PDOX Games VIII: Communism Will Win

[Licana]

The Unbidden are robots apparently.

Edit: Pretty shitty robots too, defeated them in less than a year.

[The Huskar Social Union]

The Unbidden are robots apparently.

Edit: Pretty shitty robots too, defeated them in less than a year.

Well that was a plot twist i didnt see coming.

wat dat

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

They shoot people's doggos.

Oh, didnt know they do that

[Sefy the Great]

Oh right. I forgot the Golden Paradox rule that their DLC sound a lot cooler than they actually are.

To be fair, there are mods that can make the random new world look good and not like... well

This monstrosity

ah, yes, my favourite ice wall across the band of the world, Venice.

[Bralia]

The planet interface going to see some improvements, the new Game Director hints in this DD.

[Licana]

New Stellaris patch just dropped.

######################
# 2.2 ‘Le Guin’ Free Features
######################

* Ether Drake Shrine/Monument has been converted to a special Planetary Deposit with the same effects as before
* Improved Nanite Transmutation description for tech/building
* Art Monument has now been revamped into a planetary Decision
* Hive minds will once again have unemployed drones rather than a Scavenger drone job
* Renamed Empire Size to Empire Sprawl, and renamed Administrative Cap to Administrative Capacity (previous wording did not make it clear enough that they are soft caps)

###################
# Balance
###################

* Reduced effectiveness of Bio-Reactor
* Increased cost of Unity buildings
* Reduced mineral cost of roboticist and fabricator jobs
* Increased base alloy job production from 2 to 3
* Resource stockpiles have by default been increased from 10000 to 15000. Default stockpile for Energy Credits increased to 50000
* Drone Campaign and Robot Campaign effects reduced from +20% to +10%
* Synthetic Evolution ascension perk now gives +10% robot output
* The chance of criminal Branch Offices getting shut down has been reduced slightly, and the cooldown between shutdown events has been reduced to 10 years
* At least one year with little or no crime must pass for a colony's criminal Branch Office to potentially get shut down (increased from one day)
* Different kinds of Unity buildings are now more consistent in how many Jobs they create
* Betharian Power Plant building now creates Jobs in addition to its flat Energy Credits output
* Bunker Bot's scrap value increased
* Massively reduced point defense weapon damage against armour
* Democratic Crusaders now also take a dim view of corporate authority
* Caravaneer home base will only be re-established if at least one Caravaneer fleet is still alive
* Rescaled the Consecrated World Worship modifier: it now goes higher, with smaller value increments between each step
* Shared burden Civic and Living standard allow pops to demote in social strata much more rapidly
* Ruined arcologies take longer to clear and cost more
* Reduced Gateway cost
* Increased rate at which admirals and ships get XP from suppressing pirates
* Science nerd faction is no longer jealous of the Successor Khanate
* Ship upgrade cost reduced by increasing the refund amount from older components, and upgrade time reduced
* Mega Art Installation restoration build time increased from 3600 to 4800
* Strategic Coordination Center restoration build time increased from 3600 to 4800
*Strategic Coordination Center effect on naval cap reduced from to 50/100/150, effect on starbase cap reduced from to 2/4/6, and effect on platform capacity reduced to 4/8/12
* Science Nexus effect on research output increased from 75/150/225 to 100/200/300, and increases research speed by 5%/10%/15%
* Science Nexus build time increased from 2400 to 3600, and alloy cost increased from 12500 to 15000 for all levels
* Proles know their roles, are less likely to be researchers
* Synthetic Evolution ascension perk now also reduces modify species cost by -50%
* Administrative Efficiency (repeatable) tech effect on Admin Cap increased from 10 to 15
* Mitigated some Machine Uprising issues slightly

###################
# UI
###################

* Building and District tooltips are now more informative in regards to what resources they use and produce from their jobs
* Fixed the missing "Megacorp" ownership icon in the MP lobby
* Added a warning when you try to colonize a very low habitability planet directly with a colony ship
* Piracy is now shown for non trading nations (if within their borders)
* Fixed the UI shattering hilariously if you clicked the population tab on an uncolonized planet
* Fixed Expansion Planner wrongly revealing rare deposits on unsurveyed worlds
* Fixed tooltip for Aristocratic Elite to show the building it unlocks
* Added a popup to tell player when resettlement will cause building destruction
* Adjusted the resource deficit notification to pop once you are down to 12 months' reserves
* Small tweaks to the Planets and Sectors screen
* Fixed tooltip wrongly stating planet had no rare planetary features if they were covered by a blocker
* Fixed overlapping GUI elements for Science Nexus Megastructure
* Updated production/upkeep GUI elements in Megastructure view
* Faction issues now display as red or green depending on if the demand is fulfilled rather than if the effect of the issue is positive, negative or neutral
* Fixed so that all decimals of amenities and trade value are shown in the UI

###################
# AI
###################

* Improved AI planet building priorities
* Improved AI market trading
* AI no longer bounces a single scientist around multiple ships, choking their exploration and growth
* AI now manages to correctly assess budget for building upgrades on planets
* Made sure AI is not blocked from building things that decreases budget deficits if deficit is too large, because you gotta have money to make money, champ
* Scriptable possibility to use parent economic category for AI budgeting. AI now has a single pool for energy upkeep for most things, making it much better at building up its empire
* AI is now budgeting some exotic resources to planet development, allowing them build upgrades and buildings that require them
* Made AI a bit less maniacal about stomping out every iota of crime to allow the criminal megacorp playstyle

###################
# Performance
###################

* Fixed performance drop in the resettlement view
* Fixed one source of lag on daily ticks
* Reduced needless daily job related calculations

###################
# Modding
###################

* Add num_uncleared_blockers trigger - checks the planet's total amount of uncleared blockers
* Renamed old "can_resettle_pop" game rule to "can_resettle_planet", Add a new "can_resettle_pop" game rule that works on Pop scope
* Added on_slave_sold_on_market on action

###################
# Bugfixes
###################

* Number of districts required to enact Arcology Project is no longer reduced by uncleared blockers
* Fixed overlapping UI elements in Megastructure view
* Authoritarian faction is now also OK with Academic Privilege and Robotic Servitors
* Tech drones and Technician jobs now correctly look for the Ingenious trait rather than Thrifty (which was changed to trade value)
* Starting on Earth as Life-Seeded now properly gives you a 25 size planet with rare deposits
* Fixed an OOS on hotjoin due to MIA ships reappearing in different places on server and client
* Fixed status quo peace not spawning new empires in ideology and vassalization wars
* Fixed ship alloy costs being truncated in the choose design window of the fleet designer
* Fixed first wave scourge invasion fleets being led by admirals using robot portraits for some bizarre reason
* Fixed massively out of date credits in the Chinese version, because Jamor is a human that exists in the universe apparently
* Fixed out of synch event related to special projects
* Added missing effects to the description of the Trium Caravaneer's atmospheric deodorizer deal
* Gateways will no longer spawn in directly adjacent systems on galaxy creation
* Fixes the issue of people not able to hot join a multiplayer when too many players are present
* Made tweaks to Galactic Market that should prevent an infinite profits exploit from flooding the market, then rebuying, you shameless tophat-wearing capitalist exploiters, you
* Fixed a graphical display bug with shielded worlds
* Fixed an incorrect modifier being applied by the "Alien Drag Racing" anomaly
* Improved the text truncation in longer planetary Decision descriptions, should avoid spillouts
* Reduced number of calls to CalcMaxEmployed done in DailyUpdate by up to 50%. Should improve performance
* Fixed literally unplayable grammar issue in the Horizon Signal event chain
* Fixed leader portraits being slightly off-center in level up windows
* Fixed OOS due to Leaders not being reregistered when changing class (Scientist to Empire Leader, etc)
* Fixed potential CTD when loading market and certain empires no longer exist, because all those empires will be lost, in time, like tears in rain
* Empire size modifier on leader cost and upkeep is now multiplied on the total and not added to the other mult modifiers
* Fixed OOS due to Galactic Market cache
* Fixed Master's Teaching: Warring States edict not affecting army upkeep as it should
* Fixed Gospel of the Masses civic not applying trade value bonus
* Fixed event spam when gaining access to the Galactic Market
* "Free at last" modifiers are now removed from the planet after it's reconquered (or conquered by anyone else)
* Prevented abandoned terraforming project or underground civilization events on an Ecumenopolis
* Added a check so that servitude robots cannot become criminals. We'll miss you, serial killer auto assembly claw.
* Khan, "berserker" and "invader" AI personalities should no longer get stuck considering targets they cannot reach
* Fixed empire size tooltip with literally unplayable missing % signs
* Fanatic Purifiers, Determined Exterminators, and Devouring Swarms now have a tooltip properly explaining why, as generally antisocial genocidal murderers, they are not welcome in the Galactic Market
* Fixed issue where the Marauder Horde was not dealt with properly if the Khan died of old age
* Reworked refugee pop effect script to eliminate faulty event spam
* Fixed a situation with total wars. If a player takes a planet that has the same name as a planet he already owns, a new sector would be created with that name, but with no planets in it
* Effects of "Survival of the Fittest" tradition now include a "%" character where needed
* Fixed broken tooltips for Gang Wars and Mob Rule events
* Fixed a bug where presapient pops on a planet would distort the necessary number of fully sapient pops required to unlock the next building slot
* Fixed some missing resource icons in various screens and tooltips
* Fixed robot pops being unable to resettle
* Fixed the Consecrated World Worship modifier disappearing when a certain combination of planets are consecrated
* Caravaneers should not join a colony before it is fully established
* Some moon-related events had their triggers improved after the startling realization that Habitats also count as moons. That's no moon...
* Fixed Aberrant and Vehement lacking starting anchor starbase rendering their portals indestructible
* Fanatic Materialist Fallen Empire is no longer wrongfully DLC-locked behind Synthetic Dawn
* Fixed broken text for Dark Matter deposits
* "Pollen Aphrodisiac" event chain is no longer available to Ecumenopolis worlds
* Fixed an event option tooltip relating to the Science Nexus reporting incorrect resource amounts
* Fixed Automated Colonization Units tradition not granting an extra pop on colonization for machine empires
* Fixed issue with the Artisan troupe dialogue windows not popping up
* Fixed crash when trying to reroute a trade route
* Totalitarian faction demands should be satisfied by either having a stratified living standard on everyone, or by purging/enslaving pops
* Fixed a crash when opening the megastructure build list with a Dyson Sphere you cannot afford at midnight on the Summer Solstice atop Barad-dûr
* Fixed text grey out function to actually grey out texticons instead of only cheekily putting "_grey" into the text
* Fixed a crash when tooltipping power in diplomacy view while not observing as a country
* Fixed duplicate Simplified Chinese ship design names
* Fixed a possible crash when showing event windows
* Fixed issue where system ownership change on actions were executed in a unsafe environment potentially causing CTDs and/or OOSs
* Fixed an OOS at game start when the client is playing in a different language than the host
* Fixed a crash related to extremely long trade routes
* Fixed CTD from trying to update invalid planets
* Fixed the Caravansary Home Station being indestructible after it is re-established, because that which has died once can die again
* Fixed a missing ship design name for the Caravansary starbase
* The Numistic pops sold by the Numistic Order will now have the same traits as their original owner but the ideal planet class of their buyer
* Fixed Vassalization Wars unhelpfully not creating Vassals
* Subsidiaries can now have branch offices and open branch offices in their overlord's territory. Commercial pact trading is also done automatically just as when in a federation when you're a subsidiary
* Merchants now properly produce Unity for empires with Merchant Guilds civic
* Fixed a number of Special Projects occasionally displaying unintended event images in the Situation Log
* Fixed some Governor traits that were wrongly empire-wide in their effect
* Hyperplanes are now correctly colored on OSX
* Drone Megastorage now correctly checks that you are a Machine empire
* No resettlement policy now actually means no resettlment
* Fixed Observation Posts producing no science
* Sector automation now includes hives and nexus
* Technologies for lvl 2 buildings no longer appear before you have the resources to build them
* Fixed the Numistic Order fleet having the wrong name
* Alleviated some issues with Caravaneer fleets getting "stuck", as their jump distance when escaping hostiles is now randomized
* Fixed an edge case where Consecrating a world would not result in a modifier, making the planet impossible to un-consecrate
* Fixed literally unplayable typo in Cyto-Revitalization Center tooltip
* Fixed Solid Liquidity faction issue stating the wrong amount of Energy Credits
* Private Prospectors civic effect description now shows the correct Administrative Cap increase

Key things to note:
- Minor buffs to robots and some more significant buffs to the Synthetic Evolution ascension perk
- Better balancing for criminal branch offices (take longer to shut down, reduced cooldown for refounding) to make criminal megacorps suck less
- Democratic Crusaders are no longer fine with Megacorps (tbh I thought this was intentional)
- OP Strategic Coordination Center megastructure massively nerfed, provides about half the naval cap, starbase cap, and defense platforms of what it used to
- Science Nexus buffed slightly (300 Science at full capacity)
- General improvements to AI, maybe they'll actually be competitive past 2300 now
- Can no longer use the galactic market to farm infinite energy/resources

[Alvecia]

- Can no longer use the galactic market to farm infinite energy/resources

Rip

[Licana]

lol they actually buffed Ecumenopoleis

[The New California Republic]

lol they actually buffed Ecumenopoleis

They supposedly fixed some of the issues that were causing late-game lag too. We will see if that is true.

The issue that caused robotic pops to not be able to migrate from overpopulated planets has been fixed too. That was becoming a major issue for me, since my entire population of 3000 has been assimilated into robotic form, and it was becoming incredibly frustrating to manually micromanage the population of every planet; shifting the excess population of one planet to a sparsely populated one etc.

[The Transhuman Union]

The planet interface going to see some improvements, the new Game Director hints in this DD.

so that Martin can go work on [REDACTED].

Imagine if he made a economic simulation game

[Lunas Legion]

The planet interface going to see some improvements, the new Game Director hints in this DD.

so that Martin can go work on [REDACTED].

Imagine if he made a economic simulation game

I think you mean Victoria 3.

[Valrifell]

Imagine if he made a economic simulation game

I think you mean Victoria 3.

I'm telling you, it's going to be unnamed PDX Bronze Age project.

[Abserdia]

I think you mean Victoria 3.

I'm telling you, it's going to be unnamed PDX Bronze Age project.

I'm not expecting a new IP to be announced before Imperator comes out.

[The Transhuman Union]

I think you mean Victoria 3.

I'm telling you, it's going to be unnamed PDX Bronze Age project.

I WANT MY DINOSAUR RTS PARADOX

[Wallenburg]

I'm telling you, it's going to be unnamed PDX Bronze Age project.

I WANT MY DINOSAUR RTS PARADOX

Carboniferous RTS now. I want to be Chief Crunch of the Millipede Clan.

[Valrifell]

I'm telling you, it's going to be unnamed PDX Bronze Age project.

I'm not expecting a new IP to be announced before Imperator comes out.

Tbf I am half-joking when I say that. Though at the same time I also doubt it's Vicky 3, if only because PDX just hates Vic fans (apparently).

[Impaled Nazarene]

The Regency of General Secretary Impaled Nazarene has ended!
Good work Batavia!
*hits imprison button*

[The Huskar Social Union]

The Regency of General Secretary Impaled Nazarene has ended!
Good work Batavia!
*hits imprison button*

Good but.. bad

[The Batavia]

The Regency of General Secretary Impaled Nazarene has ended!
Good work Batavia!
*hits imprison button*

Oh for fu-
*Bear noises*

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

The Regency of General Secretary Impaled Nazarene has ended!
Good work Batavia!
*hits imprison button*

Oh for fu-
*Bear noises*

The Regency of General Secretary Impaled Nazarene has ended!
Good work Batavia!
*hits imprison button*

Since The Batavia is a Swamp German, none of your vassals will care

[The Batavia]

Oh for fu-
*Bear noises*

The Regency of General Secretary Impaled Nazarene has ended!
Good work Batavia!
*hits imprison button*

Since The Batavia is a Swamp German, none of your vassals will care

*From the dead*: Hey! You're a Swamp German too!

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

(Image)

Since The Batavia is a Swamp German, none of your vassals will care

*From the dead*: Hey! You're a Swamp German too!

Suspected Polder Spawn
General Opinion Modifier: -5
National Revolt Risk: +10%
Chance of flooding: -50%

[Alvecia]

I've just finished this Pulsating Stars questline, and I must say I'm rather miffed.
So I found the star in question, and it had a natural energy output of +2
Finishing the quest itself gave the star an additional output of +6 for a total of +8

But wait, there's more.

Some silly molluscs had left an abandoned station orbiting the star that was designed to produce more energy from it.
Joy! I think, eagerly repairing the structure to send this star's yield into the double digits.

The repairs are complete, the station is operational.....aaaaand changes the output of the star to a flat +6, wiping the previous bonus.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Any time i got that quest line it always ended with "Oh there was nothing wrong, your scientist is a lunatic"

[Alvecia]

I've just finished this Pulsating Stars questline, and I must say I'm rather miffed.
So I found the star in question, and it had a natural energy output of +2
Finishing the quest itself gave the star an additional output of +6 for a total of +8

But wait, there's more.

Some silly molluscs had left an abandoned station orbiting the star that was designed to produce more energy from it.
Joy! I think, eagerly repairing the structure to send this star's yield into the double digits.

The repairs are complete, the station is operational.....aaaaand changes the output of the star to a flat +6, wiping the previous bonus.

Ha! Take that!
Turns out if you build the station first, and just leave the questline completion window until then, you can add the quest bonus on top of the station for +14

Thank Wiz for auto saves

[Alvecia]

Any time i got that quest line it always ended with "Oh there was nothing wrong, your scientist is a lunatic"

I think I got that last time, except they got like a pretty good trait out of it or something. Lunacy is the way to go in science it seems