Nebulas not being part of the empire's expansion.

[hypersot]

Is that intended?

If so, that is a deal breaker to me. It sucks to meticulously and strategically spread out in a way so the the 'inner' part of the empire stays protected only to suddenly see a colony sprout -out of the blue- next to your capital because a nebula happened to be there that you couldn't colonise.

[dgullion]

All the more reason to get ion defenses and reactive armors asap. The nebula's always have the best stuff

[hypersot]

Originally posted by dgullion:

All the more reason to get ion defenses and reactive armors asap. The nebula's always have the best stuff

I'm sorry but I don't understand how is that related to what I asked.

[dgullion]

Originally posted by hypersot:

Originally posted by dgullion:

All the more reason to get ion defenses and reactive armors asap. The nebula's always have the best stuff

I'm sorry but I don't understand how is that related to what I asked.

Those armors and ion defenses is what lets you enter into nebula's and explore them. Get your ships properly protected and explore those nebula's before any others. You will find that sometimes when a nebula is called a discharge, it is exactly that, a system with many planets and tons of resources similar to a prime home world system at start.

The way this is related is that you have to get those defenses (Ion Shields, Reactive Armors, Damage Control) to get into those nebula's to discover what is there. You cannot ignore them.

[hypersot]

Ok. For some reason I thought I was clear when I mentioned that I strategically setup my empire so as to have the inner part protected.

So, here it is again,
I don't like the fact that another empire can colonise planets within nebulas in the heart of my empire because nebulas aren't automatically claimed as part of the empire like other territories do.

Nothing to do with exploring nebulas or how to do that. I can explore nebulas with no problems.

[Nightskies]

I like the ability to take colonies, mining stations, and research bases in nebulae outside my borders. Especially when they're tied to my race.

[hypersot]

The question is,
is it intended for nebulas to not be part of an empire's expansion or did that escape the devs attention?

As I mentioned, it sucks to setup your empire one way only for another empire to casually colonise deep within the borders. What is the point of 'claiming' territories around colonies then?

[dgullion]

Sure I see what you are saying. But it also is the same as when at war. The parties can freely colonize in enemy territory. This is not unlike being at war with an empire, and they sneak a colony ship into your home system and colonize a planet there.

I guess I am jumping to to solutions instead of understanding your dilemma. It is challenging to have nebula's not being within the empire "boundaries." but then, boundaries in this game are a bit different being in space and all. And influence seems to stop at the boundary of a nebula.

I would recommend maybe just leaving a small guarding force behind in/near the nebula. And watch it closely. If a colony ship starts moving in, well you could attack it, take a reputation hit and hope war isn't declared. Or just outright declare war and destroy it. Or wait for it to colonize the nebula planet and then blockade it and invade.

The nebula's create a unique challenge for sure. That I can agree with. But for me it is not a showstopper. Yes, very frustrating to think you have had all your defenses established. And you are ready to move your forces to the edge of your empire. Which I would not recommend because the AI likes to create invasion fleets, push them through your defenses, and use them to invade your unprotected colonies in the heart of your empire.

[hypersot]

@dgullion,
I agree in what you are saying but, remember, the game allows for claiming territories around colonies. That is for a reason and the reason, I can only assume, is to have clear empire boundaries before a war changes said boundaries.

Nebulas are not in 'sync' with that approach. There is no point in claiming when, in reality, you cannot if you happen to have a nebula nearby.

I'm only asking if that is intended as I find it strange to have two things that oppose each other. Is there a reason behind it, eg. maybe some 'lore' thing?

Nevertheless, for me that is unacceptable and disrupts the balance since an empire can get lucky (no nebulas) whereas another might be like a Dutch cheese (many nebulas).

[ChrisK(Germany)]

Clear boundaries? I had a war against a enemy empire, i was bordered by two others no nebula inbetween, the enemy moved their fleets through the territory of the other two empires and got out behind my "fortified border systems" and did major damage before moving back to their territory. Another game my capital system was right next to a nebula with a small connection strip of stars to the middle of the galaxy flanked by another nebula. Boskarans moved into those nebulas and got most of the systems inside under their control, leaving me mostly trapped and my capital dangerously exposed. I get the annoyance at nebulas OP since planning around them can be a major annoyance if one doesnt get the tech to explore them safely fast enough before others. That said it doesnt really do much harm if you can explore the nebulas after other factions if those have barely touched them or just started colonizing there, if you are stronger than them then ruin their stations and take any planets and systems they have if they are valuable or of strategic interest - like cutting of a backdoor to ones capital system.

[Nightskies]

Unacceptable?

...

Regardless, yes, this is certainly intentional. Originally, getting into a nebula was even more difficult; the calculated distance took into account diminished speed, which meant that getting a colony in a nebula was an unlikely thing.

If you don't like it, you can remove Gravitic Locations, Race-Specific Story Events, make nebulae Very Sparse, and pick a No Center type galaxy. I generated such a 700-star galaxy twice, and both times yielded four stars in a nebula, one of which had no planets. Outside the center, there were 14 nebulae in one and 13 in the other.

[hypersot]

@ChrisK(Germany),
Why you people always mention wars? I'm talking about the expansion phase where there are no wars happening. What If I play a diplomacy run?

@Nightskies,
Yes, unacceptable. If it is 'certainly intentional', as you claim, then this is a deal breaker which will lead to uninstall and never look back.

I think I got my answer. Thank you all.

[dgullion]

Originally posted by hypersot:

@ChrisK(Germany),
What If I play a diplomacy run?

Then learn to make friends with your new neighbors?

[ChrisK(Germany)]

Originally posted by hypersot:

@ChrisK(Germany),
Why you people always mention wars? I'm talking about the expansion phase where there are no wars happening. What If I play a diplomacy run?

@Nightskies,
Yes, unacceptable. If it is 'certainly intentional', as you claim, then this is a deal breaker which will lead to uninstall and never look back.

I think I got my answer. Thank you all.

As dgullion said above and if you are doing a diplomacy run, then just try your best to befriend and ally the empire that nommed the nebula, you will get benefits later in the game if you have treaties to allow you to mine in their sector. And whats stopping you from colonising worlds in the nebula even if another empire is there first/ has influence there? Unless they colonize all worlds you will still be able to grab worlds or even systems with the downside being a diplomatic relations hit that is negligible.

[ChrisK(Germany)]

In my current game im allied to an empire, have all the treaties possible and if i see a good world i want i colonize it, same with worlds in some other non allied species space, just keep your diplomacy up and nothing should happen unless the ai decides to go to war anyways

[dgullion]

Mining right, exploration, immigration. Use them to help in a war. Defense Treaty?

Be aware, you may find they colonize or invade other planets as your ally and defense pact. Sometimes not in alignment with your plans. Or how do you handle them mining choice resources and gathering research stations in what you think is your "territory?"