Well, I almost always play with the galaxy on its max size with anywhere from 6-8 other factions so yeah it does feel a bit "small" at times, but I think this is mainly caused by the galaxy generation settings that are chosen. 

At other times, I'll lower the faction number to 4-5 and it's a lot more open and "discoverable" and feels way less cluttered. 

This could also be influenced by difficulty and how fast you or other players/AIs expand and explore 

I do feel like this at times, particularly when most systems are claimed or under influence but it's kind of the nature of the beast. The problem with exploration and mystery is that eventually you run out of places to find or things to discover and a game that takes place on a finite map can only allow for so much of these- even on a large galaxy. 

I think within the constraints of its genre, ES2 does a good job of it, being able to launch probes into the ether (maybe they are too good/easy to come by, but I like the feel of them), searching curiosities, sending exploration fleets to discover new systems, but this all dries up early-mid game- but I can't really think of a 4X game where this isn't the case- they're designed around being a territory war and forcing/resolving conflict with the other factions.

When I feel like a less crowded game I usually set the galaxy one notch higher than recommended, or drop the factions amounts by 2. But again, you always end up in the same place.

Father wrote:

The problem with changing galaxy settings is that the more extreme they become the more game balance becomes skewed towards certain gamestyles and races.

I assume the balance considerations are mostlyu for the "average" galaxy settings, the default ones i assume.

Maybe there is room to add something "more" to galaxies which will still add some interest towards the mid late game as well.

Giant space monsters and Grand Menaces. Let it be done.

Slashman wrote:

Father wrote:

The problem with changing galaxy settings is that the more extreme they become the more game balance becomes skewed towards certain gamestyles and races.

I assume the balance considerations are mostlyu for the "average" galaxy settings, the default ones i assume.

Maybe there is room to add something "more" to galaxies which will still add some interest towards the mid late game as well.

Giant space monsters and Grand Menaces. Let it be done.

You're not hiding your love for giant space monsters too well Mr Slashman :D

twimpix wrote:

Slashman wrote:

Father wrote:

The problem with changing galaxy settings is that the more extreme they become the more game balance becomes skewed towards certain gamestyles and races.

I assume the balance considerations are mostlyu for the "average" galaxy settings, the default ones i assume.

Maybe there is room to add something "more" to galaxies which will still add some interest towards the mid late game as well.

Giant space monsters and Grand Menaces. Let it be done.

You're not hiding your love for giant space monsters too well Mr Slashman :D

He's not the only one, I've also been pushing for space creatures. Look at Horatios ships, the way they move as if they were alive. Now put a terrifying creature skin on top of that and maybe have them shoot toxic out of their pores

ruzen wrote:

This (OP) is very legit argument in my opinion but I believe this is happened because of UI design choice. ES2 -and other games Amplitude have made- wants to integrate the information and visual at the same time. This allows them to craft great art in a strategy game. The similar approach was achieved in CiV5 where it had great visuals and you can tell most of the things by looking but Civ6 didn't understand the reasoning why developer choice this method and failed about "how to get great graphics in 4x" focused only giving information. Just like in grand strategy genre Europa Universalis or Crusader Kings where the amount of information is sky-high therefor resulting in giving up creating good art. Although they are trying to evolve too, like in Hearts of Iron 4 the screen giving to much more visual information.

In ES2 you can have lots and lots of information with just a glance. Especially in space map mode. And when you can show the information in such good manner you can pretty much integrate good graphics with that information, depending on your skill. And Amplitude is very skilled at this but this is a double edge sword. On one side you can kill the presentation part on the other, it forces you to do more well-structured design. Chaotic structures can't have a place in this design.  Maybe that's why you could get this locked in feeling. My suggesting is to reduce node connectivity, star density, resources, events quests and special nodes. Maybe the content would feel rarer this way.

Can confirm, playing with these settings now, galaxy feels so much more expansive and exploration feels more fun