Sep 21, 2017

Stellaris, For One, Welcomes Our New Machine Overlords

Stellaris - BjornB

Story Pack “Synthetic Dawn” Available Today for Organic Players Everywhere

STOCKHOLM — Sep. 21, 2017 — Paradox Interactive, a publisher and developer of digital entertainment that is beneficial to humans, today announced that Synthetic Dawn, a new Story Pack for Stellaris, is now available to download directly to your power-siphoning pacification pod and/or via online distributors. Synthetic Dawn,available today for Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs for $9.99, adds new content and features to Stellaris, allowing players to experience the sci-fi exploration and empire-building game like never before. The new Story Pack allows for the creation of Machine Empires, where players can form entirely mechanical societies and find their place among the organics -- or on top of their charred remains.

Witness the breaking of the Synthetic Dawn in a new trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J79EBh60skU

Stellaris: Synthetic Dawn adds unique game features and event chains to the core Stellaris experience that will allow the new machine races to expand as a robotic consciousness, and create an AI-led network that grows to galactic dominance. Players can co-opt organic life as overenthusiastic servitors, take over as driven assimilators, or simply KILL ALL HUMANS (and other meatbags) as determined exterminators.

Features:

You, Robot: Play Stellaris as a customized robotic civilization, complete with a series of 8 new robotic portraits
AI, eh? Aye!: Follow new event chains and story features to lead your robot race to greatness as an intergalactic AI empire; pursue mechanical perfection in the stars
Rise of the Machines: Oppressed synths may rebel against their masters and form new empires -- or you may even discover a fallen synthetic civilization deep in space
Digital Enhancements: New music tracks and expanded voice packs for VIR

Sep 21, 2017

Stellaris, For One, Welcomes Our New Machine Overlords

Stellaris - BjornB

You, Robot: Play Stellaris as a customized robotic civilization, complete with a series of 8 new robotic portraits
AI, eh? Aye!: Follow new event chains and story features to lead your robot race to greatness as an intergalactic AI empire; pursue mechanical perfection in the stars
Rise of the Machines: Oppressed synths may rebel against their masters and form new empires -- or you may even discover a fallen synthetic civilization deep in space
Digital Enhancements: New music tracks and expanded voice packs for VIR

Sep 21, 2017

Čapek update (1.8) Released [checksum 3943]

Stellaris - BjornB

Please note that this is not the full changelog (they don't fit in a Steam announcement).
Please refer to our official forums for the complete list

# Important
- Added 5 new achievements
- Reworked the old AI crisis into The Contingency, an ancient and dormant AI that can be awakened by the presence of synthetic pops, and will attempt to sterilize the galaxy of intelligent biological life
- Reworked genetic modification so that there is now a system of templates that can be created, modified and applied to populations
- Added traits for robotic species, and a technology that lets you do 'robomodding', the equivalent of genetic modification for robotic pops
- Reworked tradition trees for Hive Mind, Devouring Swarm, Fanatical Purifier and Inwards Perfection empires with better suited traditions and flavor text
- Awakened Fallen Empires now start to experience decadence after being awakened for 20 years. Every month, there is a chance that an AE's decadence will increase, based on how large they have grown and how many empires they have forced to be subjects. Decadence reduces AE resource production and ship strength and makes their subjects far more rebellious
- Reworked or blocked numerous events for Hive Minds where the text or effects did not work well narratively

# Species Rights
- Added 'Academic Privilege' living standard type available to Materialists only, boosts research output and happiness at increased consumer goods cost

# Diplomacy & Subjects
- Vassals are now released directly from planet view and can be released from any non-capital planet

# Game Setup
- Added galaxy setup option to partially randomize number of empires, advanced starts & fallen empires
- Added a galaxy setup option for Crisis Strength, replaces the previous galaxy size/habitable worlds scaling
- Added a galaxy setup option for chance of Primitive Civilizations being generated

# Events
- Added special Hive Mind interactions for the Prethoryn Scourge

# Technology
- Added new technology Glandular Acclimation that unlocks the ability to modify Pop habitability type

# Policies
- Added new policies for the treatment of pre-sapients. They can now be protected, tolerated (allowing for selective purging), hunted for food, or exterminated.
- Added an Initial Border Status policy that controls whether borders to other empires are open or closed by default.
- Added a Robotic Workers Policy that controls whether or not robot pops are allowed or automatically disassembled. The old AI rights policy now instead determines stance towards sapient AI.
- Added a Land Appropriation policy. If enabled, newly acquired planets that have less than 5 tiles of free space and are populated by non-citizen species will have some of them removed from their land, freeing up tiles and potentially creating refugees

# Governments & Civics
- Added Corvee System civic, gives -50% resettlement cost
- Added Feudal Realm civic, reduces penalty of relative power of subjects in half and allows them to colonize outside their borders
- Added a unique government form for Devouring Swarms
- Added Feudal Empire and Megachurch government forms

# Buildings
- Added new Sacred Nexus building for Spiritualists with corresponding technology

+ Balance changes, optimization, bug fixes and more.

Click here for a full changelog

Sep 21, 2017

Čapek update (1.8) Released [checksum 3943]

Stellaris - BjornB

Please note that this is not the full changelog (they don't fit in a Steam announcement).
Please refer to our official forums for the complete list

# Important
- Added 5 new achievements
- Reworked the old AI crisis into The Contingency, an ancient and dormant AI that can be awakened by the presence of synthetic pops, and will attempt to sterilize the galaxy of intelligent biological life
- Reworked genetic modification so that there is now a system of templates that can be created, modified and applied to populations
- Added traits for robotic species, and a technology that lets you do 'robomodding', the equivalent of genetic modification for robotic pops
- Reworked tradition trees for Hive Mind, Devouring Swarm, Fanatical Purifier and Inwards Perfection empires with better suited traditions and flavor text
- Awakened Fallen Empires now start to experience decadence after being awakened for 20 years. Every month, there is a chance that an AE's decadence will increase, based on how large they have grown and how many empires they have forced to be subjects. Decadence reduces AE resource production and ship strength and makes their subjects far more rebellious
- Reworked or blocked numerous events for Hive Minds where the text or effects did not work well narratively

# Species Rights
- Added 'Academic Privilege' living standard type available to Materialists only, boosts research output and happiness at increased consumer goods cost

# Diplomacy & Subjects
- Vassals are now released directly from planet view and can be released from any non-capital planet

# Game Setup
- Added galaxy setup option to partially randomize number of empires, advanced starts & fallen empires
- Added a galaxy setup option for Crisis Strength, replaces the previous galaxy size/habitable worlds scaling
- Added a galaxy setup option for chance of Primitive Civilizations being generated

# Events
- Added special Hive Mind interactions for the Prethoryn Scourge

# Technology
- Added new technology Glandular Acclimation that unlocks the ability to modify Pop habitability type

# Policies
- Added new policies for the treatment of pre-sapients. They can now be protected, tolerated (allowing for selective purging), hunted for food, or exterminated.
- Added an Initial Border Status policy that controls whether borders to other empires are open or closed by default.
- Added a Robotic Workers Policy that controls whether or not robot pops are allowed or automatically disassembled. The old AI rights policy now instead determines stance towards sapient AI.
- Added a Land Appropriation policy. If enabled, newly acquired planets that have less than 5 tiles of free space and are populated by non-citizen species will have some of them removed from their land, freeing up tiles and potentially creating refugees

# Governments & Civics
- Added Corvee System civic, gives -50% resettlement cost
- Added Feudal Realm civic, reduces penalty of relative power of subjects in half and allows them to colonize outside their borders
- Added a unique government form for Devouring Swarms
- Added Feudal Empire and Megachurch government forms

# Buildings
- Added new Sacred Nexus building for Spiritualists with corresponding technology

+ Balance changes, optimization, bug fixes and more.

Click here for a full changelog