What should I do now... (mid-late game)

I think the devs have already done all that schem

yes, but as always user input is best. we have had almost no input except for

and I think we could use more diversification than simply tweaking to the system already in place (one example, say, would be what type of random events people would want to see, give the devs some ideas)

they said that they have added to all of those except the ship limit one, not just tweaking, apparently they have actually added junk

I usually go get something to eat at this point in the game

yes yes, I know that they've probably done all but made this part of the game god. but thats not the point, the point is to consolidate the feedback pertaining to this area in hopes the devs will see and incorporate some of the brighter ideas.

Hmm.. how bout have a uber-powerful alien race/pirate leader/fleet from some unknown star not in the game appear and try to wipe your colonized planets out?

Master of Orion was and still is Master of random Events
There were crystal lifeforms entering your region of space to find something to eat(like colonists), Spacedragons on their search for wealth so that you can give them some credits so that they will search on the planets of an other empire and an alien species from outer space that has nothing better do do as sending their fleets through wormholes to your colonies. Then there were asteroids on collision course that have to wiped out by a couple of ships.

ok. Lets brainstorm a little bit.
How about the detection of new Starlane that leads to an uncharted planet.
Or the appearance of a neutral trader offering some ships from all races.
A mineral- or crystal- asteroid that has entered the orbit of a planet and can now be mined.

So thats all for now.

Suggestions are welcome for this area (no unknown alien threat in Sins, though - that's what sequels are for).

The standard fare of random events would be fine, I suppose.

Just don't make random events all negative though. Also please don't simply make them a tool to reduce the power of the player who is winning.

How about some nano bug that eats the hulls of ships in comes in contact with?
Let’s say it exists in a jump line and if you are using that jump line you have a 1 in 100 chance of getting the bug. It would then spread from ship to ship in the fleet as time progresses. These ships would have to be within a certain range of the contaminated ship for the spread event to occur. The only way to stop it is to scuttle the contaminated ships, or you could send those ships to someone else and deliberately spread it... like an std. what is does is reduce the hit points of the hulls of the infected ships and structures in comes in contact with!

A nano bug that hardens the hulls of the ships it infects upping the hit points it can withstand.

A planet dies suddenly, becomes a big barren lifeless rock with no atmosphere.
A group of pirate ships enter your system asking for asylum, offering themselves to your service and command.

A solar flare knocks all shields to zero within the system or knocks out all systems and everything is dead in the water for a time, say 3 min. Units outside the system or more than 1 jump from the star would not be affected

A ships jump computer malfunctions and that ship is lost, only to (maybe) reappear at some random location sometime later in the game.

Any feedback on any of these for random effects?

Lots of things could be added during mid game to pass time until you go slaughter your foes. Like what was mentioned above with random events. Also you could add in a random chance one of your colony's revolts, and forms its own faction (for whatever reason, but its a random event so it doesn't need a reason). Silencing a rebellion in your own empire is sure to keep the pace of the game going (along with the pirate attacks) until you feel you are ready to go on a rampage though the galaxy, or your enemy comes knocking at your door with his entire fleet

Right now I think the devs have a good foundation of a RTS in some ways it's similar to Frontier Wars. But the 4x side of the game I think is really lacking. There just isn't that same feeling of grandness, of starting as a fledgling civilization and conquering the galaxy. Or that feeling of looks of things are going on under foot brought about by interesting random events. Also lack of meaningful diplomacy comes to mind as another short coming.

Right now I think the game feels more like Age of Empires in space then a grand scale 4x. It is still fun but because of this is suffers the down fall of most RTS. That is once you get your base fortified and economy stable it quickly degrades into a slug fest of who can breach the others defenses first. Which if there are no special weapons and decent defenses structures then it could take a while. This constantly needing to punch through fully fortified systems combined with SLOW travel time really bogs down the game.

Personally I think travel time between planets should be near instant since you spend enough time as is moving through the gravity belts. While travel between stars should take about as long as it does to move between the planet now. This way ships can get to the front a lot faster which I think is a major problem right now. I mean it seems to take a half hour or longer for my ships to make 7+ jumps in a large map with only 1 star(I prefer more planets and 1 star cause travel time between stars is TOO LONG. PLus culture bug so can't get footing in new star system). Reducing the travel time on jumps I think would go a long way to increasing the pace of things late game.

???

Hey PyroMancer2k, why do you play with MORE planets? Simply use less planets and all your troubles are gone.

His problem doesn't just dissappear on a smaller map. It takes a long time to travel anywhere. It gets a lot less irritating with only a couple planets, but trading ages of boredom for a game that amounts to one or two early game attacks is kinda lame.

Oh c'mon if you are consious about where your ships and ship factories are then you wouldnt have to worry about waiting for your fleet to cross stretches of your solar system. I've played 5 solar systems with 10 planets each and played 1 solar system with 40 planets, so I know if it takes a long time. I just have my fleet always near the enemy border and keep my flanks protected so I don't have to fall back to protect something.

The BEST part of this game is I can have a 4 hour session, save, log off for a few days (maybe switch to another RTS or maybe an FPS if I get video game crazy), and come back to that SAME GAME! I can start where i stopped in a saved file and still have fun. That only happens to me in Medeival Total War 2 and even that game gets boring on a campaign trail.

What I don't mind about a long time traveling is going from solar system to solar system. It takes forever but its kind of cool to see a big fleet shoot across the galaxy. Its like an exodus fleet coming to destroy an unsuspecting solar system caught in between a stalemate war.

I agree with shibfilet. In addition the travel time adds some reality...especially if you have sensors so you can see the inbounds and pounce once they arrive.   

Agreed.

This was bugging me for a while, and I just figured out why:

Way to make PSIDAR useless!

Good point Ron. Hehe, it looks like we are both slacking off on the job at the same time today...good for us!

Happily, I doubt that Ironclad will be changing the present Phase Space travel system...although I've read in a few spots now that phase travel from 'any star to any star' will be implemented (3 cheers!).

Nope. I'm a student... class doesn't start until noon, so I have an hour yet before I have to leave for class.

And then work starts right after class and keeps me till late, yuck

Ah yes, student days. I remember them fondly.

paradoxnt, you mean solar system to solar system, right? cuz if you meant planet to planet.... I would cry

That's right shib. You will be able to travel from any star directly to any other star...instead of taking a half hour to travel through 5 stars to get from star A to star G.

The present semi-random phase lane system for inner star systems will be remaining the same (ie, planet/asteroid to planet/asteroid).

I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

WOOT that makes it so much better. Although I prefer 40 planets and 1 star (makes it more border-ish than regions making the game feel cooler  ).

Now we can have our cake and eat it too....uhmm, by that I mean we can have cool multi star games and cool single star games. Everybody wins...unless they are playing against me of course.