I think the first issue with expanding minors remains is it worth all the work.
As I recall it will only happen if and when it is as important as other outstanding game issue.

My main concerns are not about the work required but rather the impact on gameplay. My feeling is that it is more likely to hurt gameplay than improve it.

Forgive me for inadequate explanation.

When I said "colonizes" I meant that was occuring "during map generation."

So starting at Turn 1, Vulcans would have their home system + X surrounding systems already colonized and growing at minor race growing rates.

Notice you'll have 4 other (AI) expanding empires in the galaxy.

/nod. A critical concern I would have is that all this eats up cycle times.

If of the 170 minor races require processing time, and minor races can expand and fight, and the AI is expanding and fighting...you see where this is going.


Aurora, an awesomely detailed 4x game currently in alpha I think...fun game, massive amounts of detail but a major concern is that if you have more then one "enemy empire" in the game, if the two enemy empires bump into each other and start fighting the game grinds to a halt as the enemy eats up all the cycle times circling around each other, blowing each up other up etc. while you just get frustrated because you're clear across the galaxy and can't build a single farm because it takes too long to process just 5 seconds of game time, let alone the month speed you were doing before.


But that's mainly an issue because their combat engine is integrated into everything else (and the game is built in VB). SO if processing time is NOT a concern, I think it would be really really really cool. Yes, you could be hemmed in with a minor race on one side and a hostile major on the other, but that's part of the fun and challenge. Perhaps that can be built into the difficulty level, so that on "easy" mode minor's don't expand while on "impossible" each expanding minor is basically the same as a major (limitless expansion) so instead of just facing K/R/C/F/D you also face Breen, Kezon, Sheliak, Andorans, Vulcan, etc. etc. etc.

I would dub that "impossible level difficulty"

There are a few places (like ) where I have glazed over some of the issues with minor expanding races. I'm not convinced that it could be implemented in a way that consistently improved gameplay. Sure, it could improve gameplay, but it could also screw it up pretty badly, and the odds tend to shift in that direction.

Here's kinda my take on this; I understand that it's a lot of hassle at the moment, and there are other, more important things (such as AI) to work on. But it's also something I personally really, really want, so how about this:

Leave the possibility of coding it in later, after the majority of the game is done, and put it off until then. In other words, don't make code that you'd have to change later to make it possible, and if time permits before releasing the game (or even after, as kind of an addon), go ahead and add it. It makes little sense to do it before adding AI anyway, so just procrastinate a little.

Like I said, though, I really want this. It was this feature, more than anything, that drew me to the game in the first place.

It would be nice to see as long as it does not overun the game.