you will be forced to sacrifice your ship to build a space habitat. Then you will have to deal with other species that meet ... This phase I see it more as a New game + mode, just do not start again but continues the same.

 

[BlackUmbrellas]

Would make more sense as just a starting worldgen option- begin the game with a large tech advantage and a decent fleet, but perhaps diplomatic penalties and an already simulated galaxy.

 

[BrokenSky]

I don't think it's likely, given previous comments by Wiz when this has been previously suggested, but that said the same gameplay effect could be achieved by a new galaxy generation format.

The basic advantage to this is something along the idea of mid/late game colonisation, similar to colonisation of Africa in Victoria or to a lesser extent new world colonization in EUIV (though this is less late game than it would be here).

The format then, is the creation of a fractured, blobby galaxy, with dark-space (the bits between galaxy arms with no navigable stars) regions between star clusters. These regions would be thick enough that only mid game techs would allow crossing. An important part would be that some regions would start without any empires at gamestart (though atomic and early space age pre-FTL empires might reach space age before empires start to reach there), though there might be greater and stronger quantities of hostile star-faring fauna. This map time would then act in a similar manner to Terra in Civ, in allowing mid game colonization opportunities, around the time empires start closing up borders (which would incidentally be earlier since the empires at game-start would be more boxed in to a smaller space).

 

[Teutonizer]

It would be interesting indeed, but...performance...I would be crying just as poor CPU trying to figure how to deal with DAT INFOOMATION MASS

 

[terrycloth]

Maybe a game mode where you start on the edge of the galaxy with a colony ship (or maybe several), a constructor, a science ship, and enough energy stored to hopefully last until you find somewhere to settle?

 

[Mercurious]

Maybe a game mode where you start on the edge of the galaxy with a colony ship (or maybe several), a constructor, a science ship, and enough energy stored to hopefully last until you find somewhere to settle?

That sounds good and roughly how I had pictured it.
You and your federation buddies succeed at bringing galactic peace to their home, drive off the invaders and you can effectively write that galaxy off as 'secure'. You and the federation put together an expeditionary fleet of colonists and diplomats, put them into cold sleep and send them across the intergalactic space to enter a neighbouring one. Cue start of a new game, where you and your allies arrive and have to start afresh, in a galaxy that is potentially fairly built-up, or largely already conquered (depending on how random you want the generation of other galaxies to be).

 

[The Founder]

Do you think developers will consider the idea of being able to explore other galaxies? Perhaps with an expansion that adds new FTL technologies can cover long distances between one galaxy and the next. These technologies will be available after at least 300 years game, only that these engines will be installed in the Titan-class ships (Warfare Expansion?) Because of the enormous amount of energy they require. It will be a one way travel seen that once you get the engines will be unusable, so if you're lucky you can establish yourself in a living planet that are in the system in which arrivals, or you will be forced to sacrifice your ship to build a space habitat. Then you will have to deal with other species that meet ... This phase I see it more as a New game + mode, just do not start again but continues the same.

Actually simulating two galaxie would be impossible from a technical point:
The game is a native x32 application. Wich means it is restricte to 4 GiB of RAM. While not a performance issue with the galaxies we have right now, it would be a huge issue if you wanted to simulate twice the number of stars. And as Clausewitz is a game engine, just switching th x64 would be far from trivial. If they want to do it, they have propably been working on it for years now.

As a Game+ Option:
That might be viable. Actually there is a long history of converters where one games state was turned into another games map:
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/paradox-game-converters.743404/
CK 2 to EU 3 and EU 3 to Vic 2 was the longest chain you could string.
With it's galactic scale Stellaris might be the first Pradox Game that can add that natively.

There was a similar scenario in the Original Sword of the Stars. Hungry Children, where the hivers started with a huge fleet.

Star Drive 2 had this added in 1.1: "New Race Customization Options! These are “Game-Changers” to provide some more unique challenges for you.
– Titan Quest: You begin the game with Titan Construction technology but can ONLY build Titan class military vessels
– Total War: You cannot build colony ships. This should be a fun challenge.
– Newcomer: Your empire was late to the StarDrive party. Other empires start with two additional colonies in nearby systems"
- Newcomer could be simulated with just giving every AI adanced starts.
- Titan Quest could maybe be done via Civic that can not be removed. However one part of the chalenge was that at least 50% of the slots must be filled for a SD ship to be viable. And build time was based on total cost like in Civ. So it might not translate that well to Stellaris.
- Total War could be made an archeivement of sorts. "Do not colonise with your primary species". Would help to have non-adaptive with that.

OP Note:
I guess a lot of the disaprooval comes from the titel. If you named it a Game+ Option/starting option it might work better.

 

[Overlord123]

Actually simulating two galaxie would be impossible from a technical point:
The game is a native x32 application. Wich means it is restricte to 4 GiB of RAM. While not a performance issue with the galaxies we have right now, it would be a huge issue if you wanted to simulate twice the number of stars. And as Clausewitz is a game engine, just switching th x64 would be far from trivial. If they want to do it, they have propably been working on it for years now.

Stellaris uses less than 900 MiB of RAM with a 1000 star galaxy, so you could fit at least 4 galaxies in that 4 GiB limit. And that assumes that those 900 MiB is all used for storing galaxy data which it isn't, probably not even half of it.

 

[ashbery76]

Lets make the game work properly in one map first.

 

[Hype Train]

I feel like this could be done but not in the way you probably imagine. I can see a map being added in, maybe for large 800 star or more galaxies, where they split it into two smaller galaxies of 400 with only a couple stars connecting them together, and you would either need hyperlanes or upgraded warp drives/wormholes to get across. Any other way seems like it would go against the design philosophy of the game's map modes

 

[stlemur]

I can see a map being added in, maybe for large 800 star or more galaxies, where they split it into two smaller galaxies of 400 with only a couple stars connecting them together, and you would either need hyperlanes or upgraded warp drives/wormholes to get across.

This is the way to do it yes. Set the distances so that the space between galaxies can only be crossed when you have a level 3 drive. Thus in the late game you meet a whole new set of empires.

 

[Elfwind]

I'd love one where you are escaping a major threat (unbidden, preythorians, angry machines or w/e is chasing the Vasari) and you have an objective you have to achieve to save yourselves while on a nomad fleet running through a new galaxy.

Who do you doom by running through their territory? Can you save anyone along the way? Will you survive? Should you stop here to exploit resources or people?

Lets have more scenarios and moral ambiguity! That's what helps make games like this interesting =D

Maybe someone can enter a multiplayer game this way? Or it can be a galactic event or crisis? Do you save the aliens or kill the crisis or kill the aliens to save yourselves?

 

[moglus]

You and your federation buddies succeed at bringing galactic peace to their home, drive off the invaders and you can effectively write that galaxy off as 'secure'. You and the federation put together an expeditionary fleet of colonists and diplomats, put them into cold sleep and send them across the intergalactic space to enter a neighbouring one. Cue start of a new game, where you and your allies arrive and have to start afresh, in a galaxy that is potentially fairly built-up, or largely already conquered.

I love the way this reads like a plot summery of Mass Effect: Andromeda lol.

 

[safe-keeper]

Further down the road it would be cool. I imagine techs that unlock a special kind of stargate/wormhole/engine that allowed ships to travel to neighbouring galaxies.

As others have said, it'd create some really cool situations like when you discover new continents in Civ, and the continent you discover might be far ahead or behind you in terms of techs. Maybe there could also be ways to prevent others from entering your galaxy

Spoiler

-- perhaps something like when you close the Unbidden gate.

Edit: maybe to save processing power, the simulation of neighoburing galaxies could be significantly simplified until you as a player actually discovers said galaxy, at which point it starts to be simulated normally.

 

[Vyrec]

Initially the idea of being able to reach other galaxies in stellaris came to my mind when they announced utopia, indeed if the developers will give you a chance to create mega structures (Dyson spheres, ringworlds) why not imagine a future expansion that will allow you to explore distant galaxies? Then if you tell me who already Wiz gave opinions on the matter, the game still needs a lot of optimizations (which I hope will be remedied within Stellaris 2.0) and as some have shown some lack of interest in this phase; it can be said that the discussion can be closed. Anyway Thanks for your opinions.

 

[The Founder]

I love the way this reads like a plot summery of Mass Effect: Andromeda lol.

"Great minds think alike."
Also similar was Stargate: Universe, 2nd Season End.

Edit: maybe to save processing power, the simulation of neighoburing galaxies could be significantly simplified until you as a player actually discovers said galaxy, at which point it starts to be simulated normally.

You would have to reduce one of the Galaxies to much lower detail level if you actually wanted to simulate it in the same game.

It might realy work best as a "Game+" of sorts. Where you take one games results and convert it into another games starting Conditions/Empires.
Something that paradox fax have been doing particulary a lot with towards EU games.
On the simplest level you would just take every empire and species that originally existed in a savegame. Shift thier Traits, Ethos and Civics randomly by 1-2 steps to account for selection process and travelconditions. And just use that as the basis for a new Galaxies empires.
It would also allow some new emergent stories. Like two species that belonged to a single large empire beforehand having a "old friends" Relationship bonus. (similar to how real-life nations have history in any other Paradox game).

 

[Tokolosk]

or a scenario where the player becomes akin to the Unbidden for another galaxy...

 

[scaper12123]

That would make an interesting minigame or a side game, but not an aspect to Stellaris itself. It would be cool to explore a galaxy already settled and going through politics and having to deal with those issues as you explore, but that sounds like basically the premise of FTL: Faster Than Light

 

[Sheriff Godwin Law]

While I don't think creating a map that's two star clusters on the very edge and mostly empty space between them is particularly good map design. I do think this request speaks to a legitimate shortcoming in the game regarding available map choices.

Specifically, the idea of exploring other galaxies really makes me aware of how much I'd enjoy something like a team versus map and play mode. That would be a map that generates you on a team with other players, usually by placing you in an Alliance at the start, though in this game they could use a Federation for that, and then places each team in a roughly equivalent section of space equal distance from each other.