well since you guys are actually working in the first parts of the game, and i dont usually come to question about the game stages, but recently i have been playing two of the most interesting games i have seen. and they have some interesting concepts which we could add to Thrive, unless you have thought about before.
one of the questions comes from this game "Anno 2070", one of the lastest games from Ubisoft, the game focuses in city expansion, but also adds the idea of environmental control, we'll have something similar in Thrive?, i mean, when players start civ stage and they expand their cities the damages to the environmentl will affect the gameplay?.
the other question comes from this indie game "S.P.A.Z" (Space Pirates And Zombies), from Minmax games (a company of two guys only), some of you must know it, since its avaliable in Steam, but anyways, the game is an space RPG which try to evoke the classic space games but with modern graphics, well the game haves some interesting points for space stages, for example, the hability to get the blueprints of other ships from their blackboxes once you destroy the ships, the use of goon based weapon which serve for boarding other ships and stations which can use hacking skills to get blueprints and technologies, we'll be able to do something similar in Thrive?, be able to get technologies from other races and the schematics of their vehicles?.