I quite enjoy the ideas Wiz has put forth for megastructures, even though I find some of them questionably useful (cough Ringworlds unconvincing-cough). He has also either implied or confirmed that the four mega structures presented are not an exhaustive list. Pretty cool stuff! I just wanna give my thoughts about the structures and what other things the devs could do
Ringworlds are, in case you didn't know, the one i'm most cynical about. Unless those things come with a significant cache of free resources (which Wiz has kinda-sorta implied they will), they won't be all that useful. The reason is twofold: If megastructures are so expensive to build, how will anybody but the wide, resource-rich empires be able to afford these things? Also, one hundred pop tiles are all very well but when you realize you could quickly gain the same number of pop tiles in a single conquest, it really makes it seem underwhelming. While ringworlds could be useful for tall empires, unless they provide a significant bonus to resource production or are the least expensive structures to build they will only be usable by the tall empires. I'm sure Wiz knows what he's doing, but right now i'm a bit skeptical. Personally, I like the Ringworld Restoration model; restoring a ringworld lets you have a habitable planet on each ring segment (10 in total) and ringworlds are the only places where you can build fallen-empire buildings (which you unlock around mid-game but cannot use until you get ringworlds working).
Dyson spheres are pretty cool sounding. Awesome way to maintain a super-massive fleet! Sounds like it should be the most expensive one though, for all the benefit it has. Science nexus sounds a bit underwhelming unless it'll be as big as the Enigmatic Fortress - by the time you get to late game, you're already raking in the science and if you can afford the megastructure, you're probably already ahead in the fields. Sensor array is... meh? Kinda useful I guess? But trading Zro for sensor info with most friendly empires will give basically the same effect, plus it'll give a bit of positive opinion from them so yay?
All in all, it'll require some well-thought-out balancing to make these structures useful to the right groups. That's up to Wiz, though it's evident they're intended for tall empires. As for what other megastructures I'd love to see, i'm sure there are lots of cool things that could be in this game but the biggest two I want to see are supership yards and ultra wormhole stations.
supership yards are, as you can probably guess, gigantic shipyards in space with the express purpose of specializing in ship construction. The idea would be to have a very cheap and VERY rapid way to manufacture ships at an extraordinary rate, possibly with multiple being assembled at the same time. Could also play around with the idea of allowing battlecruisers and titans to be constructed at these yards.
ultra wormhole stations (or the world gate, as I like to call it) would be a wormhole station with the USP of having a transport range across the whole galaxy. You could pop in a surprise attack on an enemy nation and be out at a moment's notice. Very useful for tricky conquers desiring to run strategic assaults.
Ringworlds are, in case you didn't know, the one i'm most cynical about. Unless those things come with a significant cache of free resources (which Wiz has kinda-sorta implied they will), they won't be all that useful. The reason is twofold: If megastructures are so expensive to build, how will anybody but the wide, resource-rich empires be able to afford these things? Also, one hundred pop tiles are all very well but when you realize you could quickly gain the same number of pop tiles in a single conquest, it really makes it seem underwhelming. While ringworlds could be useful for tall empires, unless they provide a significant bonus to resource production or are the least expensive structures to build they will only be usable by the tall empires. I'm sure Wiz knows what he's doing, but right now i'm a bit skeptical. Personally, I like the Ringworld Restoration model; restoring a ringworld lets you have a habitable planet on each ring segment (10 in total) and ringworlds are the only places where you can build fallen-empire buildings (which you unlock around mid-game but cannot use until you get ringworlds working).
Dyson spheres are pretty cool sounding. Awesome way to maintain a super-massive fleet! Sounds like it should be the most expensive one though, for all the benefit it has. Science nexus sounds a bit underwhelming unless it'll be as big as the Enigmatic Fortress - by the time you get to late game, you're already raking in the science and if you can afford the megastructure, you're probably already ahead in the fields. Sensor array is... meh? Kinda useful I guess? But trading Zro for sensor info with most friendly empires will give basically the same effect, plus it'll give a bit of positive opinion from them so yay?
All in all, it'll require some well-thought-out balancing to make these structures useful to the right groups. That's up to Wiz, though it's evident they're intended for tall empires. As for what other megastructures I'd love to see, i'm sure there are lots of cool things that could be in this game but the biggest two I want to see are supership yards and ultra wormhole stations.
supership yards are, as you can probably guess, gigantic shipyards in space with the express purpose of specializing in ship construction. The idea would be to have a very cheap and VERY rapid way to manufacture ships at an extraordinary rate, possibly with multiple being assembled at the same time. Could also play around with the idea of allowing battlecruisers and titans to be constructed at these yards.
ultra wormhole stations (or the world gate, as I like to call it) would be a wormhole station with the USP of having a transport range across the whole galaxy. You could pop in a surprise attack on an enemy nation and be out at a moment's notice. Very useful for tricky conquers desiring to run strategic assaults.
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