PDX_ladydzra

by Eladrin

Hi everyone!

The 3.8 ‘Gemini’ Coop Open Beta we talked about last week is now open! See this message[forum.paradoxplaza.com] for more details. We’ll be collecting feedback [forum.paradoxplaza.com]and Out of Sync ... Read more

by Eladrin

Hello again!

Last week we went over the basic design of the Cooperative multiplayer system we’re currently working on, and we’re ready to announce that the Coop Open Beta is looking like it will be starting sometime next week. Though at this time I can’t give a precise date, I thought I’d provide a list of preliminary patch notes.

I expect that we’ll leave the branch up until the release of 3.8, and feedback will be collected in threads until April 30th. Stay tuned for more details once we can share them.

Release Notes​ Here’s a changelog of what will be present in the Coop Open Beta. This is only a small subset of what’s going to be coming in 3.8 - we wanted to keep the Coop changes relatively isolated in order to get better testing of the feature.

STELLARIS 3.8 ‘GEMINI’ COOP O... Read more

by Eladrin

Hello everyone!

One of the major Custodian features planned for the 3.8 ‘Gemini’ update is the addition of two cooperative gameplay modes. Up to five players will be able to control the same empire and work together to play the game as a team.

Two Modes of Play​ Surveys suggested that there are two distinctly different reasons people want to play together.

• I want to play a PvE game of Stellaris with my friends, either to teach them how to play the game or to have a more relaxed game where we can share the duties of empire management.

Stellaris is a complex game, and learning to play can be difficult without a guiding hand. While some people learn well by watching informative videos created by the community, others might do better playing alongside a frie... Read more

by Eladrin

Happy Thursday!

Thanks to everyone who answered our User Research survey as well as to everyone posting in our Custodian Diplomatic AI Feedback thread[forum.paradoxplaza.com].

Originally I was planning on just talking about what was going into 3.7.4, with a potential release date next week, but things went a bit better than expected and as of this morning the 3.7.4 patch has been released. Unless something major crops up, the next Stellaris update is expected to be the 3.8 ‘Gemini’ release during Q2.

This patch includes another adjustment to pre-FTL civilizations being too keen on... Read more

by PDX-Loke

Hello,

While you were busy upgrading cloaked fleets at enemy starbases and buying multiple galatrons, the team has kept on fixing and tweaking.
The 3.7.4 patch is ready and available for download now.

Please find the patch notes below.

STELLARIS 3.7.4 PATCH NOTES
BALANCE AND IMPROVEMENTS

• Pre-FTL civilizations now have a chance of having a "close call" when nuclear war threatens to break out.
  
• Payback Origin
  
  * If you defeat the Debt Collectors three times, the MSI will use the Humiliate war goal against you instead of trying to vassalize you * The Debt collectors won't bug you anymore if you're currently at war with the MSI * Fixed Payback war goals to ensure you can't vassalize or impose ideology on homicidal ...

Read more

by Eladrin

Hi everyone!

It’s now been a bit over a week since the First Contact Story Pack released, and it’s been great hearing your stories and experiences.

While some things slipped through into the initial release, like the Great Filter becoming nigh impenetrable if nobody’s watching, overall Canis Minor was the most stable release we’ve ever had on Stellaris - to the point where red flags were being raised whether the Crash Reporter was working properly.



A couple of days ago we pushed the 3.7.3 hotfix to take care of a few of the more pressing issues.

STELLARIS ‘CANIS MINOR’ 3.7.3 PATCH NOTES
Fixes and Changes

...

Read more

by Alfray Stryke

A staple of sci-fi that has long been missing from Stellaris is the ability to have fleets and stations capable of being cloaked and hiding from enemy sensors. With the addition of Awareness and improvements to interactions with pre-FTL civilizations, we felt that First Contact was the right place to explore how cloaking could be added to the game in a meaningful way, tying into warfare, exploration and espionage.

When we set out to design the cloaking and counter-cloaking systems our goals were that:

• Science ships should be able to equip cloaking devices to allow exploration of space regardless of if another empire has closed their borders to you.
  
• Observation posts should be capable of being hidden from the pre-FTL civilizations they were observing.
  
...

Read more

by CheerfulGoth

Nothing unites people more than a common enemy.

You know how the story goes: space invaders attack, and the people of the world unite, casting aside their differences to stand together against a shared threat. Together, they defeat the more advanced enemy, who foolishly underestimated the plucky underdogs.



But what happens after the story ends? The former invaders are still out there, and they won’t be fooled again. An awkward reunion is unavoidable.
I'm CheerfulGoth, a content designer on Stellaris, and this is the story I wanted to tell with Payback.

Payback is the “sibling” of Broken Shackles, two origins united b... Read more

The First Contact Story Pack will release on March 14th for $14.99!

The galaxy is vast and full of wonders, but it’s also full of alien empires you’re going to encounter - whether you’re ready or not. Tell the story of your empire’s early contacts with visitors from the stars, or become a visitor yourself. Will you remain cloaked in shadows, or reveal your presence to those you visit?

Preorder the First Contact Story Pack today![pdxint.at]



Explore three new narrative-led Origins: Band together in Broken Shackles as the survivors of a crashed slaver ship and build a diverse empire with multiple species from across the galaxy. Embark on a quest to find... Read more

by Lloyd Drake-Brockman

Hi, I’m Lloyd Drake-Brockman, Concept artist on the Stellaris team. I worked extensively on the First Contact DLC and I'm excited to share some of the artistic journey that this pack took me and the art team on. Specifically we're going to be discussing the development of MSI, a new, non-player faction with a really interesting visual style. I was involved in designing most of their visual elements. I think we have ended up with a great set of designs that are quite unique in the world of Stellaris. I'm going to take you through some of my design journey working on various elements of this faction.



MSI Flagship​ The flagship was the first element of MSI tha... Read more