I've been thinking of ways to make the exploration aspect of Dual Universe more interesting. Things that would be rare and awesome to find, but avoiding pre-made creations, something the devs want to stay away from. I haven't had much luck.
However, I did have one idea that I think, considering the current plans of the game, would be easy to implement, and that is random wormholes. They would act exactly and identically to stargates, which as many of you know are player-made FTL tunnels that allow quick travel between systems. There are a few catches that could make wormholes unique and separate from stargates, the main one being the first one:
- They do not remain open all the time. They may only be open for ten minutes, and closed for 10 real-life days, in a continuous cycle where timing is crucial.
- They spawn randomly; their entry and exit points are randomly located, whether inside systems or out.
- They might have a chance to destroy ships going through; what's fun without risk?
- They only have an entrance; no turning back!
- Their exit or entry points fluctuate. Could be 10 kilometers or 100 light years. Perhaps a cycle that players would need to figure out, i.e. entry-way remains fixed, but exit point is constantly moving in a circle, so it eventually returns to the same location.
A wormhole would work on the exact same mechanics as a stargate, except that it would obey any number of the rules listed above, making them unique and yet easy to implement once stargates are implemented too. Any other ideas of how wormholes could behave, or other ideas on what would make exploration more interesting and rewarding? Remember that the devs want to minimize pre-made stuff spawning in the game.