More Realistic Ruins

[Ed Kolis]

It never really made sense to me that a starship passing by a system would detect ancient ruins on any planet that has them. Wouldn't it have to do special scans? Well, here's an idea in two parts - the first part can be implemented without the second.

1. Cloaked Ruins - Ruins now have a cloak level, like ships; they are not visible until either a ship with an appropriate scanner moves into the system, or the planet is colonized (and presumably surveyed).

2. Archaeology - Ruins are not immediately turned into tech when the planet is colonized. Instead, there is a chance each turn, modified by population (more pop is good, up to a point, then the ruins get paved over - much like resource extraction in newer Versions of P&N), that the ruins will be discovered. Of course, if the ruins have been detected with a scanner, then they are immediately turned into tech since the scientists know where they are.