[Andr�s]

I like the idea of allowing plugins.
I wouldn't be able to write them, and the primary way to make mods should still be editing txt files, but there seem to be a lot of programers among the players.
External plugins to add some function or improve some AI behavior would be great.

We all want SE3 like research!
(will this make AI research harder to mod?)

I also want se3 like construc/repair queues!
and my multy SY bases!
and a construction system that resembles more SE3

The ability to save initial setup to start another game with the same settings and to save during a simultaneous game turn.

Editable damage types! Choose if they skip shields, if they target, skip or do some % more/less damage to a specific family/ies of components ect.

Ground combat could resemble space combat in SE4 (space combat should of course be in 3d space, but the surface of a planet can be asumed to be flat). Just change the space background with some ground background, give move points to troops.

Orbiting planets.
Orders should be move to this planet, since actual coordinates of the planet will change during its year.

Researchable domes!
Early in the game you can only colonize planets of your type and atmosphere, later you can research a dome for every other atmosphere, there can even be several levels of domes getting cheaper and allowing more space.
You should allways need a dome in a planet of a diferent type.

Supplies of all types can be transfered between ships like cargo, and delivering supplies is an important part of an empire's strategy.
There are several types of supplies, generating supplies has a cost, and that cost is the manteinance cost of your ship.
EG even if a ship has a QR, an endless supply of energy it will still need other supply types, such as "ammo", or "spare parts".

Another thing from the SE4-planning days: Techs with "ors" and maybe even "nots" as well as "ands" in their prerequisites - so maybe you need either Particle Physics or Wave Mechanics to get EM Radar (I seem to recall posting a similar example a few years ago when SE4 was in development ), or you can either research The Light Side Of The Force or The Dark Side Of The Force, but once you research one, you can't get the other!

I really like this, this would allow for more complex tech trees.
But if you want to be realistic with the SW example, while you're researching "the light side", "the dark side" will allways be there tempting you with cool looking easy to get stuff, but as soon as you star researching it, you'll be unable to use all you had researched in "the light side". But even then you should be able to return to the path of light by reffusing to use dark side items and researching the light side.

Messages such as "the star will explode in 3 years" should be followed by a countdown.

What if the game would actually remember enemies seen in systems you no longer have presence, old Messages, and almost anything players may need to remember and are usully to lazy to take notes.

The abilty to randomize some of the traits of a race at the start of a game so when you do run into them you would not know what they would be like from memory.

The solution to this problem is having enough races so everytime you play they are not the same old friends and enemies but someoun you hardly know.

I would love to be able to move a window

I would like the enter key to close a window
I would like the Tab key to move between fields, (I think it does this)
I would like to be able to save "New Game Settings" up to and including the AI I have chosen.
The settings should the races, pt values, type of quadrant, game mechanics, etc... It should not include the name of the game.
That was suggested by someone long ago. It is a matter of conveinance. It makes things a lot easier.

Sounds like you're saying I want windows standard GUI like SE3.
But yeah a game like this should be almost fully playable only using the keyboard.