TL;DR - as you play you will be given the choice of choosing a small bonus, either option A or B.





I had an idea that is related to different situations as one progresses through the game.



My suggestion is to allow the player to choose a particular bonus if they have met certain criteria.



The intent is to make the player feel like they are directly involved in making decisions that directly effect one of 4 key areas (for example). The idea is to provide small gains that may be useful at a given time, and not revolutionary. Depending on play style, one would encounter some or all of these.



1) Finance (requirement: acquire some (?) level of currency)



armed civilians: small + to defence across empire for x turns

or

luxury items: increased trade for x turns (or increased happiness x turns)





2) Space empire (requirement: explore x% of galaxy)



watching the stars: small + to scan range of home system, permanent

or

know thy neighbour: small + to system defence rating across empire for x turns





3) Technology (requirement: acquire x amount of x level (or higher) techs)



renewal: a new random positive bonus to a random colonized planet in a system

or

think tank: + 20% (or some other amount) to research for x turns





4) Diplomacy (requirement: encounter all other races and have held a positive relation with at least one of them for x turns)



convincing: 1 use of adding +50 (or some other amount) to a relationship with any empire, lasts x turns

or

track record: asking an empire with an existing positive relation (of any number) for an agreement has a guaranteed acceptance success (excludes asking to be allies)





What do you think?



These are just some ideas on enhancing a players involvement with their empire, apologies if something like this has already been suggested.

(numbers and percentages represent ideas only and should be tweaked for balancing and ensuring not over powered)...

Dilemmas is something that I'd like to see in a tbs such as this. Total war does it and it can make all the difference, increasing production, or prosperity. It would also make you feel more like a ruler and not just a string puller.

I like this.

Thanks for your replies and to those who voted.

I agree. This reminds me allot of what Europa Universalis 3 did.