How hard would a generated galactic history be? Would you buy a DLC focused on it?

[Hapchazzard]

I feel a lot of people would pay for a DLC that focused somewhat on this. I mean, in the current iteration of the game, there isn't really much of a "galactic history" to uncover, at least in terms of civilizations - the precursor stories, while cool at first, inevitably become repetitive and really have zero effect on the game. Likewise, fallen empires have no history you can actually uncover, or any ruins outside of their own territory.

So, I'd imagine a DLC that focused on this would cover the following: semi-procedurally generated precursors(with things like appearance, aspects, ethos, cause of downfall, unique technology, etc. picked out from a list, similar to how empire names are generated, but obviously more complex), their effects on the galaxy(explorable ruins containing unique technologies and treasures to be uncovered, planets or entire regions of the galaxy affected by "experiments gone wrong", megastructures such as ringworlds, etc.), as well as a more expanded(read: existant) history of fallen empires(generated similar to precursors), ruins and other structures outside of their own space, as well as other effects, such as species that were uplifted by them, etc.

Thoughts? Would you buy a DLC that focused on this?

 

[Alblaka]

Definitely in the realm of possible and, depending on complexity, not even exceptionally difficult to implement, I would wager.
Of course, still enough workhours to warrant making it a (fluff) DLC.

And I would actually buy such a DLC, assuming it is released after all core mechanics of Stellaris are working properly and there are no other glaring issues that require fixing before someone should spend time on creating fluff.

 

[BlackUmbrellas]

I would absolutely purchase a DLC that implemented a tidied-up form, of, say, Dwarf Fortress' proceedural history generation.

I feel like this would work well in conjunction with more interesting galaxy generation ("space terrain").

Preferably, a "history generator" wouldn't just focus on Fallen Empires and Precursors, it might expand/build off of stuff like "advanced start" AIs and make it so that you can step up into a galactic scene where there are already wars and feuds and trade routes between the empires that have done so before you.

 

[Gyrvendal]

Interesting idea, definitely, although having highly advanced "advanced starts" would totally screw balance.
I would like an option to then pick an already generated empire that is already established (like in other paradox games) and continue from there instead of always starting with the boring "single home world + 3 corvettes" all the time.

 

[lilsaihah]

I don't think I would buy a DLC focusing around 'history'. If it had something else along with it, sure, but everything you're describing is just something that's supported by the current event structure, and adding new events is fairly straightforward.

Honestly, I'm not sure what I'd want out of a history-focused DLC. I think things like the Enclaves, the Mining Drones, the Pirates and the Fallen Empires are things that I'd want to see expanded on by such a patch.

Part of me really doesn't like the idea because one of the appeals of a space 4x is that you and your competitors are the one who is creating the history of the galaxy.

 

[Roobster88]

On a side note, it's possible to do something vaguely like this now using console commands. Go into observe mode at game start, let a century or so pass and then take over an empire that looks interesting to play.

 

[MGoods]

I would purchase a DLC that generated a full galaxy (as in fully colonised by established empires) and let you pick like when a game of EUIV starts. It would however need a bunch of extra features to bring diplomacy up to EUIV levels and more unique structures like the HRE in EUIV.

I would also purchase a DLC that let you play a game to 'completion', say 150 years or so, then implemented some kind of crisis to tear down empires. Not like the current crisis which are beatable, but literally a pause the game, tell the player the galaxy has just descended into chaos due to roving space locusts, or all flt travel and communications have just been disabled by some event or something causing the collapse of all governments other than local system ones. Then you pick a system to start from, fast forward 100 or 1000 years or something to the end of the crisis and generate some history (say, next planet over went xenophobe and purged all but one species, another planet was wiped clean of all life, another is a perfect communist utopia, etc, etc) and unleash you to explore the galaxy all over again. You would need a ton of story events to make it interesting, but I think it could be very fun if done right.

 

[Tekadiel]

All good ideas but why does it has to be randomly generated? What I would prefer are some pre-made scenarios with premade star empires with their own unique history and a unique endgame crisis. There could for example be this "human only" galaxy where the humans try to find out their origin and something like this.

 

[Neocv]

I think that something related to the history of the galaxy, like something that you said, would be extremelly interesting, but I think that a DLC of this type should be made after most important matters have been resolved(like war and diplomacy), but I also don't think that a DLC with this theme is out of the realm of possibilities

 

[Hapchazzard]

All good ideas but why does it has to be randomly generated? What I would prefer are some pre-made scenarios with premade star empires with their own unique history and a unique endgame crisis. There could for example be this "human only" galaxy where the humans try to find out their origin and something like this.

Because, IMO, having the same story and history for every galaxy would greatly diminish the potential for satisfying exploration and discovery. When you 'discover' the Vultaum for the tenth time, there really isn't any sense of wonder or mystery anymore. Having a different history for every galaxy would make exploration reasonably interesting every game, as you legitimately wouldn't know what you'd run into.

Kind of like the "random new world" option in EUIV. Having the real new world diminishes the charm of exploration since you already know where everything is, while with a random new world there is actually some sense of mystery and satisfaction for exploring.

 

[Baldeagle91]

Not something I would be completely opposed to.

 

[Vratislav]

Yes. I've been wanting this since day one.

 

[BlackUmbrellas]

Interesting idea, definitely, although having highly advanced "advanced starts" would totally screw balance.
I would like an option to then pick an already generated empire that is already established (like in other paradox games) and continue from there instead of always starting with the boring "single home world + 3 corvettes" all the time.

The point of something like what I suggested isn't "balance"- and I'm not sure "balance" is the best option for the game. Paradox mostly makes historical games, and they're heavily asymmetric as one would expect. I don't see why a DLC that allows for that in Stellaris would be a bad thing; besides, being the galactic newcomer to the block and having to carve out a space amid the more established civilizations is a time-honoured scifi trope.

Not that I'd mind an option for a player-based "advance start". It just doesn't seem as important as having interesting and varied galactic setups to discover.

 

[Cannes]

I think a better (and cheaper) option would be to make it easier to share premade races and then improve the interface to include them in your playthrough.

 

[BlackUmbrellas]

I think a better (and cheaper) option would be to make it easier to share premade races and then improve the interface to include them in your playthrough.

So long as they spawn in like they do now, doesn't solve much. Anyone can already do that.

 

[Druesling]

I would pay at least as much money as i spent for the "character customization DLC" for Crusader Kings II, but much more willingly.
I dont only want a galaxy with fallen empires, i want the broken off parts of the fallen empires to be worlds that are influenced by their culture, maybe partly terraformed by them, and littered with backwater survivors of their race, that totally forgot they were a galactic super power once.
So i dont only want the Pryathic Fallen empire, but an upstart Pryatic Normal Empire somewhere near, that has forgotten almost all of their tech, and primitive worlds littered with not only Pryathic people that fell back into the bronze age, but the minon species of the Pryathics having their own upstart galactic republics.
I dont want only sanctuary base, but a ruined empire that build it, and can be somehow explored via event.

A galactic history book, where you could look up all those connections you found out would be nice, as well as a galactic journal, that keeps track of all the things that happen while you play.
That would be totally awesome.

 

[Meneliki]

I think the idea of the game is to create your own story, write history as you go. But it sounds like you're talking about 'backstory' or 'lore' with some of more constant names(of which there are few).. Even the fallen empires are not set, they're randomly generated so making backstories for them wouldn't make too much sense.

I would however love to see some more light shed on things like the Irassians, the Yuht, and the Javorian Pox. Not even necessarily DLC, but I'd be all over an e-book about those things.

 

[wingren013]

I would love a DLC like that. Its honestly what I was hoping for from Stellaris when it was announced.

 

[BlackUmbrellas]

I think the idea of the game is to create your own story, write history as you go. But it sounds like you're talking about 'backstory' or 'lore' with some of more constant names(of which there are few).. Even the fallen empires are not set, they're randomly generated so making backstories for them wouldn't make too much sense.

I would however love to see some more light shed on things like the Irassians, the Yuht, and the Javorian Pox. Not even necessarily DLC, but I'd be all over an e-book about those things.

What the OP and people like me want is for the game to give us a way to play it more like other Paradox games- to step into an existing world with existing powers and shape it through our actions. Doing so through a few preset galaxies would get boring fast, and plenty of procedurally-generated games manage to create interesting balances of power and cultures through that method.

 

[ZomgK3tchup]

Why yes, I do want Dwarf Fortress in space.