Portrait DLC's for Stellaris - What do you want?

[Garfazz Steamfang]

Wow - this thread exploded out of nowhere. Guess it's not much of a surprise though.

Anyway, my thoughts on the current groups:

Mammalian: Pretty good selection overall. There could maybe be more furless species (like elephants/rhinos) though? There are also no species that stand out as being adapted to marine habitats (like dolphins/seals/whales) yet. There are also few species that deviate from a 'humanoid' morphology in this group yet (maybe something that's like a cross between a gazelle and a spider, or a tapir, seal and millipede?).

Reptilian: Initially I wasn't particualrly impressed by this group, but I think I've warmed to it. As with the Mammalians it could probably do with more non-humanoid morphologies (I think that may be part of the reason why the turtle-like one is so popular - the hunched posture stops it from looking so human). I'd also suggest perhaps having some with a serpentine morphology (like the Raas or Sakkra from MoO3 - a cobra/gharial cross could be fun) - though perhaps that wouldn't be very obvious from the portraits? In general aim to make the facial structure more lizardy and less human - some of the existing portraits manage this better than others.

Avian: One of the better groups, in my opinion - there's a good range of familiar and alien-looking races in a pleasing variety of colours. At the risk of sounding like a broken record more non-humanoid morphologies are always good but other than that - just keep up what you're doing with this group.

Arthropoid: In terms of morphology this group is great - lots of interesting body plans, suitably alien looking features. My main gripe about them is the colour - why all the browns and greys? Insects can come in a huge variety of vivid, iridescant colours and patterns, so it'd be really nice to see that reflected in some of the portraits. More crustaceans, arachnids or perhaps something trilobite-like might be nice - arthropods are a really diverse bunch.

Molluscoid: As with arthropoids there's loads of diversity in this group, and I think that's pretty well represented in the current portraits, so more of the same please? As always, more non-humanoid morphologies are good!

Fungoid: Probably my favourite group - a nice variety of designs. More like this please!

In general, I'd rather see species that are a fusion of multiple Earth species plus a few extraneous features rather than straight up 'Koala aliens, Cat aliens, Crocodile Aliens etc.' but that's just my preference. If there's some that don't look like any particular species on Earth then that's better still, though that may be difficult with the current clade/'phenotype'-based system. Overall, the portraits are pretty good though - they're better than the designs used in the new MoO and GalCiv for sure, so keep up the good work!

Hopefully you'll consider adding more phenotypes eventually too!

What more can we say?

 

[Abayonett]

Bears and spiders too! Plus some classic grey aliens.

 

[MedicInDisquise]

I'm not sure which this would fit in, (maybe muscloids and anthropods)

but simple animals like sponges, flat/round worms, etc.

And I know you aren't asking for this, but if you ever put in more phenotypes, we have to have light people, star children, ascended, whatever you want to call them. I know one of the last game disasters is this, but...

 

[ViperhawkZ]

What about a fungus that behaves like the cordyceps? A different creature (some animal from their homeworld) beneath with the fungus assuming control of the brain and fungoid mutations appearing across the creature.

They aspired the Clickers from The Last of Us:

That's literally in the game already.

First row, fourth from the left. It might be a bit harder to see at this resolution, but that's a parasitic fungus that has taken over a cat person.

 

[karl2025]

I'd like to see some aliens with ornaments/natural weapons like tusks, horns, quills, antlers, saber teeth, peacock-like feathers, lizard neck frills, etc.

 

[Abayonett]

Oh and Sharks, we need more sharks.

 

[Ifreann]

Oh and Sharks, we need more sharks.

Land sharks. Bearing candygrams.

 

[Belt5858]

Maybe another floating one like the Eosapiens from Expedition

 

[Shaboba]

*cracks knuckles*

• Bunnies & canine/lupine aliens - obviously mammalian
• Something clearly fishlike - not sure what phenotype they'd be in though, maybe reptilian for lack of a better option (though down the road a definite aquatic-themed phenotype wouldn't go astray)
• Some vaguely human-ish non-humans, just because (AKA rubber foreheads)
• Floating eyeball aliens with a host of tentacles - molluscoids maybe? (think Beholders of D&D fame)
• Sufficiently creepy demonic-looking aliens - not actual demons of course but with horns, fangs, maybe even red skin and wings - mammalian or reptilian maybe
• A lamprey-ish alien (a tubular body ending in a sucker-like mouth with circular rows of teeth) - molluscoid probably
• More parasitic fungi because those are really cool in my opinion - maybe add versions of other existing species portraits but infested by a fungus, and make the infested versions all under one fungus species
• More clearly "weird" looking aliens in general - I'm a sucker for strange aliens with unusual biology that don't fit in regular humanoid clothes

That's all I've got for now!

 

[Demarque]

I don't think anyone reads 26 pages into a thread, but if any dev is reading this, then here I go: MORE REPTILIANS.

Perhaps some inspired my snakes, lizards and dragons? It would also be cool to have some "sleek" looking reptilian, like a Salarian from Mass Effect.

 

[xsubtownerx]

I would love to see the classic "grey alien" myself.

 

[Marrow]

We just had a small design meeting for what new portraits we should make for DLC for Stellaris. While brainstorming ideas, we just thought.. Why not ask you guys what you would like to see in a DLC ?

Blorg is already included of course, but perhaps someone that could love them?

They have to fit within the 6 phenotypes we have today, so no plants, rocks, elementals though..

That is super lame that there won't be any plants, rocks, or elemental phenotypes. In my opinion, more phenotypes is even higher priority than new portraits for the existing ones. It just adds so much more flavor and excitement because of the huge variety of species. I got super excited to see the PLANT phenotype in the first stream and it is honestly really disappointing that there won't be any more phenotypes than the current 6 that are already in the game.

 

[stormblind]

More 'fearsome' races.
I want my space uruk-hai!

Well, we have goblins!

 

[Truewhit]

Are there bears yet? Cant have space Jan Mayen without bears. Also what would the national animal of mighty Ulm be?
I also think it would be nice to have ravens. And possibly a really friendly looking one. Like golden retrievers or something.
Plus of course the unimaginable Lovecraftian horrors that dwell between the stars.

There are already space ravens dog.

 

[Niels.p]

These guys from the movie Mars attacks.

 

[AtomicAllele]

*cracks knuckles*

• Bunnies & canine/lupine aliens - obviously mammalian
• Something clearly fishlike - not sure what phenotype they'd be in though, maybe reptilian for lack of a better option (though down the road a definite aquatic-themed phenotype wouldn't go astray)
• Some vaguely human-ish non-humans, just because (AKA rubber foreheads)
• Floating eyeball aliens with a host of tentacles - molluscoids maybe? (think Beholders of D&D fame)
• Sufficiently creepy demonic-looking aliens - not actual demons of course but with horns, fangs, maybe even red skin and wings - mammalian or reptilian maybe
• A lamprey-ish alien (a tubular body ending in a sucker-like mouth with circular rows of teeth) - molluscoid probably
• More parasitic fungi because those are really cool in my opinion - maybe add versions of other existing species portraits but infested by a fungus, and make the infested versions all under one fungus species
• More clearly "weird" looking aliens in general - I'm a sucker for strange aliens with unusual biology that don't fit in regular humanoid clothes

That's all I've got for now!

I especially agree with points 4 6 and 8, especially espeically 8. Also we already have a parastic alien.

 

[Solx001]

Aquatic, crustacean, amphibian, amoeba type aliens (like large, single celled, intelligent species).
I'm all for a huge variety, whether that be new phenotypes, or just more portraits for existing phenotypes. I'd love to see whatever strange new aliens your artists can come up with.

 

[Abayonett]

These guys from the movie Mars attacks.

This! So much this.

 

[Freezy]

The most awesome of all

Praying Mantis species:

 

[Janusir]

With so many suggestions I'm sure others have proposed these, but I'll still add my 2 cents.

Arthropods: Something crustacean, maybe lobster-like.
Avian: Something like a toucan-alien. Something with a head that's more beak than face.
Fungoid: Something inspired by the Jophur of David Brin's Uplift series. A stack of multi-colored rings.
Mammalian: There's already one that looks vaguely bat-like, so I'll go with something orcaish or ursine.
Molluscoid: Armored, perhaps the sensory organs are peeking out from a flower-like set of armored panels.
Reptilian: Dragon-like, or even demonic.