So decided to stop playing tonight... and do a little modding.

If you read the thread 'About that Map Tool' then you know what I am talking about.... I wanted to add a randomizing factor for resource asteroids into the game, and I did the file work for Beta 3, I just finished updating for Beta 4, and started playing on a new version of Entanglement...

What I did was create 5 extra planet types per planet class. Each varying the quantity and type of asteroids:

For example, the Ice Planet variants are as such:
2 Crystal and 1 Metal
1 Crystal and 2 Metal
1 Crystal and 1 Metal
2 Crystal
1 Crystal

Each variant only has a 5% chance of showing up in the entries I made, you can make a new entry to adjust frequency however you like, total a variant only has a 25% chance of showing up. Notably the map files use all sorts of entries the Devs made and I don't have a randomizer equivalent to their weighted roles yet... So on this entanglement map, I replaced the 'weighted planet' which is sometimes a gas giant with my entry of 'pure random' which gives an equal chance to any anomaly or planet... I left planets which were stated as 'un-colonizable' the same, and replaced 'true random planet' with my version. At any rate, a balanced version of this would have the same weighting ratios for that entry I mentioned, But I wanted to show off the success before i put in extra effort

Here are some results:

of 32 total habitable planets on the map I ended up with 7 variants. 1 Short of a perfect 25% ratio.

This an early pic of the game... notice in the far left upper corner is a variant Ice planet.










As I make more entries I can make better maps and such, by making new planet files and entities I could force any bonus to be on any planet, which could drastically change game-play and make for some interesting 'scenarios' In addition to this I could easily make Randomized Home-Worlds that would could vary the type of planet VISUALLY but leave all the same statistics as a standard Terran HW, that would just be cool and aesthetic, or you could make unique home-worlds with unique bonuses and dish those out.

Now I wonder if you are screaming 'Balance!' and I must wonder how a few ice planets having less crystal and a few asteroids having more at such low percentages will really impact the game other than making it less predictable. It may take a little more effort to find the enemy's valuable planet because it wont always be the Ice Planet or a particular Terran! %% of the time it might be that special Asteroid with 3 Metal and 2 Crystal.

Also- after release we could design 'station' planets much like the pirate base, but more neutral looking and force upon them the culture bonus or a fortress planet that has the weapons testing facility bonus. Unique planets with unique bonus are very easy to make, making randomizing entries is tedious but still very easy too. Can't wait for the map editor and I hope it supports the kind of work the game is easily capable of!

Thanks Devs for such a thoughtful file system!