Apr 6, 2017

Stellaris - BjornB

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It is with distinct pleasure that we unveil the Banks update to the universe today.
This is by far the largest update to date and dramatically improves the game in many ways. It is accompanied by the equally massive Utopia DLC!

We sincerely hope you enjoy playing it as much as we enjoyed making it.

################################################################# ########################## VERSION 1.5.0 ######################## ################################################################# ################### # Free Features ################### # Important * Added Authoritarian ethics * Added Egalitarian ethics * Removed Collectivist ethics * Removed Individualist ethics * Government system has been completely reworked and Civics have been added to the game, allowing for far more customization when creating your empire's government * Traditions and Unity added to the game. Unity is a new resource that is used to unlock Traditions * Food is now stored and distributed empire-wide instead of being local to individual planets. When food reaches the empire storage cap, surplus food contributes to increased Pop growth across the empire * Pops now have a monthly mineral cost called Consumer Goods. How large this cost it depends on what living standards are set for their species in the empire * Reworked ethics attraction. Pops now only have a single ethic, and their attraction to different ethics depends on a wide variety of factors such as their traits, the empire's governing ethics and policies, the local conditions on their planet, and so on * Reworked the faction system. Factions are now political movements with specific issues rather than rebels, and have a happiness level based on how well your empires' policies and actions fulfill those issues. Faction happiness determines their member Pops' base happiness, and factions with high happiness will provide an influence boost to the empire they are a part of * Unrest is a new mechanic that affects planets. Unrest is generated by unhappy Pops and slaves, and can reduce productivity and in extreme cases spark rebellions. Unrest can be lowered by certain buildings or by garrisoning armies * Added the ability to Displace Pops as an alternative method of Purging, this forces them to move out of the empire instead of killing them * Pops that are being purged will now sometimes manage to escape to other empires * Added a policy for whether an empire accepts refugees (Pops that are being Purged or Displaced) from other empires * Added a new policy for which Pops are allowed to live on an empires' core (non-sector) planets * Added a policy that determines whether an empire tolerates pre-sentients living on their planets * Added a music player that lets you select which tracks you want to play, play specific tracks on demand, and toggle shuffle mode on and off # Species Rights * Added the ability to set Species Rights for individual species. Slavery and Purging is handled through this interface instead of on an individual Pop basis # Misc. * Added a war demand to dismantle Frontier Outposts * Ship engine-trails will now be colored by their empire's primary color * Kingdom of Yondarim prescripted empire has been reworked * You are no longer at war with rebels when they take over a planet * Stone Age Civilizations now work like other primitives and have Pops instead of simply being tile blockers * Added "Yurantic Crystals", a new strategic resource that improves energy weapon damage * Becoming a patron of the Artisan Troupe enclave now has an up-front cost * Being a patron of the Artisan Troupe enclave now gives +15% Unity generation * It is now possible to terraform barren planets that have the "Terraforming Candidate" modifier if you possess the Atmospheric Manipulation tech. Mars is such a world by default * Pioneering Terminal spaceport module removed from the game * You can now choose room background in the ruler customization view * New shader for Stations that are under construction # Events * Being the first to find a Precursor homeworld now yields a significant amount of Unity * Precursor anomalies are now player-only * When your patronage ends, the Artisan Troupe will contact you for renewal * Limbo event chain expanded # Technology * NEW: Interstellar Campaigns technology added to the game * NEW: Galactic Campaigns technology added to the game * NEW: Colonial Bureaucracy technology added to the game * NEW: Galactic Bureaucracy technology added to the game * NEW: Subdermal Stimulation technology added to the game * NEW: Cultural Heritage starting technology added to game * NEW: Heritage Site technology added to game * NEW: Hypercomms Forum technology added to game * NEW: Autocurating Vault technology added to game * NEW: Holographic Rituals technology added to the game * NEW: Transcendent Faith technology added to the game * NEW: Assembly Patterns technology added to the game * NEW: Construction Templates rare technology added to the game * Assembly Algorithms repeatable technology now belongs to the engineering category instead of physics * Frontier Initiatives technology removed from the game * Frontier Traditions technology removed from the game * Frontier Collectives technology removed from the game * Frontier Commissars technology removed from the game * Paradise Dome technology removed * Manifest Destiny technology has been removed from the game * Propaganda Transmissions technology has been removed from the game # Buildings * Symbol of Unity building now produces 2 unity and provides +5% happiness * Visitor Center building now requires Alien Tourism tradition * Paradise Dome building now requires Paradise Dome tradition * NEW: Autochthon Monument is a new building that provides Unity * NEW: Heritage Site is a new building that provides Unity * NEW: Hypercomms Forum is a new building that provides Unity * NEW: Auto-Curating Vault is a new building that provides Unity * NEW: Temple is a new building that provides Unity * NEW: Holotemple is a new building that provides Unity * NEW: Citadel of Faith is a new building that provides Unity * Grand Mausoleum removed from the game # Traits * NEW: Wasteful trait added to the game * NEW: Conservational trait added to the game * Decadent trait now requires authoritarian or xenophobe ethics # Components * NEW: Psionic Shields component has been added to the game

...And much more that couldn't fit in a Steam announcement. Click here to read it all!

Please be advised that 1.5 will break saves from previous versions! If you have games that you want to complete, please do so before updating!

Instructions on how to keep playing on older versions here.

Apr 6, 2017

Update 1.5 Banks is now LIVE!

Stellaris - BjornB

Mar 24, 2017

Graphics & Interface in Banks

Stellaris - BjornB

Hello everyone and welcome to another Stellaris development diary. We're getting close to release, so today's dev diary is the last dev diary for Utopia/Banks, and will cover a couple of graphical and interface changes coming in the free 1.5 'Banks' update.

Ship Coloring
Something that's hardly gone unnoticed in the screenshots and streams is that the ships in Banks look different than from before. We've mentioned wanting to make each empire's ships more distinct so that no two Fungoid empires would have the exact same ships. In Banks, your flag color will affect the coloring and lighting of your ships, as well as the color of the engine trails they leave. The exact way in which the coloring affects the ships depends heavily on the ship style you're using, but the overall effect should be that your empire's ships feel much more distinct and that it's easier to tell apart the ships of different empires at a glance.

Map Colors
Another tweak we've done to make empires more distinct is to add a bit more color variety on the map. Instead of each empire having the exact color shade of their flag, there is now a number of valid colors for each map color, so that two empires with the same blue flag will have at least slightly different shades of blue on the map. Who gets what shade is determined by the spawn order of the empires, so in most instances the player will get the 'original' flag color, and other empires with the same flag color will get other variants. While this change won't eliminate every case of border confusion (there's only so many distinct shades of light blue), it should at least help cut down on it.

Primitive Galaxy Map Icons
Another interface addition in Banks is the ability to see Primitive Civilizations on the galaxy map. Any system containing a Primitive Civilization you have discovered, either through surveying or acquiring star charts, will show up as a special icon in the galaxy map informing you of their presence in that particular system. If an Observation Post is constructed above that Primitive Civilization's planet, the icon will change to reflect this.

Details Mapmode
The last topic we're going to cover is how we've reworked the Details Mapmode in Banks. Or more specifically, how we've reworked the Details Mapmode when it's toggled off. Previously, having the Details Mapmode off would show you almost no information, while having it toggled on would show you everything. In Banks, having the Details Mapmode on works exactly the same way as before, showing you all information about system resources, colonizeable planets, anomalies, etc. Having it off, however, will now aim to show you all *important* information. What this means is that it will show you unexploited resources in your own and unclaimed systems, but hide resources that are either already being exploited by you or are inaccessible to you due to being inside another empire's borders. It will show you planets you are able to colonize, but hide planets that cannot be colonized, and so on. This should make for a better default mode that leaves your map cluttered without hiding important information you need to expand your empire.

That's all for today! Next week, instead of a regular dev diary, we're going to publish the full patch notes for Banks and Utopia. There'll be some choice teasers from the patch notes coming over the week, so stay tuned!

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Useful links
Official Website
Stellaris Wiki
Stellaris Development Diary Archive

Mar 24, 2017

Graphics & Interface in Banks

Stellaris - BjornB

Useful links
Official Website
Stellaris Wiki
Stellaris Development Diary Archive