Matrix Games Forums

Like the title stats.

The only thing I dislike about this game is that my scouts can be set to map sectors and/or systems, but they do not prioritize ruins.

Is there a way to set scouts to not map each system in a region but to go directly to unexplored ruins?

Unfortunately looks the same so far. The Explorer Automation needs an upgrade. As I've posted before there are some improvements that can be made that are not algorithmically complex i.e. that will not slow the game down due to excessive computation.

1. Change the AI to change exploration targets when the resource is discovered (i.e. with Proximity Arrays). At the moment the AI will waste a huge amount of time going to the centre of the target and only then change targets. When a planet has ruins that need investigating this maybe needed but otherwise it should change missions as soon as the resources are revealed.

2. The AI does not prioritise exploration targets. Early game in nearby systems I may want to explore everything. But after that I focus on exploring planets with ruins, storyline targets (e.g. debris fields, supply outposts etc), planets that may have Super Luxuries (i.e. always certain types) and perhaps also colonisable planets. To improve this we could have an automation window that allows us to turn on or off AI exploration targets by category. This way time is not wasted exploring every useless ball of rock and gas giant in existence.

Those two suggestions alone would massively decrease the time required by the AI to explore and find targets of strategic interest. Some Human Players would be more inclined to automate while the AI Empires would also be more competitive.

One thing I noticed in previous games (have not noticed or tested in universe yet) is when you find a star map, explo ships will skip those systems, even if there are ruins there. Maybe I wasn't waiting long enough but I always seemed to have to force them to explore system/planet itself if I got a star map.