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Stellaris Dev Diary #13 - Primitive Civilizations

Excerpt from lecture on Pre-Space Sentients by Professor Xirg Ta’Nolek
Royal Science Academy, Nishga VI
Galactic Stardate 394.41 (Post-Upheaval Reckoning)

<recording starts>


Settle down, class. Ah, as I look around the lecture hall and gaze upon your youthful visages, I am reminded of a younger, larval-stage me. Let’s hope you lot have more brains than I did back then!

Today we’ll be going over civilizations that have yet to develop the technology necessary for space travel. Such primitive civilizations fall into one of two broad categories - Pre-Industrial and Industrial. These categories have a number of subcategories, such as Bronze Age and Post-Atomic Age, that help us more clearly define a primitive civilization’s level of technological progress.

A spacefaring empire that has discovered a primitive civilization can deal with such a scenario in a number of different ways. The first way is the most straightforward, and the one typically favored by aggressive, expansionist empires. Can anyone guess what it is? Yes, Miss Choggrah-Zu?

Just so - outright conquest! As you can imagine, primitive civilizations have few means to resist a technologically advanced invader. Industrial and especially post-atomic civilizations can prove harder nuts to crack, but their weapons are still markedly inferior to those of a typical spacefaring culture. The big prize of such an invasion is the planet itself, of course, but the primitives are also a source of cheap labor once enslaved.

Now, there are many in the galaxy who frown upon such behavior. Let’s not pretend otherwise!
Whether due to a noble but misguided instinct to ‘shield’ primitive sentients from the horrors of the universe, like a Jaktagarian brood mother protecting her young, or for more sinister research purposes, many empires prefer the construction of hidden Observation Posts in high orbit over primitive worlds. This allows for the safe study of the primitives and their society, which can be quite a boon to an empire’s research efforts in the field of Society.

stellaris_dev_diary_13_02_20151214_primitive_civilization.jpg

The Neborite civilization of the Kahalajom system. They destroyed themselves shortly after entering the Atomic Age a few decades after this picture was taken.

Observation Posts typically have four exclusive missions that can be undertaken. I will now go over each of them in turn, so please take notes. This WILL be on the exam.

Passive Observation
Certain studies have shown that interfering with the natural development of a primitive civilization can have... detrimental effects. The scientific staff of an Observation Post operating under the Passive Observation mission will make every effort to conceal their presence from the primitives. The primary directive of the scientists is to safeguard the natives from any cultural or technological contamination, while studying them in secret.

Aggressive Observation
My own species was subjected to this one a long time ago, when we were still in our technological infancy. Yes, Mr. Igir-Zat, I can see your plumage rustling nervously over there in the back row. Don’t think we’ve forgotten what your kind did! At any rate, the Aggressive Observation mission calls for regular abductions from among the primitive population. The objective is typically to acquire genetic samples and to surgically attach implants on promising test subjects, among other naughty things. This provides more research data than what a more passive approach would, but it also tends to rile up the primitives a bit. Isn’t that so, Mr. Igir-Zat?

Technological Enlightenment
There are some who just can’t stand the sight of a primitive civilization wallowing in their muck. For whatever reason, they decide to bring the primitives up to the level of technology a spacefaring empire enjoys. This can be a monumental effort, of course, especially if the primitives are… well, especially primitive. It will require a significant investment of time, patience and Society research. Once the primitives have achieved space flight however, they will be turned into a Protectorate of their benefactors.

Covert Infiltration
This is an interesting one. Essentially, agents that have been surgically altered to resemble individuals from a primitive species are sent to infiltrate their society. Political and military leaders are gradually replaced, until a point is reached where the primitives can be made to willingly accept an offer of annexation. This spares the need of a messy ground invasion, but more importantly, the primitives will be more positively inclined towards their new overlords, since they are living under the illusion that they accepted their rule willingly.

stellaris_dev_diary_13_01_20151214_observation_station.jpg

An Observation Post in high orbit over the serene ocean world Lancord. Subspace modulation fields hides it from ground-based telescopes and primitive detection systems like radar.

Well, well... Mr. Zeq-Zeq! How nice of you to finally join us. Unfortunately for you, this lecture is just about to end. No, Mr. Zeq-Zeq, I don’t want to hear it! Save your excuses. For your sake, I hope that you will arrive on time for next week’s lecture, which will cover the uplifting of pre-sentient beings and how mutation and self-alteration can create new subspecies.

Class is dismissed.

<recording ends>

Stellaris Dev Diary #14 - Uplifting and Subspecies
 
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Wht would be awesome is if after the release of the game, other PDX Games would get Sunset Invasion Style events where they meet alien and gain Technological Enlightment. There we could call our troops real Space Troopers =p
Or that would be awesome if you could meet in Stellaris the Earth during its Middle Age or Modern Times =p
 
Wht would be awesome is if after the release of the game, other PDX Games would get Sunset Invasion Style events where they meet alien and gain Technological Enlightment. There we could call our troops real Space Troopers =p
Or that would be awesome if you could meet in Stellaris the Earth during its Middle Age or Modern Times =p
I think you can actually :) they have created the Sol system for those players who will try humans as a preset race :) so there will be a high chance that it get´s thrown in there any way :)
 
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Awesome, if that's really the case, combined with the "Pops" system (and if there's actual migrations of Pops as I've heard), this should make it really fun and rewarding to play as a peaceful "multicultural" democracy that uplifts and gradually integrates all races it comes across.

Sorry, I was nearly sick all over my keyboard reading that...

The lucky few may be retained as slaves, but the vast majority of these Xeno's should be exterminated.

Democracy... pfft...
 
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Sorry, I was nearly sick all over my keyboard reading that...

The lucky few may be retained as slaves, but the vast majority of these Xeno's should be exterminated.

Democracy... pfft...
Please do not use the word "slaves". We prefer: "underpaid legitimate workforce"
 
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Please do not use the word "slaves". We prefer: "underpaid legitimate workforce"
paid??? I don't know that word?... I let them live... That's enough for them to be thankful of :)
 
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"The Neborite civilization of the Kahalajom system. They destroyed themselves shortly after entering the Atomic Age a few decades after this picture was taken."

If this is a thing that actually happens in game then take my money. All of it.
 
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The lucky few may be retained as slaves, but the vast majority of these Xeno's should be exterminated.

Democracy... pfft...
Hmm, I can see a limited usefulness to filthy, fascist "civilisations" with such an outlook, in that their homeworlds may be converted into embodied examples of the term "brown dwarf"... :p
 
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Hmm, I can see a limited usefulness to filthy, fascist "civilisations" with such an outlook, in that their homeworlds may be converted into embodied examples of the term "brown dwarf"... :p

:D

Let 'em come! It just gives such a civilisation an excuse to liberate the souls from those filthy, xenos bodies they inhabit.
 
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Interns. They are also happy to live.

My Lord, after months of bombardment, the people of Tau Ceti IV have finally surrendered to our mighty fleets. We have levelled their cities, broken their last resistance, and acquired billions of new interns for your precious metals mines.
 
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My Lord, after months of bombardment, the people of Tau Ceti IV have finally surrendered to our mighty fleets. We have levelled their cities, broken their last resistance, and acquired billions of new interns for your precious metals mines.

Good. They will aquire precious experience to their resumes. It will surely help them get the real job in the future. Oh, wait...
 
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Good. They will aquire precious experience to their resumes. It will surely help them get the real job in the future. Oh, wait...
Isn´t they only ever working up to the slaugther-house that produces pet-food :)
 
Are the pre-spacefaring eras moddable? So could I add new ones and replace old ones?

Like what?

The Steampunk Age? The Xenomorph Age? The Cthulhu Age?

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His Royal Highness, Linguafoeda Acheronsis, Emperor of India and the British Empire.

Sounds good to me. :)
 
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I would HOPE that it would be relatively easy to conquer even relatively advanced spacefaring races. Maybe it would take more than a single ship, but a few strategic bombardments of their major cities, and perhaps a demonstration leveling of some portion of their planet may convince them that living on as a part of the greater Empire is better than being systematically exterminated for defiance.
 
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