in another thread, a comment about someone seeing AI waypoints as a possible bug got me thinking. With the new attention to diplomacy, missing espionage, etc... what if the bug were made into a beneficial feature.
The specific idea is to create (at least) two classes of rally points:
- Class one, current behavior... It's no secret when china parks 80 or so warships near korea, likewise with well... everyone in the gulf or whatever. shines a big & obvious spotlight on the rally point's existence , but sends the ships on a very direct route that possibly passes through (rather than around) certain types of obstacles top speed things along.
- Class two the subtle "Get there... eventually" type. Ships take random/circuitous routes towards the more difficult to detect rally point. Perhaps they do some planet hopping, or just take the extra scenic route. Rather than make rally point decision a no brainer, perhaps these ships give a small morale/economy bonus to various planets along the way (troops visiting for shore/land leave & such).
If it's done right, the choice between rally points might not be so simple.. does the drengin get their ships to the border past precariously pacified planets in 5 turns... or -25- passed semistable planets type choices.
Additional possibilities abound for making espionage something more than theft/sabotage/destabilization of/from neighbors , allow diplomacy differences time to do their things, likewise with tech/military options. i.e. What if the drengin had weaker morale buildings & subbed it with a large roving fleet of warships type questions can be twisted in.