Stellaris: New Paradox Sci Fi Grand Strategy

[GreenGoo]

What difficulty level are you playing at now? Just curious. I've been wondering about my race design (I want something I bit more aggressive, without being full war monger) and settings for my next game.

[Kraken]

I'm playing default (ensign?), if you were asking me. I need to at least finish one game on default settings before I start customizing.

I scrapped the previous restart after half an hour and got a better starting position on the next try, although with hostiles on two sides. It's moving me to emphasize shipbuilding and ship technologies earlier than I usually do.

[GreenGoo]

As with most 4x, there really isn't any "finishing" a game of Stellaris in particular. You play until you don't want to play any more, then start a new one.

A lot of Stellaris players roleplay a certain race/empire/sci fi power until they reach their goals, whatever those might have been, then quit.

I find Stellaris in particular is really open ended, moreso than many 4x games I've played. Grand strategy and all that.

[Carpet_pissr]

As with most 4x, there really isn't any "finishing" a game of Stellaris in particular. You play until you don't want to play any more, then start a new one.

A lot of Stellaris players roleplay a certain race/empire/sci fi power until they reach their goals, whatever those might have been, then quit.

I find Stellaris in particular is really open ended, moreso than many 4x games I've played. Grand strategy and all that.

Oof. There's no goal at all in the game? I was about to try this, but that is a bit of a deal killer for me. Not even Civ-like victory options?

[GreenGoo]

I mean...I have no idea. I've literally never "finished" a game.

You could conquer or subjugate the entire galaxy, but on anything but a small galaxy, that's going to take forever, if it's even possible. Have you seen a Stellaris galaxy map??

You'd have to ask someone else though.

edit: For example, here is a *tiny* galaxy I'm playing in right now. There are 200 stars:

[Anonymous Bosch]

As with most 4x, there really isn't any "finishing" a game of Stellaris in particular. You play until you don't want to play any more, then start a new one.

A lot of Stellaris players roleplay a certain race/empire/sci fi power until they reach their goals, whatever those might have been, then quit.

I find Stellaris in particular is really open ended, moreso than many 4x games I've played. Grand strategy and all that.

Oof. There's no goal at all in the game? I was about to try this, but that is a bit of a deal killer for me. Not even Civ-like victory options?

Arguably, defeating the endgame crisis is victory, though you can also play the game to conclusion with a score victory. But IMO, the game tends to become somewhat dull between endgame crisis-defeat and the end game year for final scoring. With sufficient experience, you typically know by 2460 whether you will succeed with a score victory anyway, so racking up the score for such victories always seemed rather pointless to me. So, I would tend to agree with GreenGoo.

For me, Stellaris is more or less a role-playing sandbox game, where you're better off setting your own goals for success. Because role-playing is where this game really shines and comes into its own. Learning to embrace the notion of making decisions based on ethics and civics, and adjusting your playstyle so as not to always do what is necessarily optimal makes every game you play feel unique. This means playing the game as if you are actually in the galaxy, and do not know what's going to happen next. You keep personal grudges, learn leader names, perhaps renaming planets to "[general's name]'s Victory" or "[enemy ruler's name] Failure," and form suitable backstories in your head. As a result, you may not 'win' every game you play in this way, but you definitely end up having more dramatic, rewarding, and enjoyable experiences with the game, while also creating some surprisingly compelling emergent narratives along the way.

[Kraken]

What are the "achievements" that one unlocks by playing Ironman? Is it just Steam badges or trading cards or something?

Not that I'm anywhere near ready to play Ironman.

[Anonymous Bosch]

What are the "achievements" that one unlocks by playing Ironman? Is it just Steam badges or trading cards or something?

Yup, when playing Ironman games, achievements pop up in-game and then get added to your Steam profile.

[Kraken]

What are the "achievements" that one unlocks by playing Ironman? Is it just Steam badges or trading cards or something?

Yup, when playing Ironman games, achievements pop up in-game and then get added to your Steam profile.

Thanks. I pay no attention to those.

I have taken your role-playing comments to heart, and waste too much time pondering leader names (esp. now that leaders are capped), fleet names, and planet names.

[GreenGoo]

For the record I turn off all victory conditions (except full conquest) in the modern Master of Orion because some of them are simply too easy and get achieved long before I'm ready to stop playing. Sometimes I leave the diplomatic victory condition on because it gives the ai a chance to win if they can all agree that I suck and shouldn't be in charge.

So basically I play the original MooII and the new Moo:somethingsomethingstars without victory conditions and stop playing when I feel like I've done what I wanted, then start a new game. So doing this in Stellaris is not a new experience for me.

I'm still struggling with what kind of race to build next. I'm still learning how to min/max my way to victory, so I need to learn optimal strategies before avoiding them on purpose to make things more interesting.

[Kraken]

I would like to reach the end game once, which I understand to mean (1) survive a galactic crisis, and (2) make it to year 2500. But I might punt (2) if things get really dull after (1).

[GreenGoo]

And I'd like to see end game tech at least a few times before I figure out the sweet spot in terms of fun gameplay. Early/mid/late game for example.

[GreenGoo]

Hey AB, I see some ascension perks are tech dependent. Do you hold off picking those perks until you have the tech? I.e. leave a perk slot empty even when you have enough unity?

[Zarathud]

Conquering the whole Galaxy is boring. I play to become a top 3 power, defeat the crisis, and stabilize relations with the rest of the Galaxy. That’s not always possible.

In my current game, I’m in top 4-5 but 2 of the top 3 have decided to wage war to humiliate me. I just built my peace Colossus world-harmonizer which is a threat. Also I’ve murdered most of those who I’ve conquered and terraformed their planets into Arid worlds. I kept only species who live in Arctic worlds because thematically that’s hell for Arid dwellers, and mechanically they tend to be smaller sized planets.

[Anonymous Bosch]

Hey AB, I see some ascension perks are tech dependent. Do you hold off picking those perks until you have the tech? I.e. leave a perk slot empty even when you have enough unity?

It largely depends on my empire's goals and priorities. Sometimes it's prudent to delay making a choice, especially if a desired perk cannot be selected because the required technologies have not been researched yet. Ascension perks do have a significant impact on your game, and you only get so many. Also, once chosen, an ascension perk is permanent and cannot be changed, so it's wise to prioritize those that are most relevant and beneficial to your goals.

[GreenGoo]

Yes, I should have mentioned that I was running out of perk slots, so eventually I wouldn't have room for the perks that weren't available at the time.

[baelthazar]

I would like to reach the end game once, which I understand to mean (1) survive a galactic crisis, and (2) make it to year 2500. But I might punt (2) if things get really dull after (1).

There is ANOTHER way to end the game. I became the crisis (one of the ascension perks) and successfully activated my doomsday weapon. That was the only time I reached an "end game" state.

[GreenGoo]

So at some point my entire human race became psionic. Great.

Years later I'm notified that there are humans on the slave market. Ok, let's rescue them. And by that, I mean buy them at an exorbitant price.

So far I've brought back 3 humans into the fold. Unfortunately they were captured prior to the psionic awakening, and therefore are not psionic. There is no way to make them psionic.

I have 3 non-psionic humans in a sea of psionic humans. I can only imagine how they feel about that, or how they are treated by the rest.

Maybe letting someone else buy them would have been a mercy.

[Paladin]

You should be able to assimilate them so that they gain the psionic trait. If I remember correctly, you are able to go into the Species menu and assign those three populations the "assimilation" citizenship type. They'll gain the psionic trait after a period of time.

[Daehawk]

Looking at GreenGoo's 'tiny' galaxy pic it reinforces my view that I dont play newer space 4x due to overwhelming complexity and detail. Too much micro and time. 200 tiny...I much prefer MOOs 30 or less galaxies. Too much time is involved in these giant star numbers.

[Kraken]

Looking at GreenGoo's 'tiny' galaxy pic it reinforces my view that I dont play newer space 4x due to overwhelming complexity and detail. Too much micro and time. 200 tiny...I much prefer MOOs 30 or less galaxies. Too much time is involved in these giant star numbers.

I play the default "normal" map with 600 stars. It's an epic game, no doubt.

Mine is going through some unexpected upheaval that looks very good for the forces of me. Two of my three rival neighbors have splintered, and one of them joined my empire. I'm slurping up border systems as fast as I can claim them. Oh, and I had thought that the Commonwealth of Man was going to be a problem because they always are, but now they're my vassal. Imagine that.

I like how game 00000005 is going.

[GreenGoo]

Well, I've let the galaxy simulator run for an hour or so, day to day. All I've been doing is picking new techs to research and building more orbital habitats.

I have 12 population centers (planets/habitats) (I realize this is not a lot for Stellaris, but the galaxy is tiny) and everyone seems to be either my vassal, my secret vassal(?), or a vassal of one of my vassals.

Not sure what to do now, except start a new game. Note: I'm not bragging, the difficulty was set low on purpose as a learning tool. It just feels like I don't have anything to do except grow pop and research. Everyone has "pathetic" (game describes it this way) everything compared to me, and I can't even declare any rivals for extra influence because you can't declare against pathetic empires.

I will try to figure out a more aggressive (but not warmongering) race build for my next game, and crank up the difficulty a bit.

[Kraken]

How far into the game were you when you decided to bail?

I have yet to make it past 150 years. Game 00000005 still looks good 100 years in despite a whole lot of warring that isn't a slam-dunk for me.

[GreenGoo]

How far into the game were you when you decided to bail?

I have yet to make it past 150 years. Game 00000005 still looks good 100 years in despite a whole lot of warring that isn't a slam-dunk for me.

Haven't actually bailed yet.

The game just runs and nothing happens except new tech, new habitats (like 720 days to build I think, which is a long time), new senate votes, that's it.

The ai's seem very busy amongst themselves, signed and cancelling treaties etc, but as for me and my federation, nothing is going on.

My point is, I have no idea how far along I am. My guess is way farther than would be normal, because nothing is happening so months pass in a flash.

What year does the game start? I'll look and find out what year it is now.

I should note that everyone wasn't pathetic compared to my empire the entire game. Several were superior fleetpower, but after the smoke cleared, I still had a full fleet (or was able to rebuild relatively easily. I am only using cruisers and below, despite having battleship tech now) and theirs were smashed. Why they haven't rebuilt, I don't know. Economic reasons, I assume.

[Kraken]

The start date and milestone dates are configurable in the settings. Default starts in 2200, midgame 2300, crisis 2400, and end by score in 2500. I think I put it to bed in 2305 last night.

[GreenGoo]

I can't remember my settings, and I don't seem to be able to view them from within the game itself.

Today is 2368.08.07

edit: ok, went to the new game menu and it remembers the last settings, pretty sure. Galaxy is tiny I would never choose normally.

start: 2200
mid-game start: 2300
end-game start: 2400
victory year: 2500
difficulty: Ensign
Scaling Difficulty: off
Difficulty adjusted ai modifiers: off
Ai aggressiveness: low
advanced neighbours: off

[GreenGoo]

Can turn on "auto-pause game" when tech researched. Whoops.

[Kraken]

Can turn on "auto-pause game" when tech researched. Whoops.

I did not know that. WANT.

[GreenGoo]

I did not know that. WANT.

In the settings somewhere. Notifications. check box for being notified. Check box for auto-pause.

edit: Settings->messages->search tech->click checkbox beside technology researched

[GreenGoo]

I have over 9000 diplomatic weight. Is that good? Bad? Guy with the gun?

No idea. Achievement unlocked. Great.

[Zarathud]

Have you fought the crisis? That’s the real endgame IMO.

[GreenGoo]

Have you fought the crisis? That’s the real endgame IMO.

No, and I doubt I could win at this point.

[Kraken]

My forever war took a bad turn last night when my two enemies *combined their fleets* into one unstoppable stack of doom. I didn't even know they could do that. I had been owning them separately. My vassal's fleets are nowhere to be seen and my federated buddy is off doing his own thing; is there a way to take control of them, or compel them to help? The federation is small and doesn't have a fleet of its own yet.

The enemies are at 100% exhaustion so the war will most likely end tonight. I still hold some unimportant systems of theirs, but their stack is parked amidst part of my empire that had thought was a strong border. I don't think they have claims on them and hope they'll revert to me. If they don't, I stand to lose two colonies.

In the interest of making it to the galactic crisis I've decided to keep playing this game even if I'm getting pwned. But I'm not very happy about it.

[LordMortis]

Have you fought the crisis? That’s the real endgame IMO.

That was my experience.

[Anonymous Bosch]

My vassal's fleets are nowhere to be seen and my federated buddy is off doing his own thing; is there a way to take control of them, or compel them to help? The federation is small and doesn't have a fleet of its own yet.

Your military fleets should have a 'Take Point' command that you can toggle on or off. It's this button, showing two ships flying by each other:



When you turn this on, it will encourage nearby allied fleets to follow your 'Take Point' fleet(s) during wartime.

[Kraken]

My vassal's fleets are nowhere to be seen and my federated buddy is off doing his own thing; is there a way to take control of them, or compel them to help? The federation is small and doesn't have a fleet of its own yet.

Your military fleets should have a 'Take Point' command that you can toggle on or off. It's this button, showing two ships flying by each other:



When you turn this on, it will encourage nearby allied fleets to follow your 'Take Point' fleet(s) during wartime.

Ahh, I thought that only applied to one's own fleets, which made it kind of pointless. Good to know.

[Kraken]

The status quo war fallout was worse than I would like but not as bad as it might have been. We have unfinished business. Meanwhile, the southern Dweeb Empire got emboldened and I am going to clean their clock.

[GreenGoo]

When you turn this on, it will encourage nearby allied fleets to follow your 'Take Point' fleet(s) during wartime.

Including your own, I believe.

edit: Whoops, I see you knew this already. It's a way to keep fleets mostly together automatically, rather than micromanaging them all. *shrug* Probably useful when you have many, many fleets in a larger game.

[Kraken]

When you turn this on, it will encourage nearby allied fleets to follow your 'Take Point' fleet(s) during wartime.

Including your own, I believe.

edit: Whoops, I see you knew this already. It's a way to keep fleets mostly together automatically, rather than micromanaging them all. *shrug* Probably useful when you have many, many fleets in a larger game.

My vassal's fleets joined my main fleet after I turned on Take Point, but I had also renegotiated our agreement to "all wars" rather than "defensive only," so IDK which of those factors was more operative.

[Adeptus]

Played it few times, liked it. Probably will play again when I will buy Paragons DLC.