Stellaris: New Paradox Sci Fi Grand Strategy

[ColdSteel]

But they do get games right, it just takes time for them.

It used to be when that time came, the games were selling for $5 (or less). Their releases tend to be midway point during the development cycle, and I suppose the need the cash to actually finish the game. Assuming they use the cash to finish it and not leave it perpetually broken (as they have at least once).

From everything I've read, they've significantly improved the QA in releases of their games over the several past years, having seemingly learned a lesson there. I don't have personal experience with it but I've seen a lot of people saying that they are now much better with releases than they used to be. They still have very small (4 man) development teams but it appears they have at least improved their QA staff somewhat. I guess I'll be finding out for myself soon enough.

[Nightwish]

But they do get games right, it just takes time for them.

It used to be when that time came, the games were selling for $5 (or less). Their releases tend to be midway point during the development cycle, and I suppose the need the cash to actually finish the game. Assuming they use the cash to finish it and not leave it perpetually broken (as they have at least once).

I'm pretty sure they already sold enough copies to last until the DLC deluge inevitable starts.

I've already warned my SO that the 9th of May is reserved.

[Daehawk]

Just now found out about this game and it looks pretty damn nice.

Not read this thread and without reading 4 pages Im just going to post some trailers and hope you haven't seen them. If so no hurt.

Homepage

Reveal

Vast Unknown

Galaxy tour

[jztemple2]

I've already warned my SO that the 9th of May is reserved.

You know that's the perfect way to curse the servers from which the game will be downloaded. Better perhaps to reserve the 10th instead. Or maybe both!

[Max Peck]

Paradox has some good news on the modding front:


Stellaris to Be Paradox Most Moddable Game Yet

Paradox Interactive and Paradox Development Studio today released a new developer video alongside an equally new 3D model exporter tool that will allow users to create full conversion mods for games such as upcoming grand strategy titles Stellaris and Hearts of Iron IV. The tool, named Clausewitz Maya Exporter, makes it easier for community creators to introduce their own models and units into the latest Clausewitz engine games, with full support for upcoming titles and partial support for Europa Universalis IV and Crusader Kings II.

“Modding has always been a core part of our games. Many fans of ours became exposed to our games through mods and working with these users and creators has always been important to us” says Henrik Fåhraeus, Game Director for Stellaris. “The community has been asking for more total conversion mods and we want to make it easy as possible for our talented fans to make them”

“Any gameplay exposed to the player in Stellaris should be moddable,” says Stellaris Game Designer, Joakim Andreasson, “So our modders can change pretty much every value, most of the game rules, and the content they see within the game”

https://youtu.be/KtYIsjsntFo

“We’re excited to see what the community can bring to our games,” said Fåhraeus. “We’ve seen some great ideas on our forum and we’re looking forward to seeing what kind of ships, aliens and other things the community will add to the game”

The new tool, initially scheduled to release alongside Stellaris on May 9th, is made available today for modders everywhere. To download the free tool log in with your Paradox Account via this link: https://accounts.paradoxplaza.com/profile/downloads or check the "Downloads" tab on your account page.

Now I just need to patiently wait for the inevitable Babylon 5 total conversion... (Did you hear me, Internet? Inevitable, I say! )

[ColdSteel]

Paradox has some good news on the modding front:

I actually don't think this news is all that great. Maya is super expensive professional software. Paradox are really going to limit the art modding community to those that already have it or those that can afford the steep price tag, which is a fairly exclusively small group that is mostly made up of professional artists. I think it would have been much better for the modding community if they supported powerful free modeling software like Blender instead. I imagine Paradox probably already uses Maya themselves and just didn't want to spend the extra effort to support Blender via a plugin.

I guess on the plus side, the models that are created by modders for Stellaris mods will tend to be of more professional quality because of the limited community of Maya modelers this will appeal to. Overall though, I think it's a shame and a missed opportunity to truly open up their games to modding by the masses. Maybe someone will create a Blender plugin one day, who knows.

[Max Peck]

Paradox has some good news on the modding front:

I actually don't think this news is all that great. Maya is super expensive professional software. Paradox are really going to limit the art modding community to those that already have it or those that can afford the steep price tag, which is a fairly exclusively small group that is mostly made up of professional artists. I think it would have been much better for the modding community if they supported powerful free modeling software like Blender instead. I imagine Paradox probably already uses Maya themselves and just didn't want to spend the extra effort to support Blender via a plugin.

I guess on the plus side, the models that are created by modders for Stellaris mods will tend to be of more professional quality because of the limited community of Maya modelers this will appeal to. Overall though, I think it's a shame and a missed opportunity to truly open up their games to modding by the masses. Maybe someone will create a Blender plugin one day, who knows.

Dans ses écrits, un sage Italien
Dit que le mieux est l'ennemi du bien.
--Voltaire, La Bégueule

In other less-than-perfect news...

You can now download the Clausewitz Maya Exporter, which will allow you to create your own 3D models to use in your mods for Hearts of Iron IV, Stellaris, Europa Universalis IV or Crusader Kings II (the two latter titles are not fully supported due to an older version of Clausewitz).

The Exporter is free for anyone with a Paradox Account.

We plan to release our .mesh formats to enable our community to make a similar exporter to use with other software like Blender as well.

We are really looking forwards to seeing what you, the community, can make with this tool.

[ColdSteel]

We plan to release our .mesh formats to enable our community to make a similar exporter to use with other software like Blender as well.

Yep, I saw that. It doesn't mean it will happen any time soon, if ever, unfortunately. If writing a blender mesh exporter was trivial, I imagine they would have done it themselves. Hopefully ,there's a motivated coder/modeler out there somewhere that will do it sooner rather than later.

I also did a little checking on Maya prices. $3,600 to buy it outright or you can lease it for $150 a month ($1,800 a year). Yikes.

[Sepiche]

We plan to release our .mesh formats to enable our community to make a similar exporter to use with other software like Blender as well.

Yep, I saw that. It doesn't mean it will happen any time soon, if ever, unfortunately. If writing a blender mesh exporter was trivial, I imagine they would have done it themselves. Hopefully ,there's a motivated coder/modeler out there somewhere that will do it sooner rather than later.

I also did a little checking on Maya prices. $3,600 to buy it outright or you can lease it for $150 a month ($1,800 a year). Yikes.

Geez dude, glass half empty much?

[ColdSteel]

Geez dude, glass half empty much?

Not at all. I'm not sure why you'd say that. I've just been though all this before. I user Blender for modeling and this exact thing has happened with other games I've modded (except it was usually 3DS Max). After a while it gets a bit frustrating. If you don't model or plan on doing so for Stellaris, it's not a big deal. If you're a pro and already have Maya, it's not a big deal. For the rest of us, it's irritating.

[tgb]

So far the best price I've seen for the basic edition is $32 (using a coupon) at GMG. Has anyone seen anything better (other than grey market)?

[Grifman]

So far the best price I've seen for the basic edition is $32 (using a coupon) at GMG. Has anyone seen anything better (other than grey market)?

GMG now has 25% off, which would bring the price down to $30.

[tgb]

Is there a special voucher code? I'm still only seeing 20%. (I know. It's only $2. But, still.)

[Unagi]

but still what?

[tgb]

but still what?

Money is money, isn't it. And East is East and West is West and if you stew rhubarb it tastes much more like carrots than cauliflower does.

Now you tell me what you know.

[Grifman]

Is there a special voucher code? I'm still only seeing 20%. (I know. It's only $2. But, still.)

Let me check my email.

Here it is, voucher code:

WATCH25 *

Hope that helps. (PS, get on their email list )

[tgb]

Is there a special voucher code? I'm still only seeing 20%. (I know. It's only $2. But, still.)

Let me check my email.

Here it is, voucher code:

WATCH25 *

Hope that helps. (PS, get on their email list )

Thank you. I am on their mailing list, but I don't recall seeing that voucher. Then again, between my hospital stay and recovery, there's a good chance I saw it, didn't pay attention, and trashed it.

[Sepiche]

Someone elsewhere posted this race designer for anyone wanting to get a head start:
http://kaisersly.github.io/stellaris_race_maker/

Still trying to decide on my first race, but I'm leaning toward some sort of technocracy... think Eureka in space:
http://kaisersly.github.io/stellaris_ra ... its=5,8,28

Not sure what art set I'll use, although I'm sure it would make my wife laugh if I went with penguin people.

Not at all. I'm not sure why you'd say that.

Nothing personal... your post just sounded pessimistic on a day I was having to deal with a lot of pessimists. The reason I say that is because Paradox adding support for Maya is objectively a good thing IMHO. I don't plan on doing any modeling for the game, but the fact those tools are out there for others to use means there's a better chance of there being more high quality models available for the game.

Also, I'm no modeling expert, but there appear to be ways to export at least some data from Blender to Maya, in addition to educational copies of Maya.

[ColdSteel]

Nothing personal... your post just sounded pessimistic on a day I was having to deal with a lot of pessimists.

Haha, no problem. I wasn't really trying to be pessimistic, I was just a bit grumpy because this always seems to happen on every game I want to mod these days and it gets frustrating. I'm over it.

Also, I'm no modeling expert, but there appear to be ways to export at least some data from Blender to Maya, in addition to educational copies of Maya.

Unfortunately, based on some input on that in the Paradox thread, it appears that you need the custom exporter. Also, it was confirmed that you need the full, paid Maya version to use the exporter that Paradox created. The good news is that, like me, there were a lot of other Blender users whining about it in the Paradox dev diary thread. I think that means someone will create a Blender exporter sooner rather than later (either the users or Paradox). I just need to be patient.

Also, one thing I didn't really take into account is the way some posters in that thread blithely talk about having 'gotten' Maya on an apparent whim and trying to figure out how it works. That made me remember how prevalent the pirating of 3DS Max was back in the day. There are a ton of folks who will just torrent it, I guess. That's not for me though, I'll wait.

[Daehawk]

One of the devs mentioned tomb worlds. He described them differently than what I thought when I heard the term. My thought is a world where a civilization has died out. Either a small one to a large one and either before or after space flight. Id love to see the dead cities and roads and infrastructure and be able to find and develop new tech based off their lost tech.

[tgb]

This may have already been asked and answered. I know there are occasional tasks to be performed that serve as quests, but is there an actual "win" condition, or is the game a sandbox that never ends (presuming you don't get wipe out yourself)?

[Sepiche]

This may have already been asked and answered. I know there are occasional tasks to be performed that serve as quests, but is there an actual "win" condition, or is the game a sandbox that never ends (presuming you don't get wipe out yourself)?

I think they've mentioned conquest and technology win conditions. Not sure what those conditions are, or if there are more, but at least those two.

[Max Peck]

I've also seen mention of a Domination victory condition (own at least 40% of all colonizable planets).

[ColdSteel]

For those of you that may be wavering, I'll just leave this right here:
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/0 ... ew-events/

[Daehawk]

Petard....one of the YT people I sub to......has a getting started video out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_0rhKnXmNY

[jztemple2]

Petard....one of the YT people I sub to......has a getting started video out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_0rhKnXmNY

That's a good video, really helped me to understand the overall game.

[Nightwish]

One of the devs mentioned tomb worlds. He described them differently than what I thought when I heard the term. My thought is a world where a civilization has died out. Either a small one to a large one and either before or after space flight. Id love to see the dead cities and roads and infrastructure and be able to find and develop new tech based off their lost tech.

I'll spoiler this in case people don't want to be spoiled on a strategy game, for some reason.

Spoiler:

On the twitch multiplayer stream this week, the Blorg found Earth after some sort of nuclear incident, and the species that was adapting and evolving to replace humans was... cockroaches. Who prefer tomb worlds to inhabit. I found that hilarious and awesome.

[Stuie]

Is there a special voucher code? I'm still only seeing 20%. (I know. It's only $2. But, still.)

Let me check my email.

Here it is, voucher code:

WATCH25 *

Hope that helps. (PS, get on their email list )

Thank you. I am on their mailing list, but I don't recall seeing that voucher. Then again, between my hospital stay and recovery, there's a good chance I saw it, didn't pay attention, and trashed it.

Now they have "Use SPACE25" plastered all over the Stellaris page. So for $30 I buy yet another game that can sit in my Steam library and collect pixel dust....

[Unagi]

so it's May 9th.

now what.

I hate waiting for 'the moment' of unlocking..... when!?

[tgb]

so it's May 9th.

now what.

I hate waiting for 'the moment' of unlocking..... when!?

9:00 AM Pacific. I haven't even received my key yet.

[Unagi]

Thank You! I'll stop re-starting steam for a couple hours.

[hepcat]

so it's May 9th.

now what.

I hate waiting for 'the moment' of unlocking..... when!?

9:00 AM Pacific. I haven't even received my key yet.

Greenman? I received an email from them this morning thanking me for my preorder (that I made two weeks ago). I assumed it would include my steam key, or notice that my steam key was available.

Neither of which happened.

edit: oh, they just sent me an update after I replied asking about this. That was quick. Apparently they won't have keys to release until 1800 CEST (which would be around 11am central here).

[Max Peck]

PC Gamer review (70 - "The early game promises an instant strategy classic, but Stellaris is unable to maintain that pace")

I'm disappointed, because Stellaris's first few hours hinted at a smart, scintillating reinvention of the 4X. The early game is packed full of personality, but it's squandered as the hours roll on. Maybe I had a particularly bad late game experience—the random nature of each campaign suggests many potential outcomes. But the glacial pace feels intentional, and the long periods of inaction bring other limitations to the fore. How most research is purely a stat boost, with only a scant few technologies progressing the story in fun, inventive ways. How presidential candidates have so few mandates, often cycling between just two basic objectives. How espionage is an obvious omission, especially when effective combat is so dependant on information.

None of which is to say Stellaris is a bad game, just an inconsistent one. Given Paradox's history, I hope upcoming patches and expansions can fill in the gaps, and smooth out the omissions and weird quirks of diplomacy. I desperately want the full game to match the promise of its opening. Tweaked in the right way, Stellaris has a chance to become an enduring classic. Right now, it doesn't meet its full potential.

RPS "Wot I Think" review

I say that I’d expected something messier and part of me had hoped for something messier. That messiness may come with expansions and DLC, but for now Stellaris is incredibly assured and confident, if perhaps a little too tidy and streamlined. It’s one of the most accomplished 4X space games I’ve ever played, but it feels knowable. Despite all of the randomisation and the extraordinary influence of Fallen Empires and other features that shake the 4X formula hard enough to make it wobble, this is a game that can be understood, analysed and mastered. Doing so has been, and will continue to be, a joy, and yet I crave the early days of exploration before the galactic map became a place on which to exterminate the competition rather than to find new ways of living.

The great experiment of the game was not so much the change of scenery, from history to science fiction, it was the decision to create a Civ-like game of expansion with some complexities and aspects of simulation borrowed from grand strategy. It’s in the simulation of a living galaxy that most of the complexity has been lost, but what has been gained is a precise and finely tuned machine. Less erratic and surprising than its ancestors, but much more elegant in its design.

[ColdSteel]

Someone posted this on the Paradox Stellaris forum:

Metacritic 77 Metascore - 8.5 User Score
Destructoid 9/10!
IGN 6.3/10
IGN (Italy) 9.3/10
PCWorld 4/5
PC Invasion 8/10
GameWatcher 9/10
Explorminate eXemplary (5/5)
Rock, Paper, Shotgun
PC Gamer 70
PCGamesN 9/10
Eurogamer *Recommended* badge
Critically Sane 5/5
TICGN 10/10
Multiplayer.it (Italian) 9.2/10
GameSpew 9/10
TheSixthAxis 8/10
PCGames.de (German) 75%

[Holman]

I almost pulled the trigger on Stellaris this morning, but I stumbled on the relatively negative Three Moves Ahead podcast reviewing the game. It made me want to play EUIV again instead.

[ColdSteel]

The reviews I posted above seem pretty solid to good for the most part. One thing we know from their past games is that Paradox will patch the crap out of it until it's a much better game than at release. Since it appears to already be solid, I think that's pretty encouraging, overall. I preordered it and I'm in no way thinking about cancelling my purchase based on anything I've seen so far.

[ColdSteel]

Also, a very in-depth review from Explorminate just went up. Very encouraging since this genre is what they do:
https://explorminate.net/2016/05/09/stellaris-review/

[Max Peck]

The PC Gamer review comes across as mildly negative vis-a-vis the late game, but that seems to be based on one single play-through. On the whole, what I've read so far makes Stellaris sound like a solid release with room to grow and improve over time, and which is likely more appealing to those who like sandboxes than those who chase after victory conditions. Pretty much what I would expect from Paradox.

[ColdSteel]

And here's a really excellent video review that's a "Short, to the point, no bullshit opinion about Stellaris" from YouTube's Marbozir. He's quite excellent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx13filJwHY

[Sepiche]

Now available on Steam.