Warp lane pegs on galaxy map

Yes, that would be a great modification to the game, making exploration more interesting!

If it's any consolation using the selection for putting warp point anywhere makes it so you actually have to hunt for them. Unless you have good scanners at which point there's no difference.
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Universe distortion

Even then, you know their number and approximate position: there is not much hunting to do... and uou can't miss one!

Wait... Is there a setting somewhere for this? In Setting.txt? I'll double check later.

EDIT: By setting I mean a setting for how long to make the "stumps".

IMO those stumps *really* ought to be removed until you've travelled through the warp point connection they're representing.

I'd also like to see warp points put into a system not on the straight line between the centers of the two systems they're connecting. Looking at the map, just because the warp point is going due east does not mean that the warp point in the system must be somewhere on the line due east of the center of the system. Why couldn't it be at the extreme northwestern edge of the system?

Those two changes together would really make exploring the galaxy in a new game more interesting.

Yeah, combined with a Preudo-FTL quadrant, All Warp Points NOT Connected, and Warp Points Located Anywhere in the System that would give you really complex topologies, nothing to envy a 3D-map!

You could also set warp points to require a certain level of scanner technology to be found. This would over time completely change the face of the map as more warp points are found as tech levels increase.

What would be neat would be "closed" warp points like in "In Death Ground" and "The Shiva Option" by David Weber and Steve White.

These are warp points that are almost impossible to find, except by coming through the "open" end. Imagine the strategic value of being able to slip a fleet into a system without having to brave a strongly defended warp point (allowing cloaked ships to slip through defended warp points might have to be prohibited).

That's something I've been thinking about for a while, as a fan of those books; the SE universe is already close enough that it should eventually be modable. Some of the improvements to cloaking, sensors, mines, and fog of war/AI being worked on are useful steps in the right direction.

I'm currently kind of distracted by Civ IV: Beyond the Sword, but I'll probably eventually come back around to poking at a "Starfire" series mod, or if someone else starts one I'd be glad to join the team.

I have thought of making a Starfire mod myself from time to time. I'm actually interested in the idea enpough to overcome my experience of how long it takes from the last mod I did. I am actually just playing Arachnids in a game. There's not much chance for diplomacy but it was fun when I played Primes once, although the diplomacy options were better. Still,3 other empires wiped me out at the first chance.

Anyway, there's not much point bothering unless you can have closed warp points, and as mentioned the pegs pretty much give away where WP are. First thing I think would be to apply a cloaking effect to one end. Or have no image for closed ends.

Theban X-ray lasers would also be nice. If only there was a chance to blow up your own ship. X-ray buoys as well.

Maybe, maybe not.

I'm not sure if this works, but you could create a new stellar manipulation type component (called warppoint enabler or something). The idea is, that at the map creation, the warppoints are created, then replaced by "warp point seed", which has the info on where it leads to.

When you are in system, there is no warppoints leading out of it. But there are warppoint seeds, which you must find. Once found, you get the ship on the warppoint, use the component to "enable warppoint", and it opens a warppoint to the predefined location.

Once opened, the warppoint will remain open and work like normal.

This requires some script handling, and may not even be doable, but is a way to et around the peggs IMO.
You could even make it so that certain warppoints require higher level enabler, so some routes only come availabl after some research.

Interesting idea - but wouldn't it mean that you'd be able to see the pegs when you enter a system that another race has already found some WP's in?

Yes. It is not perfect, but it would give you some benefit.

Addditional bonus would be that you could set random cloaking levels to the "seeds". That way, you would need better sensors to detect the them, so you might find out that your ideal defense place is useless, because later in game you detect an hidden warppoint leading behind it.