I think this game should include the space between star systems as part of the game when it finally gets to the space stage.
I think in most space games, travelling across the galaxy or just between a few star systems feels way less interesting than travelling from one continent to another when you’re still limited to a single planet. When you’re travelling to a new continent, you’re surrounded by hundreds or thousands of miles of empty, open ocean, but in most space games, your ships just travel straight from one star to another, skipping all the lightyears of empty space in between. Like how Stellaris has the “hyperlane” mechanic, for example.
I don’t know how it would be implemented, but I think having all the space that exists between the stars would make the game feel way bigger, and could potentially add room for other mechanics that take advantage of that space.
(Apologies if this idea has already been thrown around at some point.)
I feel like space stage should start out like Kerbal Space Program, then move on to more advanced stuff when you get enough people beyond your solar system or to the nearest one. That way it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to be a 100% civ game after Awakening.
doomlightning
(The Invisible Aztec Dodo God, The Immortal and Remmortal gardium of Nervilla and Pandora Horizon)
3
u say that reminde me of Terra Invicta in the espect of semi-of ur speaks
First it follows your species, then it follows your state. You can’t just switch your focus randomly from your state to a random space agency! You should be a state, but now you oversee space too!
Yea, there’s just a building that you can place to go in and out of the space menu. And buildings you can place to keep up communication with the ships/satellites.
Yeah! I love the idea of including actual space and making it feel like an actual galaxy instead of some random star cluster with like 30 stars right next to each other. Like interstellar stations to perform near-light speed refueling on spacecraft, nebula refining facilities, etc.
Ok so maybe like a civ game, but with some space characteristics. Like build some rocket out of possible parts and just send it to a space mission and wait for it to finish that. Then maybe some civ on other planets until it gets too complicated to micromanage everything so then you just move on to simplified planet menus and now you oversee space more than planets. Like CIV slowly progressing to Stellaris as tech gets better.
Edit (because it didn’t let me have more than 3 replies in a row):Then the game’s ending would be when you own several galaxies (more than you are willing to micromanage anymore). For example, it just becomes a few decisions and makes up for what happens to your civilization after the millions and billions of years until the end of time (or maybe your civilization stops the death of the universe).
You build a large technological gate, likely powered by several stars, that basically acts so players can get as creative as they want in the world they just played through. Obviously a player can stay at any stage if they wish to, but Ascension stage is kinda meant to be an end to the game while still allowing players to do stuff in that save
Late space stage is when the game becomes scifi, though I think we’ll have that be “optional” in the sense that you can just hang forever in the early space stage stuck in your solar system if you don’t want to play a scifi game.
You do know we can still have STL spacecraft going to other stars? It would take years but they would arrive. Also maybe wormholes and wormhole drives could work.
Try more like decades, but my point stands that you really can’t have the space empires stage of gameplay without faster travel.
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Deathwake
(i nuked zenzone and will never let him forget it)
16
Do we need space empires though? Imagine an incredibly balkanized galaxy, much less sexy but still fine for space stuff. However, you could totally have a space empire under known tech physics,l. Under our current understanding of wormholes they couldn’t be made anywhere, you’d have to make them next to each other and drag them to where you need. Combine with sunlight coloney ships, and bam, portal in every ship translates to portal to every capital, translates to direct communication, and ability to send small amounts of very elite troops in case of rebellion. It’s not that protected from rebellion but honestly it’s better of then many pre-actually fastish communication empires in our world. Also like, 40k heh
I’ve read an analysis saying that unless you can get to your colonies in a reasonable amount of time, they’ll all almost immediately declare independence. So no, you can’t have that. Anyway ascension is entirely fictitious thing so even if some early space expansion can be theorized based on our current technology, that’d just push tiny bit the part where the game becomes scifi to later.
Except that travel through wormholes requires negative mass to stabilize them. So we are in scifi territory anyway with your suggestion.
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Deathwake
(i nuked zenzone and will never let him forget it)
18
Im fine with ftl I just think it’s not strictly necessary, also negative energy is by all means real, negative mass is much less proven, and we have no way to store/produce either with any efficiency, but there’s a reason I said known physics and crossed out tech. Also you don’t necessarily declare independence if no taxes or laws are imposed on you, and not rebelling means you get access to new reaserch and media as early as possible for free to cheep, and not from people in loyal systems who the central government can’t really stop, years later, with a significant cost. Yes, anyone with a radical religion or who just doesn’t like you will declare independence, but you might still wind up with a huge “empire.” Again, if thrive wants empires, it should go ftl eventually (in my opinion someone late space stage) but I don’t think it needs to.
Yeah, really late FTL would be quite new. Like instead of Stellaris where you start with FTL, you could make an empire for centuries before making FTL!
now that i think about it, it would be cool if the space stages were like space engine in terms of how space is handled, but with empire management aspects too. it probably wouldn’t be feasible to simulate a large universe like how space engine does, so maybe only certain parts of the universe are rendered at certain points, and you unlock the rest of the universe via technological advancements. like, when you first leave your planet, the whole galaxy is rendered (because it should all be observable even if you cant travel through all of it right away), then as you advance more, you can see your galaxy’s local group and travel there, and then you can see other galaxies as you advance even more.