Paradox, if you want to transform gameplay, do it with combat.

[Natasha]

Combat in this game is way too automated and dull honestly, the best part of Stellaris is not combat but planetary management and all the things that goes with it, i usually start over when i get to war time cause battles are just so uninteresting.

There's no strategy involved other than choosing what you strike first, it would be better if you had to control ships individually, instead of having a manager for ship equipment you build or buy it and equip it on the ships.

Ship combat needs to be less automated and be more managed by the player, controlling deflectors, turning your ship and flanking the enemy, disabling certain parts of a ship. Which ships do i attack this with and which ships do i attack with first, all important decisions that should matter in any space simulator.

Combat is just so boring in stellaris, right click attack done, take over system.

large scale battles is not a valid excuse at all.

[Natasha]

Here's a battle scene from Starsector a humble indie game, if they can do it you can too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9iInS5vC_E&ab_channel=GreyDracoplays

[Ryika]

Automated combat is fine. Stellaris is a game about managing an empire, not being a fleet admiral.

The options available to outfit the ships, and to create formations, and to choose ship behavior and everything surrounding these things could definitely be expanded though.

[Sirus]

Yeah. It doesn't have to be anything too fancy. I think just having Sins of a Solar Empire levels of combat and fleet control would make this game the perfect space 4X. But I think this would be a huge undertaking and would involve heavy work and balancing on top.

A guy can dream...

[Natasha]

Originally posted by Ryika:

Automated combat is fine. Stellaris is a game about managing an empire, not being a fleet admiral.

The options available to outfit the ships, and to create formations, and to choose ship behavior and everything surrounding these things could definitely be expanded though.

I mean Starsector also have empire management, granted it is not as detailed as in Stellaris but it's possible to have detailed combat too.

[Sirus]

Or at the least, add a bit of granularity to fleet control, like allow me to move my ship freely and stop it from agro and focusing that damn starbase....

[Shinzor]

They have already changed stuff with Combat and will most likely come back to it again at some point, litteraly everything will be changed/rechanged at some point

[Ryika]

Originally posted by Natasha:

I mean Starsector also have empire management, granted it is not as detailed as in Stellaris but it's possible to have detailed combat too.

It's possible, but not necessary, and I don't think it's a good direction.

[Natasha]

I don't want to advertise on steam but check out fractual Softworks, they are really good hard working developers that have made an amazing exploration strategy game, exploration and ship equipment and combat are the big ones in this game.

There are talks of them going on Steam after the game is finished but if not i respect their decision, indie developers have some valid concerns for not wanting to release their game on Steam.

I play x3, Stellaris and Starsector, those are the best space simulators in my opinion.

Nothing beats Stellaris soundtrack, they did a great job with that.

https://fractalsoftworks.com/

If you love space games and exploration this one is a must have.

[Sirus]

Originally posted by Natasha:

I don't want to advertise on steam but check out fractual Softworks, they are really good hard working developers that have made an amazing exploration strategy game, exploration and ship equipment and combat are the big ones in this game.

There are talks of them going on Steam after the game is finished but if not i respect their decision, indie developers have some valid concerns for not wanting to release their game on Steam.

I play x3, Stellaris and Starsector, those are the best space simulators in my opinion.

Nothing beats Stellaris soundtrack, they did a great job with that.

I love the X series. I just wish they'd turn the focus of the franchise to RTS already.

[Natasha]

Originally posted by Sirus:

Originally posted by Natasha:

I don't want to advertise on steam but check out fractual Softworks, they are really good hard working developers that have made an amazing exploration strategy game, exploration and ship equipment and combat are the big ones in this game.

There are talks of them going on Steam after the game is finished but if not i respect their decision, indie developers have some valid concerns for not wanting to release their game on Steam.

I play x3, Stellaris and Starsector, those are the best space simulators in my opinion.

Nothing beats Stellaris soundtrack, they did a great job with that.

I love the X series. I just wish they'd turn the focus of the franchise to RTS already.

Yeah, that would be cool if you haven't tried Mayhem 3 already i really recommend it with Litcube, it basically turns x3 into x4 empire management with large scale battles but a empire management game you always desired and not what we got in foundations.

Ships does not magically fly out of a shipyard, they are constructed in front of your eyes, and when they got blown up the parts are there and can be scrapped.

Jump gates are not a thing so where you place yourself, when and how plays a vital part in the game.

Check out this guide for modding X3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olkP3DPv2WM&t=534s&ab_channel=XenonA7

19.40 minutes in for Mayhem 3.

The only singleplayer modded game that can give Eve Online a run for its money, it's an amazing mod that has taken almost a decade to make.

[MrFreake_PDX]

Originally posted by Natasha:

Combat in this game is way too automated and dull honestly, the best part of Stellaris is not combat but planetary management and all the things that goes with it, i usually start over when i get to war time cause battles are just so uninteresting.

There's no strategy involved other than choosing what you strike first, it would be better if you had to control ships individually, instead of having a manager for ship equipment you build or buy it and equip it on the ships.

Ship combat needs to be less automated and be more managed by the player, controlling deflectors, turning your ship and flanking the enemy, disabling certain parts of a ship. Which ships do i attack this with and which ships do i attack with first, all important decisions that should matter in any space simulator.

Combat is just so boring in stellaris, right click attack done, take over system.

large scale battles is not a valid excuse at all.

I've been having long conversations with some of the devs about this very subject. :) I can't promise if/when anything will happen regarding this, but there are a certain subsection of the developers who are interested in doing more with ship combat.

I don't expect that you'll be able to control individual ships, or know what exact form this might take in the long run, or (again) if it will even take form at all, but it's something that we're interested in looking at for the future. :)

[Nightshade878]

Stellaris is neither a 4X or an RTS, it's a grand strategy game. None of Paradox's games have manual combat, and they never should either.

[Natasha]

Originally posted by Nightshade878:

Stellaris is neither a 4X or an RTS, it's a grand strategy game. None of Paradox's games have manual combat, and they never should either.

That's true, i don't agree that they can't or shouldn't have it though.

From the developer side of things, they also have to think of the length of the games cause they're already pretty lengthy, so they are limited in some ways i imagine.

But you mention Grand Strategy, Grand Strategy is not known for automated combat but the exact opposite, micromanagement has always been an enjoyable part of these games.

It also depends on the game type, but for the most part, Victoria 2 has a lot of micromanagement, so does Europa Universalis 4.

Stellaris has a light touch of micromanagement, i would like more to do lategame.

[darkestkhan]

Originally posted by MrFreake_PDX:

Originally posted by Natasha:

Combat in this game is way too automated and dull honestly, the best part of Stellaris is not combat but planetary management and all the things that goes with it, i usually start over when i get to war time cause battles are just so uninteresting.

There's no strategy involved other than choosing what you strike first, it would be better if you had to control ships individually, instead of having a manager for ship equipment you build or buy it and equip it on the ships.

Ship combat needs to be less automated and be more managed by the player, controlling deflectors, turning your ship and flanking the enemy, disabling certain parts of a ship. Which ships do i attack this with and which ships do i attack with first, all important decisions that should matter in any space simulator.

Combat is just so boring in stellaris, right click attack done, take over system.

large scale battles is not a valid excuse at all.

I've been having long conversations with some of the devs about this very subject. :) I can't promise if/when anything will happen regarding this, but there are a certain subsection of the developers who are interested in doing more with ship combat.

I don't expect that you'll be able to control individual ships, or know what exact form this might take in the long run, or (again) if it will even take form at all, but it's something that we're interested in looking at for the future. :)

We indeed shouldn't have control over individual fleets. Yet it is true that as it is right now combat is pure number check game - if your fleet power is greater than theirs by 50% or more, then you are highly likely to win, regardless of fleet composition. With numbers around the same value fleet comp will matter. This does mean that if you can't fight your enemy head on you have no chance of winning. At best fleet + bastion will stop enemy from going further. yet there is nothing else you can do. The only thing preventing everyone from fully realizing it is inept war-time AI (I have personally seen in my current 3.3 game AI *NOT* conquering planet that it totally could conquer, it had all the assault armies needed to do so already in the system with planet, 188 vs 80 is more than enough for assault)

Anyway good work on AI so far - it no longer mingplodes. And it does force you to build some fleet, unlike in the past (I play vs aggressive advanced AI on normal). Back in the 3.2 days 30K fleet by 2350 was enough to win against most AIs. Now I had to build 40K by 2300 just to be equal in fleet power. Relaxing fan pac playthrough, as usual for me. Though I did have to do some military built up for a change xD Very good.

I also like unity changes.

This means that now bastions are not as good as they used to be - 12K space station is just a token value now. Sure, with full citadel and platforms it should reach 40-50K, but they do feel too weak in later stages (the first upgrade feels good though - it has about right amount of power when it comes in).

[_ALuX_]

Armies and ground combat rework when?