[Ruatha]

I like the warp points travels, but I also liked the free travel in VGA planets.
Can't there be both?
Add hyperspace engines to the tech tree, these will enable travel outside of the warp point lanes, much slower travel between starsystems but it canm be a real surprise when you show up, plus turtelling becomes impossible.
This will add spin off tech like deep space scanners, to see if anyone is coming through space.
The possibility to create new starsystems, bases in deep space, scanners to seek for such bases.
Navigation computers that enable hyperspace travels, better navigation computers is lesse chance of death by hitting a star etc.

If it takes no time to travel through warp points, you could have speed in hyper space travel, so better engines equals faster travels, as the normal engines does, but you need both normal engines and hyper engines if you want to by-pass the warp-points and a nav computer.
And then if it's say 20 light-years between the systems, the first engines could have a speed of half a light-year a month, and then increasing up to several light years a month with higher tech levels.
This way you could start a game on a custom map without WP and have stellar manip turned off, so if your a fan of free travel you can have a game with only that.
But as I've already stated, I'd like to have it all.

to sum it up:

Both Warp points and free deep space travel through extra hyperspace engines.