Some thoughts on mines and mine sweepers

[Commander G]

Mines ought to have an exponential function for missing. Miss Chance = (.95) ^ Number of Mines. That way, there is always a chance of making it through the minefield. Hit chance = 1 - Miss Chance.

However, I think Mines ought to be eliminated completely. If they are so easily hidden they must not have a propulsion system, in which case they must have a gravity shield to prevent them from being dragged into the nearst gravity source (their sun). Suggestion: Only allow them to be placed in squares with Planets or Astroids. Warp Points have no gravity source to keep them there, so they should get dragged to the sun, unless we are assuming the Warp Points are orbiting the suns even though graphically they are not represented that way. Apparently in the SE universe planets are either glued in space or all orbits have equal cycles. (Only game I've seen with good orbiting physics is Malkari, but the game usually crashed within a couple of turns).

If we do assume that mines orbit with the solar system, then avoiding them should be simple, just move your ship out of the orbital plane by a few mines (up and over). Mines are in my opinion are a weapon system that only makes sense in a two dimensional universe. If they have propulsion, why not make them robotic ships that seek targets rather than waiting to be hit.