Im currently unhappy with the way you pick your map size at the start, and how you can expand. If you dont know anything about the game when you start, you might pick a smaller sized map because of the warning that bigger maps can compromise game performance. Later, when you are slowly running out of space, you realise your mistake and have to annex land very costly. This puts you at a disadvantage behind players who knew better.
Now to my idea: At the start of the game you can only pick between maybe small and medium. This is the region you know and where you can identify resources. Maybe with some research you can unlock an expedition. You have to bild an rover, that houses 2 citzcens. It drives around the border of the map and as it drives over unknown land, it makes it usable. That way expansion wouldnt be so costly, and there would be one more element of the game. You could explore to an certain map size, and everything over that you have to annex. Also you would only know what resources are in your "landing zone" and every other resource must be identified. The normal rover would have to drive up to it, take a probe and drive back to a lab, where the resource would be identified. There could also be a upgraded rover (that you would have to unlock) which has a little trailer with an lab and houses 4 colonists. It would be able to identify every resource that it drives up to.
Feel free to add tho this idea
Thanks
i love the ideas of a type of camping car who can expand the map