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(I know this looks like a lot to read, but we've put a lot of time and thought into writing this, so please hear us out.) Introduction: My team and I have been enjoying Avorion for a while now, building and exploring the galaxy together and whatnot. Something we've all noticed in our adventures, though, is that most of the sectors we pass through, even faction owned and populated sectors, just seem kinda... bland. Sure, its nice to get a breath of fresh air in those clear open sectors, but they feel too common. So we've been racking our brains to come up with a few ideas that we hope the developers will consider implementing, one of which is "nebulae" or "nebulated sectors." I'll explain below. (I'm a former Aerospace Engineer, not an Astronaut so sorry in advance if i bungle any of these space terms. I had to look up "nebulae" to sound smart. 🙂 ) Nebula Sectors: Our thoughts were that some of the empty sectors would be labeled as a "nebula" instead of "clear space." Sectors with this tag would have much more dense fog (max of about 2x the highest fog setting), a couple special effects unique to these sectors, and a random buff or debuff that is applied to all vessels in the sector, much like how clear sectors apply a Hyperjump recharge boost. Allow me to explain... Visual Changes: Fog in sectors with the "nebula" tag would be twice as dense as the current graphics setting, which could possibly be done by slightly increasing the opacity of the fog graphics. (I don't know how the fog mechanics work so sorry if I'm talking nonsense.) These sectors would also display a couple unique visual effects to ships and stations in the sector: "Nebula Dust Trails" and "Nebula Godrays." The "Nebula Dust Trails" is an effect that displays dust or fog particles streaming off of the trailing edges of moving ships, similar to that of contrails forming on the trailing edge of aircraft wings. The length of these trails would be dependent upon the speed of the ship. The "Nebula Godray" effect would simply be shadows cast by objects that can be seen in the surrounding nebula dust or fog. Both new effects would also have a corresponding option to toggle it on and off in the graphic settings menu. One other little VFX change would be to have the dust or fog particles reflect the light of glow blocks when bloom is enabled. Technical Changes: Now here's where things get a little more interesting. As stated previously, clear sectors grant the player a slight Hyperjump charge boost. We had the thought that these nebulae could have random effects applied to them and at different strengths dependent upon the type and class of nebula respectively. Nebula Types * Nebula - No effect. * Dense Nebula - Thicker visual fog and longer Hyperjump recharge rate and calculation times. * Ion Nebula - Drains shields and disables regeneration but increases energy generation * Electromagnetic Nebula - Drains energy reserves, but boosts shield strength and regeneration. * Irradiated Nebula - Lowers crew morale, and in higher nebula classes, can kill crew members after prolonged exposure. * Dark Matter Nebula - Reduces ship acceleration, top speed, and rotation speed on all three axes, similar to a ship with no engineers on board. Also reduces range and projectile speed of kinetic-based weapons such as chainguns, bolters, cannons, ect. but not energy or plasma-based weapons. Only found in regions of Nanonite and above. * Anti Matter Nebula - Damages ship over time, similar to a ship with no mechanics on board. Shields reduce the damage rate to half. All weapons and torpedoes, with the exception of anti-matter torpedoes, are rendered inoperable. Only found in regions of Xanion and above. * Torn/Unstable Nebula - Only found in sectors located next to hyperspace rifts. Significantly reduces Hyperjump range and increases recharge rate and calculation time. White, bee-like particles can be found floating about among the fog. The massive rift can be seen in the background of this sector. Wormholes are more likely to spawn here as well. Nebula Classes * Class-I - Minor effect. All harmful effects disabled. Found throughout the galaxy. * Class-II - 25% effect. Found in regions of Nanonite and above. * Class-III - 50% effect. Found in regions of Trintium and above. * Class-IV - Full effect. Found in regions of Xanion and above. * Class-V - Full effect. Harmful effects get an additional 25%. Found in regions of Ogonite and above. When you discover a nebula of a certain type and class, it would be given a random name generated like those of the generated factions and labeled on the map in the format "{generated_name} {class_#} {type}". For example, let's say you're flying around exploring the galaxy when you stumble upon the "Gartemnji Class-III Ion Nebula" Sector. The ion nebula drains your ship's shields at a noticeable rate, but since the nebula is only a class-3, you have time to jump out of the sector again before your shields are completely gone. However, let's say that it were a class-5 nebula you jumped into, your shields would be disabled immediately, and if it were a class-1 nebula, your shields would be perfectly fine. I'm sure that this idea can be improved upon immensely. This is just a baseline, and we wanted to give the developers, or perhaps a genius modder, some material to go on. Please let us know what you think or if you have any suggestions or changes you would add. Thanks, -The SotL Team