I should clarify, that currently the game plays very much without any feeling of boarders between empires, which is probably due to the fact that my colony ships can go anywhere as can my military ships.
I'm wondering if this will change due to maybe
range limitations (maybe 1-4 sectors depending on technology),
cultural influence (cannot enter sectors controlled by another empire you are not at war with),
fuel considerations (maximum distance that can be travelled) or
social influence (moral, improvements, etc).
If so, will there be differences between certain types of ship as well?
Paul.