Engine technology:
I know this topic has already been raised, but every time I play I wait for the engines to reach at least the level of the Nuclear Pulse Engine.
Maybe it would be worth raising the cost of researching the initial stages of the engines, that would extend the time they can be used, both by players and AI?
Counterpoint: I use NRE tech quite a bit in my conventional-start games. I also play with limited research admin + 50% research speed, so even developing NTE tech takes some time during which I can build quite a lot of NRE-level freighters and colony ships. So personally, I prefer things as they are since I would not want to drag out the conventional starts even longer than they already are.
I agree. As a workaround though: since research costs increase exponentially with tech level, the global and racial "research speed" settings are pretty good controls for which tech level you wish to play your game at. Unless You will always eventually settle into a multi-decade state where there's a "modern" tech, 1-2 levels of "legacy" tech, and an being-researched "prototype" tech.
For example, I personally have a soft spot for fission and slow games, so I've been pondering knocking research down to 5-10% so that majority of my game will be spent with nuclear pulse and gas-core engines, with fusion perpetually 30 years away. Humanity will most likely need to reverse-engineer alien tech in order to master these systems.
Alternatively, if you make research cheap, then you can battle spoilers using endgame tech like in
Stormtrooper's COVID-19 campaign.
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