Here is my list, some(most?) of which I would obviously rather(have no other choice) see in Sins 2 rather than try to fit them into the current game/engine or whatnot
- More flexible travel system available than phase lanes. Thinking maybe warp gates/engines available or an enhancement to current phase engines that allow phase jumps to any planet within a certain range. The Vasari would keep their phase stabilizer advantage allowing them to jump to any planet in the solar system as they do now regardless of range. Limits to this would be jumping thru the influence of an anomaly like plasma/electrical storms and what not. Ability to cancel a phase jump if not lore inappropriate with a cooldown before the phase jump can be resumed/reversed (would also lose additional AM per your current AM tech level or lack thereof to offset it). I would also like to incorporate a previous idea of a rotating solar system. Make some phase lanes "destabilize" (if not lore inappropriate since I don't know how phase lanes came to be in the first place lore-wise) when certain planets exceed a certain range from another due to that planet having a faster orbit around the sun or whatnot.
- alot more research options. Increase from 8 tiers to 10 to make room, add more levels to tech where is this an option and adjust current research accordingly.
- A little more 4X-ness. Nothing complicated like in some TBS games but some basic planet exploitation management. Maybe make it optional or a setting to be determined on a per game basis so you can decide where or not this is a "rush to the finish/RTS only" type game as this would basically slow the pace of the game a bit. This opens up alot of options for research/tech like planet defenses (Ion cannons FTW!), science labs/trade unions/etc to increase the effect of artifacts/planet bonuses (or remedies to negative planet bonuses like dome structures/weather modification systems for planets with "Frequent Dust Storms" or other such malodies), temples/monastaries for the Advent to further increase their cultural advantage on the planet, internment/labor camps for the Vasari etc.
- (already mentioned) visual and physical changes to different levels of capital ships/titans, both general and ship specific. Examples: dual planetary bomb launchers/Beam cannons at level 8, extra target/bank at levels 5 and 10, increased speed/manueverability for some, Battleships/Dreadnoughts get extra cannons at certain levels, Capital class carriers get a flak turret every other level etc etc etc.
- (already mentioned) more planet/planetary body/anomoly/object types. Used in conjunction with a more flexible/alternate travel system and sensor upgrades to detect derelicts (or other objects that wouldn't necessarily have their own gravity well) and travel to them manually with the option to board them (in the case of a derelict) for a chance to find tech, resources, or maybe even repair the derelict to get a unique ship with a special ability(Siege Shield, large AoE cannon, frigate construction bay, etc) at whatever cost/research is required to repair it.
- Random events! Plamsa storms that disrupt phase lane traffic between certain systems and cause havoc to travel through without adequate shielding (should apply to stationary plasma fields as mentioned as well...should not be able to stay in a plasma storm for long but they should give some extra advantage like disguising ships phase jumping to/from them...more below). Comets that can be explored/studied or that have to be monitored incase they are on a collision course with one of your planets. NPC race of some kind that randomly causes havoc (thinking along the lines of a toned down tyranid/zerg type). Planets without adequate defensive upgrades will suffer losses of population and/or planet upgrades/biuldings.
- More negative effects to stars/anomolies. All stars should have debuff to shields in thier grav well(Starbases to have an upgrade option to counter this). Plasma/Electrical storms should cause more havoc to ships without sufficiently upgraded shields in addition to their current debuffs/effects (Starbases to have a upgrade option to counter this or have the grav well be much larger than the storm allowing you to place a Starbase outside the actuall storm and forcing you to either go around it to prevent damage or go through it to save time). Stars no longer being the "first stop" to a new system. This should be moved to an "outer ring" for the solar system. The reasearch to jump to different star systems should include at least a minimum ability to jump to a planet in range of your arrival location. Defenses to this would be perimeter sensors/listening posts to alert of an incoming fleet before they can move to within jump range of one of your planets. Also, you can place a Starbase (or 2 or 10) if you know the location of the enemies star system and therefore their likely trajectory to your system making scouts valuable in systems with many stars. Having a high phase jump tech would give you an offensive advantage in this scenario as you would be able to jump to a planet in the new system almost as soon as arriving and before your enemy has a chance to redirect forces depending on his phase jump tech. Stars should have a different role/benefit for placing Starbases around them like harvesting AM which increases the AM reserves of all friendly ships in the star system?
- (already mentioned) Cloaking. A cruiser variant of the scout maybe that can cloak for brief periods, get planet info that would not be available to regular ships such as number of planetary defensives/upgrades etc. I'm not big on adding too many "spy" or "sabotage" options, but a few would be nice. Add a patrol option to scouts that can detect cloaked ships (similiar to mine detection) within a certain range (upgradeable?). So trying to get close to a planet that has 10 scouts patrolling it would be a risky endeavor and gives the scouts an increased value/additional role. Upgrade for mines (high tech level of course) that fully cloaks them, making them completely invisible unless within the sensor range of a scout (detection range would be greater than range to actually make them targettable, but not by much). Maybe add an ability to one of the utility capital ships to launch a probe within the gravwell that will "wander around" or orbit the fleet and detect cloaked mines.
- (already mentioned) New troop transport/marine cruiser which can take over enemy planets instead of having to bomb them to oblivion then recolonize. This option should take longer than bombardment with the benefit of keeping a larger portion of existing upgrades and/or infrastructure. Obviously, planets which are highly fortified may negate this as a viable option unless you happen to have amassed 50 troop transports or something. Prequisites would include the training/research needed for the ship itself and military installations for adding to a planet. Planets with military installations AND a shipyard would be the only ones capable of building these troop ships. The more military installations, the more troops available. Each ship would require a certain number of troops and as such would be an additional "resource" required to build them. No more troops, no more troop transports.
- Targettable Capship modules. Have a damned Advent Progenitor buffing its fleets shields? Order corvettes/SC to target that module and disable it. Dunov EMP got you down, remove it from the equation (temporarily). Capships/frigates can target modules as well but with less efficiency with cap ships having a worse chance of hitting another cap ships module but a bonus to attacking a Titan's module. Aside from special abilities, one class of ship should not be able to do significant damage to ships hull that is 2 classes above it. For example, corvettes should not be able to do significant damage to a cap ship unless in vast numbers (50 to 1?, maybe slightly less). I know that this is already somewhat implemented but I think the "gap" should be increased a bit. Modules, however, are a different story. Using SC against a titan should prove fruitless unless it is more of a 100 to 1 ratio (this goes for hull damage only, shields will still go down quicker, but not as quick as they do currently). Fighters should have virtually no effect against cap ship or higher hulls where bombers (with added research/upgrades...thinking maybe "heavy bomber" research available for capital class carriers only) can still make a dent.
- (already mentioned?) Frigate veterancy. Frigates "level" up (max 5 levels or so?) and get increased shields/damage/health/armor(not necessarily all 4 at each level...ship/race specific?) as a background/passive upgrade.
- multicore/64-bit support *insert dead horse here to beat*
Ya, pretty much this entire list would be a Sins 2 (3?...4!?!) wishlist...