Quoting: Purple Library Guy

Quoting: MalEven the controversial 2.0 release with all the feature scrapping and game style flattening ultimately had the purpose of simplify the game implementation so that it's easier to develop and test it (with... arguable success for now).

I don't really know whether I agree or not with the rest of what you say--I just have insufficient information to form a judgement--but I don't think this is really true. In some ways it makes the game more complex, like it tends to lead to more fleets running around. But mainly it seems like the key changes that simplify the game (mainly the shift to only hyperdrive movement) was aimed at impacting tactical gameplay. For the most part it was aimed at putting limits on the number of avenues invaders have to attack through, creating the possibility of chokepoints and making the idea of guarding borders at least plausible. This goes together with the new system of starbases which can be built up to seriously badass fighting power.
I'm not yet sure whether I think that's an improvement, but it does seem to have been a major motivation for the changes. They weren't all about simplifying the code.

My point was just on game implementation and testing not on game difficulty. Just with the mere FTL cut they removed a lot of code and a lot of edge cases from the game which ultimately makes it easier to develop (especially when they will enhance it in future) and test.

My opinion on 2.0 overall is that the game has been made more restrictive to the player. In the sense that either options have been removed entirely or new balance changes makes so that adopting a play style that diverges from the "meta" intended by the game designer is totally non viable compared to before. So yes: difficulty changed in the sense that several macro options have been removed. But the new play style enforced on the player does have a lot of new things to manage. So if 2.0 is more or less difficult is more of a subjective thing (how fast you can adapt to it and how much you are ok in doing that).

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: DisharmonicI don't get the hate on Paradox's DLC policy. I mean, sure some of the DLCs are overpriced on release and i don't like that for some games they sell the new art separately, but do you know of many other developers that keep expanding their games continuously for several years? They have to pay for that somehow.

Personally I don't blame the dlc policy by itself. Megagames like eu4 and ck2 wouldn't exist without it.

The problem is PdX addiction to dlc regular cash flows. Imho this has been especially detrimental to stellaris. Stuff is released unfinished and untested over and over again because release dates cannot be postponed or diluted over time. Even the controversial 2.0 release with all the feature scrapping and game style flattening ultimately had the purpose of simplify the game implementation so that it's easier to develop and test it (with... arguable success for now).

Imho PdX should milk Stellaris Project a little less for the time being and let it stabilize. If they continue to squeeze it like they're doing it will severely hurt the game.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

For me the final Stellaris release is 1.9. I pass on Stellaris 2 dlcs. A pity since the theme of thia pack is just right.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: Mal

Quoting: ShmerlWhy can't Valve make such driver and use it directly after that?

First thing I can think of because otherwise they would then depend from linux kernel release process for steam controller updates and features. And linux kernel guys have comprehensively other priorities. So it makes sense for them to leverage steam client to deliver their software since it's already good at doing that.

That's not a proper Linux approach, and Valve should know that. AMD for example could argue the same thing (like Nvidia did). But they decided to be a good Linux citizen. So can Valve.

Ok I get it. But the Steam Controller Linux driver is not just a "kernel module". There is the kernel side and there is the firmware on the controller. Both of which requires to be upgraded in synch, automagically (given that the target audience are masses not just techies) and given the experimental nature of the hardware to support in parallel an easy switchable stable branch and beta program with frequent updates and roll backs as well. And there are also all the controller profile features that can only exist if they have an on line account and a cloud to leverage so Valve was already bound to use their client to deliver these anyway. In their cloths I would have done the same and kept the things simple.

Now Steam Controller -as opposed to the whole Steam Machine thing- was a huge success. A large part of this success has been possible because they took this way in the first place and were allowed to evolve it very fast. And ok: the device is not experimental anymore. The updates are pushed less frequently and maybe the time could be right to transition into a more conventional linux approach and maybe use the steam client only for the firmware updates. Yet doing that would cost resources and bring very limited benefit to the average user compared to now so it's hard to justify the investment cost. Supporting foss volunteers now that they emerged seems a good compromise to me.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: ShmerlWhy can't Valve make such driver and use it directly after that?

First thing I can think of because otherwise they would then depend from linux kernel release process for steam controller updates and features. And linux kernel guys have comprehensively other priorities. So it makes sense for them to leverage steam client to deliver their software since it's already good at doing that.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

:)

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: nepo

Quoting: GuestThis game sounds like fun but $150.00 for the complete game is a bit much. They seem to be releasing DLC's every couple of months.

Why not buy the main game first...? If you like it you can extend it from time to time - maybe during sales. Starting with all DLCs activated is not necessary in my opinion. If you're more into multiplayer - no problem either, because all DLCs from the host game are activated in Stellaris for all other players.

Dangerous. The apocalypse release is quite a breaking change since it removes all free travel FTLs.

What you say is a actually sensible "purchase strategy" for all Paradox games but in Stellaris case I wouldn't recommend new players to start from vanilla. The next release is like a different game entirely and one could not appreciate the next update after getting used to warp, wormholes and free movement in general in the 1.x releases. I wouldn't really recommend to buy the game to anyone before Apocalypse is released and the new game starts to be played on streams.

It's like buying an "early access" game that you like right now but that it is already known to be substantially different on release day. It's more cautious to buy it after the changes are released so you have a better idea if you like the product or not when you purchase it.

But that's only my advice to "casual" buyers. If you follow the diaries, the pre-release streams, have experience with graph based space games (which are the vast majority) and basically know what you are actually going to buy, go forth with it! :)

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Yeah I played it a little during the holidays with my brothers and saw that nothing changed in that regard. To bad.

My issue with online games is the game lag. The host wins 90% of the time because of this. But if you try to create a game and be the host (and win :) ), you spend 10-15 minutes before enough people joins. Which means that I never play it on line.

It's... questionable that a party game punish you for playing it in actual parties and tries to push you toward online gaming instead. Apart from this minor annoyance though it's a great party game.


And I'm sorry for the laptop thing. My personal controller experience with the game is fine. I have 2 steam and 2 xbone BT controllers. It's not so easy to find linux games that behave correctly with xbone bt controllers.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: tumocsHave they finally allowed unlocking stuff in local multiplayer? Since I'd never play it online but not unlocking shit turned me off from the local too.

Anyone? It's the only defect I found in this game really.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Let's hope somebody makes a spyware linux distribution so that the chinese can use it for gaming whilst the government safely spies on them.

View this comment - View article - View full comments