Space strategy stellaris. Stellaris is your space, your rules. Review. Academician Pupkin, at your service

When a studio like Paradox Interactive, best known for its 4X historical strategy games, decides to ride a rocket and explore the depths of space, you involuntarily begin to worry about the end result. What if it doesn't work out, what if it gets boring or too crooked (impressions from the early version of the recent Master of Orion are still fresh in your memory)?

It would be better if it was crooked, because after another sleepless night, there is a desire to curse both the developers who created Stellaris and the entire galaxy along with the “Play” button on Steam, calling to click on it either at six in the evening or at seven in the morning. Painfully entertaining 4X-project turned out.

⇡ Freedom to the galactic pigs!

The day for the reptilian Vasily did not work out in the morning. Empire on fire - inside the borders, separatists who want independence for their system are raging, outside, militant conquistador clams with a powerful fleet are pressing. And on the far front, not everything is going smoothly - there is a war between two powerful factions, which risks spreading to friendly systems. There are definitely not enough resources to solve all the problems at once.

The paragraph above describes the real situation that developed during the next game in Stellaris. This is one of hundreds options development of events. However, in order to grow to such proportions, there is a long way to go. To begin with, we are offered to decide on the race, and this is not a quick process. An impressive selection from ordinary people to intelligent pacifist mushrooms. And after all, each one is distinguished by its political system, attitude towards other species and a lot of additional parameters and nuances. If you don’t like the options available by default, then there is a convenient editor at hand where you can either tweak or build your own civilization from scratch.

Then it remains only to go to conquer the inhospitable space. Paradox understands that great things start small, so at the start you will get the role of space pioneers, that is, a race that has just mastered the technology of moving over long distances. If at this moment you open a galactic map, then you can be seriously scared of the scale. But you should not be afraid, because Stellaris is very patient with beginners and, without rushing at all, explains the features of its mechanics step by step. For example, scientific ships, like research, need leaders: anomalies, neighboring systems and new technologies will not study themselves. For other cases, it is not necessary to hire leaders, but it is desirable - governors and admirals will give useful bonuses to settlements and fleets. Moreover, the secret of eternal life, even in deep space, has remained a secret - members of the ruling elite grow old and die. It is especially annoying when a scientist engaged in important research departs to another world, and, as luck would have it, right now there are not enough resources to replace him. And this is just one of the many little things to keep in mind.

In general, the fresh "paradoxical" strategy can be conditionally divided into three levels of control: planetary, systemic and galactic. On the surface of celestial bodies, we set the vector for the development of settlements: what exactly to build and which of the inhabitants to send to work at a mining or production station. In a separate solar system, it is possible to study celestial bodies if you got here for the first time, as well as install a variety of structures, from scientific stations to defensive outposts. Finally, information about the resources in each specific region is available on the map of the universe - having this data, you can plan in which direction to move the borders of the empire, and which of the neighbors is better to beware of.

And all this happens not in the usual step-by-step mode for the genre, but in real time. At any time, the player can change the speed of its flow or pause it in order to calmly issue orders or read the description of technologies. Very unusual, and the eyes in the first hour are desperately trying to find the "End Turn" button. However, you soon get used to it, the study of dozens of systems is addictive, and then, after a certain number of minutes (depending on the size and shape of the chosen galaxy), you find that you are far from alone in the universe. There is already romance of free space travel and incredible discoveries initial stage the game is gradually running into a wall of geopolitical problems and interspecies hostility. This is felt especially sharply if you are “lucky” to find yourself between xenophobic neighbors who flatly refuse to let even civilian research vessels into their territory, not to mention the military fleet.

From the moment when the map of the galaxy begins to fill with multi-colored ovals with the coats of arms of various states, Stellaris becomes a trade and political simulator. To strengthen peaceful coexistence, various agreements are concluded, embassies are established, alliances are formed and even federations are created, but not all races are eager to cooperate. This is where brute force comes in handy. However, no one will let anyone invade someone else's territory just like that - it is necessary not only to declare war, but also to indicate the purpose for which it is being waged. For example, make the losing side your vassal or force it to give the selected planets under your leadership. A certain amount of limited battle points is spent on each of the requirements, so it’s not possible to roll your lip and capture everything at once - you need to think and choose.

The collisions themselves take place automatically. You simply direct the ships to attack, and then the game itself will calculate who and how much damage was inflicted. At this time, a window with information about the current situation in the battle is displayed on the left, but the maximum that you can do is to give the order to retreat. Therefore, there is no point in dividing the flotilla into several links; anyway, they cannot be controlled in a direct battle. It is easier to form one giant armada from all combat units - Stellaris allows you to combine an infinite number of troops into a “stack” and roll out everyone who gets in the way with the resulting lump.

⇡ Someday this empire will be yours, son

Over time, the number of colonized and captured planets will grow so much that it is simply physically impossible to cope with them. This is not to mention the fines for exceeding the limit of controlled celestial bodies. Therefore, it is possible to separate systems into separate sectors - such autonomies are controlled by a computer, and a percentage of the resources extracted on its territory flows into your treasury. And here new problems begin - this does not like the political system, an opposition faction has appeared there. Gaining enough supporters artificial intelligence first, it will incite the settlement to rebellion, then sabotage production, and the final chord will be an armed uprising in order to gain independence.

And it is worth at least ten minutes to be distracted and let everything take its course, as a formidable empire hangs over the abyss, at the bottom of which the chaos of civil war rages. It happens, of course, at the most inconvenient moment. You can conduct a military campaign on distant frontiers in order to expand influence, and at this time, the other half of the state, to the sound of pop-up notifications, will proclaim its independence, deprive the flow of all resources located on its territory, and it’s good if it doesn’t have time to make friends with your own enemy.

Oddly enough, the interface will help prevent this. It is worth paying tribute to Paradox for taking care of users - despite the large number of windows, it is simply impossible to get lost in them. It is always clear where you are and where to click, and tooltips will not only describe the technology or parameter in detail, but also help you understand what resources are being spent on right now. You just need to feel free to hover over an incomprehensible element. The highlighted menu deserves special praise, where all the information about controlled planets, troops, civilian ships, factions and other important parameters is presented in a convenient form. If at the start of the game you don’t pay much attention to it, then in the later stages it turns into the main tool for controlling the vital signs of a huge empire.

It's probably time to end, and it's been too much. However, everything described here is only a tiny part of the strategy that Paradox released on Steam without much advertising. This completely unpredictable, incredibly addictive and complex creation can easily make you fall out of real life for many days. And even after the game, there is no desire to leave Stellaris for 30-40 hours. I would like to choose another race, set the difficulty higher, and the map - more and again go to conquer the galaxy.

At the start, every crystal is important, then every grain of energy, and then an ephemeral and so hard to get influence comes to the fore - here it is also a resource, and the most important one. But as soon as this bright world gets stronger and gets on its feet, it settles under its own weight. And this is without trade caravans and espionage - they do not exist at all.

Transition Difficulties

It's no secret that in many space strategies the outcome of the entire game seriously depends on the only - the first - confrontation with the enemy. If your fleet of one and a half frigates and a snotty admiral was destroyed, wind it up and start from the beginning. It's too early to talk about winning, but they lose at this stage. In due to the vast size of the universe, the line of success is often even closer: the interests of empires usually cross late, and the development curve itself is important from the first days (which gives rise to an unhealthy thirst for a restart for the sake of a little more resources.)

The reason for this is a peculiar control system: directly the player-ruler can control only five to seven planets (depending on the form of government), and the rest must be allocated to peripheral "sectors", for which only some options are available. You can also turn planets into vassals - this is an even greater degree of autonomy, quite suitable for states defeated in a swift war. The idea is clear - to save the player from excessive micromanagement. However, the AI ​​does not manage its fiefdom very well, and victory is mainly forged on the central, first colonized planets. Their potential will determine in what state you will meet the first neighbors: hit or miss.

The second point, due to which a strong start decides everything in general, is the strict restrictions on the size of the fleet at the beginning of the game. Ships take relatively few energy resources - a more or less fit state can freely afford "heaven in destroyers". Therefore, apparently, they decided to establish a balance by tightening the screws. In the first encounters, your limit is 12-15 frigates. But this is the limit of the opponent! Therefore, if a player has at least one more planet, he is the king in his part of the universe. After all, there are already 20 frigates. It is impossible to influence the outcome of the battle, and therefore the confrontation is exclusively arithmetic. By the way, the leaders of the nation - admirals, rulers, scientists - develop without giving the player any choice regarding their skills.

As a result, after meeting with competitors, the main task is to quarrel with at most one of them. Because one thing is 20 by 15, and quite another - 20 by 30. You say that sometimes this can be an impossible task for diplomats? Alas, even intractable opponents due to ethical differences are surprisingly passive. Watching the birth of "big bad" in your face, neighboring alliances will not lift a finger, watching the disappearance of another smaller republic with a sad look of compound eyes ... The only consolation is that to win, it is enough to capture 40% of the colonized planets. Or subjugate/destroy everyone - this is usually a longer and more tedious approach.

Well, we understood the basic mechanisms, and now we are ready for a serious battle. Raise the difficulty level, start again... And we see that the only available settings of the universe relate to the number of stars. The abundance of resources, the percentage of habitable planets, the number of hyperspace channels are all decided for the player. And the space is still plowed by space leviathans, indifferent to our ships, regardless of the chosen race. And 100% of the quests of the first stage are repeated in the first hour of the game. And the only racial characteristic that seriously affects the course of events is her way of moving between the stars. Replayability is rapidly approaching zero.

Lifelong company

The interface, from the first seconds persistently demonstrating shortcut keys for each action, leads to the fact that the game should be revealed in multiplayer. here it is revealed how a wilted flower was in caring hands! Very slow and yet amazing.

A confrontation of universal proportions can take place with the participation of up to 32 emperors! And here most of the minuses fade into the background - when a person plays instead of AI, diplomacy and alliances (as well as stabs in the back) acquire a completely different strength. "Monotonous" universe, boring in single player, distributes approximately equal chances at the start. Wars become much less linear, and cooperation becomes multidimensional and more fair (a computer does not understand the value of resources at all: for example, a pair of crystals can persuade it to conclude a multi-year scientific agreement). What is happening is exciting: look, for example, at analysis collisions during the competition with the participation of 22 players - briefly, for 40 minutes.

Keep in mind, however, that multiplayer requires a colossal cost of one additional real resource. The scale of what is happening and the low speed of the game mean that a promising game lasts for several days! At the same time, on the first day, you may not encounter any human competitor in a military confrontation at all, and in the later stages, emperors should be prepared for negotiations that can last all night. Yes, the game continues under the guidance of AI, if you suddenly fall asleep from exhaustion and turn off the computer with your nose. But the one who yearns for victory must put a lot of time on her altar! And by the end of the third day, he may be fourth and finish with a “wooden medal”…

Stellaris is another hardcore strategy game by Paradox (this time about conquering space, capturing civilizations, etc.) and unexpectedly the most commercially successful of them. In the circles of fans of the genre, they have been waiting for it for a long time and had certain hopes, but no one expected that it would turn out to be so loud and popular. Still, in our time, such projects are very niche things.

After the creation and start of the campaign, in general, the classic 4X strategy begins, in which there is no specific plot, and the goal is to develop in all directions, enslave, explore and fight. Here, however, a lot of players can stop in fear of closing Stellaris. In the gaming society, there is such a thing as a “game from programmers”: this is when art design is not very good, you can’t really say anything about comfort and understandability (in the sense that it doesn’t exist), but there is a terrible amount of all sorts of buttons, panels, functions, conditions, ticks, crosses and alerts. Stellaris is the perfect embodiment of this stereotype, and it will take you hours to figure out the chaos of buttons and conditions that the game encounters.

Three resources. First, it is the energy necessary for everything in general. Secondly, these are minerals that play the role of money. Fans have already managed to joke that in this universe, everything from people to intelligent jellyfish - receive a salary in the form of pieces of rock. And thirdly, there is influence that goes into special edicts and character recruitment.

Verdict

You can not do the same thing for a long time, no matter how interesting it may be. Take, for example, the Swedish studio Paradox Interactive, in the track record of which you can see entirely global historical strategies (except, perhaps, the Penumbra series). You may have heard of them before... Europa Universalis, Victoria, Hearts of Iron and others; they all rightfully entered the pantheon best games genre and are unlikely to ever be excluded from it.

And it seems that soon one more thing will be attributed to all these big names - Stellaris. But this time, "Paradoxes" decided on a radical change in the setting and now think on a galactic scale. Did it benefit new series? Let's find out now!

Adventure on a galactic scale

Games have always stood out from their peers in the genre with their incredible complexity - sorting out the same Europa Universalis was not an easy task. Whether it's Stellaris, in which everything is easier with this and even a beginner can start playing, since everything is explained in detail from the very beginning.

Therefore, if you are not a seasoned gamer and want to join the genre of serious global strategies, then it is better not to find a candidate for this role Stellaris, since in just thirty minutes you can fully understand the mechanics and play further.

Before you start conquering the galaxy, you will need to choose a race. Or create your own, as an option. The second is even more preferable, because the wide possibilities of the local editor allow you to sculpt everything you want - from the cruel civilization of reptilians to the peaceful democratic society of anthropomorphic fennec foxes.

However, chanterelles in Stellaris are very, very different ...

After all the preparations, the action is transferred to space - to the home planet of the civilization over which you have taken patronage. Once you have a spaceport under your control, you can begin to produce (and design) scientific, construction, colonial and military ships in order to lead the controlled space empire to victory.

Developers remain true to themselves, and this is primarily expressed in the fact that all the action of Stellaris takes place in real time.

However, a quick and relatively easy start does not mean that the path to galactic domination will be as simple - as is customary with Paradox Interactive, there are many nuances that are easy to get confused about. The local beginning is reminiscent of a highly complicated space stage Spore: the player needs to expand their possessions, extract resources, study distant planets and, if possible, ennoble their own.

But there are a thousand and one nuances. For example, for scientific ships and for the study of technologies, scientists must be appointed, and for planets, governors. Of course, they can be hired, but the problem is that humanity (and not only) even in 2200, alas, could not master immortality, therefore, to replace employees who died of old age, they have to hire new ones who work much worse than their deceased and wiser ones colleagues.

And do not forget that death does not always occur only for natural reasons ... No one (even an alien) is immune from the fact that, relatively speaking, a brick will not fall on his head at one fine moment, and this will end his glorious life path .

Spore is mentioned for a reason, because Stellaris is the same unpredictable story game in which anything can happen. You can come across a planet whose inhabitants are at a very early level of development. It will not be possible to make contact with them, so you can watch them by building a scientific station in orbit. And this is not a simple imitation of life, because in the future this civilization will reach the cosmic stage and will be exactly the same as you, a player in the political arena. You can get a good benefit from such a situation by helping the natives with technologies, because in the future they will become vassals of your state with the possibility of full integration into the empire.

Everything is complicated with technologies in Stellaris, and there is no visual tree, as in Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth, because, according to the developers, all technologies are built for each race separately, based on its parameters. And this is not very convenient, because it is not known where the technology under study will eventually lead.

And in general, convenience is not the strongest feature of the novelty. It is easy to get confused in the interface, and navigating through a thousand systems of a huge galaxy is not very convenient. For example, in order to enter this galaxy map, you need to press a separate button on the keyboard (by default "E") or click on the corresponding button. Oh, how convenient it would be if the map, like the same Spore, scaled automatically!

The beginning is the most effective and the best part Stellaris. The start looks something like this: to the magical music, as if coming out from under the instruments of Hans Zimmer, you send a scientific ship to study the nearest star systems for useful and not very planets. You don’t need to fly far - one of these will definitely be found in your native system. Without wasting time (remember that everything happens in real time!), We send a construction ship to the object, which builds a mining station in its orbit.

Resources are gradually replenished, and at first glance, everything is fine. But do not forget that space is full of dangers - at the beginning of the game, the so-called space amoebas can annoy, so building warships in spaceports and pumping lasers is vital even if you have chosen the path of a pacifist reptilian who will not hurt an amoeba fly .

And this is only a small part of the cases, and their number will increase over time: the colonization of planets, the study of anomalies and many other interesting things need your close attention, so sitting idly by for even a couple of seconds will not work, otherwise the whole empire will fall apart, you won't even be able to blink an eye. Yes, the game loves micromanagement.

One day there comes a moment when it becomes impossible to fully control your vast possessions. And here the opportunity to divide the systems into sectors and give each of them under the control of artificial intelligence comes in handy. The manager from him is so-so, but he helps to throw off a huge pile of accumulated obligations and get rid of an extra headache.

Moreover, your state can literally fall apart - as in the last Europa Universalis, the separatists can revolt and separate from your glorious space union. Of course, they can be bribed or weakened by propaganda, if only resources were enough.

As for the war, then in Stellaris in the early stages it is rather optional, if not optional. Dangers in the form of pirates and aggressive unknown lifeforms can be faced in distant systems, but aggression from other space-states is difficult to run into, and even hard-nosed militarist dictators attack only in the most extreme cases.

At the beginning of the game, you will not meet intelligent life forms - at most, space ones. They are not very smart and can be aggressive, but they are not able to deliver serious problems even to an empire that is just getting on its feet.

At the same time, it is possible that you will be in splendid isolation for a long time to colonize and build up other planets, since the first brothers in mind random generator numbers can throw very far from your starting point. However, meeting with other intelligent civilizations is inevitable, and sooner or later the first contact is bound to happen. And how warm it will be, it is impossible to predict.

Naturally, each race has its own ideas about good and evil, so by definition, friendly relations cannot develop with someone, but this does not mean that war in Stellaris is a must. The fact is that the artificial intelligence in the game is rather weak, so you should not count on any diplomatic tricks on his part. Yes, and with diplomacy everything is standard here: you can go to war against an enemy, establish an embassy, ​​invite you to an alliance, bargain, but that's where it ends.

For example, the race of these slugs lives under the yoke of an absolute monarchy, and it will be impossible for peaceful pacifists to find a common language with them. Well, it didn’t hurt, and I wanted to!

And sadly, war is one of the few ways to win (there are only two of them - world domination and the capture of 40% of the systems in the galaxy) in Stellaris and perhaps the only opportunity to entertain yourself in the later stages of the game, when there are no more interesting objects to explore, and the treasury is bursting with resources.

No, you don’t think that the battles are not bad at all and it’s even interesting to watch them (thanks to the excellent graphics), but playing as a race of staunch pacifists and at the same time declaring war on other empires… It’s a bit strange, agree?

Tactics is for the weak, because in Stellaris, the one who stamped the most advanced ships always wins.

Speaking of graphics, it should be noted that Paradox Interactive made not just a great strategy, but a great looking great strategy. Here it is worth remembering the previous games of the Swedish studio: they were all graphically sketchy, and the player had to draw all the epic battles and historical events in his imagination. But in Stellaris, everything has changed dramatically: the visual performance is pleasing to the eye, and watching how the ships cross the damn beautiful space over and over again does not bother even at the twentieth hour of the game.

In addition, despite all its graphical splendor, Stellaris requires little. On the “recommended” configuration (Intel Core i3-2100 @ 3.1 GHz, 4 GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti-level video card), the FPS counter, if it drops below 60 frames per second, is only a hundred to two hundred years after the start of the game, and then these subsidences up to 38-40 frames cannot be called critical, because we are talking about the global strategy.

Oil painting: space whales fly into space against the background of Saturn. But seriously, there are still a lot of such shots in Stellaris.

Conclusion

If you look at greatest games released throughout the existence of the industry, you understand that they all not only tell interesting stories, but also allow the player to write them himself. And in Stellaris, this is all right - before us is one of those few games that make us connect fantasy without compromising the gameplay, because it is already so beautiful.

Building your space empire has never been so exciting, and therefore the new creation of Paradox Interactive pulls again and again, despite all its shortcomings like not very smart AI, too standard diplomacy, confusing interface and “sagging” late game. Well, after a continuous five-hour game, I want to at least retell everything that happened to a friend, but as much as possible put it on paper.

Although the events in Stellaris are probably not enough for a multi-volume novel. Anyway, for now. Knowing the "Paradoxes", we can assume that all the disadvantages listed above are temporary, and soon the developers will release more than a dozen patches and DLCs that will add even more features and content. But even in its current state, the novelty looks impressive, and you want to explore space until all its mysteries are revealed.

And after another long game, there is a desire to go to the menu, press the button again New game and lead a race of sentient, bloodthirsty mushrooms to galactic domination in the name of their mighty emperor.

Hmm, that's a great plan!

Verdict: Stellaris will make you experience dozens of unforgettable adventures and deprive you of sleep. Definitely the best global space strategy to date.

Rating: 9.0 ("Great").

Ruslan Gubaidullin

• Discussion of the game at the conference site.

They are widely recognized among fans of the genre. It was all the more interesting to watch the birth of the space 4X strategy Stellaris, which was supposed to combine the best features of games from Paradox and other games of the genre.

Interstellar

But slow doesn't mean boring. Stellaris at first, it constantly throws something interesting to the player - then you find an old destroyed battleship of an ancient race in orbit of some planet, which can be towed and dismantled for parts, then on one of the studied worlds there is a primitive race (which you can quietly watch for years) , then the core of some asteroid turns out to be a real neural network.

In the same random way, the game also offers technologies for research in three areas, eliminating Stellaris from the main scourge of games of this genre - the same type and primitive start. True, when the game diligently prevents you from learning a technology that is extremely important for further expansion (for example, terraforming), you want to hit the local randomizer with your fist.

Academician Pupkin, at your service

All research, including the study of distant systems with the help of scientific ships, takes place with the direct participation of scientists - Paradox they simply could not help but introduce the institution of leaders from their other games into the game. Unfortunately, their presence does not have much influence on the process, but their death, especially if it is a scientist, falls heavily on the player - after all, the replacement of scientific personnel is still worth the same ill-fated “Influence”, which is spent not only on the construction of outposts and hiring important people, but also for the issuance of decrees.

After capturing five or more planets in Stellaris A new phase of the game is coming when parts of your empire have to be farmed out to AI governors. The idea is definitely interesting, because they tried to free us from the routine, but, at the moment, it looks just like an idea - in fact, we still have to manage large construction projects and choose the general line of behavior for our lands, while the governors themselves automate only a small part of the processes, and not very successful. At the same time, independent sectors serve as a separate source of constant headaches, especially if representatives of other races live on the planets. Separatism, the movement for independence, armed uprisings - the ruler of a vast space country must understand what a disregard for domestic politics can lead to.

Soon the player's empire will be surrounded on all sides by hostile or not so hostile states of other races. victory conditions in Stellaris currently two - owning a certain number of habitable planets or controlling (directly or through federations or vassals) 40% of the galaxy. Kindly, of course, even pacifists will not give you their planets - you will have to fight.

And now the war, unfortunately, is the most weak side games at the moment. Assemble a fatter fleet - and that's it, watch the enemy fleets crumble into space dust. Only it is not always possible to pull off this trick, remembering the random order of the issued technologies and the presence of the so-called "Fading Empires" on the map, whose fleet and technology level can be disproportionately higher than that of any race in the galaxy.

War and Peace

Another endgame problem for any game in Stellaris- extremely chaotic relations with neighbors and very primitive diplomacy. Allies are stupid and passive, opponents are even more stupid and aggressive. And instead of leading your empire into a happy future, you spend the last hours fighting AI stupidity and chasing a steel fist from one system to another.

Of course, in addition to this Stellaris there are a whole lot of different features, mechanics, unpredictable twists and original solutions that can be studied over the long hours of play - and that's what makes it great. It is bad that at the moment there are no two important components of any strategy of this kind - espionage and trade. We are waiting for additions, DLC and patches. The first one, by the way, has already been released and made some changes to the balance and interface, the next one promises, among other things, to add new victory conditions and improve the AI ​​of controlled sectors.

***

From the time of Master of Orion II or at least Endless Space there has never been such a smart, deep, beautiful and varied 4X strategy. Stellaris, despite numerous unpleasant little things, is currently the best representative of the genre and a must-have purchase for anyone who has a soft spot for similar games. Doubters can wait for the release of patches and DLC, all the rest - we invite you to the stores.