Feature Request: Random events

Exactly, the point is to make you change your strategy although I do think there is still a place for some just for fun random events.

I love the idea that the advanced robost would be able to detect (some of) them. I think we could give some visual feedback too. Volcanos could ooze lava early on in a small amount, any kind of storm could build up rather than dropping straight in.

While I think adding any new features like this is probably too late in this stage of development and I see the problem with competitive multiplayer, I hope things like this can be easily modded into the game. Especially any fanmade single player campaigns would benefit immensely from this. Dune 2 mod with sand worms and sand storms.

Yeah I'd imagine its too late but I thought what the hell. If it does not happen for whatever reason I may just mod it myself anyway if I can find a way to implement it. I've only just got the game though so no modding until I've got a necklace of nuts from dead commanders

I'd say that pretty much all suggestions in this thread can be turned into non-random events.
If players know when and where these events are gonna happen, they can plan accordingly and take that into account when they chose their starting position.
Lets say there is an incoming asteroid that's gonna destroy the planet at which both players started on. If both players know when the asteroid is going to hit from the start, there is nothing random or unbalanced about it. Both players know that they gotta win before the asteroid hits or leave the planet.
However if the players don't know if and when the asteroid is going to hit and are only notified just before the asteroid hits, it can have very random effect on the game as one player might already have left the planet while the other player doesn't have time to leave the planet. In that case this random event will determine the outcome of the game.

Even global events, as the one described above, can have a very random effect on the game if the players don't know when and if it's gonna happen even if it seemingly affects both players equally. A global sandstorm that renders airplanes useless might punish one player who focus heavily on air and if sandstorms comes without a warning, the success of an air heavy strategy might come down to pure luck.
Local events such as volcano eruptions or local storms can also be balanced if players know when they are going to happen. They simply have to take that into their plans when they develop their strategies and chose a good starting position.
If events such storms, eruptions, meteor strikes, day and night cycles come in the same interval and their area of effect are known they are simply predictable and not random.

Personally I think that there is no need for random events.
Enemy actions should be the source of randomness of such a large degree.
Bombing a volcano might force an early eruption. A dust scrambler could create a sandstorm by blowing up sand into the air. Rocket engines on an asteroid could send an asteroid smashing into a planet...

I dont think anyone has mentioned it but a tsunami would be very cool it would come randomly and flood a small piece of land damaging some buildings and making that small area impossible to walk with land units also i think floods would be very cool they wouldnt damage any building but it would hit a medium area and wouldnt allow any land units to cross trought there

Another interesting event might be a solar flare from the sun, it EMP's and shuts down all units facing the sun on any planet for a few seconds. It might be cool to have some system-wide events that take place as well.

Tsunamis are confirmed to not show up in the game.
I'm assuming that since that won't be in, game altering events in general aren't going to be in


Still it'd be nice to have some detail, like how the water has a tide, maybe waves, smoke out of volcanoes, trees rustle, maybe at night sometimes you can see "northern lights"

maybe it could even throw the smaller land units some short distance

This is a cool idea, as long as it's toggleable. I can see people not wanting this in tournaments, but in general It would be intresting to have.

Like that one. A couple of system wides have been suggested. Have a read of the first post, I've been editing it.

Northern lights is a great idea, love it

This sounds like good mod material to me. Would be cool when playing with friends. Maybe the AI can be modded to take these events into account as well.

Purely cosmetic stuff like auroras though would be really cool regardless of type of game.

Looking out my window has given me an idea though. On temperate worlds you can have freezing rain. Once land units start walking they have a really hard time stopping. Would be funny has hell