Hello everyone! The 2.8.0 'Butler' patch should now be live on all platforms! We are super proud of this release and we are excited to see what kind of spOooOOky Empires you all will create with the Necroids Species Pack! We have also included quite a few bugfixes and QOL improvements that we think everyone will enjoy :) For those of you that read Last weeks Dev Diary, you might've noticed that we mentioned that we've been working on some more stuff that couldn't make it into the main release and that we would release as a 'Beta Patch' sometime in the future. Well I'm glad to announce that that time is the same time as 2.8.0 :D. You can check out the changelog for 2.8.1 [checksum 9dc4] below! (The patch currently says 2.8.0, but just verify the checksum and you should have it!) The 2.8.1 Beta Patch is available on Steam only, as this is the only platform that supports separate branches. Once we release it live as the default patch, all platforms will receive the update at the same time! With the release of 2.8.0, we are also enabling dx11 support which should boost loading times and performance in some cases. However, please note that we're only enabling this as an opt-in solution for now, as it still is in an experimental stage! Steam users can use the launch command options as mentioned in the changelog, but for MS Store users you need to follow these steps: 1. Right click on your desktop and select New/Shortcut 2. Set the location of the item to (assuming your Windows folder is on C:\): C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C start shell:AppsFolder\ParadoxInteractive.Stellaris-MicrosoftStoreEdition_zfnrdv2de78ny!App -dx11 3. Click Next, choose a name for the shortcut and click Finish 4. Start Stellaris using the shortcut Final note about dx11, it currently does not support languages that uses special fonts (Polish, Russian, and Chinese). We're working hard to figure out what's causing the issue! Save games shouldn't be adversely affected by the switch from 2.7.2 to 2.8.0, but just in case you do encounter issues, you can roll back to a prior version via right click on Stellaris in library -> Properties -> Betas -> choose the desired version. Please note that 2.8.1 is an optional beta patch. You have to manually opt in to access it. Go to your Steam library, right click on Stellaris -> Properties -> betas tab -> select "stellaris_test" branch. If you want to play crossplay multiplayer with your friends on non-steam platforms you can opt into the "crossplay" branch in Steam in the same way as above.

2.8.0 "Butler" Patch Notes

# Necroids Species Pack Features

* Added a new Necroid pre-scripted Empire. * Added a new Phenotype with 16 new portraits (15 normal + 1 robot) of spooky scary Jeffoids Necroids. * Added a new City Set and room backdrop for Necroids. * Added a new dark and eerie Ship set. * Added a new Advisor Voice. * Added three new Civics: Death Cult, Reanimated Armies and Memorialist. * Added Necrophage, a new Origin.

2.8.0 "Butler" Features

* Added new Gestalt Governor Leader Traits: Amplifier and Mindfulness - both increase Administrative Capacity in relevant Pop Jobs. * Systems spawned during the game (e.g. precursor ones) will now usually have two hyperlanes instead of one. * Added a new experimental DirectX11 support launch command (-dx11).

Balance

* Gestalt empires can no longer build the Hyperlane Registrar starbase building as they have no use for it. * The Oracle's admin bonus now grants +10% more admin cap instead of just +20. * Observation Post Indoctrination events now have a 540 day cooldown before they can fire again. * Terraforming Candidate is now a bit more common in the early game. * Terminal Orbit anomaly's reward has been buffed slightly.

Stability & Performance

* Greatly improved startup and load times. * Optimised the refugees system to perform fewer duplicate checks. * Fixed an OOS related to armies created from Pops. * Fixed an OOS happening if someone is hotjoining while a country is marked for destruction. * Fixed an OOS with planet modifiers related to species crossbreeding. * Fixed an OOS with Federation Fleet Capacity. * Fixed a source of false positive OOS. * Fixed a CTD when transferring a save file during hotjoin. * Fixed a CTD that might happen when the outliner is updating certain elements when borders are updating. * Fixed a CTD when planets are removed and have active construction. * Fix CTD in Colonize window after dismantling shipyard. * Disabled AlienFX/LightFX since it has been reported to have issues and might cause a CTD/freeze when starting the game (at 30% loading). * Added a "hardoos" option that adds extra checksums to make it easier to catch causes for OOS. * Fixed an OOS when you find a precursor civ. event and an observer is present at game start * Tick time optimization (more efficient parallelisation (game go vroom vroom)).

UI

* Fixed some Settings UIs having overrunning text in some non-english languages. * Fixed overlapping text in Empire Modifiers tab in some non-english languages. * The Curators' "goodbye" option is now always placed at the bottom of the option list. * Envoys can't be reassigned to the same location. * You can now only resettle your primary species away from planets with culture shock.

AI

* The AI is more willing to lower federation centralization if they are the federation president. They now care if Cohesion and Monthly Cohesion are negative. * Crisis AI will now be more likely to seek honorable alternatives to doomstacks (i.e. it will split its fleet up a bit more). * AI will now refill starbase modules and buildings if they are destroyed. * AI now handles FTL inhibitors better, new fleets will now try to assign each fleet to the closest most valuable objective. * AI should now handle Colossi correctly again. Fear will keep the local systems in line. * AI empires with the Void Dwellers origin are now more likely to choose the Voidborne ascension perk. * AI in Mercantile stance is now less likely to close borders. * AI now builds branch offices where it can rather than trying again and again to go on a world where there's already a branch office. * Fleet AI should not abort orders for defensive fleets like merging. * Fixed Fleet AI getting stuck in a regroup loop if some fleets cannot reach the system for regrouping. * Make sure AI fleets stop when issued orders to merge.

Modding

* You can now use [ ] localisation commands in building descriptions. * Added trigger num_assigned_jobs = { job = /unemployed value > 2 }. * Added is_ambient_object_type trigger. * It is now possible to use scope variables in the create_message effect. * ideal_planet_class trigger now works in pop and species scope, and also accepts a planet scope as the right hand side argument. * Added remove_starbase_building and remove_starbase_module effects. * Added change_colony_foundation_date = effect. * Trigger has_available_jobs now works. * Added set_ship_prefix effect for country scope. * Added set_adjective effect for country scope. * change_government now has a cooldown = yes/no toggle (default is yes). * Added effect set_government_cooldown = integer/default/no. * added the missing settings to the get_galaxy_setup_value effect. ** Here's the new, up to date, list: *** num_empires, num_advanced_empires, num_fallen_empires, num_marauder_empires, mid_game_year, end_game_year, victory_year, num_guaranteed_colonies, num_gateways, num_wormhole_pairs, num_hyperlanes, habitable_worlds_scale, primitive_worlds_scale, crisis_strength_scale, tech_costs_scale. * Added set_origin effect, but note, it'll usually not be useful to use this as effects executed during galaxy generation will not be rerun. * last_created_system now works. * Added defines SPAWN_SYSTEM_BUFFER_DISTANCE and SPAWN_SYSTEM_ATTEMPTS, in case you want to try funky things with the spawn_system effect. * set_location now works on juggernauts. * Added on_colony_10_year_pulse on_action * any_ambient_object and any_system_ambient_object scopes now no longer cause false positives in the error log. * on_colony_5_year_pulse now works on the capital too. * abort_trigger, on_fail and on_cancel in special projects now all use the same scopes.

Bugfixes

* Fixed so that Zroni Precursor Arc Sites cannot be "hijacked" by another Empire. * Multiple Curator Scientist cannot be purchased any longer. * Added checks to see if the host has the appropriate DLCs for the slave market-oriented Resolutions. * Added missing Loc when proposal for forming Federations failed. * Fixed leviathans.1018 tooltip not showing actual results of the event. * The UNE now spawns as intended when playing as the Commonwealth of Man. * Fixed missing localisation in event The Oracle. * Slave Market Resolutions are now properly locked without Megacorp DLC. * Restoring megastructures will now only cause the rubble from their ruined variants to be cleared, rather than all ambient objects in the system (including system effects e.g. nebulas...) * Droids can now take Colonist jobs. * Subjects can no longer create vassals. * Pox Bombardment no longer kills machine units. * Fixed a case where the Slave Riots event could happen twice on the same day. * Fixed being able to build from (mega) shipyards that are not owned. * Added missing localisation keys for resolution_passed_diplomatic_weight and resolution_failed_diplomatic_weight empire modifiers. * Hid Zroni and Shoulders of Giants arc sites from countries ineligible for completing them (thus hiding unlocalised anti-stealing flags). * Added missing descriptions to Evermore planetary modifiers. * The AI attitude of country A to B now depends on A's opinion of B rather than B's of A. This fixes Fallen Empires never declaring war. * Surveyor relic can no longer find new resource deposits on Ring Worlds or Habitats. * The Floating Value event text no longer mixes up the planet and ship names. * Corrected Russian translation of Galactic Contender ascension perk. * Fixed minor localization issue in the Senate Floor tutorial window. * Changes to a progress-tracking variable in Joint Operation: Genius Caeli are now hidden from the arc site panel. * Fixed various typos and duplications in the species name files. * A Quiet Stroll event now has different text for Synthetic empires. * Tree of Life deposits are now properly cleared when the planet changes owner. * Shielded Planet special projects now use the correct planet name. * Removed duplications in Tiyanki ship names. * System graphical effects are now removed when the final Contingency planet is destroyed. * VLUUR's space storm will no longer manifest in nebula systems. * Fixed minor tooltip issue in Atomic Countdown event. * Shortened and rewrote overlapping Vault of Acquisitions technology description. * Fixed completed construction items for reinforcements not being removed properly from the fleet manager. * Fixed research costs for Special Projects "Investigate the Loop Temple" and "Study the Messenger connection". * The correct event description should now always be shown in Finding the Truth. * Adjusted the tooltips for the Improve and Harm Relations diplomatic actions. * Observation Posts are now cleared if all primitives have been killed by orbital bombardment. * Removed duplicate entry in Alpha Hub technology. * Mining Drones no longer display the Rare Crystal icon in the Jobs interface. * Changed Miner and Technician building icons to be more consistent with other jobs. * Fixed issue where some Spiritualist responses weren't always displayed in first contact situations. * Removed duplicate cohesion effect from tooltip in federation fleet contribution laws. * Fixed transparency on room backgrounds from Federations. * Gestalts can no longer get the debris_gasgiant_category_temp anomaly at all - which is as it should be. * Unity should now always spawn as a continental planet when playing the UNE. * Fixed a bug where Star-Crossed Lovers could take refuge in the Mutaagan Trading Guild. * Gestalts that conquer a regular empire's starbase will no longer have Trading Hubs and Offworld Trading Companies there. * Fixed some cases of species growing on planets disappearing and reappearing every other month. * Fixed Species rights showing as in breach of galactic law when theyre not. * You can no longer get random tomb world events on tomb worlds created through armageddon bombardment and other similar causes. Also, you can now only get each of them once. * Event Primordial Soup no longer wrongly assumes that Terminator machines think organic life worthy of interest. * Space fauna resolutions can no longer be proposed if they're already active. * Made sure clearing the blocker creates the correct species. * Added in breach icons and warnings in confirm dialog for policies that would cause breach of galactic law. * Fixed a case where the sector AI would spam luxury residences to deal with low amenities if there aren't workers available to work as Entertainers. * Fixed a bug where special projects to investigate space fauna would sometimes lose the targets they were meant to investigate, become "Investigate ", and do nothing on completion. * Fixed a bug where the project to investigate Enclaves would talk about the system rather than the country. * Having comms established with you by enclaves no longer gives you influence. * The wrecked caravan ship ambient object is now removed by completing the project to research it. * Enslaving the species in the Underground Vault now shows the correct species will be enslaved. * Fixed some issues with special resources in the Hive Confluence building. * Added missing Army Names if the name list is picked for a Machine Intelligence empire. * Scions can now control their border access. * Fixed cases where sometimes the Galactic Market would take a while to allow buying and selling of special resources. * Gaia Worlds may no longer spawn with the 'poor quality minerals' planet modifier. * If you manage to create a species that is both psionic or cybernetic and erudite, the resulting leaders will now get both the cybernetic/psionic and the erudite traits. * Using modify_species to change the species of a country will now also target pops on colony ships. This fixes various gene modifications through events excluding colony ships. * Pops are now more likely to be maintenance drones if the planet lacks amenities. * Fixed some spaghetti script in the First Contact for Fallen Empires event, closing several loopholes where you could see Fallen Empires without them establishing contact with you. * Fixed a case where the event for Fallen Empires requesting the long-dead species you kept in stasis would fire twice. * Rewards for completing the Technosphere chain now take into account Gestalts (who cannot get Sapient AI tech). * Nu-Baol Life-Seeding now no longer removes Baol Homeworld planetary features. * Upgraded versions of planet-unique buildings now correctly specify that their number is capped per planet and keep their special background frame. * Fixed flags not being set correctly on building upgrades (which led to AI spamming upgrades it shouldn't have). * Fixed number of pacts not being visible in diplomacy windows at game start, as well as a potential OOS. * Fixed a case where Awakened Marauders would conquer a planet with less than 5 pops, kill all those pops and then spawn 12 pops on the planet (which, having been rendered uninhabited, no longer counts as a colony). * Fixed the tooltip for utterly failing the Enigmatic Cache uplift chain. * It is now possible for your ruler to be randomly given the trait Charismatic during their rule. * Events leading up to the spawning of a Relic Rails dig site may no longer fire multiple times. * Made sure that the relevant Fallen Empires actually exist in order for the Resolutions to be available. * Various fixes to the Golden Rule challenge for federation leadership, particularly addressing scenarios in which the event may not fire at the end of a presidential term. * Do not ping pong fleet groups that are on mission but the leader has jumped to the next system. * The tooltip for purchasing L-Gate insights from Curator Orders is now slightly more precise about the time it'll take them to identify each new clue. * Resolved late-game pirate fleets losing their scripted event targets. * The Yuhtaan system's star and planets are now correctly called "Yuhtaan" rather than "Yuthaan". * Fixed a stray "?" in the Blue Lotus Project event * The governor offered by the Nuumistic Order is now of the correct species * Opening the Alien Box will now change your dominant species rather than just modifying your pops and leaders. It will also now modify subspecies of the main species. * Forced a trait upon the event-created species that stops them from counting as Bio-Trophies. * Tooltips in the diplomacy screen regarding the other empire's federation is now more consistent. * Machine empires with the Resource Consolidation origin can now correctly adopt the Rogue Servitor civic when GC Resolution "A Defined Purpose" is passed (though they will be reset to the default origin in the process) * Fixed some cases where empires would be created during the game with random and inappropriate origins e.g. Doomsday. create_country now creates countries with Prosperous Unification by default. * Implemented an option trigger to stop an unnecessary/irrational option in an event. * Players will no longer receive alerts about war goals they cannot set anymore. * Fixed a case where marauder diadochi could spawn without any planets, breaking various things. * Fixed issues with space monsters sometimes being uncontactable. * Event experience reward is now assigned to the correct leader (scientist). * Systems spawned during the game e.g. precursor systems will now no longer spawn on top of other systems unless there really is no space for them elsewhere. * Fixed cases where you'd get refugees from a country you had no communications with. * Stopped certain arc sites from disappearing from the situation log after completion. * Fixed possible error with event-spawned Wormhole. * In the subterranean nation chain, if you get an invasion by them after attempting a pre-emptive strike, the invasion will now work. * Event "God of Death" no longer has an eyeball-popping tooltip. * Fixed confusing tooltip mentioning rivaling members when inviting to federation. * The conclusion to the Rage Virus event chain will no longer give invalid technologies for Gestalts * Fixed a case where multiple arc sites would spawn on one colony; also, the Sentinels will no longer spawn as soon as you fulfil the conditions, but are now a bit more random. * New auto-generated ship designs now have auto-upgrade checked by default * Fortress proclamation actually increases defense build speed now. * Fixed misspelled VO ID.

2.8.1 "Butler" Patch Notes

Balance

* Added a define OVERCROWDING_ABSOLUTE_THRESHOLD_FOR_NO_GROWTH that sets the minimum number that overcrowding must be for a planet's population to stop growing, set it to 5. * Redid sector automation scripts and code with the following goals: ** Closed vital gaps in sectors' knowledge concerning the likes of nonstandard planet (habitat etc) districts and bureaucracy buildings. ** All sectors now know about all buildings, i.e. if you put an alloys foundry on a science sector, it will still know how to upgrade it (it will of course still favour research buildings). ** Made checking for whether building a certain building would cause resource shortages and whether there were pops ready to take the job more reliable by shifting them to hardcoded checks. ** The automation will no longer clear blockers before districts are blocked by them.

Stability & Performance

* Moved the calculations for attack radius to threaded code instead of serial. * Update trade routes every 7 days instead of every day.

UI

* Added debug tooltips to the fleet view header and rename button.

AI

* The AI will not try to build a megastructure if it's already building or upgrading one. * Fixed a case of the AI wanting to attack disabled starbases and getting stuck in a loop. * The economic AI will now take better account of the resources a district would provide when choosing whether to build one. * The AI will now check whether it would have any pops on the planet willing and able to take a job before building a building providing that job (i.e. Necrophages will not spam consumer goods buildings when there are no necrophage pops on the planet). * Made the contingency constructor choose better systems to build in, and fixed their getting stuck after a while. * Massively sped up all types of purging, with the crisis factions now purging 2 pops per month. * Various improvements to crisis military AI. * Fix issue with military AI ping-ponging fleets. * Fixed AI not changing fleet bombardment stances. * Crisis countries will now use Armageddon Bombardment. * Augmented the distance at which AI looks for targets on larger maps. * The Unbidden will no longer wait patiently to be allowed out of their initial system. * The AI will no longer sell the last pop of a planet. * Made the crisis worry less about ship health and more about taking over the galaxy. * The Necrophage AI will no longer build Houses of Apotheosis so as to make it less likely it'll run out of necrophytes.

Modding

* Added "ignores_sapience" flag to job types to say a job works for both sapients and presapients.

Bugfixes

* Corrected name for necroid titan engine effect so the effect spawns in the correct position. * Added missing undead army translations for Chinese. * Fixed a layering issue with Necroid Portrait 11. * Fixed a black face-tentacle on a Necroid Portrait to have color. * Fix Ships not reaching their assigned slots when there are too many ships * Evasive fleet now cancel order if the path to their targets contain hostiles * Made it so the positions of hostile forces are remembered while you're at war. * Fixed purging and assimilation not working on presapients * Setting a sector to Production focus now correctly updates the icon in the UI. * Necrophages with Glandular Acclimatisation will now make pops that suit the local planet, even if they have Necrophage pops that don't on the planet already. Stay safe out there and have a Happy Halloween! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6ON871QXrY&feature=emb_title