You missed the point.  You still spend the research.  But a speed of 40 on a small map gets you across the galaxy in a couple of turns.  On the immense maps it won't even go from one end of you empire to the other.

So just like a larger map may be 10 times the size of a small map the speed gained from engines should be 10 times.  This has nothing to do with not researching.  A basic level 1 engine gives you 1 movement.  I'm saying that on much bigger maps it should give you more than 1 movement.  

Not sure if you played immense maps but a speed of 100-200 still won't get you across the map in one turn.  On a tiny map I can go from one end of my empire to the other in one turn with the best engine.  On immense it will take 7 or more turns to do this.  This is what needs to be balanced.

It is BORING having to wait 20 turns for a ship to get anywhere on the very large maps.

Does this not defeat the purpose of having a larger map though? I understand the need for more planets / stars etc, but there's a setting for that. Otherwise the quickest solution to your problem surely is to play on a smaller map? 

Sorry if I've missed the point here, but this seems like a very low priority issue. The whole point of a bigger map is to make you feel more insignificant. Alternatively, you could build a ship with all life support and drives, and add the module that transfers these values to your fleet. This would be a strategic way of solving the issue. 

I would not like this at all.  I want it to take a long time to get across the galaxy, not very immersive otherwise.

By it being a variable that means you can't dictate to me what is fun and I can't dictate to you.  We can change it to our definition of fun.

And just like you make changes for small maps I want this exact same ability for very large maps.

And it would be super easy to do.  It is no more difficult then adding in any other XML variable.

The variable already exists and can be added already, as it happens. Just go to mapsizedefs.xml, find the size you want, and under the range bonus add:

This will double ship speed on that map size. Change the number in the Value scope to change the speed ratio.

What might be cooler is, rather than making it a size setting, making it a game option in itself - ship move multiplier. That way, players who want very slow ships on big maps, and those who want very fast ships on small maps are both covered.

Thank you for that help.  That is exactly what I'm looking for.