Happy that you liked it. It is the natural evolution of the concept, after playing the old version one realizes that despite the nice animation of travelling planet to planet, the space remains quite narrow.
I tried to express all the features possible with this engine by mixing big and smaller sectors, multi-sectors with superhws and single big sectors with local hws. More variety.
More than this it is not doable, we'd need a change of the map as is made. No more a collection of hexagons but a true galaxy map as in other games, with systems, suns and planets, and the possibility to enter the "lightspeed space" where you travel among planets but are out of attention for the simulation, then can re-enter the zones and be in high attention. It is actually what happens when you enter a superhighway, you go out of the simulation space. Imagine this but without highways, as for instance in Elite game. Also an hyper-light space, in style Babylon 5, where you enter and can exit in different other systems (not only one), it would be nice and would work well in this game, instead of these "doors" (gates). I know the game needs the boxes to manage the simulation, but immersion suffers greatly. Anyway, that is not possible so this is the most we can do to have a vast space.
The game is not oriented around the player but around a true simulation. Simulating such a vastness is impossible of course. What would be doable is simulating procedurally generated contents in the zone where the player exits(enters) from hyperspace, while keeping the general simulation in a more restricted (fixed) list of zones for npc's.
Yes the AI behaves strangely in some sectors, expecially where I made particular hw as the round ones. Seems it only recognizes one direction. I actually don't know whether it is a problem with length or how the autopilot works. I noticed for instance that also in Sanctuary of darkness, that is untouched from vanilla, the ship does not use the vanilla hw. I think I must test the game without REM. REM has quite high travel mode so maybe the autopilot prefers to use it if the lane is not straight to the guidance. In other places I see just a strange pathfinding by the autopilot, going into contrary direction.
In general they are used correctly but the player must remember to enter the hw slowly to not be pushed away. Long hws are very fast so it is like entering a faster flow of water. Also, remember that
after manually entering the hw you have to use the throttle up to gain speed
I think I will play the game and one by one change those that are un-usable into straight ones, seems the AI likes them more. Luckly, changing the hw does not alter the save, so seems
Btw I've made an update that has more highways and small fixes.
XRSGE_Evolution 6.05
...uploading..
Two sectors were removed. They are not important but please
move any ship from these two sectors before updating:
Menelaus' Paradise Alpha
Great Reef Dashamaa (to be sure, remove from
Rajasanu too)
Then
load the game. Save the game, exit. reload. Allow even two of these passages to "clean" the save file from the references to those two sectors
No biggy if there isn't one.
