Paradox reveals the first major gameplay expansion for Stellaris.
Looks good to me. No diary today? I didn’t see it, maybe it’s coming yet later. I’d think they would want to talk about this in the diary (and I further assume the “big” hint we got last diary is regarding Megastructures, which I would indeed like to see more about).
The expansion seems like a no-brainer at what I presume is the same price as Leviathans for anyone that wants to play Stellaris, I just hope this time 1.5/Utopia doesn’t drop when I’m waist deep in like 3 other games and by the time I get to it, they’ve announced the next update/expansion and I have to keep waiting to play it!
They are streaming on twitch right now playing the new build.
They said on Twitter the dev diary would be posted after the stream due to “special circumstances”. Martin and Co have still been talking up something “big”.
I would be absolutely shocked if Utopia isn’t twice the price of Leviathans. Leviathans was a story pack at $9.99, with most of the content given away for free in the patch. Utopia is a massive expansion and as such I expect it to come in at $19.99 like most of Paradox’s big expansions.
This is the Banks patch, right? Clever.
Did they really use the phrase “special circumstances” in the Banks update? Fun times.
They did, yeah. :)
I’ve been meaning to read some Banks but so many books so little time. Not to derail the thread but can anybody suggest what Banks works would be best with regard to playing Stellaris?
I know this will probably get me ejected from the forum, but I haven’t been able to get into the Culture series in my two attempts. I get through Consider Phlebas and Player of Games and then just lose steam/interest in Use of Weapons.
I don’t think it’s important to read the books in order. I find they are all fairly stand-alone and appeal to different tastes. I’ve found the books interesting, but I can definitely see how they aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. I tend to find the settings more memorable than the plots.
I’ve only read Consider Phlebas myself. I liked it well enough, but have not sat down to go into another. Instead I’ve been shotgunning Diskworld, alternating Diskworld/ non Diskworld books for a few months.
Of course my reading has been swinging to the extremes. Dystopia -> diskworld -> cyberpunk -> Diskworld -> Neal Gaiman -> Diskworld. I need a palate cleanser, basically, and Pratchett makes a damn fine one.
I actually think Use of Weapons is the best book of the series by a lot (I like all, but that one stands out over the average) but I can see it being too much if you try to read the series one book straight after another.
You’ll have company.
I mean, sure, I like the setting, it has some interesting ideas, but I never could get the feeling that the Minds were anything special, they’re just human characters written in a way where their plans always “magically” work, but don’t feel in anyway as being “more”…
For those looking to get into the Culture books, it’s important to note that the books are all standalone. Only the setting repeats, never the characters. Any book in the series is fine as an intro, but the more accessible/conventional-sci-fi-adventure ones are Excession, Surface Detail, and Hydrogen Sonata.
Well Consider Phlebas is literally the only one my library has, hence my not having read a second one.
Ohhhhhhh, maybe that’s why I could never click with it, I started with the first book and bounced off it pretty hard. Thanks!
Well, the megastructures are nice in that they provide more ways to “build up”, but I’m wondering if the ones presented here are maybe a bit too simple in their gameplay effects. Like I can build a Dyson sphere to give me lots of energy, or a Science Hub or whatever it is to give me lots of science. It would be nice if a Dyson Sphere could power a superweapon, or the science building would unlock game-changing techs. And instead of a generic science thing, some sort of secrets of the universe thing that doesn’t just add to a generic resource.
Yeah I’m hoping they are adding endgame things to do with all that research/energy. Perhaps they tie into the Ascension mechanics and are thus pretty important? Sure, you can transcend to another form of existence but it’s going to take a whole ton of energy, so better get building a Dyson sphere to power it.
I don’t think they’ve said much about individual Ascension paths, other than the general overview. Next week they’re talking about Psionic Transcendence, so hopefully we see some tie-ins to these megastructures.
Hydrogen Sonata is weird. I see it more as a deconstruction of science fiction as genre and an accusation that many of his readers were missing the point, but maybe I am reading too much into it.
My favs are Inversions, Look to Windward, and Surface Detail. Of the three Surface Detail is the most “typically sci fi”, although having read Use Of Weapons first makes it more satisfying.