Just my personal wish list: (1) Multiplayer. A huge con is people start whining about balance, but the pro of facing a human's tactics in combat and assaults on strategic resources, etc.--there is an entire dimension to the game that would really be unlocked playing a human. (2) Quests and Story mode. (a) At the most basic level this could be quests unlocked by ruins or randomly given that give minor goals for some reward--defeat the pirate fleet or space monster that spawned at X system, increase pop by X within Y turns, Survey system X within Y turns. Leaders give sort of mini-quests already, but I'd like to see it expanded. (b) Multi-stage quests that told a story would be even better. (c) An actual story mode selectable in a new game--maybe the galaxy is going to be invaded by a far more advanced civilization from another galaxy, as the turns go by scouting parties start appearing, then skirmish fleets, leading to a full scale invasion by a huge fleet of titans, or something. I don't know, I'm not good at stories, but something like that--possibly as DLC's to be purchased. (3) Minor civs. (4) Pirates/etc. Something attacking you even if you're at peace with everyone to keep people that don't build fleets till the endgame like me on their toes, and that can spawn behind your lines--possibly with increased chances around strategic resources/outposts, etc., maybe in conjunction with a trade route system. (5) Greater faction differentiation. The bonuses and maluses are a good start, along with the abilities and Titan effects. A faction specific quest storyline would add a lot of replay value, lacking that--maybe new techs/ship components/etc. specific to factions along general with techs/ship components/diplomatic options not available to them. My wish list had shrunk because a number of items on it have already been implemented. If I had to pick the most desired from the above, though, it would be more story--faction story quests being the most desired as that would give the most replay value and reason to play as every faction. Or in general some mechanic that would make playing each faction unique in terms of gameplay beyond just minor bonuses and maluses to make it nearly a different game playing each faction to add replay value and immersion.
Stories and more roleplaying possibilities are indeed what I would like to see in future updates and expansions.
Let me add some smaller wishes. New Racial ability, Charm offensive. Use it to gain a positive diplomatic modifier with an empire of choice New Racial ability, Psionic powers. Use it to instantly assimilate a conquered colony on one turn regardless the population level New Titan ability, G.H.Q.. Use it to instantly withdraw all ships from any battle without the normal procedure New Titan ability, Interdictor, use it to prevent the enemy fleeing a battle for one turn, high heat build up, 3 turn cool down
You're sure you computer doesn't do the following? I'd hate for ISG to make my computer smoke and explode over a logical paradox.
;Look, I know the Devs are like on their own little island these days, but I have faith in them and don't foresee that happening. However if it does, we can always send them some apparel to console them
OK @PlotinusRedux perhaps we can make this a one or two turn stasis of any single ship, can't attack, can't be attacked.
How about a tech upgrade that allows you to ship a planet's production to another planet (either in the same system, or not). This can be justified as the sending of components for final assembly. Freighters would be required to shift the goods, I'd think. Probably, you would require a special building, or starbase upgrade (at each end / assembly end only?). It wouldn't necessarily be 100% efficient for the construction converted. This seems an efficient way to build up fleets, especially if you want to focus on larger ships. Thus reducing the number in the game, maybe. Avon...
Similar to how asteroid mines work? Interesting but do you really need it? I can see the value early on, if you want to accelerate your construction of heavy ships, but is it an issue in the late game when you can spit out Battleships and Titans quickly? Plus those heavies eat up SSPs, it kind of annoys me when I reach my limit and have my productive worlds idle (buildings maxxed, ships maxxed kind of thing). But, I slow down production anyway as I can snowball quickly at 100% settings, other players on the other hand still don't find the game fast enough, it may be of interest to them.
A lot of good suggestions on this thread. +1 1. For me, larger map sizes please. I'm currently playing on a Gigantic Map with 10 species, and the galaxy doesn't seem big enough. And that's just with 10 species, I like to play much bigger games. 2. More alternate models for species leaders. Maybe just a bunch of generic models, so we can make our own custom species that look nothing like the originals. 3. More choices for ship models as well. I may design 3 or 4 different types of the same class size (Destroyers for instance), I'd like them to look different.
Agreed. I still would prefer some more minor adjustments before any attempts are made to tackle the more sophisticated ones. For example, some more events would help as well as a few leaders. Specifically, I would love to see something that is simple but a bit different. Some examples; Friendly monsters that join the player via event could be added easily. (Why relegate these type of events to leaders or ships only). The monster would be under player control, require no SSP, but have a monetary cost (have to feed it) instead. Mercenary bands that include a leader and small fleet (instead of just a single ship) would also be welcome. Perhaps if these are turned away, they turn pirate. This would need to trigger after a certain level of development and not too early. Realistically this game can be enhanced for a very long time, and many major additions can be incorporated, but before doing that I would love to see it fleshed out a little more. P.S. Excellent avatar.
More good ideas. I can't believe I didn't know about this game until a week ago??? MoO2 was my first real PC game back. Since then only the Civs and GalCivs have grabbed my attention in the 4x genre. But this, my newest obsession, is quickly becoming my favorite PC game. Thank you. My custom race for my 80 empires (Star Trek races, Babylon 5 races, MoO2 races,ect.), GalCiv3 Crusade playthroughs. The Terran Empire. Oh and I have to say, your Gilligan meme still cracks me up, every time I see it.
Unfortunately most of that is inherent to indie games, some was avoidable though. It's really a gem isn't it? And it has tremendous potential for further improvements. It's now my second favorite space based 4X of all time, and number one in TBS. You're welcome. You use the Terran Empire emblem from 'in a mirror darkly", your handle is from the original Battlestar Galactica. You reference Babylon 5... and more importantly, you know who Gilligan is. That's good enough for me, glad you joined, welcome aboard.
When I went to start my 2nd playthrough, I wanted to up the number of Empires. That's when I realized that 10 was the limit. Well the above wishes won't matter much with that limitation. So how about upping it to 20 or 25? It could be an expansion, I'd pay for that. There's a lot of great ideas on this thread, that would work nicely with an expansion.
Sit tight. Though I'm no longer part of the "fellowship", It's a safe bet to presume that my former colleagues intend to add at least four more races via expansion. (You will then have two races per biome type and restore balance to the competition for real-estate, now it is uneven). Once that occurs you will be up to 12 races, the largest map can easily support that. It's also quite possible that they will allow two more races total than the number of standard races throughout every iteration of the game. That would give you 14 playable in theory, which while still short from your desire total, is very significant. 20-25 races would not work out with the current maps, for a number of reasons. The emperor setting would become meaningless as your neighbors would be too close. You could even start with contact on turn one, something I find distasteful.
