Keeping track of passing time will be important for expanding the possibilities of missions. Some kind of "universe time" will be needed to give the current date/time in the universe, and track additional time such as time played, timed missions and other possibilities.
To what extent this "universe time" mimics real time and its format (Y/M/D/h/m/s) or some arbitrary format I leave to when I get to implementing the feature.
One possibility is that the time would only increase in meaningful amounts when using hyperspace (due to time-dilation), effectively making distance travelled the bigger effector of time-based factors.
Time-dilation could increase logarithmically / exponentially based on single-jump distance; ergo lots of small jumps may be "faster" than a couple of big jumps. This would balance out risk/reward factors by making several system hops the "fastest" route, but at the cost of more risk (more systems to pass through) and more real-time taken, vs. a big jump that would require less risk & real-time spent for lower rewards.
Certain trade goods could have an expiry age (e.g. food), where more money is netted for quick deliveries
Radioactives will eventually go inert, possibly turning them into something more, or less, valuable depending on where you sell them
Keeping track of passing time will be important for expanding the possibilities of missions. Some kind of "universe time" will be needed to give the current date/time in the universe, and track additional time such as time played, timed missions and other possibilities.
To what extent this "universe time" mimics real time and its format (Y/M/D/h/m/s) or some arbitrary format I leave to when I get to implementing the feature.
One possibility is that the time would only increase in meaningful amounts when using hyperspace (due to time-dilation), effectively making distance travelled the bigger effector of time-based factors.
Time-dilation could increase logarithmically / exponentially based on single-jump distance; ergo lots of small jumps may be "faster" than a couple of big jumps. This would balance out risk/reward factors by making several system hops the "fastest" route, but at the cost of more risk (more systems to pass through) and more real-time taken, vs. a big jump that would require less risk & real-time spent for lower rewards.