implementing a smaller range

You can:

- edit the tech tree so that range techs don't give a +range bonus
- edit the ship components so that range components are more expensive and grant less of a range boost

I would just decrease the range bonus number for the techs. Maybe cut them in half and see how that goes. Then you can always go back and tweak them down again if needed.

I sooooooo agree with that !!!! The default ranges are way to bug for starters !

well...
I don't care about those techs
I think an empire who care to research range techs should be able to have a very wide range

so my idea was just to lower the starting range but that's all

of course this mod won't be for everyone (it could be a real game stopper for a gigantic with very rare habitable planets)
but even with that I think it could be interesting

it would delay the first encounter with aliens and would allow each empire to have a strong position when meeting others
anyway that's not really the point here

if anyone has an brilliant idea how I could implement a starting modifier to everyone easily ...

I also found this : "DisableRange=0" inside *.gc2scenario , anyone knows what this is ?

update: after thinking about it, modding all political parties to include a -%range should be the best way to deal with this, if anyone knows what is this : "disablerange" thingy I'm still interested though

I just removed all the range techs and just have a single module, which adds 1 sector of range. I'm not fully decided on the cost or size yet, but this is one way you could do it.

This way, if they are large enough, range modules are considered an extra to ship design, rather then something that every ship has., as they take up valuable space which could be used for something else.

Most ships will have no range modules, and so be limited to the starting range.

Besides, I fell it a bit odd the way range works. OK, so a ship can have short range, but it can be in space for years without having to dock. If anyone remebers the original Stars!, each ship had "fuel" and so would have to dock regulary to top up, making long distance travel dangerous if you didn't keep an eye on your fuel level.

@MaverickMW
modding range modules or techs was proposed by fsk+ already and I already replied about this ....

but I'll precise it:
my idea was :
-allow range techs & range modules to make a difference = no change to them or maybe increase the latter techs to make them more powerful if the need arise
-seriously decrease the starting range with a heavy starting modifier to everyrace

I just modded a game with a -150 to range , on a gigantic map it seems fair enough
though I wonder what will happen with the latter techs (modded each political party to add -150 to range)
in several instances I found myself limited by range and had to think about researching range techs

lastly, I don't think range is that odd
think of it like this : as long as you are within a said number of parsecs from any habited world/starbase, small resupply ships will be able to make their way to your ship,
whenever one of your ship puts more +range modules
it increases the time it can be left to itself in space, so less mini-resupply ships are needed overtime which allows it to go farther
fuel could be awful to manage, especially if you have hundred of ships in a gigantic galaxy

I might mess with this myself - I liked MoO1s super-short starting range.

Question about -150 Range...

If my political party fails to win an election, do I gain 150 range?

The penalties are editable on a per-party basis, so I'd say no. OTOH, it's past time we all fixed the retarded 'bonuses become penalties if you lose' thing, and made it a little less... stupid.

Question about -150 Range... If my political party fails to win an election, do I gain 150 range?

somehow yes, that's why I put the -150 range in all penalties too

by the way, if anyone wants to mess with political parties numbers
the number of each bonus can be found in *.raceconfig files (the first bonus is 1, the second 2 .... and so on)