[game version 1.1.2 stable steam] Hi, I know this is a feature, but it's odd to me. The game shows the territory of the alien empire just after the first meeting. Map trading nor diplomatic exchanges are not required. It's just a suggestion, but maybe you can implement the fog of war. This may allow for new diplomatic or spy activities (map sharing / theft, exchange of ambassadors, etc.), and also force sector scanning to determine the location of potentially hostile systems. Now you know exactly where the rival is and what area it occupies.
You kind of have a fog of war anyway. You can see their territory but not the constitution of their colonies or the makeup and disposition of their fleets. Knowing what territory the alien faction covers without knowing anything else is a nice balance.
I mean more in the future to develop both diplomacy and espionage. And the fog would be a good excuse for new solutions in this area. After all, when we meet someone for the first time, we do not get info about where they live and how many houses there are, and how much space they occupy.
Lol. I like your analogy and understand your reasoning, though I am not certain how much value this would add to either diplomacy or espionage with the way the game is designed. And by the same token, when we drive past someone's house we can get a pretty good idea about its exterior without knowing a thing about what is inside. Seriously, I like the current system so unless there was something truly enjoyable and substantial to be gained by going in this direction... I have a hard time seeing the value. If you were to escalate fog of war however, so that it meant no travel to areas under the fog, (even if those areas are in logistical range), then I could see more impactful implications. In this instance, the player would be far more motivated to lift the fog, whether it be by science, diplomacy or espionage. Edit. Oh what am I saying? Of course travel would be restricted. In ISG we can only travel to known systems not freely through space as in Birth of the Federation. It would then just add another aspect similar to remote exploration...
Of course, travelling to the stars in range should be possible, regardless of whether it is in the fog or not, finally the stars can be seen. But until you examine them in any way, whether in person or remotely, you know nothing of what is there and whose home it is
