Stellaris grand strategy space game by Paradox discussy thingy thready thingy

TIL: anomaly research difficulty has nothing to do with chance of success, only duration of the project?

The last time I played, anomalies didn’t have a failure chance. You could either research them or not. Also your science officer level vs the anomaly level determined research speed. Did this change?

It changed, but it changed to the system you’re describing, DeepT. Anomalies used to have a failure chance based on difficulty but they changed it to taking increased time for your science ship. A much better system, IMO.

I play Stellaris like I played Distant Worlds - pausing so often you’d almost think it was a TBS. The idea is you play the game the way you most like playing it.

Very much this! What game speed is “right” depends on personal preference, individual familiarity and expertise with the game, current state of the board, etc.

I started playing as xenophobic birds. Seems like an interesting little sandbox so far.

I’m also interested in beta impressions. Maybe best to wait until the actual release…

Sounds like some nice improvements, and some nice insights into how things work. I laughed at this part:

In 3.2 AI would look at the number of free jobs on a planet when deciding if it needs to build new jobs. So if there were for example 3 free jobs then the AI would clap its hands together and call it a job well done and move on. At the same time the planet could have huge numbers of unemployed pops rioting on the streets.

Overall, this confirms my impression that the Stellaris AI problems aren’t especially intractable, but just didn’t receive enough attention in the past.

Edit: Also lol:

Guido and I have previously worked on other projects together and he has taught me a lot about game development, but most importantly I learned some tips on how to improve my diplomatic interaction protocols. Where I would often use phrases like “it’s an absolute disaster”, he would instead prefer “This is pretty good, but it can be even better!”. This may prove to be important later on.

Much later on…

Now when I first saw Guido’s new economical plans I immediately thought wow this is pretty good, but it can be even better !

Doesn’t help when a year or two of AI refinements and bugfixes gets blasted out the airlock when they overhaul entire game systems, haha. The Custodian Team is the best idea ever for PDS’s business model. They have really been improving the game in significant ways. I hope Paradox higherups see this and start structuring all their teams this way.

EDIT: Reading that dev diary and seeing section after section on AI work…

Ugh, I feel like I’m going to be picking up a new flavor DLC and spinning this one up again. Thanks, dorks.

Come on in, the water’s fine!

Is espionage asset stuff something relatively new? Might be I never dove into that before, but seemed more involved than I remember espionage being. (Edit: Looking at wiki I’m guessing it was there in Federations with the addition of Envoys and I just didn’t look at it or remember it. Or maybe the updated Espionage mechanics in Nemesis. :))

My space sardines had to smack down some flying crystals last night. Going to nickname the admiral “The Jeweler”. Unfortunately one of my neighbors is a fallen empire, and I pissed them off by colonizing one of their sacred sites. Nice 25 Gaia too. It was a shame to let it go.

That’s how they get ya…

Yep, nice little honeypot waiting for someone to come along.

Stellaris is now in my collection. And I hope that it is not the “bone dry sci-fi” experience had by one wise wag. Y’all are a bunch of dirty enablers, and I love ya’ fer’ it.

Welcome to the party, @orald !

I might try my next game with the beta. If I do, I’ll report back. I’m absolutely addicted to this game, but I do think a unity rework makes sense.

There are two fallen empires, one off to the northwest of me, and one to the southwest. The empire to my south and I have left a buffer of about a dozen systems near their borders, because I guess neither one of us wants to be the first stop on their tour.

Encroaching too close to a certain kind of Fallen Empire can prompt them to notice you in ways you don’t want.

Yep, I’m fine with keeping a little distance. The way it is situated you would be the freeway for the War in Heaven.

So, an excavation project dug up the head of some guy important to that Fallen Empire I pissed off earlier over the holy world, and they’ve decided I’m the chosen one and gave me the world plus I can call a fleet of theirs to my aid if I activate the relic. So I guess worked out okay in the end.

Love that relic, it’s a game changer if you find it early enough.

I started right next to a Fallen Empire, a decaying technological isolationist type. For a time they gave me open borders, and I was able to settle “west” of it – but for mysterious reasons they later closed their borders, and now I can no longer traverse their territory. So my empire is split in two, with no way to communicate. My stranded trade hubs can’t reach my capital, which means they’re detached from the trade network. I guess I’ll have to demolish them and build something else in my western starbases. In the meantime I’m researching Jump Drives, but I doubt those will solve my trade problems.

Also, I opened a Gateway to the other side of the galaxy, and I made friends with the civ on the other end of the gate. For now. I’ve finally figured out the ship designer, and I’m building battleships with artillery as well as line battleships. Plus my humans are all now psionic. But robots and birds threaten to outnumber the human race in my empire, so I’ve just started researching genetic modifications to make humans breed faster. This game is a hoot. :)