Distant Worlds Mentioned by PlaySF

[tjhkkr]

I know what he means...
Frankly the technology is not all that good at the moment -- jpwrunyan is correct, the do image planets somehow with spectometers and star dimming and things of this nature... It is probably not terribly accurate at the moment but...
he is correct in presuming that the technology would improve over time.

If you have good knowledge of the universe though, the planet grab at the beginning is going to be greater than it is now... you probably really need to cut fuel ranges even more....

[Bebop Cola]

We can detect planets, typically mathematically, but I'm not sure we can actually perform any spectrometry. I could be wrong on the latter, but I think our conjectures regarding planetary atmospheres of extrasolar planets is based on mass and distance from their primaries, both of which are based on mathematical calculations developed from measuring stellar wobble and primary star luminosity variances(when the planet passes between the star and us).

The term "imaging" connotes that we are obtaining an actual image of the planet, which I'm unaware of any ability to do in the commonly understood sense.

[jpwrunyan]

Guys, yes, we can actually see planets with our telescopes. Think about it, we can see galaxies billions of light years away. They are far fainter than a planet 10's or 100's of light years away would be (and smaller to a viewer on earth). The thing that prevents us from seeing the planet is glare from the parent star itself. We have the technology to deploy orbital telescopes that can block the glare from a star so we may optically image a planet. In some ways they would be easier to image than much closer objects in the oort cloud because they actually emit more light from their surface. Ok the last bit is speculation on my part. But obviously, a hypothetical planet reflecting light from alpha centauri could easily have a greater relative magnitude than many stars we already look at today.

In fact, in exceptional cases we have already directly imaged some planets with telescopes on earth. Not surprisingly these images are not the kodak moments you would hope for or that we are capable of. Anyway all this information is on wikipedia so no need to take my word for it.

But yes we can "see" extra solar planets in the visible spectrum with today's technology. Mail your senator/congressman.

[Bebop Cola]

Could you link the wikipedia page you're referencing?

[ASHBERY76]

I would like a maximan range for ships based on warp tech which would make exploration relavent for the whole game.At the moment you can explore the whole galaxy in two years with fuels cell stacking.I think map trading also ruins exploration as the A.I cannot WAIT give you his maps fast enough it seems.

SpaceEmpires5 based space terrain effects would also be great.

[Ralzakark]

ORIGINAL: Bebop Cola
Could you link the wikipedia page you're referencing?

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for 14 November 2008 shows the first visible light image of an exoplanet, one orbiting Fomalhaut, 25 light years away.

[Dracus]

I have to agree with the orginal article, 4x games needs more wonder, the idea of limiting to 19 races needs to end. Make a game with say 50 races. Set it where you select your race than have the game randomly pick say 19 other main races to go against you. Take the remaining races and use those to populate other worlds. So that you get a sense of discovery. Maybe take the best ideas fom a number of games to spice things up even more.

[jpwrunyan]

ORIGINAL: ASHBERY76

I would like a maximan range for ships based on warp tech which would make exploration relavent for the whole game.At the moment you can explore the whole galaxy in two years with fuels cell stacking.I think map trading also ruins exploration as the A.I cannot WAIT give you his maps fast enough it seems.

SpaceEmpires5 based space terrain effects would also be great.

This. I dont know a simple way to fix this, but being able to cross the galaxy with starting tech rubs me wrong too. The logistics of space travel should involve more than just having enough fuel. Maybe if there were a time limit that a ship could safely stay in hyperspace before getting eaten by the spaghetti monster or V-Giny that would limit exploration range without requiring an overhaul of the fuel system. Or maybe if your ships REFUSED to fly further than their fuel amount would allow them to return (ie do away with the 0-fuel impulse mechanic). I dont have a good answer but exploration range should be limited by more than just fuel supply. This is space travel after all, not rocket science.

[MisterBenn]

I also agree that the exploration brings a lot of richness and flavour. I've played several games to completion though and have never seen many of the plot events, once I saw the refugees but never a single Shakturi. A bit surprising considering the amount of warnings / messages relating to them that you get as you explore around.

In the realm of suggestions: I would love some MOO2-esque megacreatures that stay at home and guard some of the planets with best / unique resources. Captial ship sized with decent area or direct weapons that you have to build up to take down. Oh, and the Korrabian Spice planet should be independent with a unique militia of sand worms. I can't believe that's been overlooked for so long!

[jpwrunyan]

Meh, the MOO2 megacritters were never too hard to defeat though. 16 mirv nuclear missile frigates would destroy any beast with maybe 50% casualties. The best thing was simply that the megacritters gave meaning to the existence of frigates. I find the current hordes of lobsters and pirates to be more of a threat than anything that was in MOO2.

That doesnt mean I disagree with the larger point that there could be stronger kaldors that heal faster than you can plink them. But meh, not really important to me.

[Jon Micheelsen]

Rather than,

Or maybe if your ships REFUSED to fly further than their fuel amount would allow them to return (ie do away with the 0-fuel impulse mechanic).

Which is a bit too medieval for my liking, how about making and exponentially growing fuel consumption on distance to nearest colony or base. It would realistically require a lot of energy to communicate with home base in real time, through some imaginary tachyon comm tech, so why not simply build this in.

It would give a whole new tactical purpose to the abandoned base find as well as "outpost" low quality colonizing and border base building.

It could be an interesting admiral skill - captains - maybe even ambassadors on exploration missions - Startrek!?

Combined with colonize range limit it would push exploration to a truly long time grand scale, and not the: Start game. Spend all start credits on max explorations ships on auto. Start the actual game. Repeat every two hours.

[Shark7]

A better AO type ship would be nice.

We have the ones now that can set up shop and mine the gas, but how about something that load up at a port and then refuels the fleet before returning to port? Exactly like a modern AO/AOR? Could be any size ship with a docking bay and cargo pods, and would be a cheap investment, especially for early game.