Moving pops around systems for optimal results is probably among the most enjoyable thing in the game for those of us who enjoy micro-management. However, playing through a handful of solo campains, I progressevely came to think that this process could be a little harder and a little more detailed in it's representation of what happen when you do it.


Sure, there's the delay and risk of losing civilian ship, which is awesome, but I'd imagine it would also cost ressources to move people around systems like that. The kind of ressource would logicaly be different depending of the faction or maybe, their political alignement. For most cases it would be a mix of dust and influence but for some particular cases (like the Cravers who probably resort to deportation) it would also involve manpower. The amount of ressources could be proportional to the number of moved pops and distance traveled.

The main interest of such a gameplay mechanic would be:

  • an evermore detailed representation of the fictionnal events that gameplay actions symbolize
  • a difficulty adittion for those who desire it. It also has the advantage of being scalable: lower game difficulty could reduce or completely remove this ressource requirement
  • an even greater differenciation between poltical/faction's playstyle: some would be better at moving their people around but they might suffer greater penalties from low approbation. The others would have much more difficulties to place pops where they wish and would have to compose with their original placement but they wouldn't be that much bothered by influence and food penalties of a mutinous pop (you know who I'm thinking about...).

The only problem I see for now:

  • the headaches of those who would be in charge of balancing it. The idea probably won't be popular but if it does and no one wants to step up I'd be more than happy to contribute :D