Stellaris

[undercovergeek]

Reading the latest Dev diary they're heading very much in a eu4 in space direction - there will be border claims, planet claims and cassus bellis - can't wait

[bbmike]

Reading the latest Dev diary they're heading very much in a eu4 in space direction - there will be border claims, planet claims and cassus bellis - can't wait

+1

[solops]

-1. After the FTL debacle, this would be another nail in the coffin (re: cassus belli, especially). I am really tired of clumsy artificial restraints on gameplay. As much as I like CK2, I do not see this as a plus for Stellaris. The AI simply is not up to it.

[HoodedHorseJoe]

Crusader Kings II isn't that good a 'game' though - It's got some great character & family management/narrative stuff, but the actual strategy layer always kind of sucked, IMO.

EUIV in space isn't the worst direction they could go in, since EUIV is a pretty awesome game, but it lacks imagination for a galaxy-spanning space 4X for sure. Reading what they're saying in the dev diaries, it sounds like they're struggling with being able to exercise any kind of creativity and still have a balanced and fun experience to engage in. Maybe they just designed the game wrong from the start or maybe they'd rather take the path of least resistance, but this isn't the worse thing they could be doing.

And who knows, if they stabilise all of the core systems, they could then try and revisit them later and make them more imaginative again. There's been more than one 'War' update for EUIV, for example, that's been beneficial.

[undercovergeek]

-1. After the FTL debacle, this would be another nail in the coffin (re: cassus belli, especially). I am really tired of clumsy artificial restraints on gameplay. As much as I like CK2, I do not see this as a plus for Stellaris. The AI simply is not up to it.

Have to disagree - there's so much more strategy and depth involved instead of 'ooo a distant empire I'd like to take'

But I can see there's different ways of playing the game - I personally appreciate any opportunity to RP a game of this sort but I know there are those completionists who like to play on fastest and play it like an arcade game

[Yskonyn]

I am with UG on this. I applaud the casus belli way that comes to Stellaris.
We always moan about how diplomacy is just trading tech and putting an AI faction on hold, but not much more.

[OJsDad]

+1 to UCG and Yskonyn

[Jack Brown]

For those who haven't played other Paradox games, what is "causus belli"? Yes, I know what the words mean, just not in the context of the discussion. :)

[Tuna]

You have to have a 'reason' to declare war, and they usually offer you a few different choices.

[Jack Brown]

You have to have a 'reason' to declare war, and they usually offer you a few different choices.

Thanks. It's things like this, and sectors, that keep Stellaris from being my perfect 4X space game. It's pretty close, but, dang it, I AM THE BLOODY EMPEROR. If I want to go to war, the only reason I need is "because". 

At least, I found a mod that lets me have a giant number of systems before sectors are required.  <:-)

[ghostryder]

-1. After the FTL debacle, this would be another nail in the coffin (re: cassus belli, especially). I am really tired of clumsy artificial restraints on gameplay. As much as I like CK2, I do not see this as a plus for Stellaris. The AI simply is not up to it.

I do not think causus belli in a 4x space game is an artifical restraint. Lore matters here in the debate of course, but even Klingons needed a 'reason' to wage war in Star Trek. The Borg bypass it but alas since most 4x games are represented by government types it makes all the since in the world to include it.

Conquering the whole galaxy should not be a quick affair--in fact given the expanse of the universes conquering even a handful of sectors should take centuries.

The A.I. criticisms I agree with however. I ALWAYS mod sectors out of my games. The A.I. just can't handle them correctly.

The Next DLC better be meaty because I think they really dropped the ball on the last one. In fact it felt like more of a patch for Utopia than anything else since machine races really became playable then. and to not include a ship set and city scene was really half assed. It's nice they fleshed out a race some but what they really need to do is flesh out the game a lot more. It needs a lot more for mid and end game and I know i'm dreaming for A.I. attention but yeah...that too.

[Martok]

I'm manifestly unhappy with the FTL changes; I've always hated star/hyperlanes, and I always will.  If Wiz and the dev team were going to go with just one type of FTL travel, I'd have vastly preferred they'd have gone with a warp-only model and limited fuel range (as in Distant Worlds).  They still could've accomplished pretty much all the same goals they're looking to achieve with warp that they can with lanes (grrr). 

That being said...  I do like the sound of the rest of the changes being worked on.  War & diplomacy are the final two areas where Stellaris has needed major improvement, and I think the Cherryh update will go a long way towards that goal. 

[ghostryder]

I pretty much agree Martok. It's going to be a major issue for the Star trek horizons mod. What the hell can they do to simulate warp?

[Martok]

It's going to be a major issue for the Star trek horizons mod. What the hell can they do to simulate warp?

Beats me, but the mod team seems to think they'll be able to get around the problem (and has been supportive of the proposed changes in general).  Keeping fingers crossed... 

[undercovergeek]

Dwarves are coming to stellaris - and if they don't have a mining bonus I'll be making an official complaint