Systems, the Void, and clutter: More space in space, and more danger in the void.

[Ithirahad]

Currently, in any given system, in addition to the planets and asteroid belts, there tend to be a whole bunch of stations, mostly abandoned. Void systems, counter-intuitively enough, have even more stations, and not much else. The massive amount of stations in a single system ruins the novelty of the new stations - Under this system, we'd need at least 200 stations per faction for it to be in any way interesting to find a new station out there.

This should change.

First of all, we need to run another station contest, this time preferably with more winning stations. Seeing the same five stations all the time is boring, even if there was only one per system or something (which would be silly).

Second of all, the station spawn rate needs to be reduced, drastically. Abandoned stations should only ever spawn near planets or in the void, and should usually cap out at around three in a system. Pirate stations should likewise be reduced in rarity, and always spawn with a fleet around them. Trading guild stations should spawn more near the core of the galaxy and less as you get further out, but in the galactic core their rarity can be the same as it is currently.

Third, the void should change. Void systems in between spiral arms and just outside the galactic rim should have the occasional powerful mega-pirate station (complete with a powerful fleet of stolen and sloppily-repainted Trading Guild enforcer ships) as well as more abandoned stations than star systems (Maybe 4-6 per system?) but not a ridiculous number - this is the void between galactic arms, almost completely empty space, not somewhere you would want to have a bunch of facilities under normal circumstances, and not somewhere where abandoned stations would commonly drift out to.

There should also be a "shell zone" around the galaxy where a second enemy faction's stations and ships spawn. I would kind of like to have these be some kind of mechanical, very cube-based, high-tech-looking enemy, with the NPC mobs being somewhere between insects built from tiny blocks and floating cubes with drills, lasers and other implements attached to smaller cubes hovering around them. These enemies would be significantly tougher than pirates, and additionally would contain and drop system blocks not available by normal means. Their stations, probably resembling neater, shinier versions of Borg unicomplexes, would be a rare and fearsome sight indeed, not detectable until you enter their void system. They would periodically send large groups of these mechanoid enemies to anyone detected anywhere in their system, and laying siege to one would require a coordinated effort by a group of pilots and boarding crews. (There would be some mechanic in place that requires both superior starships and 'ground' forces to successfully mount an attack on one of these stations.)

This second enemy would appear very, very rarely in galaxies, and usually only with their smallest ships, presenting more of a curiosity than a major threat. If a larger ship appears in the safer central parts of the galaxy, it would be alone and neutral, only decloaking for a short period of time if someone comes nearby and then disappearing again. Near the outer rim, they might occasionally appear in force... But for what purpose? Nobody knows. (And nobody will - no reason to make lore for a mystery race in a sandbox game.)

Mind you, there's no reason this race has to be anything like this - they could be anything from bioship-piloting intelligent insects to a mysterious human organization called the Harvesters or something. This is just the first thing that came to mind.

 

[sayerulz]

The idea of an enemy that patrols the edge of galaxys is interesting...

I definetly agree that there need to be less stations in general, and especially less in void systems, because, quite simply, why would anyone build one there? I have been annoyed in singleplayer because every system seemed to have about four pirate stations in them, and I did not want to make a starting base when under threat of a pirate raid.

 

[lio_oVo_oil]

The frequency of pirate stations should be applied to the frequency of pirate ship spawns. OP is good.

 

[Panpiper]

I would very much like something like this, something to give us a goal to work towards rather than just building yet another ship for no reason but to play with blocks. Having really tough opponents (far away) that offer worthwhile rewards that cannot be gained other than by taking them on, gives us a challenge to rise to and a reason to continue scaling.

I very much like the idea of salvageable blocks (or otherwise blocks found in their treasure) that are better in useful ways than regular blocks. Maybe those alien ship cores are better in a way that they would make a substantial impact if used in fighters or small turrets (though correspondingly less so in larger ships, like 1000 shield and a 'whopping' 500 regen). Maybe have negative mass blocks?

 

[Ithirahad]

I would very much like something like this, something to give us a goal to work towards rather than just building yet another ship for no reason but to play with blocks. Having really tough opponents (far away) that offer worthwhile rewards that cannot be gained other than by taking them on, gives us a challenge to rise to and a reason to continue scaling.

I very much like the idea of salvageable blocks (or otherwise blocks found in their treasure) that are better in useful ways than regular blocks. Maybe those alien ship cores are better in a way that they would make a substantial impact if used in fighters or small turrets (though correspondingly less so in larger ships, like 1000 shield and a 'whopping' 500 regen). Maybe have negative mass blocks?

This all sounds good, but negative-mass blocks would create a slippery slope... If you got a large enough ship to routinely kill these things and get negative mass blocks, the eventual result would be that people could create titans that can move like fighters because their heaviness is negated. That would suck. (And looks ridiculous.) I like the idea of special ship cores, though. I was also thinking of things like a slightly more efficient cloaking device and a longer-range (Maybe 12 sectors rather than 8 per jump) more compact jump drive.

 

[Panpiper]

If one of their fighters had maybe a 50% chance of dropping a single negative mass block, and their biggest ships at most a handful... (Using the logic that they tend to lose cohesion if unattached to a ship core or attached to one that has overheated.) A player, even a faction, would have to go through a LOT of that enemy for them to make so much as a dent in a titan's movement potential. They would however be rare enough to have the potential to become a sort of barterable currency. Given time, a player 'might' get enough of them to get a fighter nimble mining ship (that would be my ambition) or a cloaking ship that can do a bit more than just cloak.

 

[aceface]

we need this!!! i want the galaxy to make more sense

 

[LunaIsBestPony]