Unknown regions

from StarControl Forums

Would it be possible to have some regions we do not have a map for?  We'd have a map of the known space and beyond that... we'd need to explore.

 

One of the letdowns, in SC2, was when I entered Quasispace and discovered that I had all the points available on a map. I'd never been there, for crying out loud.  Let me wander around a bit, find my bearings and discover things!

 

Personally, I'd like it if, when stumbling on a region of space that hasn't been charted before, that we could see the larger/brighter stars but not necessarily less-visible stars like a brown dwarf, for example.

 

We could have wormholes that take us off the map.

 

Just like Vela was hidden, but doing this on a more routine basis, using in-game mechanisms.

10,291 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from StarControl Forums Top


Would it be possible to have some regions we do not have a map for?  We'd have a map of the known space and beyond that... we'd need to explore.

Un-mapped territory with completely unknown aliens and anomalies is a great idea.  Space should be vast and bizarre, always offering up something new, whether its relevant to the story or not.

Reply #2 from StarControl Forums Top

Normal Stars in normal space should always be visible, though. After all, we've been looking at them all our lives. 

Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #3 from StarControl Forums Top

I like the wormhole idea for potential expansions and DLCs, but meanwhile, something like this should do it for me:

 

Reply #4 from StarControl Forums Top

Quoting IBNobody, reply 2

Normal Stars in normal space should always be visible, though. After all, we've been looking at them all our lives. 

 

I think Stars should be always be visible too, but perhaps unknown things that don't shine very well, like rogue planets or massive star bases (ala Death Star), or massively-hidden or obscured areas like nebulas that have very few star formations.

It would be nice to have a hint of "dark energy /dark matter" areas where there are gravitational or other tell-tell signs of something being there, but can't be actually observed from a far off distance, therefor needing to actually be explored physically to map the region or discover whatever is there.

Also, maybe there's an entire star system/constellation that "fluxes" in and out of normal space/time due to some technology or freak of universe, or the light is captured by a Dyson sphere:

https://www.google.com/search?q=dyson+sphere&sa=X&espv=2&biw=1463&bih=837&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ved=0ahUKEwjXhPu4373JAhVBSmMKHanQAm4QsAQINw#imgrc=_

 

Reply #6 from StarControl Forums Top

I agree. Non-stars should be hidden unless they are giving off tremendous amounts of energy for a looooooong time.

 

What if your star view is limited by your location on the map? I don't mean just a fog-of-war. I mean that your relative position affects the brightness of a star.

 

You head out from Earth in your FTL ship towards a star that is 100 light years away. From Earth, it looks bright and welcoming. As you approach the star, however, you see it dim and then go out. Finally once you are in range of where the star used to be, you detect that something has enclosed it in a Dyson sphere. You then make the FTL trip back to earth, and the star "regains" its brightness because you are seeing the older light.

 

Another thing that would be fun is to have a scenario where you run into a derelict ship or partially destroyed planet. If you FTL traveled out far enough from the ship/planet, you'd pick up their distress call that was sent when the ship/planet was destroyed.

+1 Loading…
Reply #7 from StarControl Forums Top

Quoting IBNobody, reply 6

I agree. Non-stars should be hidden unless they are giving off tremendous amounts of energy for a looooooong time.

 

What if your star view is limited by your location on the map? I don't mean just a fog-of-war. I mean that your relative position affects the brightness of a star.

 

You head out from Earth in your FTL ship towards a star that is 100 light years away. From Earth, it looks bright and welcoming. As you approach the star, however, you see it dim and then go out. Finally once you are in range of where the star used to be, you detect that something has enclosed it in a Dyson sphere. You then make the FTL trip back to earth, and the star "regains" its brightness because you are seeing the older light.

 

Another thing that would be fun is to have a scenario where you run into a derelict ship or partially destroyed planet. If you FTL traveled out far enough from the ship/planet, you'd pick up their distress call that was sent when the ship/planet was destroyed.

 

Although this would add to the verisimilitude of the game (and I would love that), some players might find it confusing.  We would need to have everything carefully timestamped with a stardate, and hopefully have the ship's central computer detail what's what.

 

Other than that, being in hyperspace and catching a call that comes from coreward and was sent approx. 15.7 years ago would tell the player that there was something to explore in that direction, this far away.

 

I'd find that cool :-)

Reply #8 from StarControl Forums Top

It would be very cool, but I doubt we'll see much of that. I can't imagine what it would be like creating a map which would have to be different in appearance for every single point present on said map.