written by the Stellaris Devs
Hi all! Happy April Fools!
This surprise and totally fake unexpected dev diary will be showcasing some new UI, gameplay and Quality of Life improvements that we here on the Stellaris team are really excited about. We’ve gone over Stellaris with a fine-tooth comb and picked out some key improvements that we think you’ll be thrilled to learn about!
Starting off, Xeno-Compatibility has been a hit beyond our wildest dreams. In the spirit of proper UI housecleaning, we have removed the ability to toggle it on or off, since our data shows that the [off] toggle has never been used a single time. Removing this vestigial icon will save precious pixels on those with smaller resolution screens.
Expanding on Xeno-Compatibility, we have now decided to allow even further degrees of cross-species hybridization. Players can now create hybrids with 1/4th and even 1/8th genetic splices of other species! To account for this exponential increase in variance, we have shored up the UI to have several robust features.
Players can now enjoy nested tabs within the planetary demographics panel, as well as an astounding 5 new demographic colors (Dull Diamond, Daffodil 2, Green-er, Blue but Not, and Darker Dark Grey).
To support the increased complexity, we have also implemented a brand new feature we are extremely proud of!
When moving the cursor into the demographics screen, your cursor will now shrink by 400% as well as slowing by a considerable amount. This will allow you the accuracy and precision you need to manage your empire!
Another big update coming is the ability for end game crisis’ to join the galactic community. We have long wanted to give these fascinating societies a bigger voice and a platform to share their voice and unique perspectives.
Above is a working prototype of the Preythoryn Scourge joyously receiving the invitation to be a part of the greater galactic community. Be sure to watch out for the Unbidden and their energy tariffs!
A great point brought up in a recent meeting was the inconsistency in the Outliner of Civilian Ships, and Military Fleets. To fix this, we have decided to only display individual ships for both categories. This will let you create a stronger and more personal connection with your military vessels. To minimize creating any more clutter in the Outliner, we have capped the maximum number of ships that can be listed at 6, but provided a handy scrollbar for your larger military adventures!
Some smaller but no less important changes we are making also include:
- Notifications will now auto-collapse into a single stack, clicking on this will expand the stack in a grid pattern to cover your entire screen. While this may cause momentary discomfort it will allow you to select the very specific notification you want much more easily!
- Similarly, event pop-ups now no longer have that clunky [x] button; instead events will automatically dismiss in 60 real-time seconds regardless of if a decision has been made. We think this will increase the tempo of the mid-game and create a fun but frenetic multiplayer environment.
- Authoritarian ethics renamed to Collectivist
- Egalitarian ethics renamed to Individualist
- Rebels now have 4x starting fleet size since we realized space piracy is more popular than we previously estimated.
- Due to instability in some parts of the code base as a result of the above updates, we have limited the amount of mods you can have active at any given time to 1.
- To reduce notification spam, we have tripled the cooldown for all galactic community events.
That’s all for now, stay tuned for next week where we'll actually have a real dev diary for you, with actual news! Happy April Fools!
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