Veiled systems!

[Webbco]

One thing that I've desired from the very beginning - and have been sort of surprised that it hasn't been introduced thus far - is TRUE undiscovered systems.

Maybe the technology should already exist in terms of the story/setting but what would really increase the fun in expansion stages would be to actually uncover new systems as ships move around space.

For example, certain types of nebula may disrupt long range sensors designed to pinpoint far away stars. There would be a risk in sending an exploration ship (in terms of fuel shortages and the lives of the crew) to the nebula, but there may be hidden treasures waiting to be discovered within.

This would put more value in long-range sensors on ships and give them a level of importance similar to that of Imperium Galactica 2 etc.

I remember exploring nebula clouds for salvage in Freespace, the type of nebula that damage your ship gradually...it was really tense!

Any thoughts?

[Sabin Stargem]

Nebulas, blackholes, and certain other areas that mask parts of the galaxy is sensible in my opinion. Actually, it would be nice if there were really significant areas of space that are difficult for even endgame vessels to explore, due to speed reductions or potential damage.

Exploration in Distant Worlds isn't quite satisfying, in that Explorer vessels are either too stupid to explore things properly, or the Galaxy runs out of things to find. Sometimes a combination of both, where explorer vessels are inactive, yet there are beacons and objects that can still be checked out. [&:]

[Webbco]

Yeah, the Xploration part is a bit weak in DW...but it's my personal favourite so I'd love to see it improved. I want to be interested in what missions my exploration ships are undertaking, what challenges they are facing etc.

I imagine them launching probes into large asteroids to detect new species of organic life, navigating through dense areas of dark matter to discover elements unknown to current scientific knowledge. How about flying through wormholes to enter otherwise inaccessible pockets of the galaxy?

There could be a whole separate tech tree for exploration! Just like Mars rovers have a number of different sensory devices to measure a bunch of stuff, new exploration tools could be attached to an exploration ship once they have been researched.

The galaxy will once again feel huge as large aspects of it cannot be accessed until the appropriate research has been done.

In one game, even at the later stages, some parts of the galaxy may not even be touched if the right research has been ignored!

[Sabin Stargem]

One technology tree line that I would like to see is one where new types of resources are discovered by researching the various things that we encounter. These resources then boost the quality of components, reduce prices, and so on, once you have the tech to recognize and effectively use them as part of your economy. So rather than just finding Zentabia, we research ways to obtain it, make it more effective, make it take up less space, and so on.

[Lrfss]

Exactly what DW is maybe missing is some of the potential unknown aspects for sure... Resources for example that you would not even know that it exists until certain Tech levels allow you to discover the existance of such... On and on, so forth and such...lol! The unknown and chance of unique discovey kinda things....the wonder of the universe ya think?

[HectorOfTroy]

I haven't played the game yet, still waiting on my copy , but maybe we could also have a race living in one of the undiscovered systems hidden in a nebula, etc.
Now this area could be entered only by researching a specific late game tech. Also, this race would, of course , be hell bent on destroying all sentient life because they thought they were the only race in Universe.

To make this race a challenge maybe Elliot could find a way to implement a scalable difficulty feature to this race. AI would analyse your empire (tech level, number of planets, ships, money) once a trigger is set off (discovery of the system in the nebula) and you would get a message from this race that your empire will be the first one to be destroyed. It would give you a timer and you better be ready for a fight.

P.S. As I haven;t played the game yet, this might exactly as the story of ROTS. No idea (didn't want to find out about ROTS story=don't want to spoilt for myself). But I guess this could be implemented in skirmish games. Of course you could disable this feature if you don't like it.

[Data]

There could be a whole separate tech tree for exploration! Just like Mars rovers have a number of different sensory devices to measure a bunch of stuff, new exploration tools could be attached to an exploration ship once they have been researched.

strongly agreeing with this ++++1

[Lrfss]

ORIGINAL: Data

There could be a whole separate tech tree for exploration! Just like Mars rovers have a number of different sensory devices to measure a bunch of stuff, new exploration tools could be attached to an exploration ship once they have been researched.

strongly agreeing with this ++++1

Agreed here as well, would be nice!

[Igard]

Exploration tech tree sounds interesting. What sort of tech are we talking about here and how would it be used in-game?

A Resource Probe that we launch down to the planet, the longer we leave it there the more resources it uncovers.

An anomaly detection probe that we can launch into nebulae, the longer we leave it, the more research bonuses will be uncovered.

An archeaological probe that uncovers ruins.

Further tech could replace the probes with actual science teams that set up an outpost on the planet or at the nebula.

As for hiding the systems, I don't think it's very realistic. You can't really miss a star (unless it's a brown dwarf) and once you move location to a different star system or point in space, your observations would uncover any star that was previously hidden due to black-holes and gravitational lensing.

Perhaps we should have a fog to simply display the areas we haven't scanned with sensors yet, but the stars inside this fog should still be visible. Random events could take place where we discover a new star that previously had been hidden by a nearby anomaly, but this should be rare.

[Sabin Stargem]

Some stars or their solar systems could be obscured. In the case of stars, it has to do with dust blocking light. Block enough light over a large enough distance, and you will ultimately have a portion of the Galaxy that you can't see without getting a closer observation point. As for planets around a star, we currently can only see planets that intersect with a star and has its profile revealed, not unlike an eclipse. From that crossing between a planet and a star, we can see - but only for planets that do so in our line of sight. Other planets may go for an orbit that doesn't get between us (Earth) and the star in question.

Also, some Stars may in fact not exist, or be significantly different from what is expected. Most of the starlight that reaches the planet Earth is very old, and some of the stars they come from have aged considerably, to the point of running out of fuel and collapsing. This would most likely destroy any planets we have seen by them, and transforming the Stars into dwarfs and black holes, depending on the size of the star in question. Fortunately, we can can predict the size of a Star, which dictates how much fuel they consume. Huge stars tend to guzzle their fuel supply at an extremely fast pace, while Red Dwarfs are prone to sipping, taking far longer to die. In fact, Red Dwarves may someday be the last stars to exist within our Galaxy, due to being so conservative. By having the Explorer vessels go for stars that are within the correct size range, they can avoid going to dead solar systems.

Igard still makes good points, though.

[Webbco]

I just think that it would be more fun to have elements of the galaxy more difficult to discover and explore than others. Whole groups of systems that are totally unknown about from the beginning and that, once discovered using specific research, could yield not only a late-game strategic advantage but also nice (or nasty) surprises!

Igard, as for the probes, it might mean that having a long-term probe actually planetside taking soil samples etc might mean a NEW resource is discovered (possibly that isn't recorded in the galactopedia) that offers a military improvement to existing design. It might mean the discovery of a totally different kind of weapon (again, not in the pedia) that could be disassembled and later produced en-masse. It might be a NEW species (...not in the pedia..) either microscopic or macroscopic that could offer a unique benefit to the empire etc.

The possibilities are endless and, for me personally, would make the universe a more exciting place. Surely the Galactopedia cannot know the answer to the universe! It would bring much more immersion to the game, especially later on (or when you've won the game and want to continue playing in sandbox mode.)

[Igard]

With even the most dense of dark nebulae such as the Horse Head Nebula, we can use radio waves or infrared to see beyond the dust. Also, once you move to another part of the galaxy, there are no dust clouds large enough to obscure your view of something that was previously hidden. However DW has an unusual galaxy that we might not fully understand and the more surprises it can throw at us the better, so if there were some anomaly that hid our view in places, I could get on board with that. If it increases the fun, then I'm all for it. [:)]

Igard, as for the probes, it might mean that having a long-term probe actually planetside taking soil samples etc might mean a NEW resource is discovered (possibly that isn't recorded in the galactopedia) that offers a military improvement to existing design. It might mean the discovery of a totally different kind of weapon (again, not in the pedia) that could be disassembled and later produced en-masse. It might be a NEW species (...not in the pedia..) either microscopic or macroscopic that could offer a unique benefit to the empire etc.

Yes, something like, "We have discovered a new element on the periodic table. This will will improve the effectiveness of our Kaldos Hyperdrive" or, " ... This will provide us with a new technology, The Igard Plasma Torpedo"

[Data]

make that the cloaked igard plasma torpedo...maybe with multiple warheads? [:)]