Random events/anomalies shouldn't wreck a game

[The Founder]

God forbid something might cause you to a lose a game. That would just be the worst. Players should always win, preferably with a giant doomstack and 10k minerals per month. Anything less is a broken game.

There is more to live then jsut the two extremes you can think in.
Indeed there is a total of 254 shades between those two extremes in just 8 bit.

PS - I haven't seen a wraith since like, patch 1.9...where the fuck did they go?

I saw the countdown event, aiming for the "Mid Game Start Year" more then once.
I just rarely had sensor data on the System when it came up.

Plus all Leviathans have only a chance to spawn, even on a 1000 Star Galaxy.
Finding it before Mid Game Start or seeing it afterwards (and being told of it) is not that trivial.

 

[Aed]

If it won't outright waste inhabited planets, then yes, it is something survivable, if it comes up again, I will try..

Ah that's what was causing you the concern. Yeah Wriaths don't to anything to your planets, it only attacks spacebourne things like ships and stations.

In fact the only things that can harm your planets are other empires, the late game crises and the odd planetary event. The space aliens and guardians are limited to space combat only

 

[The Founder]

In fact the only things that can harm your planets are other empires, the late game crises and the odd planetary event. The space aliens and guardians are limited to space combat only

Well, the devourer will apply decent modifier to all inhabited Planets while in System. But even that one is hardly noticeable.

 

[Acheron]

Ah that's what was causing you the concern. Yeah Wriaths don't to anything to your planets, it only attacks spacebourne things like ships and stations.

In fact the only things that can harm your planets are other empires, the late game crises and the odd planetary event. The space aliens and guardians are limited to space combat only

Why thanks, I didn't know that, I presumed all monsters would happily help themselves to my planets.

 

[Catastrophy]

Build your fleet. Send fleet. Fight Wraith. If fail, build more fleet.

 

[Typee]

when encountering something new, I do not immediately check the internet to see what it is.

Right. Instead you immediately make a thread to complain about it.

 

[Jmes Snowscoran]

Well, there's no denying fleets are harder to raise and maintain in 2.2 than in 2.1, so enemies with preset or event-spawned fleets are typically harder to deal with. It's definitely possible to have the resources you need to defeat it by 2300 though, especially since you're given a time and place for the duel beforehand.

 

[Optimizt]

The last time I had a wraith pulsar in my territory, I was sweating bullets and preparing hard for it; my pulse really started to pound around 2290 because I was worried my bastion wouldn't be enough to take it. The wraith spawned, my bastion attacked... and the wraith died pretty much as soon as it spawned. It's actually one of the easier leviathans especially since it's easy to catch with its pants down.

 

[CrowScape]

Last time I had the Wraith system in my empire, I built a bastion citadel (with max-researched missile modules) on the star and forgot about it. Poor thing never lived through its first month.

The only way this play through was a waste is if you throw your hands up in the air and say "stupid RNG" as opposed to learning anything from it. And that wouldn't be the game's fault.

 

[Acheron]

Right. Instead you immediately make a thread to complain about it.

No, I make a thread after finding a chokepoint close to my homeworld in the hands of what I assumed to be a massive monstrosity via a random event.

 

[The Bored Chairman]

Yesterday, while I was subjugating the galaxy, I sent my transport ships to attack a lightly defended planet. The pathing was clear from what I could tell and I switched my attention to fixing my planets (and holy jumping Jehosaphat on a pogo stick, there's a lot to manage when you have 60 planets/habitats to deal with). Suddenly I was notified that one of my fleets died, so I frantically scanned the galaxy to see what the heck happened. Turns out, a sneaky Wraith which I hadn't discovered (it was hiding in the middle of a hostile empire, which I had just eliminated, leaving a few unsurveyed stars) completely wrecked my transport fleet (which had a lot of Psi Soldiers on it, so I was a might peeveed).

Now, I don't mind that this happened (I did send them off into uncharted territory alone), but I am a little miffed that I didn't get the Wraith event popup from encountering it the first time. I think that might have something to do with the stupid "Ally already surveyed this area" bug that causes your science ships to ignore systems surveyed by your fed allies/vassals, even if YOU haven't surveyed it yet. I could've reacted if that had happened, but when you're managing a ton of planets and fighting a war on multiple fronts with multiple fleets, you can't be omniscient, even with the Psionic Ascention perk.

 

[Secret Master]

Well, the devourer will apply decent modifier to all inhabited Planets while in System. But even that one is hardly noticeable.

It's so hardly noticeable that I didn't know this information.

 

[morangias]

For me, Paradox games have always been more about the journey than the destination. Some of the most memorable moments in these games are when something random happens and all your carefully laid plans go to crap in an instant.

 

[Secret Master]

I could've reacted if that had happened, but when you're managing a ton of planets and fighting a war on multiple fronts with multiple fleets, you can't be omniscient, even with the Psionic Ascention perk.

Don't feel bad.

In my last game of HOI4 in MP, myself and two other players were running the Soviet Union in co-op. None of us noticed that the Germans nuked Moscow. They were even gloating over us, and we were like "What are you talking about?"

A newspaper might have gone a long way to explaining the sudden loss of buildings.

 

[KingAlamar]

My thoughts are that there should be some settings intended for multi-player that would otherwise be useful for single-player. Think of it like a "Civ Strategic Ballance" setting. The game tries to equalize starting position [including nearby RNG] so that each side gets a somewhat quasi-even-ish start.

In this case such a setting might not allow for ANY movable leviathans and certainly none that pop in from an anomaly, a choke point, etc.

 

[The Founder]

My thoughts are that there should be some settings intended for multi-player that would otherwise be useful for single-player. Think of it like a "Civ Strategic Ballance" setting. The game tries to equalize starting position [including nearby RNG] so that each side gets a somewhat quasi-even-ish start.

In this case such a setting might not allow for ANY movable leviathans and certainly none that pop in from an anomaly, a choke point, etc.

That is already in the game.
Spawning a starting System marks all surrounding System as "empire_cluster". And Leviathan Systems do not spawn in those (among others):

### GUARDIANS SYSTEM ###
# Stellarites
guardians_init_stellarites = {
    class = rl_dwarf_stars
    usage = misc_system_init
    usage_odds = {
        base = 0
        modifier = {
            has_leviathans = yes
            add = 100
        }
        modifier = {
            factor = 0
            OR = {
                is_fe_cluster = yes
                has_star_flag = empire_cluster
            }
        }
        modifier = {
            factor = 0
            has_star_flag = empire_cluster
        }
        modifier = {
            factor = 0
            is_bottleneck_system = yes
        }
    }

    max_instances = 1
    scaled_spawn_chance = 8    # scales by galaxy size (1000 stars = 10x base)
   
    flags = { guardians_stellarite_system guardian hostile_system }
   
    planet = {
        count = 1
        class = star
        orbit_distance = 0
        orbit_angle = 1
        size = { min = 20 max = 30 }
        has_ring = no
    }
   
    change_orbit = 45
   
    planet = {
        count = { min = 1 max = 2 }
        orbit_distance = 20
        orbit_angle = { min = 90 max = 270 }
        size = { min = 10 max = 25 }
        change_orbit = @base_moon_distance
       
        moon = {
            count = { min = 0 max = 1 }
            orbit_angle = { min = 90 max = 270 }
            size = { min = 10 max = 14 }
            orbit_distance = 5
        }
    }

    planet = {
        class = pc_frozen
        count = { min = 1 max = 1 }
        orbit_distance = 20
        size = { min = 15 max = 25 }
        orbit_angle = { min = 90 max = 270 }
    }

    planet = {
        count = { min = 1 max = 2 }
        orbit_distance = 20
        orbit_angle = { min = 90 max = 270 }
        size = { min = 10 max = 25 }
        change_orbit = @base_moon_distance
       
        moon = {
            count = { min = 0 max = 1 }
            orbit_angle = { min = 90 max = 270 }
            size = { min = 10 max = 14 }
            orbit_distance = 5
        }
    }
   
    init_effect = {
        random_system_planet = {
            limit = {
                is_star = yes
            }
            change_planet_size = -5
        }
    }
}

 

[KingAlamar]

That is already in the game.
Spawning a starting System marks all surrounding System as "empire_cluster". And Leviathan Systems do not spawn in those (among others):

True BUT I was also talking about none of them "wandering in", "spawning from anomaly", etc. In this case those elements would be more important ....

 

[CrowScape]

Oh, and remember the good 'ol days when the Wraith wasn't tied to any mid-game start timing, but a mere thirty years after its pulsar had been surveyed. Ah, the joys of surveying that pulsar five jumps out from your home world, only to learn that it will be spawning an aggressive Leviathan in the middle of your empire in 2236.

What did we learn that game? Never survey a pulsar until 2250, and make sure your borders are closed so your neighbors can't trigger it instead.

 

[methegrate]

When it comes to leviathans and marauders in Stellaris, Q sums it up well:

"If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid."

Even the most devout pacifist should protect themselves well with a star fleet.

That's pretty much my read on this. Sometimes a wraith emerges in a vital system. Sometimes a spiteful alien (maybe he's an alien...) introduces your civilization to the Borg.

Running a space empire is dangerous, which is as it should be.

 

[208]

Derelict ship anomaly
Pulsating Stars

I generally get a fresh recruit (or at least a less valuable scientist) to check these projects out, rather than the scientist who triggered them. More often than not, I get a good result out of them; and if not, it's not a big loss.