STELLARIS: New Paradox Game in SPAAAACE

[Tonitrus]

Call it the "Trump effect".

[Tonitrus]

I think one of the worst mechanics in the game is the one in which, post-war, your opponent has open access to your borders.  I was playing a one-AI-opponent game as the United Nations of Earth...and was lucky to have a fanatic exterminator as my one AI. 

After one war of trying to "contain" them...I won a hard fought victory that blocked off their access to two key spiral arms...and what happens?  He shoots construction ships past my Star Fortress walls to build frontier outposts far off from his borders.

The best part...I could not close my borders again for 10-years post-war...but he closed his to me within a few years. 

[garbon]

New version of Star Trek mod is out.

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/mod-st-new-horizons-a-stellaris-total-conversion.954925/page-147

We are very proud to release ST: New Horizons - VICTORY IS LIFE today, our largest update yet. Like Assimilation, where we released the Borg as a playable race alongside a slew of new features and mechanics (such as the Mirror Universe campaign map), Victory is Life also focuses on one of the main villains in Star Trek history: The Dominion.

This update adds many new mechanics, events, technologies, traditions and ships to the Dominion – from an update to the visual style of existing ships, to the addition of a truly massive Supercarrier Dreadnought. The Dominion may now infiltrate other governments, slowly replacing their leadership with changelings that wreak havoc on their economy. When the solids finally surrender, they become a new class of subjects: Dominion members. The Dominion has a great deal of control over those members, capable of requisitioning fleets, demanding tribute and even planets. With new traditions and techs, the Dominion may build a unique asteroid prison for war criminals, commit further genetic engineering to the Vorta and Jem'Hadar, equip early polaron torpedoes on their ships, and much more.

Like Assimilation, Victory is Life also offers a range of quality of life improvements and significant new mechanics. We have added our own version of 'Fallen Empires' – truly powerful, ancient empires that have their own goals and interests. The Voth travel the galaxy in their gigantic City Ship, while the First Federation remains a promising, if mysterious, strange new ally.

Civilian ships may now equip new modules, unique to anything ever seen in New Horizons or Stellaris, that increase their functionality. Science ships can carry diplomatic quarters, training grounds, onboard schools and much more, while colony ships have their own modules.

Finally, there are numerous other new mechanics. The Federation council may now gain new technologies from members, learn new ship building techniques, deal with new policies and establish embassies. We have improved numerous systems in the game to offer more in-lore names for ships, diplomatic greetings, factions and even wars. Federation ships will now have an NCC registry number, for example, and Ferengi will properly call you hoo-man.

As always, the update also includes a host of new events, technologies, weapons, civics, traits, icons, buildings, bug fixes and components. We hope to continue these traditions in all our future major update, fleshing out the universe of Star Trek more and more.

[Berkut]

The STNH mod for Stellaris is, in some ways, more impressive than Stellaris itself. It's really fucking amazing what they've done.

[Habbaku]

Fan-generated mods have always made Paradox games better than the designers themselves could have done. I might have to fire up Stellaris just to try that mod out...

[garbon]

I'm interested to see how The Dominion mechanics work. Had a lot of fun with the Borg ones (which I lived how they used the base games subspecies bit to be able to create assimilated pops).

[celedhring]

Looking to get Utopia during the winter sales. What's languish opinion on it? Does it give life back to the game? Back when it came out I found myself having lots of fun in the first stages of the game, but quitting most saves halfway in.

[ulmont]

Looking to get Utopia during the winter sales. What's languish opinion on it? Does it give life back to the game? Back when it came out I found myself having lots of fun in the first stages of the game, but quitting most saves halfway in.

Utopia will help with that but not solve the problem.  In fairness, I damn near never play any Paradox game to the end date, so this is not unique to Stellaris.

I say get all the DLC (other than like the music packs or whatever), but I'm a Stellaris fanboi.

[Tonitrus]

Just in case it is a factor, the next major update is looking to have some pretty large changes in gameplay.

[celedhring]

I see, it seems the 2.0 patch/DLC attempts to fix a lot of stuff I found boring about the game (war, for starters, was a drag). I'll hold off until that one is out, then.

[ulmont]

I see, it seems the 2.0 patch/DLC attempts to fix a lot of stuff I found boring about the game (war, for starters, was a drag). I'll hold off until that one is out, then.

That may be a few months away (no release date announced yet).

[celedhring]

Bit the bullet and bought both Utopia and Leviathans. Any mods I should take a look at, besides the Star Trek one?

[Caliga]

I got this game on sale over the break and started playing it.  It's pretty neat.

[celedhring]

Spent 15 hours with a new save. The game feels more fleshed out than when it first came out, but a lot of it still feels unfinished - war and diplomacy feel pretty flat.

Will see if I can get through the end of this save at least. I have never seen an endgame crisis 

[garbon]

I don't think I ever even got all that far into the midgame.

Took the Dominion for a spin in the Trek mod. Fun times* though I feel I need to get better at balancing my power vs those of my vassals. Voth and Hur'Q are now fallen empires that prevent quick entry to the Delta Quadrant. Will probably be more fun once they can introduce the Bajoran wormhole.

*Vorta and Jem'Hadar are buildable pops and used the infiltrate mechanic, at the start only allows replacing admirals, to damage enemy fleets right as battle commences.