Hello Stellaris fans,

We are happy to announce the release of our 3.8 Coop Open Beta!
It is now available on a separate branch in Steam.

Instructions for opting in to the Open Beta branch:

Open the Steam client

1. Go to Library
2. Right click “Stellaris” in the list of games
3. Select “Properties…”
4. Go to the “Betas” tab
5. Select “stellaris_test – 3.8 Coop Open Beta” in the drop down

This should trigger a new update to Stellaris that lets you enjoy our new Coop mode early!
Please note that the feature is still in development and does have a few issues and instabilities.
Reporting any issues you encounter would be welcome, and you may do so in our Bug Report forums.

Also note that the game now runs in DX11 by default.
You can override this by adding a startup argument in steam.

Instructions for running the game with DX9:

• In the “Properties…” menu, go to the “General” tab
• Enter “-dx9” in the Launch Options field

Finally, as always, the team has done a great deal of improvements to the game that are also available in the 3.8 open beta.

Please find the patch notes below.
STELLARIS 3.8 COOP OPEN BETA PATCH NOTES

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#################### VERSION – 3.8 COOP OPEN BETA ######################
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Features

• Added two Cooperative modes, allowing up to five players per empire. More information can be found in Stellaris Dev Diary #293.
• Cooperative PvE can be initiated from the main menu – all players that hotjoin the hosted game will join the primary player’s empire. This mode is primarily intended for teaching new players or for lower intensity cooperative gameplay.
• Cooperative PvP can be allowed by the host of a standard multiplayer game. When enabled, empires can open themselves up to allow other players to help control their empire. We expect this game mode to be useful for competitive team play.

Improvements

• Added unique textures for Mercury, Venus, Neptune and Uranus for the Sol system.
• Added unique textures for Earth and Mars when terraformed based off of available heightmap data.
• Added new anomaly The Orb
• Added a special solar system protected by the Lone Defender.
• Added a decision to clear the wreckage on a Broken Shackles starting planet in the event that they are conquered before they enact the Memorial to the Unshackled decision.
• Improved accuracy of tooltips on the galaxy setting screen and implemented experimental nested tooltip functionality.
• The mind-wiped species from On the Shoulders of Giants will now have the Forcefully Devolved trait.
• The Observation Insight Situation now remembers what approach you had when it last finished.
• There is now a 1% chance that a pre-ftl civilization will spawn with the Forcefully Devolved trait.

Balance and Bugfixes

• Lowered base Minor Artifact storage capacity to 2,000. The Facility of Archaeostudies increases this by 1,000 or by 3,000 if the Archaeo-Engineers AP is taken.
• A synthetically ascended empire should no longer refer to their own pops as having owners.
• Added a new description to the Broken Shackles Homecoming event if the world is a tomb world.
• Added missing “gateway” icons and tooltips to tech_cloaking_1 and tech_detection_array.
• Added missing background for Ironman game setting.
• Broken Shackles empires with the Parliamentary System civic will instead have Unshackled Politics fire one month after game start instead of one year after game start.
• Corrected the Ancient Target Scrambler tech not stating that it unlocks the Ancient Target Scrambler ship component.
• Enclaves should no longer keep offering you their services if you become a fanatical purifier.
• Fix MP game browser listing full games even if “Not full” is checked.
• Fixed a typo in the Cloud, Snagged event (federations3.2010)
• Fixed an issue with an unlocalized version of MSI in the initial interaction between a Broken Shackles and Payback empire.
• Fixed an unlocalized string for the Reanimated Tiyanki Matriarch.
• Fixed events related to the Out of Warranty event chain not firing.
• Fixed incorrect calculation used for Offspring amenities.
• Fixed Liberation wars not showing up for Payback empires.
• Fixed materialist culture workers (and death chroniclers) not having the effects of the Charismatic or Repugnant traits.
• Fixed NO_POSSIBLE_OPTION text in tooltip for an option in Starbase sabotage event
• Fixed reloading of system initializers and crash in with reload_galaxy console command
• Fixed some grammar in the Hivemind Voidspawn reanimation event.
• Fixed Status Quo in a Subsidiary war subjugating the wrong empire.
• Fixing truncated build queue items in the starbase view
• Former pre-FTL worlds will no longer display the technological age of the former civilization during colonization.
• Increased size of the Relic World tied to the Moon Base arc site from 26 to 30.
• Newly added starbase modules and buildings are now possible targets for Sabotage Starbase.
• Prevent joining full MP games.
• Removed a double be from a machine become the crisis event.
• Solved exploit where a base price would constantly reset the next day if you sold the minimum amount
• Special project energy cost is now displayed in situation log
• System and star name should now match even if the player selects an origin that has a special starting system.
• The “Direct Join” window now blocks other input.
• The “Host server” window now blocks other input.
• The Separatist Planet will no longer nuke themselves if you lose your capital to space fauna.
• Torpedo and Frigate technology now requires you to have researched Corvettes.

AI

• Fix for AI requiring wrong techs to build some megastructures
• Prevent “Assist Research” from blocking AI construction of orbital rings
• AI can take into account planetary impact of orbital ring buildings when picking which one to build
• AI takes into account planetary production impact of possible orbital ring buildings when considering building orbital rings
• AI attitude updates now happen only monthly and on diplomatic actions
• Allow AI to build economically useful orbital ring buildings without a matching designation
• Relaxed AI budget requirements for orbital ring upgrades
• The AI will now build more Offspring Outlooks and Cordyceptic Reanimation Facilities.

UI

• [UI] Addition of new social assets. Update of the Text on tooltips
• [UI] Auto Track Log Entries setting is saved in the save game.
• [UI] Removed the in-game web browser. The game will now use the platform’s browser instead.

Modding

• Added copy_flags_and_variables_from effect to copy all flags and variables from one scope to another
• Added keyboard command for jumping to the next day [.].
• Added the special_max_amount = yes/no parameter for resources.
• Removed support for the “Major” flag and potential trigger in events.
• Renamed country_mia_time_mult to fleet_mia_time_mult so that you can apply it at leader or fleet level too
• Replaced set_is_female with set_gender
• Scripted triggers may now generate up to one automatic event option icon each
• You can now use “initializer = random” in the spawn_system effect

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Please note that save file compatibility between versions is not guaranteed.

If you experience crashing or other issues, first disable all mods and start a new save. If the issue persists, please report it on the Bug Report forums.