Stellaris (Crusader Kings in Space)

Niska

Couldn't find a thread on this.

Upcoming game from Paradox, combining Space based 4x and Crusader Kings / Europa Univeralis style gameplay. As you start on a single planet (rather than have control of a small empire) should make the game more entry -friendly.

https://www.paradoxplaza.com/stellaris

Developer diaries:
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/stellaris-developer-diary-archive.882950/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Huuacl6oqI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go-WHiRqEMg

Zillah

Niska wrote: »

As you start on a single planet (rather than have control of a small empire) should make the game more entry -friendly.

Might be different to ruling an empire in Crusader Kings, but every single space 4X I've ever played starts on one planet.

I watched the trailer on Steam yesterday. Paradox have been involved in a bunch of good games, but A) Nothing about this stood out, it looks like a super generic space 4X, and I didn't see anything that made it Crusader Kings-like.

The_Valeyard

I'm interested. Still playing Early Access Master of Orion. But not sold on this game just yet.

Sand

Paradox have done fantastic grand strategy games with EU4, CK2 and HoI3. Very interested on their take of the 4X genre.

It is very definitely 4x but its a very well done 4x. The game seems built to continue stories, with large empires breaking up over time into sectors, factions and civil wars/robot/slave rebellions. No default races - large variety of species and political ideologies. Technology is a deck of cards, involving a choice: if you don't choose a certain technology now, it may not be drawn again for a long time so forces a decision every time. There are 3 standard approaches to interstellar travel: warp drives, hyperspace, or wormhole travel which have immense effects on how a faction plays. Plus a 4th interstellar approach, jump drives which might unleash a galactic invasion from another dimension. You can either play a Imperium of Man "Suffer not the Alien to live" style faction with alien slavery and "purges" or go to the other extreme with a Star Federation with rotating presidencies between AI/player factions and free migration of aliens between planets and civilisations. Your science ships serve as a Starship Enterprise, seeking out new life and new civilisations, digging up mysteries and events which you can follow as "quests". You can choose to exploit, enslave or kidnap and probe minor races or to uplift them in Space 2001 fashion.

And that is just on launch. PI are well known for their DLC and mod support. The Blorg (even our planet rejected us) is a day 1 mod in the steam workshop.

The_Valeyard

Seen another trailer today. Looks promising. Definitely keeping an eye on this

VinLieger

Has been on my radar for a while but havent really looked into it at all. Finally starting to read up on it and im actually pretty excited for it now, especially after watching that paradox Blorg stream, this looks like it could be a lot of fun in multiplayer as well

Maguined

I loved CK2. The more I read about this the more I think I will not be getting Total War Warhammer at all despite being a Warhammer fan and instead spending my time on Stellaris.

The_Valeyard

Is this going to be as complicated as EU4?

VinLieger

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Is this going to be as complicated as EU4?

OR CK2? Probably but it also seems similar to both games enough that anyone who has tried previous paradox grand strategies will be able to hit the ground running without too much research.

Ive been watching the streams maybe 5-6 hours and am pretty sure ive a good grasp on the basics but obviously high level shenanigans require a bit of time spent playing.

Compare that to CK2 where I watched 15+ hours before being anywhere near confident enough that I knew what I was doing

The_Valeyard

VinLieger wrote: »

OR CK2? Probably but it also seems similar to both games enough that anyone who has tried previous paradox grand strategies will be able to hit the ground running without too much research.

Ive been watching the streams maybe 5-6 hours and am pretty sure ive a good grasp on the basics but obviously high level shenanigans require a bit of time spent playing.

Compare that to CK2 where I watched 15+ hours before being anywhere near confident enough that I knew what I was doing

The complexity of those games may put people off. Maybe more looking for a master of Orion or Gal Civ experience

Sand

Complexity was not the issue with games like EU4 and CK2 imo. For a new player it could be a bit hard to figure out what you *do* and how to prepare to do it. In CK2 especially, starting as a count on tutorial island, you have no money, no army or navy worth speaking about and its hard to know what you're supposed to do except wait.

The good thing about 4X games is that its fairly clear what to do early on, having started with a single ship, an explorer and a colony ship. The complexity comes later once you have multiple planets, relations with a few different aliens, more complicated technology choices and so on.

VinLieger

Sand wrote: »

Complexity was not the issue with games like EU4 and CK2 imo. For a new player it could be a bit hard to figure out what you *do* and how to prepare to do it. In CK2 especially, starting as a count on tutorial island, you have no money, no army or navy worth speaking about and its hard to know what you're supposed to do except wait.

The good thing about 4X games is that its fairly clear what to do early on, having started with a single ship, an explorer and a colony ship. The complexity comes later once you have multiple planets, relations with a few different aliens, more complicated technology choices and so on.

Good point in CK2 the easiest way to start was a small lord cus you only had so much to take care of but even then relationships and other mechanics at that level still required a good amount of knowledge to understand how they worked.

4x generally starts out slow enough that you can build and get used to things as they come along and from what I've see stellaris seems to start out like this

The_Valeyard

Interesting.

But I want to become a super galactic overlord and conquer my way to glory. While avoiding a robot revolution.

mahoganygas

The tutorial in CK2 ignored a lot of important game mechanics.

It was the type of game where I found myself referring back to wiki's for the basics even after 100+ hours in.
Succession rules are incredibly complex.

It's the sort of game that is difficult for a newcomer. But so rewarding once you spend a bit of time reading up on it.

I like that about Paradox games.

VinLieger

Good interview which touches on accessibility and their plans for the games future here.

http://www.gamezone.com/originals/interview-with-paradox-interactive-on-4x-space-exploration-game-stellaris-jzyn

Basically they wanna do it the same way as they did with CK2 and just pump out expansions which im am very glad to hear considering that games 3 years old and still getting added to

Sand

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Interesting.

But I want to become a super galactic overlord and conquer my way to glory. While avoiding a robot revolution.

It sounds like you can lead whatever sort of interstellar civilisation you want: from a WH40K warlike and xenophobic Imperium of Man to a Star Trek federation with peace, love and fraternity amongst the stars and lots in between. The main strength of Stellaris seems to be that it doesn't railroad you by mechanics into particular styles of empire as being clearly the right choice.

As for robot revolution - if you don't have robot slaves you wont have that problem. Other civilisations who have robot slaves might, which means ultimately you will have that problem if robots win their rebellion but that just gives you casus belli. Your conquests will save the galaxy from the robot rebellions - even if they haven't occurred yet.

VinLieger

They are gonna be streaming some multiplayer for the first time in London with some journos and youtubers today and tomorrow for anyone interested

https://www.twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive

VinLieger

Streaming NDA is lifted today so let's plays and first impressions should start popping up from the usual culprits

The_Valeyard

VinLieger wrote: »

Streaming NDA is lifted today so let's plays and first impressions should start popping up from the usual culprits

I read the PC gamer article today about the multiplayer aspect. He led a nation of Turkeys from the planet gobble gobble. Seemed very enjoyable. Very expansive. Lots to keep the average 4x gamer interested and long term gameplay.

Gonzovision

Watched a few of Quill18s Let's Play. Looks really good, lots of depth and options for customization.

Learning curve seems far more gentle than some of their other games also.

Only disappointment is they didn't release it before the weekend!

VinLieger

Gonzovision wrote: »

Only disappointment is they didn't release it before the weekend!

Yeah lifting the NDA 2 days before a weekend and launching it on the following monday is just infuriating

Sephiroth_dude

Thought it was out today too.

The_Valeyard

Excuse my following response:

*clears throat.


RELEASE THIS GAME NOW ITS THE WEEKEND PLEEEASSSEEEEEEE.


carry on.

ShooterSF

No. Some of us plebs work all weekend as bartenders and want to nerd out Monday and Tuesday and this is my first ever preorder so tough titty

VinLieger

Could have spent hours playing it today but noooooo they had to release it on monday so im just stuck jealously watching endless streams

Drexel

Looking forward to this.

Can see some crazy mods coming out down the line. Already see talk of an eve one. Hope it's true as the ships in eve are great

The_Valeyard

Will this drop at midnight?


Edit: launch is 18:00 CEST

mahoganygas

Quill18's vidoes look great.

I never bought a full price PC game before but this is tempting.

The_Valeyard

mahoganygas wrote: »

Quill18's vidoes look great.

I never bought a full price PC game before but this is tempting.

Do it......:pac::pac::pac::pac:

VinLieger

FYI anyone who preordered off sites like greenmangaming etc the keys wont be going out till it releases, also theres no preload

Gonzovision

Just got my key there, pre-ordered directly on the Paradox Site. Doesn't really make a difference, as there is no pre-load anyway.

I'd imagine it'll be a pretty small download.

VinLieger

Gonzovision wrote: »

Just got my key there, pre-ordered directly on the Paradox Site. Doesn't really make a difference, as there is no pre-load anyway.

I'd imagine it'll be a pretty small download.

Only 4gb apparently so yeah no preload necessary unless your on an awful connection

VinLieger

Reviews starting to pop up https://www.reddit.com/r/Stellaris/comments/4ijfh9/review_megathread/

IGN are the outlier with 6.3 but too be honest does anyone trust them anymore? Especially when it comes to non-mainstream PC games they are predominantly a mix of being completely clueless and bias towards consoles + shooters

ShooterSF

Wait. Its not out till tonight?? Nooooo I have a party to go to. Wont get to play till tomorrow and I'll probably be too hungover for grand strategy

Gonzovision

ShooterSF wrote: »

Wait. Its not out till tonight?? Nooooo I have a party to go to. Wont get to play till tomorrow and I'll probably be too hungover for grand strategy

It's out now.

mahoganygas

Enjoy boys and girls.

Let us know your initial thoughts!

The_Valeyard

Downloading now.


All shall fall beneath the might of the honey badger empire!!

Zillah

It's odd how reminiscent of Crusader Kings II this manages to be. Obviously not in many ways, but little things, like the GUI for money/expenses.

VinLieger

Mt space foxes empire is starting slow but its just a tester to learn the ropes, so far really enjoying it but i really need to work on my early game strat as im pretty sure im moving very slow compared to what ive seen on streams. Ive got my first colony in view but the research for the colony ship is taking forever.

So far a thumbsup though

The_Valeyard

Interesting so far. I have very mixed views on Sectors.

But story line is already interesting. My Arthropoid Xenomorphs are expanding rapidly. But my homeworld is facing mass extinction and need to find a replacement with exact needs!!!

Gonzovision

I'm finding it tricky to expand my borders. I've built 2 extra colonies and 2 frontier posts, but finding it hard to get influence....

Zillah

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Interesting so far. I have very mixed views on Sectors.

But story line is already interesting. My Arthropoid Xenomorphs are expanding rapidly. But my homeworld is facing mass extinction and need to find a replacement with exact needs!!!

lol wut

Sephiroth_dude

Decided not to get this looks wayyyyyyyy to complex for me

The_Valeyard

Zillah wrote: »

lol wut

Yeah about two hours into the game this popped up on my situation log. My homeworld has become unstable.....

Also pirates are really pissing me off.

VinLieger

Update from space foxes, finally got my economy moving and now have 4 planets and 2 frontier outposts giving me the largest swathe of territory of anyone I can currently see. I have found 3 Gaia worlds, 2 are holy and I ran into the fallen empire that observes them but did managed to settle the third one as they don't care about it.

Current roadblock is not having a large enough fleet to clear the amoebas and other stuff from my territory so I can access all resources, once that's done I can look towards further expansion and likely start sectioning off sectors.

3 empires I've run into, 1 fallen empire I already mentioned which I'm avoiding, 1 is a fanatic militaristic xenophile who have luckily taken a liking to me, the other is a pacifist fanatical individualist who have a massive navy but since they hate war and like to keep to themselves I should be okay

Sephiroth_dude

Would ye say its newcomer to genre friendly? don't have a lot of experience with this genre of games.

Sand

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Would ye say its newcomer to genre friendly? don't have a lot of experience with this genre of games.

Seems friendly enough - the Tutorial missions literally tell you what to do for your first few years, what technologies to research, what to build next, etc. Holds your hand until you get an opinion yourself of what to do next.

Zillah

Sand wrote: »

Seems friendly enough - the Tutorial missions literally tell you what to do for your first few years, what technologies to research, what to build next, etc. Holds your hand until you get an opinion yourself of what to do next.

Yeah I think that tutorial only really means anything to fans of the genre though. It's a decent enough intro but it's a pretty dense game.


My thoughts: I'm getting very very sick of manually telling science ships to explore. I just discovered you can queue them up, though, which should make it a little easier.

VinLieger

Zillah wrote: »

My thoughts: I'm getting very very sick of manually telling science ships to explore. I just discovered you can queue them up, though, which should make it a little easier.

Yeah you can shift click for pretty much everything, so you can set them to survey several systems by themselves pretty quickly from the galaxy map, however if you have them set to evasive once they meet any kind of hostile fleet they will stop and go back to the last safe system. Id recomend keeping them on evasive until you can beef up their shields or armor as science and construction ships are built with paper. This is my current issue ive cleared all the manageable pirates, dones and amoebas but theres a couple of bigger fleets i cant take yet so thats limiting my expansion.

Also for anyone playing if you havent noticed it yet in the bottom right corner theres some UI options, one is a tick box that when selected will show all your discovered resources for each system in galaxy map mode and whether you are working them or not, its pretty vital and should be on by default imo

Maguined

Played it for 2 hours last night. Still getting used to it but so far I am loving it. Just finished researching colony ships and saving up the minerals so I can get my first expansion going.

In nearby systems I have built up some mining facisilites but a tiny fleet and station started in a system adjacent to mine so I go impatient and attacked their small fleet so I can start expanding as that system was going to be a huge bottleneck for me. I haven't researched that species so I am expecting to find out they will come back to kick my impatient ass.

Zillah

So, influence is a stupid resource. I had to break off an alliance with a neighbour because I couldn't afford the influence cost because a bunch of my governors would be dying soon and I needed enough to hire more

Sorry guys, I know we've been friends for a very long time but I need to stockpile a mysterious and indescribable resource.

Oh I can get more influence by declaring rivalries? Sorry neutral neighbours, I called to say that I hate you for no reason and wish you harm - again, because I need to build up some intangible resource that is essential to the functioning of my empire.

Idiotic game design. What the hell is the point of a diplomacy system if they completely undermine it by tying it to a nonsensical resource?