STELLARIS: New Paradox Game in SPAAAACE

[ulmont]

White peace works by each faction keeping what systems they've taken control of.

I think "and have claims on."

War Exhaustion is going to change at least a bit (it will become a harsh penalty if you reach 100% WE and don't peace out), but shouldn't be forcing a status quo peace even now unless you get to 100% war exhaustion.

https://twitter.com/Martin_Anward/status/968137319600574464

[crazy canuck]

I've been experimenting with expanding on a broad front so that no systems have been left behind without an outpost. No pirates for 50 years, may be a coincidence of course.

The pirates always seem to get to that one gap I have left before I can get a constructor there.  The design works well.

Sadly, I don't think the update has made war all that more fun. Planetary invasions still suck though yes, at least you don't have to play the fun of creating defensive armies that you often never need to have.

My experience has been quite different.  The reduced speed of the fleets combined with stacking limits, smart pirates and multiple attack points create a different game from the stack on stack wars that occurred before. 

You really need to think about how you want to expand rather than watching your borders grow through colonization.

Not all that much though. It becomes easier to gather influence as the game progresses in the base game.

Again my experience has been different.  The fact that your empire does not expand by colonizing planets makes the mechanic quite different.  Now you can get to a strategic choke point and wall off star systems for later development.

[HVC]

White peace works by each faction keeping what systems they’ve taken control of.

I think "and have claims on."

War Exhaustion is going to change at least a bit (it will become a harsh penalty if you reach 100% WE and don't peace out), but shouldn't be forcing a status quo peace even now unless you get to 100% war exhaustion.

https://twitter.com/Martin_Anward/status/968137319600574464

At least in the auto peaces I've had I didn't get what i had claims on, only what I actually had control of. Btu the exhaustion clicks up so fast you don't really have time to do much if you're fighting  more than one empire.

[garbon]

My experience has been quite different.  The reduced speed of the fleets combined with stacking limits, smart pirates and multiple attack points create a different game from the stack on stack wars that occurred before.

I think you are overly focused on the details of the mechanics and less than how it actually plays out. Stacking limits aren't that big of a thing - just have two separate fleets that travel together.

Smart pirates? Not sure what that is about. Sure the pirates actually do something now and you have to better plan to have outposts defended but as RH pointed out, that's not all that hard.

Several stacks travelling and fighting together is still better than one stack.

Again my experience has been different.  The fact that your empire does not expand by colonizing planets makes the mechanic quite different.  Now you can get to a strategic choke point and wall off star systems for later development.

That's not actually all that different, except from again a mechanical point of view (which I guess is what you said but that doesn't really mean the overall gameplay experience has changed). Goes back to what Berk said that now you've an extra step before colonising a planet. In some ways, easier to get systems now as for systems without planets, you don't have to wait for drift but can spam outposts.  Walling off star systems happened with drifting borders as long as you had your borders closed and you disallowed wormhole travel.

The strategic choke point is solely down to hyperlanes and forcing you to travel through systems. Of course, the lacking bit is that the AI doesn't seem all that more challenging with them, so more just extra grind in single player rather than added depth that one might see in multiplayer.

[crazy canuck]

In some ways, easier to get systems now as for systems without planets, you don't have to wait for drift but can spam outposts.  Walling off star systems happened with drifting borders as long as you had your borders closed and you disallowed wormhole travel.

That is the point.  You don't have to hope there is a planet to colonize at the strategic point so that you can occupy a choke point.  Now you can and must actively plan to accomplish that goal. Before it was just pure chance of where the habitable planets were located and getting the right tech to expand your boundaries.

[ulmont]

At least in the auto peaces I've had I didn't get what i had claims on, only what I actually had control of. Btu the exhaustion clicks up so fast you don't really have time to do much if you're fighting  more than one empire.

I was trying to say that you get what you both (a) have control of and (b) have claims on.  I haven't had a problem with the exhaustion yet but I was able to stay out of wars until my targets were Inferior.

[garbon]

In some ways, easier to get systems now as for systems without planets, you don't have to wait for drift but can spam outposts.  Walling off star systems happened with drifting borders as long as you had your borders closed and you disallowed wormhole travel.

That is the point.  You don't have to hope there is a planet to colonize at the strategic point so that you can occupy a choke point.  Now you can and must actively plan to accomplish that goal. Before it was just pure chance of where the habitable planets were located and getting the right tech to expand your boundaries.

I'll grant it is a little more direct but not sure that it fundamentally changed things. After all, previously (and to some extent now), key is to protect your populated settlements. So naturally you were then focused on 'chokepoints' being locations around your settled systems as places to defend. Unless it was the very start, your boundaries were already expanding by midgame to be relevant to that.  So new system for that is more direct but that's just an incremental change rather than something with far reaching consequences.

A broader reaching change (in my opinion) is the actual need to traverse across each system rather than skirting the periphery as you hop to your goal. That's what really made chokepoints viable as previously, it was easy enough to avoid defense platforms unless they were placed right near one's planet. Of course, if one is still building up defenses to protect key planets then there is a question of how important this change is with regards to defense construction and placement.

[Josquius]

I usually always spawn next to a fallen empire. But lately not
I have found something cool in my current game though. Human fallen empire.
Albeit sans sol 😔

I wish the galaxy generator, when it uses famous nearby star systems like tau ceti, would put them in the same area.

[Tonitrus]

Yeah, it always lumps Sol, Alpha Centauri, Sirius and Procyon nearby (when playing as human)...but Tau Ceti is a pretty big oversight from that group.  Especially as AC and Sirius always have compatible planets, but Tau Ceti is one of the most likely compatible systems that is nearby.

[Josquius]

Any idea what determines where ships will go to upgrade?
I have my fleet sitting on my main border citadel and press upgrade.....
They decide to travel to a minor star port at the other side of the galaxy.

[Tonitrus]

It should be the nearest starbase with a shipyard.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Any idea what determines where ships will go to upgrade?
I have my fleet sitting on my main border citadel and press upgrade.....
They decide to travel to a minor star port at the other side of the galaxy.

Some sort of bug. might be connected with wormholes. If it happens just send the fleet manually to the nearest appropriate place.

[Josquius]

Any idea what determines where ships will go to upgrade?
I have my fleet sitting on my main border citadel and press upgrade.....
They decide to travel to a minor star port at the other side of the galaxy.

Some sort of bug. might be connected with wormholes. If it happens just send the fleet manually to the nearest appropriate place.

It happens when they're literally sitting on top of the better starport.
And always seems to be every fleet I have clicking onto the same minor starport.
Though I think you're right on wormholes being to blame. I've a very wormhole/gateway oriented empire.

[ulmont]

It should be the nearest starbase with a shipyard.

There's a bug if you have any gateways...after the first gateways come the system will always want to upgrade at the same starbase in a gateway system.  At that point I tend to just roll with it and build up that starbase with nothing but shipyards.

[Josquius]

War in Heaven is really borked.

Shortly after it started, between two empires separated from each other by quite some space, I was forced to pick a side, despite not being all that much lesser than the fallen empires by this point.
I don't want to be a vassal so I claim neutrality...
To which they decide to both declare war on me.
Well that's silly.

Then another event, I am to lead the league of non aligned powers. Great!

...and one of my neighbours offers to join.
Then another.
Then another.
Then another.
Oh look. Federation victory.

And here I was trying to play a evil slaver game.