But... if a leaders expansion is not going to be like CK, how am I supposed to keep my line of succession pure if I'm running a monarchy? Do you expect me to marry some peasant off the street for my potential heir?
What would you want the DLC after Utopia to focus on?
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And if possible, espionage!
I also have two idea threads in my signature for things I'd want eventually!
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Warfare & combat expansion:
- Tactical combat (more in-battle control over fleets, battle formations)
- Titans
- Planet Killers
- Reworked ground combat
- Inter-gallactic weapons of mass destruction (StarKiller?)
- Tactical combat (more in-battle control over fleets, battle formations)
- Titans
- Planet Killers
- Reworked ground combat
- Inter-gallactic weapons of mass destruction (StarKiller?)
Additional Ethics. The modders have already done this, but I think Paradox could do it better. Individualist/Collectivist return would be nice, primarily concerning factions and ethics divergence and being a more capitalist/collectivist dichotomy. Also Industrialist/Exploitivist vs conservationist would be nice. I like the idea of idyllic preserves that live in harmony with nature.
Also, I think ethics should also be sliders like in EUIII. I mean, certainly every race isn't neutral on at least one of the ethics. We're fanatic militarist but we have no opinion on collectivism or individualism...
Also, I think ethics should also be sliders like in EUIII. I mean, certainly every race isn't neutral on at least one of the ethics. We're fanatic militarist but we have no opinion on collectivism or individualism...
I STILL haven't found any Leviathans (DAMMIT) and I'm pretty sure the scale of random megastructures in the galaxy will keep you occupied in Utopia playthroughs. Personally, I want more diplomacy. Right now, it just looks too damn synthetic. For example, on my last playthough the day I met a new empire they closed their borders to me. All of them. Then, I turn my purge policy from allowed to prohibited, and they ALL open their borders. What? No differences, not even in time? Its seems way too synthetic, too scripted and lacking organic species' unpredictability. There needs to be more diplomacy, although I'm loving the new mid game events. It too seems too scripted however, I get 36 years into my playthrough and suddenly I get 2 of these events in the same year, with none beforehand.
TLDR
More diplomacy and more unpredictable reactions from other empires to a reasonable extent so its seems realistic and not "If this condition is met, then execute this action" mentality from other empires in the game right now.
Flavour, flavour, flavour.
Got a neat little event just now where an anomalie I found was a long lost relic of another empire. Had choice to give it back or keep it. Got a friendship boost for giving it back and now we are friends.
We need more events like this, in more detail and with more branches. You do with other civs, our pops, our scientists, leaders, governors, admirals etc.
Imagine a war kicking off next door between two civs that were allied, not because, well reasons, but because of a diplomatic faux pas
You get options to sit out or join in with repercussions for both.
Basically like the big events in EU4 and other games but deeper.
Stellaris does a great job of being a story driven 4x at the start. Needs something to build in that and keep it going through the centuries.
Got a neat little event just now where an anomalie I found was a long lost relic of another empire. Had choice to give it back or keep it. Got a friendship boost for giving it back and now we are friends.
We need more events like this, in more detail and with more branches. You do with other civs, our pops, our scientists, leaders, governors, admirals etc.
Imagine a war kicking off next door between two civs that were allied, not because, well reasons, but because of a diplomatic faux pas
You get options to sit out or join in with repercussions for both.
Basically like the big events in EU4 and other games but deeper.
Stellaris does a great job of being a story driven 4x at the start. Needs something to build in that and keep it going through the centuries.
Diplomacy and Trade.
I'm leery of a Space UN, as Civ games since Alpha Centauri have worn on me with their UN(Pre-SMAC, if you were a warmongering type you could ignore the UN stuff, including the victory(they would have to subjugate you with their shiny new alliance)post SMAC, you have no choice but to participate in the silly shenanigans, and obey their rules, even though I really, really don't and never will want to).
So as long as I have the option to remove myself from the Space UN(and ignore them), I'm cool with that.
I feel that Diplomacy is really, sadly quite lacking, even more so than warfare, which is at least functional.
I'm leery of a Space UN, as Civ games since Alpha Centauri have worn on me with their UN(Pre-SMAC, if you were a warmongering type you could ignore the UN stuff, including the victory(they would have to subjugate you with their shiny new alliance)post SMAC, you have no choice but to participate in the silly shenanigans, and obey their rules, even though I really, really don't and never will want to).
So as long as I have the option to remove myself from the Space UN(and ignore them), I'm cool with that.
I feel that Diplomacy is really, sadly quite lacking, even more so than warfare, which is at least functional.
I for one would love to see more advanced combat mechanics, more events, and more interesting avenues of galactic exploration.
Since I have it on the mind right now, i'd like a DLC focused on a variety of new crisis scenarios. Some kind of plague, more abominations from hellish dimensions, maybe a crisis that's the equivalent of 40k warp storms? There's a lot out there that could be worth looking into, with a lot of inspiration to drawn upon in sci-fi.
I think that a diplomacy/trade dlc might be a very good idea. The devs have talked about adding in civilian trade and such. Maybe they should add in a trade route system. A la the CK2 silk road system, but more dynamic forming and unforming based on galactic politics, war and such.
For a new endgame crisis they could then add a plague outbreak that would spread along these trade routes, maybe something like space zombie plague or something like the necromorphs from Dead Space with big "corpse ships" acting as their fleets.
Evil Federations needs some rework, I can think of two kinds of solutions:
1. Federation of Evil/Coalition of Independent Systems: Slaving Despots, Hegemonic Imperialists and such would be more amicable to joining this kind. However unlike normal Federations you would be able to attack your fellow members and outsiders as much as you please. The only member safe from internal strife would be the current Federation leader, who members would not be allowed to attack while he heads the federation. However when a fellow member is attacked by an outsider/good guy federations all internal wars would cease and all members would gang up on interlopers. This would allow evil empire to continue their evil ways while also banding together against external foes (like good guy federations). If internal strife becomes too great the current leader would be able to use a "Enforce Peace" option (costing a lot of influence) to end all current wars in white peace in return for all members disliking you for ending their "fun times".
2. HRE in spaaaace/Hegemony: A new kind of federation, that unlike normal ones you can force people to join this one! Mostly by beating the shit out of them. The founder would rule this as the fixed Federation leader and would get Authority over time (also by defending subjects from enemy attacks). The leader would then be able spend this to seize nearby planetary systems from its members (similar to protectorates in Eu4), until finally the subject would have been completely annexed, then you would ofc have to go hunting for some new "members". Internal "members" and external rivals could ofc band together to disband the system and free the oppressed subjects. When attacked by external forces the Hegemony "members" would not join their overlord in the war unless their systems is in the list of war goals.
A cool idea could be a Arms Corporation enclave. They would sell mercenary ships based on the models and weapons of current non-Fallen Empire non-Crisis (Unbidden/Prethoryn/AI) ships, this would ofc spawn a ship under your control. However it should cost upwards of 3x its construction costs and only be usable every 5 years. It would be a way to diversify your navy with exotic weapons from faraway places, rather than a insta-spam fleet. Land unites could also be bought, their stats would ofc be based on current empires stats.
I like the idea of Intergalactic games, maybe hosted by the Artist Troupe? Dunno how it would work in game. Maybe winning it would give increased opinion from nearby empires and some influence?
I want space UN for simple purpose of ignoring it, to get additional challenge and drama. Naturally it wouldn't attack you (we have federations for that), but it could pour resources into empires which are defending against you. And lots of other stuff with eventual Espionage DLC.
Also to see myself on galactic news. "Telranni are eating people! Again..."
1: Change to building system because now is annoying with +5/10 planets - NEED the building queue, where you can choose of ALL possible buildings, even if you now cant build them, but they will be at queue, waiting for better day. With this add Storage for EACH planet with minerals/energy etc. (value choice by player) for example 1000. With this game will automatic build buildings from your queue, only using those resources. So no more need to use this... broken sector system. Also this will help A LOT when playing with mods, that add a lot of buildings.
2: change to diplomacy because now is.. no diplomacy between AI and Player. No 'real' trade or anything. They always hate you. Unless you are ridiculously strong compared to them.
3: Change to fight / speed. Now is again, ANNOYING when you rule a big 'country', and time to move from one border to second takes at mid/end game forever.
Game at start should allow only to use Warp, then after research Hyperspace etc. and with that, makes them a lot of faster than old type. So, when player will hit Wormhole at mid/end game, flying speed will be 2-5x faster than is now [compared to current Wormhole]. About fight, You started war or even AI on you, you send your big fleet they run, run, run, run from you. Or better, you are attacked from two borders. Even if you split your fleed, AI still run, run, run form you. THIS IS NOT a GAMEPLAY, this is making player to throw this game out.
4: More live to galaxy, especially Pirates with a unique ship types, that will grow Stonger after attacking your/AI trade ships or other things?. And for ending, sry for bad english.
2: change to diplomacy because now is.. no diplomacy between AI and Player. No 'real' trade or anything. They always hate you. Unless you are ridiculously strong compared to them.
3: Change to fight / speed. Now is again, ANNOYING when you rule a big 'country', and time to move from one border to second takes at mid/end game forever.
Game at start should allow only to use Warp, then after research Hyperspace etc. and with that, makes them a lot of faster than old type. So, when player will hit Wormhole at mid/end game, flying speed will be 2-5x faster than is now [compared to current Wormhole]. About fight, You started war or even AI on you, you send your big fleet they run, run, run, run from you. Or better, you are attacked from two borders. Even if you split your fleed, AI still run, run, run form you. THIS IS NOT a GAMEPLAY, this is making player to throw this game out.
4: More live to galaxy, especially Pirates with a unique ship types, that will grow Stonger after attacking your/AI trade ships or other things?. And for ending, sry for bad english.
I think that the most important things to improve are those that everyone uses. So mainly economy and flavour. At the moment empires still feel a bit samey, something is required to give a feel of weight and uniqueness to regions (in historic games this can be done via geography and recognizable nations we know the history of, something more creative is probably required for stellaris).
After all if empires dont have the depth and richness that real nations would have where would the fun being in wiping them from the face of the galaxy? Without uniqueness they are just exterminating well armed pests. With flavour you are bringing down whole civilizations.
Depth needs to come first, then the planet killers required to destroy it.
After all if empires dont have the depth and richness that real nations would have where would the fun being in wiping them from the face of the galaxy? Without uniqueness they are just exterminating well armed pests. With flavour you are bringing down whole civilizations.
Depth needs to come first, then the planet killers required to destroy it.
Warfare needs to be improved.
Replacing losses after big battles turn to a tedious clickfest as you have to build every single ship individually. Having a mechanic like in EUIV for armies where you set a specific number of units per type and letting them produce automatically at the nearest spaceport without orders/only at specific ones for cheaper production (for building up fleets as well as reinforcements) after taking losses. After setting a number of ships in the fleet it should be automatically reinforced until it has full strength again.
Also going down the road Star Trek New Horizons has taken : Less ships overall but each ship being more durable would be a very good improvement.
Everyone loves big space battles but Stellaris in vanilla has a big problem. They don´t look good unfortunately. Vanilla ships line up in an ugly planar multiline formation. If you have 400 ships massed in a single fleet it nearly spans half a solar system. So less ships and aranging them in a more spacy formation not only spaced on the x and z axis but also on the y axis. The Star Trek Total conversion did a great job with this.
Also making defensive stations more useful would be a big improvement atleast in my eyes. They don´t need to put out big amounts of damage but should be much more durable to bind enemy forces like fortresses in euiv.
Also an introduction of a shattered retreat mechanic after a lost battle would be more favorable than total obliteration after one spacebattle between two doomstacks. This would pair well with the less quantity - more durability ships approach.
Replacing losses after big battles turn to a tedious clickfest as you have to build every single ship individually. Having a mechanic like in EUIV for armies where you set a specific number of units per type and letting them produce automatically at the nearest spaceport without orders/only at specific ones for cheaper production (for building up fleets as well as reinforcements) after taking losses. After setting a number of ships in the fleet it should be automatically reinforced until it has full strength again.
Also going down the road Star Trek New Horizons has taken : Less ships overall but each ship being more durable would be a very good improvement.
Everyone loves big space battles but Stellaris in vanilla has a big problem. They don´t look good unfortunately. Vanilla ships line up in an ugly planar multiline formation. If you have 400 ships massed in a single fleet it nearly spans half a solar system. So less ships and aranging them in a more spacy formation not only spaced on the x and z axis but also on the y axis. The Star Trek Total conversion did a great job with this.
Also making defensive stations more useful would be a big improvement atleast in my eyes. They don´t need to put out big amounts of damage but should be much more durable to bind enemy forces like fortresses in euiv.
Also an introduction of a shattered retreat mechanic after a lost battle would be more favorable than total obliteration after one spacebattle between two doomstacks. This would pair well with the less quantity - more durability ships approach.
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I reckon they need a prequel. Or maybe even more than just one for each age.
One starting in the middle ages would be awesome, primarily focusing on dynasties and such.
Follow that up with a sequel-prequel where you take your fledgling empire to further greatness (but cut out the dynasty crap because families would suck in this age).
You could tie it all off with a final chapter where you finally unify the entire world under your banner. Make this chapter like a super planet wide war or two.
One starting in the middle ages would be awesome, primarily focusing on dynasties and such.
Follow that up with a sequel-prequel where you take your fledgling empire to further greatness (but cut out the dynasty crap because families would suck in this age).
You could tie it all off with a final chapter where you finally unify the entire world under your banner. Make this chapter like a super planet wide war or two.
Since Stellaris is heavy on the roleplaying I'd love for empires and species to be more memorable.
Diplomacy that introduces the concept of minor and major entities. In other Paradox games one usually interacts with only a few of the many, many political entities in the world.
Trade I’d like to be an actually thought out feature. I love EU IV but the trade system in that game sucks most in terms of immersion. It’s just not believable or interesting.
I think an interesting basis is the oncoming “consumer goods” variable, becoming better or
Although this shouldn’t be all that easy.
Within the context of a galactic multispecies community trade should be anything but straightforward. What use do pacifist ocean-dwelling insects have for the main exports of militarist, egalitarian shrubberies (sword-phaser combo’s and … chocolate-covered fungi-fingers?!). So compatibility should play a major role, and should be something one can choose to develop.
Minerals, energy and untainted food could prove to become galactic currencies, but IMHO it makes no sense that anyone can be throwing those around the galaxy with no regard for logistics. How exactly does one transport 10000 minerals? It would make sense for there to be a limit to throughput as space-lanes develop logistically.
What would REALLY be the center of trade are ships, buildings, weapons, … On the state-level.
On the civilian level Consumer Goods could become more efficient if unique products from other empires are added to the mix. This could also prove to be an interesting dynamic as depending on another empire to keep your pops happy can be a dangerous proposition. What’s the galactic equivalent of oil, exactly?
I’d also love for there to be an option to try and reverse-engineer imported goods…
And of course trading artifacts should be a major thing.
Economics. Seriously, are all these empires capitalists?
Space "geography."
One way to add uniqueness to empires in a region would be randomly inserted features that would have a real impact on gameplay. Like large space bottlenecks, areas that are rich in one resource and poor in another, regions that can only be accessed once a certain technology has been unlocked, areas only traversable with a certain FTL type, ... Anything that can communicated on the galaxy map and that has a tangible effect on how local empires behave. A paid feature of the DLC could be various ways for the player to interact with said features.
I mean, Italy is a boot and England is an island and Turkey’s location has had a major influence on its development. The “New” world being “developed” later on also adds to the unique story of our world. It would be only fitting for a whole galaxy to have a similar story.
Information management rather than “espionage.” In the context of galactic multi-species classic, earth-style Cold War espionage wouldn’t actually work.
A huge moluscoid is going to have a rather hard time infiltrating a hive of smallish mammals. IMHO it would also be quite a challenge to fully understand how very alien societies and how alien psychologies work.
So information-gathering should mostly involve initiating secret projects to develop cutting-edge FTL so one can use stealth-ships to scan the enemy’s battleships. (Rather than the current, rather clunky “reconnaissance with all possible force”). Building massive listening arrays to find out enemy fleet location/composition. Seeding a planet with nano-eyes to see if they’re actually committing genocide. And of course also sending immigrated species to their former empires for some snooping around.
Diplomacy that introduces the concept of minor and major entities. In other Paradox games one usually interacts with only a few of the many, many political entities in the world.
Trade I’d like to be an actually thought out feature. I love EU IV but the trade system in that game sucks most in terms of immersion. It’s just not believable or interesting.
I think an interesting basis is the oncoming “consumer goods” variable, becoming better or
Although this shouldn’t be all that easy.
Within the context of a galactic multispecies community trade should be anything but straightforward. What use do pacifist ocean-dwelling insects have for the main exports of militarist, egalitarian shrubberies (sword-phaser combo’s and … chocolate-covered fungi-fingers?!). So compatibility should play a major role, and should be something one can choose to develop.
Minerals, energy and untainted food could prove to become galactic currencies, but IMHO it makes no sense that anyone can be throwing those around the galaxy with no regard for logistics. How exactly does one transport 10000 minerals? It would make sense for there to be a limit to throughput as space-lanes develop logistically.
What would REALLY be the center of trade are ships, buildings, weapons, … On the state-level.
On the civilian level Consumer Goods could become more efficient if unique products from other empires are added to the mix. This could also prove to be an interesting dynamic as depending on another empire to keep your pops happy can be a dangerous proposition. What’s the galactic equivalent of oil, exactly?
I’d also love for there to be an option to try and reverse-engineer imported goods…
And of course trading artifacts should be a major thing.
Economics. Seriously, are all these empires capitalists?
Space "geography."
One way to add uniqueness to empires in a region would be randomly inserted features that would have a real impact on gameplay. Like large space bottlenecks, areas that are rich in one resource and poor in another, regions that can only be accessed once a certain technology has been unlocked, areas only traversable with a certain FTL type, ... Anything that can communicated on the galaxy map and that has a tangible effect on how local empires behave. A paid feature of the DLC could be various ways for the player to interact with said features.
I mean, Italy is a boot and England is an island and Turkey’s location has had a major influence on its development. The “New” world being “developed” later on also adds to the unique story of our world. It would be only fitting for a whole galaxy to have a similar story.
Information management rather than “espionage.” In the context of galactic multi-species classic, earth-style Cold War espionage wouldn’t actually work.
A huge moluscoid is going to have a rather hard time infiltrating a hive of smallish mammals. IMHO it would also be quite a challenge to fully understand how very alien societies and how alien psychologies work.
So information-gathering should mostly involve initiating secret projects to develop cutting-edge FTL so one can use stealth-ships to scan the enemy’s battleships. (Rather than the current, rather clunky “reconnaissance with all possible force”). Building massive listening arrays to find out enemy fleet location/composition. Seeding a planet with nano-eyes to see if they’re actually committing genocide. And of course also sending immigrated species to their former empires for some snooping around.
I'd like more narrative structure, for lack of a better word. When playing Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings or Victoria I have Earth history to give meaning to everything that happens. I know the rough history of the world, I know the nations, the major events, the meaning of technological development etc.
None of this is there in Stellaris. And to a certain extent that is great, since it allows for an element of exploration and wonder, but it also means that planets/empires/leaders are just reduced to their stats, and that I can't feel a lot for them.
Events and (even better) event chains can be one way to provide narrative, and I would certainly be happy to see more of those. I think it would be especially nice if there were event chains that tied very directly to game events as a sort of 'celebration' of those events. Event chains for the first colony. The first contact. The first war. Event chains for research of 'controversial' technologies like AI, gene modding, terraforming etc. Events tied to specific traditions and ascension perks.
I would also love for events chains to be less self-contained or to sometimes involve other empires. If something like the precursor event chains could involve trading data with other empires (or doing covert ops inside their borders if co-operation is not on the menu), then I think that would deepen other interactions, because they would become part of your story.
However event chains are certainly not the only way to add narrative. Something like the Era system that the new expansion adds to Europa Universalis IV could give some structure to the history and timeline. Supplementing the Mandate system with something like missions could provide goals and guidance.
Even just changing some things from being a single click operation to a multi step process could help. Forming a Federation could have some ping-pong back and forth. Introducing a powerful edict could be a multi step process. Changing civics might require some gathering of support.
None of this is there in Stellaris. And to a certain extent that is great, since it allows for an element of exploration and wonder, but it also means that planets/empires/leaders are just reduced to their stats, and that I can't feel a lot for them.
Events and (even better) event chains can be one way to provide narrative, and I would certainly be happy to see more of those. I think it would be especially nice if there were event chains that tied very directly to game events as a sort of 'celebration' of those events. Event chains for the first colony. The first contact. The first war. Event chains for research of 'controversial' technologies like AI, gene modding, terraforming etc. Events tied to specific traditions and ascension perks.
I would also love for events chains to be less self-contained or to sometimes involve other empires. If something like the precursor event chains could involve trading data with other empires (or doing covert ops inside their borders if co-operation is not on the menu), then I think that would deepen other interactions, because they would become part of your story.
However event chains are certainly not the only way to add narrative. Something like the Era system that the new expansion adds to Europa Universalis IV could give some structure to the history and timeline. Supplementing the Mandate system with something like missions could provide goals and guidance.
Even just changing some things from being a single click operation to a multi step process could help. Forming a Federation could have some ping-pong back and forth. Introducing a powerful edict could be a multi step process. Changing civics might require some gathering of support.