Stellaris, the sprawling and much-expanded 4X space strategy game by Paradox, is free to try out from now until Sunday, May 12th. If you like it, you can snap it up for cheap. The game has now been out for three years, and while it may have been considered a little bare-bones at launch, a trio of major expansions (and some smaller DLC) plus some huge free patches have turned it into a 4X favourite. As well as managing a sprawling space empire, it has a bit of personality to it, with major and minor story arcs cropping up in the vein of Crusader Kings. See the anniversary trailer below.
]]>Hi! I’m an incredibly charismatic space otter, and I love you! Not just you! I love everyone, be they otter analogues, bird people, or particularly advanced fungal infections! I even love murderous robots, which I’m aware is not a great idea because they’re murderous robots!
At least that’s what Stellaris’ Scyldari would say, if they could do anything apart from bat their ears adorably on the game’s menu screens. Paradox’s Stellaris is freeform grand strategy, in the mould of the developer’s other games Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings, and as such is much more about numbers and menus than cut-scenes or narrative arcs.
]]>A funny old week in the charts, which is to say, H1Z1 and The Witcher 3 have been shoved out by the hatrick of appearances from Stellaris. Also it's worth noting that Dishonored: Death Of The Outsider has disappeared after just one week, which seems a bit of a shame.
Oh, and as correctly predicted last week, absolutely no sign of XCOM 2 making nearly as much money now it's back to £34.99 for both the base game and the War of the Chosen expansion. Shocking!
]]>'Terrible' only in the sense of their gaming capability. Honestly, I'm sure your laptop is lovely to look at and it was definitely a extremely sensible idea to spend all that money on it instead of buying a holiday or helping to save the pandas. Truth is, though, that playing recently-released games on the vast majority of laptops is about as effective as starting an online petition to uncancel your favourite television show.
A little discretion goes a long way, however. Sure, you may be denied the glossiest of exploding viscera, but it is entirely possible to keep up with the Joneses even on a Terrible Laptop that has no dedicated graphics card. Here are but twelve contemporary games - either recently released or still-evolving going concerns - that will indeed run on your glammed-up toaster. Additional suggestions below are entirely welcome.
]]>Last time in this diary on grand space strategy Stellaris, my species of sugary, democratic Tortals invited everyone to their space nation regardless of race, creed or culture. It was a burgeoning multicultural utopia called the Open Gates. Then a terrifying horde of transdimensional beings arrived and started to eat everyone like a rack of saucy ribs, which is against the rules.
The Tortals and their compatriots have now escaped in a flotilla of refugee ships to the Shell, a corner of space where they hope to be safe. They are far from the Unbidden, the aforementioned interdimensional gatecrashers, but now they have new neighbours in the form of of two very large despotic empires. And, as any cultured dictator knows, shells usually contain something tasty and soft inside.
]]>"It will all take care of itself" – infamous Tortal saying
Welcome to the Open Gates of Tortal. All are welcome here. Are you a slithering conformist lizard looking for employment? Come and work in our power plants. Maybe you’re a consumerist mollusc seeking some retail therapy? Then visit our pleasure districts. Are you a titanic ocean beast of uncertain origin? Join our defensive military academy, you’ll fit right in. The Open Gates are for everyone. Wait, who are you? Oh, an aggressive inter-dimensional collective of carnivorous energy? GET OUT. SPACE IS FULL.
]]>He was a boy. She was a girl. Can I make it anymore obvious? He wrote the weekly Steam charts. She read them.
What more can I say?
Other than that these are the ten Steam games with the most accumulated sales over the past week, obv. See ya later, boy.
]]>Utopia is the first major expansion for Stellaris, Paradox Development Studio’s 4X, grand strategy space hydra. It’s a term that normally conjures up images of a perfect society, all green and chill and maybe a little like Star Trek’s United Federation of Planets. That’s nice, I guess, but what if your idea of perfection is building a civilization on the backs of robotic slaves? And what about a monstrous hive of ravenous beasties that won’t rest until all matter in the universe has been consumed? What would its utopia look like? I’ve been experimenting with a galaxy-sized petri dish to find out.
]]>Today's a big day for Stellaris [official site], as developers Paradox have launched its first proper expansion and a big game-changing patch. Headline features for the Utopia expansion include space habitats, dreadful new forms of enslaving and purging species, and 'ascension perks' to customise and shape species towards mechanical, biological, or psionic final forms. Update 1.5 (nicknamed Banks), meanwhile, reworks the government system, adds a civics system to make empires more unique, improves AI, fixes bugs, adds technologies, and changes plenty more. Exciting times in space.
]]>As long-time readers will know, I don't believe there's any possibility of a party unless someone brings a strategy game to the dancefloor. This year, EGX Rezzed is going to be party central. For the first time, Paradox will have a presence at the show, in the form of three playable games (including the just-announced Steel Division: Normandy 44's multiplayer) and two developer sessions. They're both on the Friday, with Cities: Skylines up first at 12PM and Stellaris following at 2PM. In the former, you'll hear Colossal Order's CEO on continuous development post-release, and working with a large community, and in the latter Stellaris' game director will talk about the first year post-release, and the major expansion, Utopia.
]]>The first proper expansion for Stellaris [official site] will launch on April 6th, Paradox announced today. Utopia adds shiny futuristic features like buildable Dyson spheres, ring worlds, and habitat stations (very utopian), psionic, biological, and mechanical 'Ascension' paths (also utopian), and a variety of new ways to oppress and enslave other races (very... Omelasian). Well, utopias are always meant to be rhetorical, aren't they? While Utopia is a paid expansion, the big update 'Banks' will launch for free alongside it with a load of handy new features.
]]>Having previously launched a few DLCdribs and DLCdrabs into Stellaris [official site], Paradox today announced Utopia, the first "major expansion" for their space strategy game. It will introduce Dyson spheres and ring worlds, let starlords shape their empire's future form such as going cybernetic or reaching a higher plane of existence, and more.
As is customary with Paradox strategy expansions, Utopia will be accompanied by a free update with important new features of its own. Changes in update 1.5, nicknamed 'Banks', will include expanding species rights, reworking ethics, and adding refugees.
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![קודי רכבת סטאר של Honkai [דצמבר 2024]](https://assetsio.gnwcdn.com/honkai-star-rail-bronya-fu-xuan.jpg?width=1200&height=630&fit=crop&enable=upscale&auto=webp "קודי רכבת סטאר של Honkai [דצמבר 2024]")
