Ever since I played my first game, I've mostly felt that empires were roundish, expanding blobs. AIs would colonise nearby systems even if they were unattractive or useless and left alone systems of great strategic importance such as wormhole exits. Also, the influence mechanic, while interesting (especially in Disharmony), is still mostly uncontrollable circles.



While wonders have started to diversify every corner of the galaxy and add strategic depth on the map, I feel this should be taken a step further.



SUGGESTION : Create a variety of new galaxy map objects or wonders that affect the ''terrain'' of the galaxy. Those special elements would not necessarily be linked to or contained within systems, they could be placed anywhere on map or in lieu of a 'normal' system



Examples :

A large nebula which stops and/or influence (wall-like). Will generally be placed on cosmic strings.



Endless Hyperspace gate : Specific string consumes no to cross if you own the system in which you enter the string OR grant +4 on fleet upon passing through system (or through string) once per turn.



Pulsar : A planetless system usable mostly as a battleground. orbiting around the pulsar suffer HP damage every turn (once as they move in and once again every turn start on the pulsar). A special module could protect from this.



One-way cosmic strings : Self-explanatory.



Endless Outposts : Planetless system. Has to be conquered with an amount of troops depending on the strength of the outpost. Once conquered, will prevent enemy ships from blockading as well as providing fleet repair, and a lesser amount of influence.



Trade Station : Planetless system. Can be bought with or conquered with troops. Systems sharing a cosmic string with the Trade Station (or maybe within its influence) would benefit from an increase in trade revenue. Once bought (or conquered and repaired), the Trade Station would give a larger bonus to owned or allied systems and none to adversaries. Cooperation agreement could allow peaceful nations to benefit from your Trade Stations. Finally, taking a neutral Trade Station providing bonuses to other players would anger them (unless they still benefit from it, like with Cooperation Agreements).



(Stringless systems reachable only through warp?)



I believe this feature could be a great benefit for while not requiring immense work from . While certainly not a priority, putting this in add-on 6 or 7 would deepen the decision-making by creating potential strategic objectives beyond wonders/wormhole exits and shaping empires around important locations. Also, supposing Neutral Factions are in the works, it would synergize well with them, by associating certain factions and strategic points. Choosing your colonies wisely would retain its importance, but there would be more factors to consider and would pressure players in stretching their empires to reach key elements, opening stranger colonisation strategies.



TL: DR : Put more than just systems on the galaxy map.