This week, Paradox Development Studio and Stellaris are giving us the keys to the digital kingdom, i.e. MULTIPLAYER. That’s too big…
Anyways, the team working on Stellaris is focused on bringing a proper online experience to their galactic game of grand strategy. Right now, players will be able to host online matches of up to 32 other (human) players intermixed with AI empires. If you are in the middle of some serious interstellar tactics and one of your friends wants to join in the fray, they can easily join into an already existing empire. Conversely, if you want to leave a match at any time, you can rest assured that the AI will do its best to maintain your empire until you get back.
Paradox recognizes that one of their most persistent problems online has been player desynchronization, which usually involves the host having to restart the game. A programmer on Stellaris, Alexivan, said [source]
Thanks to persistent testing and fixing of out-of-syncs as soon as they happen, we’ve managed to make Stellaris our most stable multiplayer experience yet, allowing us to run stable multiplayer with up to and probably more than 32 players. We test our multiplayer stability weekly by playing multiplayer with our betas and the developers on the project, and it’s loads of fun.
With such a focused approach to multiplayer, Stellaris could be the first GSG that is a true joy to play online.
Like other Grand Strategy Games from Paradox, Stellaris usually has personalities for AI empires that can range from complex, for a lack of a better word, dense. Obviously, when playing with real players, you’ll have to watch your back at all times since you never know how treacherous a real human can be. Also, unlike other GSG’s, Stellaris offers their players a randomized but symmetrical start; giving a natural evolution to player and strategy each time you play. All players will be anonymous as well until you actually set up communications with said empire. Interesting indeed.
So, what do you think about the multiplayer changes in Stellaris? Let us know in the comments below.
