Stellaris Q&A on Explorminate

[AKicebear]

Stellaris Q&A

Highlights (to me):

• Confirmed that the player can only directly control a handful of a planets, with the remainder in an empire under vassalage control called a 'sector'.
• No espionage system in 1.0, but maybe for a DLC

 

[vyshan]

Cool, btw can anyone tell me if there are new screenshots in that artiacle it doesn't look like it but I want to make sure.

 

[SolarGuy]

I didn't expect that the number of empires would be "how many you can reasonably squeeze into the galaxy", so basically infinite

Cool, btw can anyone tell me if there are new screenshots in that artiacle it doesn't look like it but I want to make sure.

Nope, all screenshots are relatively old, although one is from the recent Dev Diary about the ship designer

Quote "Is it safe to assume that there are going to be additional surprises like aliens invading from off map and/or other dimensions?" /Quote
So we can have contact to an empire from another galaxy? ^^ I would love it if we could send ships or fleets to other galaxies, which are basically other games that we started and / or have in our savegame folder.
I'm going to send my Borg fleet to my United Galactic Federation then

 

[Angelic_Daemon]

As additional species bend the laws of physics to send larger and larger fleets through the galaxy, there is always the risk of something, or someone, noticing...

Imagine having an off map invasion, i.e. Reapers, and the Warp Gods attacking at the same time. Just hope Slaanesh, consumes me peacefully.

 

[Safehold]

Vassals confirmed. The Infinite Empire confirmed.

There are also military stations, which you are free to build anywhere (it does not have to be in the orbit of a celestial body)

Jump/wormhole gate fortress (maybe) confirmed.

 

[Tim_Ward]

What a good interview. Look of insights into the nature of gameplay and how games play out, rather than just raw facts about features.

I will now go on about it at length:

the game is still in early stages

But the internet assured me that the game was in "late alpha" and definitely coming out in Q1 or maybe Q2 at the latest, and that the Februrary 16th date was still viable despite being less than a month away and being explicitly denied at least twice by developers. Very strange. Why, it's almost like that was total nonsense. But that can't be right because people on the internet would never just make stuff up.

The galaxy is generated so that there will always be at least one viable colony in the vicinity of your home planet,

This is actually a really smart move; in a lot of space 4x games I tend to just abandon games where I don't get a decentish planet nearby. I know it makes the game more challenging but the early game is just so boring when this happens, because there's nothing much you can really do.

When the Colony Ship has landed on the new world, it takes quite a while for the colonists to set up and grow into a full “Pop.” During this time, the colony will be a significant drain on your economy, so it is not always wise to settle as many worlds as you can as quickly as possible. It is worth noting that, in Stellaris, you cannot easily inhabit all types of worlds – not even with late-game technologies. You will be forced to rely on alien Pops or robots to colonize planets your starting race cannot inhabit (you can only terraform a few planets since doing so uses up a strategic resource).

Interesting techniques to slow down expansion and so called "blobbing" without it feeling too artificial. Like it. Those "tall vs wide" people should like this too.

I am not a fan of making some kind of permanent distinction between major and minor factions

*nodding in agreement*

Micromanagement is always a bogeyman, of course, but we have a built-in solution for that: you simply cannot control more than a few planets directly. Once you have grown past a certain point, you need to start assigning planets to something we call Sectors. This isn’t just an automation feature; it’s a step towards actual autonomy. If you have played Crusader Kings II, the concept is similar to how vassals work in that game.

Am looking forward to hearing more about this, it seems like a genuinely unique - and very paradoxy - idea.

(the exception being Food, which is local to the planet)

...

why?

Now you can't recreate Trantor.

n fact, many technologies can only be discovered this way and not by normal research.

More randomisation adding to replayability.

especially your ruler and various governors, who play important roles in the Faction system.

I've been playing Sunless Sea recently, and I therefore classify this as an Integrating Snippet.

When ships enter any type of FTL, they can leave a trace behind to be studied.

Ditto. Studied? To what end?

There are also military stations, which you are free to build anywhere (it does not have to be in the orbit of a celestial body), and can be upgraded with modules and weapons, just like a ship.

So that's pretty interesting, too. Why would you build a station just in a random orbit? What can they do that would make it worthwhile building them where there's nothing to defend? Does this imply something about the combat or movement system we don't know - can they, for instance, somehow block movement in system or attack over long ranges with missiles or fighters, or do they have some other function we don't know about?

Almost. The colored area is indeed the border of the empire, but the dotted line is the sensor range (distance that can be observed)

I loves me some sensors.

That [espionage] is something we won’t have on release

Meh.

 

[Arkangilos]

So that's pretty interesting, too. Why would you build a station just in a random orbit? What can they do that would make it worthwhile building them where there's nothing to defend? Does this imply something about the combat or movement system we don't know - can they, for instance, somehow block movement in system or attack over long ranges with missiles or fighters, or do they have some other function we don't know about?

If you know where the enemy is likely to come from, you can put stations to act as a defensive wall. For example, ships from warp will be coming from one direction. Ships with hyper lanes will be following a certain path.

Plus you could put several around your worlds, etc. You can probably put them next to another empire's planet.

 

[Umega]

Thanks for the posting this up, another wealth of infomation!

Cool, btw can anyone tell me if there are new screenshots in that artiacle it doesn't look like it but I want to make sure.

I've seen all those screenshots, most of them are taken from the DDs. Nothing new.

 

[Kalnaar5]

Worst phrase ever...

...the game is still in early stages...

Noooooooo....

 

[Held der Arbeit]

The sector system is really interesting. I imagine it spawning all kinds of interesting story- and diplomatic events (e.g. the Kuprulu sector rising in Rebellion)

Anyway, since they mentioned that terraforming will be severely limited...
I forgot if the types of planets your species could inhabit was a range (e.g. if your home planet is earthlike, you can also deal with tundra and jungle planets) or if it is literally just 1 specific type. Anyone remember?

 

[win746]

I really like that we can split management into sectors, its a good portrayal to how large space empires would operate.

But the word "vassalage" makes me shiver. While I love ck2, those pesky vassals gets on my nerves so many times.

While the idea of governors disagreeing with your rule and/or ambitious to gain more power, I hope they work differently from ck2.

 

[Safehold]

The sector system is really interesting. I imagine it spawning all kinds of interesting story- and diplomatic events (e.g. the Kuprulu sector rising in Rebellion)

Anyway, since they mentioned that terraforming will be severely limited...
I forgot if the types of planets your species could inhabit was a range (e.g. if your home planet is earthlike, you can also deal with tundra and jungle planets) or if it is literally just 1 specific type. Anyone remember?

Far as I remember, you pick a home planet type and that was it. But terraforming might work on each tile itself, instead of on the planet, which makes sense that they would limit it via strategy resource. Big deal on "strategic" there, since it's also very close to logistics, expanding your base of power with better planets in the long long term.

It should certainly be possible, via tooltips and math, to give each species different modifies to different planets and environments. If species genetic traits can be modified, this can certainly give them bonuses to more than one planet type.

I really like that we can split management into sectors, its a good portrayal to how large space empires would operate.

But the word "vassalage" makes me shiver. While I love ck2, those pesky vassals gets on my nerves so many times.

While the idea of governors disagreeing with your rule and/or ambitious to gain more power, I hope they work differently from ck2.

There's all kinds of ways to mess with them, though. Imprison them, then use the impaler on them. Dueling them, then putting them as commander in an army.

I've created a branch family of my dynasty and they are my vassal kings in Scandinavia. Gavel kind succession really helps splitting their power up after awhile. Not so good for my primary title though.

The Muslims and the Orthodox Christians, I think, have the best solution to troublesome vassals. The Muslims can get everyone into their dynasty, then imprison and execute decadent ones. The Orthodox ones have their patriarch vassals to excommunicate, then you can imprison them, while sitting an army on top of them in case they refuse to be imprisoned and rebel.

For Stellaris, with sector governors or planetary governors, I imagine that they will have more direct chain of command than in feudalism. It won't be a feudal contract, with the various limitations it imposes, but instead how the POPs act and diverge as a whole, not just the leaders. If one sector is getting invaded and attacked all the time, but the resources are sucked away from them to be used for the "core world's" pleasure gardens, that might be equivalent to revoking a title and breaking the feudal contract in CK2.

Or to use another example, if the empire has a policy to outlaw self modifications to the DNA types, and a colony on a frozen world keeps getting fatalities because they are prevented from modifying themselves, then they might just break the law and do it anyways, if they feel low loyalty or gratitude to the central worlds (player controlled worlds). The disagreement might grow and grow, up until the frozen world becomes their own sub species and breaks away.

 

[win746]

Far as I remember, you pick a home planet type and that was it. But terraforming might work on each tile itself, instead of on the planet, which makes sense that they would limit it via strategy resource. Big deal on "strategic" there, since it's also very close to logistics, expanding your base of power with better planets in the long long term.

It should certainly be possible, via tooltips and math, to give each species different modifies to different planets and environments. If species genetic traits can be modified, this can certainly give them bonuses to more than one planet type.



There's all kinds of ways to mess with them, though. Imprison them, then use the impaler on them. Dueling them, then putting them as commander in an army.

I've created a branch family of my dynasty and they are my vassal kings in Scandinavia. Gavel kind succession really helps splitting their power up after awhile. Not so good for my primary title though.

The Muslims and the Orthodox Christians, I think, have the best solution to troublesome vassals. The Muslims can get everyone into their dynasty, then imprison and execute decadent ones. The Orthodox ones have their patriarch vassals to excommunicate, then you can imprison them, while sitting an army on top of them in case they refuse to be imprisoned and rebel.

For Stellaris, with sector governors or planetary governors, I imagine that they will have more direct chain of command than in feudalism. It won't be a feudal contract, with the various limitations it imposes, but instead how the POPs act and diverge as a whole, not just the leaders. If one sector is getting invaded and attacked all the time, but the resources are sucked away from them to be used for the "core world's" pleasure gardens, that might be equivalent to revoking a title and breaking the feudal contract in CK2.

Or to use another example, if the empire has a policy to outlaw self modifications to the DNA types, and a colony on a frozen world keeps getting fatalities because they are prevented from modifying themselves, then they might just break the law and do it anyways, if they feel low loyalty or gratitude to the central worlds (player controlled worlds). The disagreement might grow and grow, up until the frozen world becomes their own sub species and breaks away.

That sounds great, also I guess I'm not good with handling vassals in ck2, heh.

I think my beef is with AI behavior. Hopefully AI are more solid in Stellaris.

 

[Billbro]

I am still curious if we will ever have any kind of beta we can sign up for.

 

[Nikolai]

I am still curious if we will ever have any kind of beta we can sign up for.

Of course we will. In time.

 

[Just a Joke]

Colonize new planet is expensive and hard, tech is random, game experience focus on exploration. I think these means Rush or try to expand fast in early game become impossible.

I wonder how will paradox balance Carrier and fighters in this game. There are too many 4X games screwed it up, and for the limited info in DD, I haven't seen anything awesome yet.

 

[Chat]

The sector system is really interesting. I imagine it spawning all kinds of interesting story- and diplomatic events (e.g. the Kuprulu sector rising in Rebellion)

I really hope that 'colony ship gets flung waaaay off course by an anomaly and is forced to found a new empire' style events are in the game. Not very common of course, since colony ships are quite expensive, but still in there. You could get intermittent information about the status of the lost colony as the ships' computers try to call home, attempt to send aid by reproducing the anomaly and eventually try to reintegrate the lost colony ship empire.

 

[henzington]

Really like the idea that you have vassals like in ck2 as managing tons of planets is a drag late game.

 

[aruon]

what jumps out at me, plus my thoughts AKA witty comments on it:

The galaxy is generated so that there will always be at least one viable colony in the vicinity of your home planet,

not really surprised but not disappointed. standard 4X fare.

but you do not initially have the ability to build colony ships.

now this i absolutely appreciate. no insta-blob. no instant action. every game starts off as a true prologue.

you tend to spend time planning the buildings on the surface of your home planet

somewhat odd but still appreciated. your planet more or less starts off as the equivalent of the Kerbal Space Program mission control.

When you build a Colony Ship, you are given the choice of what type of colonists it should carry. That is, which locally available “Pop” (population unit) they should draw from

space australia confirmed. space pilgrims confirmed. space whatever-poor-bloc-of-schmucks-made-you-angry-that-day confirmed.

a “minor” faction is really just an empire that starts out with some kind of disadvantage, probably in size or technology.

you know those backwards, microempire wannabes? those "humans"...

While you yourself cannot start the game as such a civilization, they are not destined to spend the rest of the game handicapped, and can eventually achieve FTL or start up their technological development again.

suffer not the xenos humans to live. they will probably become a threat.

Answer: Resources are automatically transported to a global supply (the exception being Food, which is local to the planet). There are no logistics involved in this. All ships and stations, as well as most planetary buildings, cost Energy Credits to maintain, which acts like a natural cap on your construction efforts.

not surprised. do ships require food in addition to energy credits though? energy credits are nice. unlike EU4, you can't just field a navy far in excess of what your ACTUALLY SUPPOSED to be able to use. well, unless you can find a way to power that fleet of dongerlord-class dreadnoughts you were saving up for with hamsters.

Following a battle, you can send your science ships there to study the wreckage, which can yield insights into technologies you do not have available to your empire. This can either lead to progress being made to a “card” you haven’t drawn yet, or a 4th card

you know that colossal fleet of enemy ships your about to pimp slap into stray atoms? makes sure you have scientists at the opposite end of the system... or if you want to be safe and boring, in a neighboring system.

yes, the mode of travel can impact encounters, but it’s dependent on how the specific narrative is scripted and not a general rule.

AKA if you don't fiddle around with brand-spanking new reality bending FTL techs too much, Majin Buu won't show up and murderate your entire empire for no reason.

You can build exactly one station in orbit of a planet, moon, star, or asteroid

can someone elaborate? does this mean 1 station in an entire star system? or 9 stations for 8 planets, one moon, and the star?

The special projects are so special that they can basically be anything our scripters can come up with

video game developers have imaginations... shocking i know.

For example, they can require the presence of one or more of various types of ships (construction, science, or military vessels), that might even have to have special modules on them. A project can also potentially be interrupted midway with more narrative and choices, or lead to different outcomes on different occasions,

keep a scientist and/or constructor on hand if you can help it.

Leader characters as well as units of population can be members of a certain Faction.

are you the "oppresive" leader of a strong and well led nation? is the genius admiral you've been eyeing been preaching heretical ideas like "democracy" and "insertspecieshere rights"? time to bring your Stalin x Trump fantasy to life and FOYEH him!... well... you know... blow his damn head off is what i'm saying alright!

However, you might want to meet them halfway before that happens by granting them limited autonomy and making them a vassal state. Either way, you can take them back more easily than you would conquer an alien empire

dind't listen to me did you? well now admiral "I'm so smaht oveh hea" has stolen your fleet of dongerlords and has those pro-insertspecieshere rights people crewing them. might want to make peace with them until you can go super saiyan CS:GO and build some AWP-class ships to murderate them with. then comes the exterminatus! then champagne! then crippling depression and binge watching desperate housewives. don't worry, i won't judge.

Question: Can you tell us something about the espionage system in Stellaris? Answer: That is something we won’t have on release, but I’d love to do an expansion on that theme.

translation: the espionage system is so secret and awesome you'd die in the movie in real life.


well that's my take on it. you you agreed, disagreed, chuckled, laughed, and appreciated that despite reading your mind and knowing you're halfway through season 3, i'm not going to judge you for it.

also, i posted this at a quarter to 1:00 AM. can you blame me for randomly having DBZ and CS:GO on the mind?

 

[alanschu]

That sounds great, also I guess I'm not good with handling vassals in ck2, heh.

I think my beef is with AI behavior. Hopefully AI are more solid in Stellaris.

I think it's more that the game just forces you to delegate after a certain size, which CK2 does as well. The interactions themselves will possibly be different, but if actions you make continuously shaft a faction, that faction may get rebellious.

They do stress at one point that this game is not Crusader Kings.