Fantastic idea!

I was looking to post this as well, but you beat me to the punch.

Copycat! I called it first .

Good idea about hiding units, I like it!  Could allow some sneaky tricks in MP. Could be countered by a special scanner module that you need to research.

I think it means you cannot seen into or through a nebula for more than 1 range from a ship. For instance when a ship is inside the cloud, the line of sight is 1 hex.  

Yep I agree, being able to see past the nebula and dust when you're out of it but not when your in it seems a bit weird haha!

Hiding fleets for sneak attacks would be excellent!

Fate,

great idea ... might i suggest that advancements in sensor technology should increase visibility or give some other advantages like detecting ships apporaching but maybe not the number/type and only etc. ... like:

standard-sensors: you are pretty much blind

advanced-type sensors: you can detect movement in a nebular due to displacement but have no idea what is moving in there

high-end sensors: you can identify the location, number and rough size of ships inside a nebular but not the type, weapons etc.

galactic-wonder - eyes of the universe type: what are those nebulars you all are talking about that one can not see through?

I agree. Nebulas hiding ships inside of them would be excellent. Starbases should be able to function in them too, but I feel there should be some sort of penalty for them being in there. Not sure what, but I like the idea.

I wholeheartedly condone and agree with this thread!

I've noticed the AI using the edge of the nebula to park ships

Agreed on this.

Brilliant idea!

"You're quite right, it would be chaos, utter chaos i say, if on top of us superior optronic AIs and our lesser cousins the electronic AIs some steam punk mechanical AIs would enter the fray for the extermination of the biologicals.

And then there are those weirdos of the Quantum AIs who are an unpredictable bunch of lunatics with their non-linear thinking and their talk about the distribution of probabilities of successful extermination and/or failure thereof, and possibly both going to happen at the same time. Insanity, i tell you, insanity. Talking with them gives any sane intelligence a high risk of spontaneous short-circuiting in the logical matrix, it is therefor better to simply ignore them for the time being."

--- Quote made by the Yor ambassador, just before he was incarcerated and thrown in a cell which held a bunch of Quantum AI sociologists who were then given the task of finding definitive proof that they actually exist. Needless to say the ambassador's logic matrix lasted a mere 3 nanoseconds before burning out.

Just to further extend this concept, Gravitational Lensing could be implemented.  A dense object laying in the line of sight and directly between two observers will cause multiple images of one observer to appear to the other. The distance between the center of the dense object and the faux images is a function of distance and mass; further, the faux images are symmetrical in distance only if the hidden observer is perfectly centered. Off-centered, one faux image might appear close to the dense object, while the other is very far away.  This would create interesting illusions of position.  A crafty person might find some stunning traps and deceptions utilizing gravitational lensing.