A thing that is always interesting to deal with in early game of Civilization games is the ever-present threat of barbarians cropping over the map. Not necessarily a major threat; but still something you have to deal with.
It's something that have been lacking.. a bit in the past GalCiv2. I know GalCiv3 has been promised to have a more "alive" galaxy; so it's most likely they will consider having these "neutral yet hostile" threats. However, if I could offer some inputs:
- Don't do Space Pirates. Or at least, wait until trade and galactic civilizations have already taken life. There is nothing that I find more silly than meeting pirates in an area that hasn't known intelligent life IN THE PAST MILLION YEARS. You need something to pirate ON. Plus, I find the whole concept of space pirate a bit cliche.
- Sword of the Stars had the very interesting idea of the "swarm"; some sort of space locust. Now that would be a very near early game threat for exploring vessels to have to deal with. You could even have planet infestations; with the higher-quality planets hosting the worst infestations.
- The occasional Dread Lord ships. Ya know; some of them have been left abandonned in remote location; but they still can use automated defense systems to shoot down anyone coming close.
People have other good ideas?
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