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[bobucles]

Secret systems in huge storms sounds like an amazing way to add late/end game areas. Just make it very difficult to get into the jump point without some special tech from a quest.

I'm not sure that's really within the realm of current game mechanics. Storms damage the Combat Rating of your ships, and sometimes deal hull damage. Storms also deal scaling damage, bigger fleets get hit harder. Add two and two together. The best fleet for exploring hyperspace storms turns out to be a small early game fleet, because a large capital fleet is going to get zonked.

[Morrokain]

Now that you mention it, I sort of expected Black holes to suck me in from hyperspace, when I first started out. I even went out of my way to fly around them. Their menace factor severely dropped for me when I realized this wasn't the case.

I naively implemented a black hole as the system star for one of my factions, and because I didn't understand how to make it work it was really just a standard star in actual function. Then out of curiosity on a test, I flew into the custom one and it gave a corona effect and prevented me from flying into the center. For some hair-brained reason I assumed all black holes operated this way (again very naively *face palm*)... until I found a real one in a campaign where I had several cruisers... destroyed my entire fleet because I did not give it the respect it deserved lol. Serves me right too.

The warning siren is a particularly nice addition. It makes the tension even greater when you try and emergency burn out of the event horizon and you realize you... aren't going to make it.

Anyway, more on topic:

I like the idea of isolated hidden systems in large hyperspace storms. I've always thought it would be neat to find things like independent outposts that operate on the principle of large scale invasion forces being impractical. Storms make a great reason why that could be the case. Only smaller fleets/traders can get through reliably.

[JaronK]

I love the idea of hidden systems that are "unlocked" by tech.  Possibly it just locates the hidden jump point (which looks like something else otherwise).  Possibly it lets you get through.  Either way, could be interesting.  Maybe it's a legendary planet drifting somewhere without a large gravity well (but which has some cool thing on it).

My basic ideas for hyperspace are as follows:

1)  Hyperspace currents.  These flow along standard lines and create shipping routes.  They increase your speed notably if you go with them, but decrease it noticeably if you try to fly against them.

2)  A jump system where you can "record" a certain transit between two systems, and then have your autopilot just follow that next time.  Thus, if I make a transit from system A to B, and it took X amount of fuel and Y time, I can always take that same route, taking the same time (if my burn rate is the same, of course) and an appropriate amount of fuel.  This makes doing a skilled run that takes all the shortcuts once really effective.  Not sure how this would work with hyperspace storms though, you'd probably have to not record a run where you're going through such terrain or your autopilot will screw up.

3)  I love the idea of black holes actually doing something dangerous in hyperspace.  Trying to pull you in could be pretty interesting and even scary.

4)  Ghost ships in hyperspace could do some really cool stuff.  Perhaps there's time dilation issues, such that you rescue a derelict and find out it was a smuggler from the first AI war and only minutes have passed since then.

5)  Wormholes could be really interesting, providing near instant transit between two areas of hyperspace... but hard to map.  Perhaps sometimes one side of the hole is anchored and one side is not, slowly drifting about.

[intrinsic_parity]

Secret systems in huge storms sounds like an amazing way to add late/end game areas. Just make it very difficult to get into the jump point without some special tech from a quest.

I'm not sure that's really within the realm of current game mechanics. Storms damage the Combat Rating of your ships, and sometimes deal hull damage. Storms also deal scaling damage, bigger fleets get hit harder. Add two and two together. The best fleet for exploring hyperspace storms turns out to be a small early game fleet, because a large capital fleet is going to get zonked.

When I said this:

...Something like making all the storms bounce you away super hard...

I was suggesting that you would have some special storms that behave slightly differently than normal storms. They would still affect your fleet by giving it a speed boost (so the same fundamental mechanic), but the direction would be always away from the jump point with high magnitude instead of being based on how your fleet is currently moving. Damage/scaling doesn't really matter, just how the storm affects your trajectory. Then the magnitude of the boost would have to get reduced by the quest item so you could pass through. Sorry if that wasn't clearly communicated.

Maybe that is a lot more work than it seems to me, but the idea seemed really cool. A less crazy version where it's a normal jump point/system with normal storms would also be cool but it doesn't quite have the same sense of intrigue and mystery to me. I like the idea of seeing the jump point early on in the game but not being able to reach it. That's the sort of stuff that really makes me want to get into the game, sort of like the inactive gates. You just want to know what's there but you can't yet.

[Nick XR]

1)  Hyperspace currents.  These flow along standard lines and create shipping routes.  They increase your speed notably if you go with them, but decrease it noticeably if you try to fly against them.

I like this, it gives a reason to explore and understand what's happening in hyper space and makes the terrain a bit more meaningful. Possibly enables choke-points if the AI is using them.

Regarding only what's there now, I don't mind the current storm mechanics, I actually think it's quite good but it needs a high accuracy map to make it full work.  I'm not going to bother to go around some back way if I have no idea an alternate route exists and I probably can't remember hyperspace if I haven't been there a dozen times.  So I just set the way point and deal with the storms.  I get that once you've played this game enough you can usually tell where the routes will sort-of be, but that's not going to be most of the player base.

[bobucles]

I actually think it's quite good but it needs a high accuracy map to make it full work

Should a map be something that the player starts with? Should it be something they can buy from stores, or should it be something they uncover as they travel? In any situation, the hyperspace storm information layer needs to be available on the map before players can really plan around it.

[DatonKallandor]

There is a storm display, but it's not toggled on by default. The map option is called "Starscape" I think.

[FooF]

To the OP: I like what you're getting at.

The idea of "hyperspace lanes" has always been something I thought would work well and why the Core Worlds never expanded further than they did. Basically, the most accessible/best lanes were found in a certain small part of the Sector and like the rivers of old, connected the far-flung colonies via trade and travel. Within the Core Worlds, hyperspace travel is fast, well-regulated (i.e. protected by the various factions), and predictable. There would be a few hyperspace lanes outside of the core world (in the scenario the OP describing, RNG lanes that may or may not lead to anywhere) but nothing like what the original founders of the Sector discovered when they found the lanes connecting what would become the Core Worlds.

Not terrain per se, but I've always been keen on "monsters" roaming the map, almost as a form of terrain themselves (a la the Weapons of the Final Fantasy series). They create Zones of Denial for most fleets. Now the "monsters" might just be huge [REDACTED] fleets that patrol a system or constellation or other various pirate/[not REDACTED but SUPER REDACTED] kind of foes (unique boss-type ships). Stumbling upon them accidentally might be a rush but having a few story missions or tips tell you where to find them (to either avoid or hunt them) would tie into the campaign. Imagine some spacer in a bar saying "My buddies and I were salvaging near the [X System] and got ambushed by god-knows-what. Biggest fleet I ever saw! We barely escaped with our lives!"

Black/White Holes having push/pull mechanics would also be pretty interesting and add some flavor.

Have we ever though about a Nova/Supernova? I don't know if collapsing a star was within the Domain's abilities but I wonder what a stellar explosion would do to local hyperspace. I doubt such a thing would just randomly happen but a story-driven "race-against-the-clock" mechanic could be fun and if you fail (or win?), you set off a hyperspace wave that fleets can ride.

Oh, and of course, the Gates. Finding active Gate pairs leads to instantaneous travel, which makes certain parts of the sector extremely valuable. Again, story-driven more than likely but it could give impetus for the other Factions to Gold Rush a part of the sector to establish a colony (that you would have to fight/join in on).

[Rune Wolf]

Secret systems in huge storms sounds like an amazing way to add late/end game areas. Just make it very difficult to get into the jump point without some special tech from a quest.

Huh. My first (current) game is on a seed with a very large "expanse" of deep hyperspace in the NW region, isolating a small constellation. With a nebula system on the edge, that is, a jump point with no star. Vanilla Starsector is - almost - capable of things like this, it just needs a little encouragement.

... Storms also deal scaling damage, bigger fleets get hit harder. Add two and two together. The best fleet for exploring hyperspace storms turns out to be a small early game fleet, because a large capital fleet is going to get zonked.

This explains so much.

[ASSIMKO]

I liked all the ideas here, even better when available to test them each in the game. Congratulations to all thinkers for the proposed ideas.

[bobucles]

Have we ever though about a Nova/Supernova? I don't know if collapsing a star was within the Domain's abilities but I wonder what a stellar explosion would do to local hyperspace. I doubt such a thing would just randomly happen but a story-driven "race-against-the-clock" mechanic could be fun and if you fail (or win?), you set off a hyperspace wave that fleets can ride.

The realspace shockwave of a supernova is far slower than any pathway through hyperspace, since it can only travel at the speed of light. The neat thing is that because of the FTL nature of hyperspace, you can actually find a supernova ahead of time. Fly into a system, find a shockwave, and then discover that XYZ planet is in the path of destruction and will be hit a few months/years. That's certainly within the realm of sci fi.

[NephilimNexus]

Seems like it could be solved and not via trying to implement pathfinding at all.  In fact, I think it could be done with already existing mechanics.

What we already have is corona, solar flare and pulsar push effects, yes?  Alright, so when we hit the new toggle for "Avoid Storms" in the game then it flip on a similar effect to hyperspace storms.  When you get too close, they just push you away before you can actually enter them (or their area of effect, as it were).  It would feel a lot like pathfinding even though it isn't.

I don't think it would work for hyperspace nebulas themselves, of course, because they're just too damn big and you'd just stop cold because bumping your away around them would be nearly impossible.  But a storm tends to be kind of round in shape already, like a star, and as long as you're going on some kind of curve then your ship should be able to get around it just fine.