Trade With...
Would let us trade with Fleets we encounter.
1. Add a new option to the dialog.
2. Goes to trade screen, if friendly; if less than Neutral, it would cost credits to trade, or they would refuse, depending on how low your Reputation was.
Why is this a game-changer?
It would allow for player-driven creation of new Stations that could act as trading centers without a great deal of new code. Stations could simply be ships for Fleets that are put into orbit at locations that would be engage-able just like any other fleet. Trade With would change what a "station" is and what it means.
It would allow players to take care of Supply / Fuel crises without crippling effects, if they have the credits to burn.
Use Here
Would be a bit larger of a project. Basically, have special objects that may be Used. Clicking on said object would allow for Use.
When used, the object would execute some Java. What Java? Anything we can currently do. Would need a method whereby the AI could Use things as well, and perhaps an AI script associated with the object, much like Systems.
Examples:
1. Create new Fleets that act as Stations via Trade With. Removes the need for static Stations and all their issues. I feel that most Stations should be implemented like this, it would get rid of a lot of problems.
2. Give Fleets a temporary bonus / bonuses. For example, something that gave wider sensor coverage (if Fog of War on the strategic map is ever implemented).
3. Heal your ships extra-quickly when it would be useful (a "package of emergency nanobots" for example).
4. All sorts of other stuff. Just scratching the surface here.
Basically, do an end-run around the current static nature of the game's underlying functionality. Planets don't need to change, but Stations are, imho, the key element of future dynamic play with this engine.
These two things together would give us most of the tools to build the dynamic elements necessary to have fully transparent, non-clunky strategic play, short of the bigger things like management of a global economy, taxes etc. But most of that stuff isn't all that important, in the immediate sense; it can be developed over time. I think that this is an issue of how the framework is currently set up; it makes sense to have these sorts of things be in place so that adding further control and dynamism is just smaller steps on top of a good framework (albeit with some big UI chores no matter how that's addressed).
