I like the unconfirmed info of borders being open by default but I was kinda hoping more at what seemed to be hinted at that big long linked post a bit back. With them talking about how in the historical games you could always use the oceans.
I was kinda thinking that meant you would be able to freely choose your ship's destinations, especially for stuff like warp drives. Not being limited to targeting stars would allow players to use those big 'oceans' of empty space between galactic arms to mostly freely travel. Only being blocked by the oddall empire that manages to find two habitable planets on the edges of the gap to link the territory or the ones specifically setting up frontier posts to block it at the cost of influence.
But I suppose that would change the game too much. Hyperdrives would have to find some way to explain hyperlanes in the middle of nowhere. And it would pretty much remove how incredibly hard it is to reach other galactic arms, which is something I currently like.
Perhaps if all players had the ability to research a 'late early game' ftl drive that could be put on any ship, was expensive and comparatively slow, but allowed arbitrary destinations. Giving players something like the equivalent of a boat in land based games. Heck bonus points if you could further research it up to upgrade it from a ftl slot to a utility slot, allowing hybrid ships that will use the race's base ftl under normal circumstances, but using the 'void drive' when necessary or in the off case where it's faster.
Double heck it could even work sorta like the liir's ftl in Sword of the stars, getting faster the farther it is from any systems. Walled in on both sides? Make a survey ship or colony ship with a void drive to jump the galactic arm and keep surveying, or just go around the galactic rim.
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Topic: Stellaris: Paradox Interactive IN SPACE (Read 1747153 times)