Sandbox setup

EDIT: This guide was written prior to version 2.0 I have updated the research console command base on a comment suggestion but not tested it. Refer to the wiki for more updated console information.


Setting up the sandbox is pretty easy, takes about 20-30 minutes, and only needs to be done one time. After that you can save the game and load it any time you want to do some testing.

Select a race to start that either doesn't have any ship modifiers (no mil or fan mil) Use Tiny galaxy, 1 AI opponent, no advanced start, no FE, Eng Game crisis off. Start the game

From here on out we will be making liberal use of the console ( default to open console is ~). I'll put all console command in bold exactly as they need to be typed in.

For reference, use the Stellaris wiki: http://www.stellariswiki.com/Console_commands


Set Up Player 0
Player 0 is the race you spawn in as.

First we want to turn off the AI.
ai

This will keep the AI from doing anything at all while we do combat testing. Fleet combat still works, the AI opponent just won't move his ships. You'll have to approach them.

Next let's use instant_build just in case you want to do some fortress/megastructure testing.

Now we'll take care of technology.
research_technologies

EDIT: As of 2.0 the research command has been changed to
research_all_technologies per Steam User Mur

This gives you all non-repeatable techs including techs that you don't run into every game.

Next, we need to bank up some resources. Use these commands as needed.
energy 1000000 Do not try to add more than a million.
minerals 1000000
food 1000000
influence 5000

If you want to use Megastructures:
unity 1000000 and unlock them manually. The Sentry Array is useful. and gets built with about 5 clicks.

Set Up Player 1
Player 1 is the opponent.

Switch to controlling player 1 with play 1

We don't need to use instant build, it applies to all players.

You can scroll through recent commands in the console by using the up/down arrow keys.

research_technologies
energy 1000000 Do not try to add more than a million.
minerals 1000000
food 1000000
influence 5000


And unity if you want to test megastructures. You'll have to build them yourself.

Back to player 0

play 0

You may find it useful to kill wandering entities.

Select them on galaxy map and damage 100000


Now save your game and name it. Your sandbox is ready to go.

Building Ships/Fleets

Make sure you are player 0.

Declare war on Player 1 with cede planet as the war demand. If you intend on doing a lot of testing, you'll want to keep the warscore close to zero so the game doesn't end. You can switch back and forth with Play 1or Play 0.

I recommend turning off auto-generate designs and deleting the computer generated design after you have made the ship you want. It will help keep the clutter down.

Create a ship and name it something easy to type. You could call your ship Kinetic Artillery x5 Flak Artillery x2, but kafa is easier to type in the console.

Find the system you want to have the battle in. Ownership and range don't matter. Avoid home systems and systems with aliens. Go into the system map and put your cursor where you want your ships to appear.


Add_ship design is the command you will use to spawn ships. Design is the name of the ship design and it is case sensitive. To quickly create many ships, you'll have to use the up arrow/enter to repeat the add_ship command.

The ships will appear individually at the cursor, so you'll have to group them.

Do the same thing with Player 1

Play 1

Go into the ship designer and create the design of the ship you want to test against. Spawn the ship design in the same system away from Player 0 ships. Now chose the which side you want to fight as and go to town.

If the warscore starts to get carried away, use warscore x where x is the positive or negative amount you want to change it back to zero. For instance, if the warscore is 75 and you want it to be 0, use warscore -75

You must disable AI every time you load a game.