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Stellaris Dev Diary #193: Signal Discovered

Hello everyone!

This week we are going to talk about something new that we’ve been working on - namely improving first contact and extending the exploration aspects of the game. All of this is work in progress and may not accurately represent what the game will look like once all of this work is finished. A lot of UI is very much work in progress, so don't pay too much attention to icons or such.

Background
Exploration has always been one of the best parts of Stellaris, and it is perhaps what sets us apart from other games that follow similar themes. Looking back, Stellaris has mostly revolved around the physical exploration of space, discovering an ancient galaxy full of wonders. We believe that exploring and uncovering the galaxy is such an important and fun aspect of the game that we really want to dive deeper into those experiences. We intend to take the next steps by improving the means by which you can establish communication and make the process of learning more about alien civilizations a part of the exploration gameplay.

In this dev diary we will be outlining some of the changes and additions that we are currently working on, so that you can get an idea of what to expect from our next big update.

First Contact
The first steps we are taking is that we are changing how first contact works. First contact is now a much more engaging process with interesting choices that are supported by great narrative.

When you first have an alien encounter you are able to set a policy for what your approach will be. First Contact Protocols is a policy option that lets you dictate your stance when it comes to dealing with newly discovered alien civilizations. Each option has different effects that should suit different types of diplomacy.

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Friends..?

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First Contact Protocol Policy options.​

First Contact Investigation
In order to establish communication with the alien contact, an Envoy will need to be assigned to the First Contact Investigation. The investigation will then be able to begin, and it will run through stages and will contain events similar to an archaeological dig site. The reason why we chose a system similar to archaeology is because its a great way of letting a process run over time in a way where it can also deliver some narrative along the way. The difficulty of the first contact investigation will be affected by things like how friendly the target is, or how difficult it is to translate their signals.

Since First Contact now uses an Envoy, that also means that it no longer pauses Society Research, and it is possible to run multiple first contact investigations simultaneously as long as you have the Envoys required.

(Envoys do still currently not have traits or levels, but it is something we are actively discussing.)

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The events that you can get depend on the type of empire you are, and on the type of alien you are trying to contact.

There are friendly/peaceful paths as well as ... less so.

As a xenophobic empire with an aggressive first contact protocol it is possible to secure a couple of specimen for a closer look.

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The choices you make during first contact can also have long-term effects on your relationship with the alien empire. Choose wisely and decide which trade-offs you are willing to make. Are you perhaps a materialistic and xenophobic empire that values scientific progress above all?

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Stay on your side of the galaxy and all can be well.

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Let’s agree to disagree.​

----------------

That is all for this week! Next week we’ll be showing you some new features that allow you to explore maps like the one posted here below.

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The best thing is, based on the screens, that it seems like there is finally fog of war and not this woohoo I can see everything in another empire shenanigans that killed the whole exploration fun.
 
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How this will work with special empire like marauder, enclave or Fallen empire ?
Will we have special option, special event ?
 
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grekulf said:
It will become evident in due time.
Click to expand...

Naturally. I look forward to it with anticipation. All these changes should really breathe new life into the galaxy.

Also, while you're here, and since you're the game director, I'd like to take an opportunity to reiterate a prior comment about a key bug that's breaking a paid-DLC feature:

Could you strongly consider putting out a 2.8.2 beta patch with bug fixes? The "breach of galactic law" mechanic of the Galactic Community is not working in 2.8/2.8.1 [no one is ever considered in breach of galactic law no matter how flagrantly they violate it], which undermines not only a key diplomatic mechanic in the Galactic Community but also the paid-DLC resolutions from Federations. I know your QA team is aware of this issue, as they've acknowledged it in response to the communities bug reports.

If you (@grekulf ) could arrange for your team to have this feature returned to full functionality as soon as possible that would be greatly appreciated.
 
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grekulf said:
It's easy to see how envoys could be fun, but its also easy to see how it would be really annoying to have to manually adjust which envoys are working on what. Especially with a re-assignment cooldown. I think a better option would be to be able to specialize your foreign office somehow. No promises! :)
Click to expand...

I can see where you're coming from, but I disagree wholeheartedly. Specialising your foreign office gives more control and easier control of the optimisation of your empire. However that level of leader micromanagement you are looking to avoid is already present in stellaris and engaging with it is optional. We can spend time ensuring we have the right scientist with the right traits for the right exploration/archaeology/technology research job at the right time, or we can simply ensure that we have a blue tech scientist researching physics etc. Similarly a player could choose not to micromanage and simply send any envoy on any assignment.

However giving envoys traits and levels gives identity and attachment to your leaders. This is why certain events give special traits to leaders. It transforms the leader of a fleet from a level 7 admiral with scout to your admiral who defeated the stellar devourer. Traits are not just a mechanical device, they are an important hook to the narrative flow of the game. Imagine how much better the random envoy events could be with traits (positive and negative) to gain, but also to potentially change the outcome of these events.

Currently The deployment cooldown isn't much of an obstacle 90+% of the time while "Do I put my level 5 envoy in charge of negotiations or wait 3 months and use my level 7?" is a good example of a meaningful game-play decision. Do you want the deployment cooldown to be a complication or obstacle to be overcome? In it's current state it may as well go and join Empire Cohesion which had a larger role in gameplay, but was discarded due to irrelevance.

Without traits and levels you may as well replace envoys portraits with a number available and plus and minus buttons to assign them.

Furthermore envoys as full leaders makes them potential rulers with further RP potential.

Do the right thing. Envoys are people too.
 
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That's really cool.

Wouldn't be surprised if envoys replaced generals as the fourth leader type at some point.

Also, I hope there's special interactions making first contact with enclaves or the caravans. Wonder how that weird "Tastiest Aliens" anomaly will work.
 
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A few questions:

- How does this system interact with Marauders and Fallen Empires?
- How does this system work if you are meeting members of your own species in a different empire? Say the first empire you run into is the empire you are a Lost Colony of, or Commonwealth of Man meeting the UNE, or just simply two Empires with the same species portrait and name? Will it have unique events / outcomes?
- Does this system interact at all with meeting Primitives if they are the first aliens you encounter?

EDIT: Also, I've pushed hard since the beginning to make Envoys full leaders. It's worth it! You're reducing micro elsewhere, and it'll make the galaxy feel far more interesting. Imagine an Envoy that first established contact with an important ally later become President, and forming a Federation with said empire? Awesome emergent stories.
 
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Ch4rybde said:
How this will work with special empire like marauder, enclave or Fallen empire ?
Will we have special option, special event ?
Click to expand...

Important question. If an aggressive empire goes hostile against these sorts of established empires they're going to get wiped out. Would kind of suck to see a caravaneer fleet glassing the AI's homeworld on year 10.
 
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Three quick things off the top of my head that i'm concerned about before the hype train fully leaves the station.

Is it possible to play a game past 2350 on a 1000 star galaxy without horrendous slowdown yet? How is the AI pathing during wartime doing? Any sort of automation improvements?

Still in a holding pattern until some of the major issues brought up over the last few months are sorted out.
 
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DrNukeLear said:
I can see where you're coming from, but I disagree wholeheartedly. Specialising your foreign office gives more control and easier control of the optimisation of your empire. However that level of leader micromanagement you are looking to avoid is already present in stellaris and engaging with it is optional. We can spend time ensuring we have the right scientist with the right traits for the right exploration/archaeology/technology research job at the right time, or we can simply ensure that we have a blue tech scientist researching physics etc. Similarly a player could choose not to micromanage and simply send any envoy on any assignment.

However giving envoys traits and levels gives identity and attachment to your leaders. This is why certain events give special traits to leaders. It transforms the leader of a fleet from a level 7 admiral with scout to your admiral who defeated the stellar devourer. Traits are not just a mechanical device, they are an important hook to the narrative flow of the game. Imagine how much better the random envoy events could be with traits (positive and negative) to gain, but also to potentially change the outcome of these events.

Currently The deployment cooldown isn't much of an obstacle 90+% of the time while "Do I put my level 5 envoy in charge of negotiations or wait 3 months and use my level 7?" is a good example of a meaningful game-play decision. Do you want the deployment cooldown to be a complication or obstacle to be overcome? In it's current state it may as well go and join Empire Cohesion which had a larger role in gameplay, but was discarded due to irrelevance.

Without traits and levels you may as well replace envoys portraits with a number available and plus and minus buttons to assign them.

Furthermore envoys as full leaders makes them potential rulers with further RP potential.

Do the right thing. Envoys are people too.
Click to expand...


I fully agree with all your sentiments. I would add that the idea of implementing "institutions" would still be very welcome. I would personally love to see a a number of institutions added that are fundamental to most kinds of governments, such as Foreign office, Departmend of Defense, Education and Healthcare etc... You could then have it so that Leaders become even more important as they fill up the roles of Ministers for each institution.

My only wish on top of that would be to then make the link of leaders to factions even more apparent so that there is some political infighting between various leaders, factions and the populations they represent.

I'm kind of hoping that we will see some kind of internal politics update within the next expansion, but if it requires a big hefty one down the line then so be it.

Really happy to see First Contact get some love and for what is coming in the near future with Espionage.
 
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