Speaking for myself, I'd like the sequel to have a non-linear story.

Chalk me up as another just stoked to get a sequel, but a few things that would be nice...

• A deeper dive on breadcrumbs left in SCO, IE deeper world building around the random items and races found around the map.
• A living map influenced by your actions/inactions from SCO and the sequel -- for example
  • Return of the Jabberwonks who create a Steampunk world with your help
  • The ladies Lt Kerry visited will visit Earth with their thanks
  • The ability to unlock more info, capabilities, and interconnectivity among the starbases
  • Finding the proper Clovis device to get the race in the sun ships home -- it would be a crazy twist if they were galaxy eaters & the device they want will facilitate that and/or the evil device they want to destroy that you have is a useful weapon against them.
• Multiple labyrinth paths to solve an issue, IE Starving an enemy out or use stealthy propaganda to remove a hostile element instead of a head on confrontation.

More traditional physics and craft number one for me. SCO is great but i long for some traditional elements to be implemented.

Is P&F still going to be part of the development ?

I love the non-linear story part.  Where there are multiple objectives and you can choose the order to do them.  Or perhaps doing in different order effects things differently.  It wasn't a "star control" thing but I also enjoy non-linear stories with multiple endings.

Each race having their own flavor and developed background is an important part of the story as well.  Maybe branching choices such as two warring races and you only get to ally with one which instantly makes the other hate you.  But the next play through you could do the opposite race.

In addition to the story I think having an interesting universe to explore is super important.  The thrill of finding little random items out there.  Make them plentiful but not in every system type of thing.  These can be random such as a special drive that gives a minor speed bonus to one of the ships.  Or even a decoy item that initially seems useful but turns out to be a dud.

I want all the good things and none of the bad ones.

Generally speaking, the good thing would be holistic approach to the game design, with each feature intricately and inseparably connected to the solution of the game. It's okay to ask the fans what those features should be, but if those ideas pile up merely because they sound good in theory, it leads to a feeling that the game is made up of disjointed parts.

In the example of landing in SCO, I noticed a lack of confidence about resource collection, because it doesn't cover enough ground when it comes to appealing to players. The solution to it being too tedious for some was the game providing bypass methods of RU collection, instead of fixing lander action. Not only is "you don't have to play the game if you don't want to" a weird choice of game design, adding to the game various ruins/wreckages/artifacts to extract RU and technology from was thoughtlessly executed, and in the end, made those smaller pieces of worldbuilding even more loosely connected to the lore as landers were to the walkthrough.

The real solution, I think, is to make lander action more fun and more diversely populated with challenges, as there's plenty of room for improvement for SCO, very apparent merely by looking at UQM for comparison. UQM provides a larger degree of diversity in lifeforms, some of which are more fiercely posing danger to the lander crew than anything in SCO. Combined with planetary hazards, the more valuable planets still managed to keep the more daring and adventurous players on their toes if they wanted the riches. This doesn't mean UQM needs to be copied, but it needs to be surpassed. SCO doesn't even have some obvious generic examples of lifeforms like the traditional J-RPG slime. SCO2 should have not only that (and others), but half a dozen color variants as well, with different behaviors, rarity, occurence related to environment. With some creativity, some creatures could exhibit interesting behaviors, one example being a version of the classic treasure monster that disguises itself as a TZO crystal only to attack the lander on approach.

As for planetary hazards, just imagine new effects atop of what SCO and UQM established, like spontaneous atmospheric explosions, extreme wind that blows the lander in one way, inhibiting the player to have safe control (while stationary gasbag lifeforms a.k.a. mines scattered around the planet are waiting to explode on contact), or gravity affecting movement speed. One environmental feature of SCO landings that I particularly liked is the challenge of terrain that required a proficient use of boost and jump. Maneuvering is an important part of vehicular action, so I'd like it to be kept in SCO2.

I'd like to see discoveries of artifacts/ruins be relevant in worldbuilding and clues, not as RU/technology giveaways. What SCO told us about the past of our region of space is what we already knew: "The Scryve were there, and they were mean. We also found a dropped wallet with 5000 RU in it." Wreckages similarly have no connection to history either, and they're there only to provide a safe way to avoid building ships, thereby making resource collection even more meaningless.

I'm very much in favor of the idea that information shouldn't come with 100% clarity from any source, due to the characteristics of those sources (i.e. the Spathi can't properly remember names so "Betelgeuse" is "BugSquirt" in their heads; or the Baul are pretty bad liars because their lies are always the polar opposite of the truth.) The game should make no effort to organize information for the player to assist in their deductions or give quick pointers to anything of interest. Yet I don't say the game shouldn't provide tools for the player to do all those things manually, for example marking maps and linking exerpts of conversation to map marks would be inexcessive replacements of pen-and-paper play.

Storywise there are a lot of angles that could be played here, with the additional factions given by the Earth Rising DLC. I'd particularly welcome any attempt to deepen our understanding of the Faction of Eight, put the civilizations destroyed by the Scryve Empire into a clearer context, flesh out the Syndicate/Liberator conflict and maybe introduce the Crimson Corporation. It would be also time to make otherworldly (IDF) phenomenae a more integral part of the SCO universe.

I hope that it will continue some of the topics and threads from the prior game.  I assume that is the plan, but I am still curious how it all will play out.  I don't know if all the races have to continue forward...

It may be interesting to get new advisors/bridge crew...

As stated earlier, definite room for improvement on the planets.  Time-wise, they seem to require a disproportionate amount of tedium (like trying to get out of crystalline valleys).  Also, I missed any planets that had more than one option on where to land though the UI seemed to allow for it.  Worse, not being able to pick your own landing sites meant you spent extra time driving just to drive around to the other side of the planet to see what the energy signature was...

Ok. where to begin.

First we have to clarify some things:

1) Is a sequel going to be made by Stardock alone or TFB will contribute too?

2) Is it going to be in the same universe (quadrant, dimension, whatever) as SCO or Ur-Quan Masters?

3) Is it going to be a continuation of the current storyline or some sort of reboot?

Now to some other points:

A) Non-linear story is nice but if you plan a sequel after @the sequel@, then something has to become canon (if it is going to happen in the same universe/dimension).

Do not over-complicate the gameplay by adding too many parameters and do not descend into micromanagement hell.

Wishlist:

1. Good story is a must. It has to take you over, you have to care about the plot, you have to care about the characters.

2. I love pixel graphics, so I prefer pixels to 3rd, but it can be just me. I consider Crying Suns, Heroes of Might and Magic 2, Star Renegates and Star Control II the proper directions for the sequel in terms of visuals

3. The engine shall allow existence of several layers. Like @true space@, @above@ and @below@ or even more. And above and below can have the same size as the @true space@. Like you could have layers in Age of Wonders, or underground in Might and Magic, expanded Quasi space, so to say, that  has  stars, planets, stations that you can visit, etc. Some additonal effects might apply (like time going slower/faster, fuel burning slower,faster, planets being squares , etc. )

4. More of everything: more ship parts, ruins, relics, planet types, portraits, ship models, derelicts, artifacts, upgrades, outposts, star bases, side quests, minerals, critters, anomalies, etc.

5. Support modders more so that the community is encouraged to do modding and conversions.

6. Introduction of text quests in some form: check out SPACE RANGERS: QUEST, Out there Chronicles, etc.

7. I also think that it shall be a bit more into hard science fiction, i.e. a bit darker in tone (it does not mean that there shall be no humor) and a bit less cartoonish. But becoming more serious shall not mean that captain can die of age, or we have to have water on the ship to give it to the crew, etc.)

8. Brad, you can look at the old threads of the SCO founders (including closed ones) to see what might  still be added.

9. Considering what Star Control is (or what we all know it to be) - I do not care that much about multiplayer (but supermelee shall be fun on consoles, esp. during couchplay... so crossplay (PC, Consoles, Switch) Supermelee might be a blast).

10. More lore. I cannot stress this enough.

11. More great music.

Additional comments:

-It might be fun to have TBS in SCO/Ur-Quan masters universe, it might be fun to run around and kill XRAKI as a space marine in some FPS, it might be fun to sit in a cockpit and shoot enemy ships like in TIE Fighter, etc., but all those things shall be in separate games.

- While we are all waiting for SCO sequel - a port of Ur-Quan masters/SC2 into SCO engine might be fun to play.

Modding is already available for SCO.

I want everything to be moddable (or as much as possible): ability to insert own music, audio, voicovers, pix, 3d assets, text, add systems, planets, quests, change stats, etc. And modding shall be easy to implement i.e. players shall be able to implement those changes in easy steps.

So that players can expand the SC universe via mods.

Imagine a total conversion into (I am not discussing copyright matters here, just entertaining a thought) babylon 5 universe, firefly, star wars, etc.

I know that I might be asking too much but this is a wishlist after all )

Fan base can grow with the sequel, esp. if the are no legal fights. And new fans might be interested in checking out what was before... hence @prequels@/UQM port ideas. 

To dispel the effect of the legal dispute on fanbase growth, Stardock needs Paul Reiche III to give some more legitimacy to SCO through the means of featuring SCO elements in their sequel(s) while embracing the concept of the multiverse. It has to appear as if in the grand scheme, UQM2 and SCO2 are the same pack of cards with a different shuffle.

To boost numbers somewhat, Stardock could try providing a japanese voiceover alternative. Japanese VO improves everything, and I'm sure a lot of weebs agree with me on this

Well, UQM already has a Japanese dub version on the 3DO, and I really wouldn't mind that particular thing elevated to be a sort of franchise tradition.

Brad is busy working on a big project. He might look back at this thread at any time but there is no guarantee it will be today or tomorrow.

These kinds of threads will usually be left to grow and then the great harvesting of "that's a nice idea" will commence at some point inthe future.