There will be plenty of customization of the galaxy. We haven't finalized all the options but the number of planets or galaxy size is almost guaranteed.

He he he, pretty demanding... I'll settle for 1-3.  

No. 5 could also damage gameplay since the galaxy would be ever changing. Imagine trying to build a homogenous empire than each star in it drifts with it's own speed...

maybe our next wallpaper or febuary screenshot would be of the galaxy map?
...cough...yarlen...cough...

Check out the March issue of Games for Windows magazine.

yeah would love to, but we dont that magazine, in the realm of denmark

That way you don't start a given game knowing "okay, 5 planets in every system, I need to explore this one until I discover all 5 of them".

of course it would be an average,
and second of all: it doesnt work that way...

additionally the homogenity between galaxies would be nice to adjust.

you dont "discover" planets. that cannot possibly make sense in a nodule system.

planets yes, enemy no.

a nodule system is where you have discrete sections. in this case planets, the planets are not joined by a transversable space. they are distinct units. discovery elements doesnt work in such a disjointed nodule system. the results are usually clunky gameplay. for instance how would you tell where a galaxy is? how close would you have to be? same things go for stars and planets.
I'm just making the assumption here that Ironclad made the obviously better choice.

I'm sure if they wanted they could come up with ways to keep you in the right direction without simply giving everything away from the start...

if you have any suggestions I'd by glad to hear them. but as far as I see it cannot work this way.
the reason this would differ from standard ground-based RTSs in this aspect is that you have physical blockages to your vision on a spherical planet. its not the same with space, you can tell where all the formations and (with precise enough technology) all the planets, you just aren't going to be fully aware of the aspects of the planet, fortification, enemy presence, planet condition etc.
so as far as I see better game play + better realism = better choice

If I had to make a suggestion for a game I barely know anything about yet, then I would say that, since you mentioned technology, space awareness of the players could be limited by technology levels. Players could see the overal structure of the galaxy when zoomed out (so that they don't take their fleets out of the bounds and into empty space), but not a detailed view when zoomed in (planets not discovered would not be rendered). That would force them to actively search for the planets using passive technology such as radars and telescopes alongside active technology such as scouting drones.

that would be awesome!

It was just an example answering ninja's question, I didn't say that's how it should be or that's how I want it to be or even that it's the most realistic game design... Maybe it could be incorporated in my Battlestar Galactica modification idea I wrote in another thread since it would make more sense story wise as well.

That's subjective (hey, one person liked the concept already), all you asked from me was to give a suggestion about how it could be possible to start without knowing the location/number of planets in a given system, and I gave a valid example. As for how you would start scanning, well, even if I answer that you'll once again ask for more things ending up in me having to come up with a whole game's concept... Sorry I don't have time for that unless you want to fund a project?

Look. All I initially said was that IF the planets have to be discovered, then you shouldn't be able to pick exactly how many planets per galaxy you want as was your suggestion.

After that I was merely stating that planet discovery elements, regardless of what you think, are a viable possibility which is what made me write the statement as seen above. Obviously if they had done it like this, then they would have found a way to make it an interesting part of the game and the whole game would have been designed in a way that supported such a feature.

The point is, I did not know, and still do not know how the game really is. My ideas were only replies to your own questions since you felt the need to confront me about my initial hypothetical statement. I never said they are ideas I want to see in the game or ideas I hope they will include after seeing them here. I'm sure whatever decisions they have made will result in a grand game.