Actually trying to make a better of this, matching with actual game status in this thread, I'll continue posting there if you're interested, and left the idea as originally was. Still if you like, you can vote here as an idea.


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Hi,


Did you read this idea from @ValhallasAshes? If you didn't, please take a look.

As this is not exactly related to this idea, it makes evident something that everyone has experienced: there's a resource cap at 999, or at least it seems in galaxy view for strategic resources, and in economy view for luxuries. Not properly tested myself, but if you read the forums, there's people who tested and resources seems to waste beyond this point.


IMO this makes game few issues, that are brought back from EL:

  • There's an arbitrary resource cap that has no sense. Not in lore, not in gameplay.
  • This cap is always reached at a point you are producing so many resources that is almost filled in one turn every time you spend resources.
  • This brings to a characteristic that is completely misused, and no body is worrying about that, except for complains, that fell in oblivion due to its low or null impact on gameplay.

I think this cap may be used to make game more interesting, and add a new feature, that if not crucial, can make it more fun to play.


I'll try to develop this with this principles in mind:

  • It should make the player take decisions like when to expand the resources cap or what to do with it excess.
  • It should easily interact with marketplace and devs ideas about creating resources shortages or playing with its prices.
  • Ideally this should be affected by other game features like laws or techs.
  • It has been previously used in RTS, like the "spice silo" in Dune 2 (so since 1992). and imo with success, but also I think this should be less impact than this, so making game interesting, but not conditioning all your plans.

How?

Well, my first idea is that excess resources beyond this cap is directly sold to market. That for itself has to downsides:

  1. In actual game stage you reach this 999 at a point that selling this resources to market probably won't have a significant impact on your economy, except for creating giant market stocks that none will buy (and if someone has to buy to make you get the money, you won't get any benefit, but not sure if this is the actual mechanic, so feel free to ignore this parenthesis).
  2. For explained in "1", after mid-game, both luxuries and strategic resources markets will be flooded with tons of resources that none is buying, and if someone does, it will be at lower ridiculous price, breaking the sense of the market competition in this game.

These are big problems. 

Before continue, have in mind that I'll propose some numbers. All are hypothetical and to be tuned if devs put this in the game, so take the idea, but not the numbers.

My proposition to play with the cap, having all that in mind is:

  • Start with lower resource cap, to say 99.
  • All the excess resources will be sold to marked, provided you have unlock the tech that allows access to resources market. Otherwise it's wasted like now. More reasons to research it before your cap fills.
  • As your tech progress, you'll get techs that makes this cap higher. My first proposition it and Era III tech that rises cap to 999 and and Era V that erases the cap, and allows you store infinite resources, only unlocking the techs.. As not sure how the new tech tree will be, you can see this as a mid-game and end-game techs respectively. If you don't like this, I had other ideas, but not sure about them:
    • Instead of making this only for unlocking the tech, make this a once-time system improvement, so once build it increases your cap for all empire. It adds really little, but more lore-sense.
    • Techs give you repeatable system improvements, that increases the cap for a flat quantity in mid-game tech (say 100 resource per improvement build), and a % for the late-game tech (say 5% plus per improvement build).
    • I also considered making this techs separated for luxuries and strategic, but not sure.
    • Create some law that makes your resources cap higher/lower and/or regulates where excess resources are going: wasted / marked / converted into FIDSI. This one gives also more importance to senate. Still not much sure.

Well, now we have something to do with resource cap, and forces player to run for this techs once some production points are passed. But I think there still are the market issues, so to play with this, I think that this features can be added:

  • An option to stop producing one resource in a planet. May be planet specializations, or infinite system improvements, or any other way. theoretically this will allow you to create shortages in market if you're the only producer of some strategic/luxury. Have in mind that with actual system lvl system (hops sounds weird) it may be crushing if you're to dependent from market to get the needed resources. Can also make you redesign your ships if it's the case with strategic.
  • An option (may be unlocked through a tech) that allows you to choose if you want the excess resources sold on the market or only be wasted. As before to create shortages. Also if assumed that having the market tech starts auto-selling once cap is reached, may be a viable strategy for shortages can be just not researching this tech? Not sure.
  • Infinite improvements (yes like 3D public printing) that converts the resource production of a system into FIDSI or other useful thing. This allows you to play with resources, or just convert your excess into something useful, once you have reached the cap.
  • Making more system improvements have resource requisites. Actually is only the system lvl and the AI labor (not sure if this or the other industry improvement) that requires titanium/hyperium, left aside the "wonders" in patch 0.1.21 (remember correctly??). this is to make player in more need of resources. Note: this last one is more related on how expending resources, and giving them more utilities, but still I think fits a bit here.

IMO this will allow us to implement a new aspect to the game, while having something to do with this actual arbitrary resource cap, that imo has no sense, but per se is not a big problem, because when you reach it you are producing far more than you can waste.


Hope you liked!


As final notes:

  • These are my ideas, but if you feel you have better ones to play with this cap and make it meaningful, don't hesitate in posting here. Sure something better can come.
  • If you found any flaw, feel free to explain. Sure there are.