Each planet will also have a chance to be able to produce a Luxury resource. Those specific resources will bring a special bonus to the whole empire. The more of the same resource you get, the bigger the bonus for the empire is.

Having a monopoly (owning 4 of that resource) will double the given bonus (having more than 4 gives no bonus).

These resources can be exchanged through diplomatic discussions.

It is important that these 4 resources of the same luxury are not too distant from each other.



We need to ensure that a monopoly is something that is possible through either conquest or commerce with neighbors.



Luxury types



Xenonutrition

Redsang : Red spice derived from a lichen found mostly in coral reefs ; used for its notable effects on biological health and longevity.

Bluecap Mold : A mushroom containing a potent nootropic (cognition-enhancing) drug, remnant of Endless biogenetics.

Dustwater : This is a curative substance that predates the Endless schism; it is an early product of Dust enhancements that is not merely curative for both biological and mechanical beings but also enhances empathy.

Hydromiel : a machine / organic mix that harvests nutrients from any form of soil or rock and converts them into indescribably delicious blobs of grape-sized fruit.



Xenomineralogy

Mercurite : a combination of crystal and liquid. Its unique structure has made it a highly valued trade good as it resonates, vibrates, and changes color regardless of its physical state.

Void Stone : Amethyst-colored crystal accreted around a graviton pearl that in turn contains pure anti-matter, Void Stones have enormous industrial utility. Due to their ability to manipulate gravity fields, Void Stones can be used for all manner of transport, construction, and practical jokes.

Jadonyx : The only known occurring anti-gemstone, the unique lensing properties of Jadonyx make it very useful in advanced tools and machines. It also has many practical military applications for improving weapon systems and ship defenses.

Ionic Crystals : These strange crystals emit ionic waves on similar frequencies to the brainwaves of sentient beings. They can soothe and enhance brain activity, but when excited by certain subatomic particles they interfere with mental activity... and quantum computing devices.



Xenopharmacology

Eden Incense : An exceedingly agreeable aroma wafts from this orange-pink plant when it is burned. Sought after for its potent effects on intellectual creativity, it is valuable as a resource and for trade.

Meta-entactogen : Sourced from a plant that apparently survives by absorbing dark matter from its environment, Meta-Entactogen emits radiation on very unusual spectra. When ingested it makes the 'aura' of an individual visible to others, which greatly improves communication efforts.

Transvine : This strange plant with innumerable tiny crescent-shaped leaves can be safely ingested. It creates a sensation of peace and happiness, and is used both as a natural relaxant and sedatave and as a useful tool to keep rowdy populations compliant.

Proto-Orchid : This flower has the unique property of being able to live symbiotically with almost every known plant life. It is visible as tiny, curling petals all over an affected plant's leaves and stems. Defensive of its host, it attacks predators and cures disease and infection.



Xenoarchaeology

Concrete Artifacts : This planet was once a vibrant world of the 'Concrete' faction of the Endless civilization. Remnants of buildings, transport systems, and everyday fixtures give a glimpse of the industrial sophistication of their culture, and show the heights to which any people can hope to climb.

Virtual Artifacts : Once a world inhabited by the 'Virtual' faction of the Endless civilization, the strange objects they left behind are incomprehensible to those who are not attuned to Dust. For those who are, however, these artifacts can give powerful enhancements.

Pre-schism artifacts : The two great factions of the Endless were once a single people discovering the myriad mysteries of the universe. More advanced than current science, the artifacts they left behind are useful in improving ship capacity and design.

Non-Endless Artifacts : An uncountable number of civilizations have risen and fallen across the vastness of the galaxy. This discovery is of one of those that grew and flourished before disappearing. However, given the warlike nature of these artifacts, this people excelled in ship-to-ship combat.





Luxury probabilities per galaxy size

As luxuries need to be "rare", we didn't want to alter the number of luxuries of the same type generated in a galaxy. Instead, there will be more luxury types in bigger galaxies.

We want to have roughly 2 luxury types per player and 7 units of that luxury in the galaxy, allowing only 1 player to have a luxury's monopoly.



Galaxy Size // Number of Luxury types

Tiny : 4

Small : 8

Normal : 12

Large and Huge : 16



Size of deposit

There is always one deposit of each size in the galaxy for each given resource. The bigger the galaxy, the more resource types you will have.

• 2 lvl 1 (1 luxury per turn)
• 1 lvl 2 (2 luxury per turn)
• 1 lvl 3 (3 luxury per turn)
  
  

Moons will hold modifiers that will affect all the colonized planets of the system if they have a temple left by the precursors.



Discovering temples

Moons need to be explored by an expedition in order for the players to find temples. Expeditions are built in the system queue like any building.

Each Temple will give the player some information about the Endless, and a huge amount of knowledge, useful to maximize the potential of the star system inside which the Temple was found.



Temple Types

TEMPLE OF THE HOLY HELIX :

A lost outpost of the 'Concrete' Endless, the information stored in this defunct temple of learning gives an immediate bonus to all scientific development in the system.



TEMPLE OF THE EXTENDED CONSCIOUSNESS :

This is clearly a relic of the 'Virtual' Endless, who put their minds into computer systems and let their bodies die. A node of a greater data network that is now lost, the system is designed to share scientific knowledge among the planets that orbit this sun.



TEMPLE OF THE PERSUASIVE MIND :

A non-violent branch of the Virtual Endless, the Persuasive Mind scholars focused on victory through non-military means. This outpost contains possibly the galaxy's greatest knowledge base dealing with persuasion, propoganda, and public relations.



TEMPLE OF ARCHITECTURAL GLORY :

This sub-faction of the Concrete Endless had an abiding love for architecture and materials science. Secrets of their studies are contained in the records within this site, leading to an enormous increase in construction efficiency.



TEMPLE OF COSMIC DEDICATION :

Seduced by the glory of architecture and design, the Brotherhood left many sites across the galaxies that contain deeply cherished secrets of process, production, and polish.



TEMPLE OF PERFECTED INFRASTRUCTURE :

Unusual for a Virtual sub-group, the Congregation studied construction and architecture. The notes and minutes left here detail how to rapidly grow industrial production, most likely with the goal of making planets hospitable to the energy-dependent bodies of the Virtuals.



TEMPLE OF THE AURA OF GLORY :

While they do not admit it, certain Endless colonies governed alien populations through demagoguery, exploitation, propoganda, and good PR. This 'religion' was a cover for a group that gleaned information on the most effective methods of leading through subterfuge and guile.



TEMPLE OF APPLIED PSYCHOHISTORICS :

Having studied sociology, anthropology, and psychology in unimaginable depth, a group of researchers founded this institute to further their knowledge. The wisdom contained in its records helps a leader to track, understand, predict, and control the sympathies of their subjects.



TEMPLE OF THE COMMERCE LORDS :

As they explored the galaxies, certain Endless known as "Commerce Lords" left exacting records explaining what goods and resources existed on what planets and in what systems. Created as the corresponding database for this system, this information is a boon for trade.



TEMPLE OF THE GREAT WATCHMAKER :

A branch of a splinter group that treated engineering as a holy mission, this particular ruin contains detailed mapping of non-baryonic particle clouds within this solar system. The information permits 'harvesting' of these particles to radically improve transit times within the system.



TEMPLE OF ACCUMULATED KNOWLEDGE :

When the civil war between the 'Concrete' and 'Virtual' Precursors erupted, the Concrete's ignorance of their foes was a crippling handicap. This is a branch of a library that was developed to share information and experience between Concrete forces, helping them defeat their foes in this sytem.



TEMPLE OF THE ORDER OF ORICHALCIX :

This is one of the few surviving temples of this splinter society of celibate warrior cosmonauts. It contains much of their lore, which dealt with ways to improve the efficiency of starship components.



TEMPLE TO THE GREAT SYNCHRONICITY :

A truly rare find in the galaxy, information contained within this structure was left by Concrete Precursors who had studied the system for many years. The data in particular explains the seasons and weather patterns of all the planets, with precise explanations of optimal growing periods.



TEMPLE OF THE INFINITE TRADEWAYS :

One of the few groupings that contained both Concrete and Virtual members, the SIT studied all aspects of trade and commerce such as logistics, production, and marketing. This site of learning contains many of its secrets.



TEMPLE OF THE COMMERCE LORDS :

As they explored the galaxies, certain Precursors known as "Commerce Lords" left exacting records explaining what goods and resources existed on what planets and in what systems. Created as the corresponding database for this system, this information is a boon for trade.

Here it is for a quick overview of the Galaxy Generation. Please keep in mind that it is a "breathing" game, and that anything could be subject to change, although most of what you read is already implemented.

looking forward to hear what you guys think of that!

I really like the degree of complexity you built-in.

With that, you have a huge replayability factor in the game as well as some very different approaches to the game.



Really well done!



Kudos!

Nicely done!



Especially all the different starting options with closeby foes or even complete segregation demand completely different tactics from the start.



But regarding the moon temples it is yet a bit squishy to me what the particular modifiers really do...

Real galaxies can have many shapes and contain billions of stars of many types and colors. In Endless Space, we want the player to feel like he’s evolving in a real galaxy, even if there won’t be as many stars and star types. Each major generation choice should change the way the player and the game will evolve in the galaxy.

We want the player to be able to generate the galaxy they imagined, with as many parameters as possible, but at the same time it must be simple to use.





Introduction

The game takes place in a single galaxy populated with star systems. The Galaxy will be represented in 3D, but players will evolve in a 2D plane.

Each generated galaxy should have a unique feeling that is created by the galaxy shape, its constellations, the star density, the star types depending on the age of the galaxy, and cosmic strings that connect the system of a constellation.

Altering one of these generation options will change the player’s progression:

• Increasing the number of stars will allow more epic games (each turn will take longer to play, given the number of stars to manage)
• Setting "No constellation" will allow players to go anywhere in the galaxy right from the beginning of the game, whereas too many constellations will force the players to research wormhole travelling very quickly in order to discover new stars.
• The age of the galaxy affects the star type randomization, thus some planet types' chances of appearance will change.
• Changing cosmic string numbers will make the player think differently about attack and defense strategies, mostly in the first part of the game.
  
  

I want to play the game..



Looks realy grate. Are there som star withe warp gate? wite a super gia planet?

I wholeheartedly agree with the others here. The more I hear about this game the more I love it. Keep doing what you're doing and this is going to be the next must-play for 4x fans.

It sounds very well thought, there's a lot of variety, just look at the number of anomalies, resources, temples, etc. Awesome!

What in the Holy Helix are 'Robot locals'? Very intriguing stuff. I daresay it's almost too much backstory to be able to assimilate!



Love the layers of detail one has to be aware of: types of travel, types of goods, a rich list of anomolies (I am so hanging out in robotville with R2) all the galaxy shapes (w/ constellations! wait aren't those just a matter of perspective?).



All those stars!... with allll those planets!!... Oh and their moons!!!... and let's give the moons temples!!!!



sheesh, this game is gonna suck up a lot of man hours

Sounds great!

The travel system is fantastic! It allows a galaxy discovering step by step. The different galaxy settings make each game unique! Galaxy Age, Galaxy Types, Stars, Planets, Anomalies, Strategic Resources, Luxury types! Where did you get these great ideas!? ;-)

And I like the idea with the bonuses because of the moon temples. It is a possibility to make moons interesting.

But I have no idea why a race should build a temple on a moon? I would build this on the planet directly.

I am happy to see so much variety in the planet types, anomalies, and resources. As far as making all of that information digestable, the user interface will need to present important information in easy-to-access places. With so many different factors to keep track of, it could be difficult to remember everything. Perhaps a system or planet overview would work well. I'm not sure what has already been implemented, but is there a planet information box or screen on the galaxy map? Do players need to mouse over a planet or system in order to trigger the info box?



Presentation of all of the information available will make the information gratifying and useful or just frustrating. Striking a balance between a simple, yet effective UI and an informative, but unusable UI is difficult at best.

Just a little question for the details, regarding:

SpaceTroll wrote:


Anomalies

Anomalies are a rather unique phenomenon of that planet that will differentiate it from others through various bonuses and maluses (penalties) added to that planet's base FIDS and system Approval.

Each anomaly can appear only on a few planet types. Anomalies giving a huge bonus are rare; negative anomalies are not, and the player may have to research specific technologies to 'clean' their planets from such anomalies.

If I understand those anomalies correctly, bonuses could hugely affect early gameplay. If you could settle on a garden eden planet with your first colony ship, it might give you a serious headstart. Or your enemy.

Is the distribution of those very special and very rare bonuses handled completely randomly or are you planning to do it like:

SpaceTroll wrote:
Introduction

Type

We need the player to be able to easily find strategic resources that are usable early in the game, but later strat resources will be rare or found on "lower" Planet Classes.

It is also important that we can guarantee that there is always minimum of strategic resources spawned of each type in a new galaxy.

[/LIST]

, so you're going to pick a treshhold-value for a minimal distance to starting points, not present in starting constellations or anything like that to ensure balancing?

I really tried to find something I didn't like about all this, you know to provide some helpful constructive criticism; but the problem is that I sincerely can't. It's all just too awesome for me to criticize. Loved the different type and kinds resources, the constellation concept, all the different traveling methods and the galaxy generation engine of course. It shows that you guys really thought all this through, specially the details about MP strategies on different galaxy shapes. Really awesome stuff.

This could lead to 6 steps in space travel:

String Induction Drive (between solar systems)

Wormholes (between constellations)

Warp movement (free movement between any 2 stars, but way slower than string induction)

Faster String Drive

Wormhole 'freeway' (between any 2 visited Wormholes)

Faster Warp movement (becomes nearly as fast as String Drive)

7 Lords Gate

(hero carried item/buff allowing

instantaneous travel anywhere )

wow! you guys really thought this one through. here's one thing i'm not sure i understood properly: u can have a monopoly of just 1 type of luxury or all 4 types? i'm asking 'cause i'm usually a hoarder (by any means necessary). then there's the moon temples. are they a completely random occurrence or can their discovery be increased by tech research? and what are the specific parameters for discovering one? i'm talking about planet/system specifics and chance % arrays. sorry but you only noted in passing that they'll require specific planet types without going much into it. also, will the discovery of a temple be dependent on what techs you have already researched? this is actually a question that can be stretched to all resource types as well. i'm sorry if i missed where it this was specified in your explanations.

We want to have roughly 2 luxury types per player and 7 units of that luxury in the galaxy, allowing only 1 player to have a luxury's monopoly.

I think that you can have more than 1 monopoly, though it would seem someone (another faction) would have to miss out.

The Endless only built their temples and observation bases on moons because of two major environmental catastrophes in their history.



With their original homeworld, and again with an Eden-like planet called Kyros, the Endless's exploitation of the planet wiped out those worlds' ecosystems and rendered them uninhabitable. In reaction to that, they made it a civil and moral law to observe planets as non-invasively as possible, and only settle or colonize them after decades of analysis and sustainability testing. For that reason, observation stations and local outposts are almost entirely located on nearby moons. On the rare occasions where settlements were built, artifacts from the time of the Endless can sometimes be found. However, in keeping with their principles of sustainability, there is little hope of finding lost cities and large expanses of ruins; after a certain period of vacancy they would slowly disassemble.



As a result, in Endless Space most of the ruins and nascent civilizations that are discovered have nothing to do with the Endless, or they are accidental by-products of their passage and observation.

i guess that whole sustainability thing...



... didn't really work out for them in the end

1 thing to say...and that is...the game is looking,amazing. This is what i have been searching ever since i learned about strategy games.