egosoft.com

Returning player here. Last time I played was around the release of 2.0, I built a self-sufficient economy in the DeVries system back then with drones and weapons as the end products. After updating to 4.0, starting a new game and getting to know all the new stuff, I headed back to DeVries with the intent on building there again. I noticed that Reivers still just spawn in the middle of zones instead of spawning at their stations and moving to the target zone. This was a great annoyance with my previous game and got me thinking, maybe I should build in empty space somwhere this time around? Being able to claim empty space as your own zones is a neat feature after all. The question is, what are the pitfalls for building in empty space? Are there still issues with it after the 4.0 update?

I remember that mining ships had issues mining in player-claimed zones in empty space, they would head off to distant mining spots even if you had all the resources available in your own zones. I think traders also had issues getting to your zones sometimes. Has these issues been addressed? If so, then the only issue I can think of when building in empty space is the distance between your zones and the rest of civilized space (if you build way off the beaten path, that is), not a big deal though as you can just use a boosting capital ship as a taxi to get to/from your zones and I spend most of my time on the bridge of a capital ship anyway. Anything else I should know of before making this decision?

empty space is always better so use it.

any bugs with mining or trading ships should be fixed by now.

There are no enemy spawns in empty space.
normal NPC's now spawn on player stations.
so the only downside is: no highways

AI navigation from highways/jump beacons to an empty space zone (even if renamed by the player after building there) can sometimes be handled rather awkwardly and slowly by the game if there are too many other options and alternative routes and obstacles. Having a very straightforward and obvious choices of clear route from highway/jump beacon access to your new zone is often a good idea.