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Good news everyone!

Today we are going to share some details with you on how the galaxy is generated in Stellaris. When discussing this we will also touch on some of the different features of the galaxy and how we try to anticipate what modders will want to do with the galaxy generation in this game and making sure that they will be able to.

When you start a new game you can specify the size and shape of the galaxy as well as the number of (normal) AI empires. Sizes currently range from 200 - 1000 stars. The amount of AI empires only affects how many AI controlled empires that are generated from the start, a lot more will spring into existence during your game. Currently we have three different types of shapes for the galaxy; spiral, elliptical and ring. Spiral galaxies have the stars placed in arms that extend out in a spiral pattern (see “Pinwheel Galaxy”). A spiral galaxy provides an interesting geography, with voids between the arms that might be difficult to pass in a straight line. Elliptical galaxies have the stars placed in a ellipsoidal pattern (see Wikipedia), resulting in a more evenly distributed geography. Ring galaxies have the stars placed in a ring shape around the galaxy core (see “Hoag's Object”). If you play with a ring galaxy you know that other empires have to approach you either clockwise or counterclockwise within the ring, making it easier to cut other empires off from the rest of the galaxy than it is with any other shape. All of these options are of course moddable, both in regards to looks and available options.

Once you are satisfied with your options and decide to start the game, we begin the process of generating the galaxy. When we generate the stars we also decide what class each star should be. Most stars will be star classes with the different spectral types B,A,F,G,K,M. Some star systems can however be more special, like a black hole, pulsar or a neutron star. Every system with a certain star class has a given set of rules that controls how the star system is generated; you will, for example, have a hard time finding habitable planets close to a black hole. All of this is very moddable, you can add your own star classes and remove the existing ones if you want to.

stellaris_dev_diary_03_02_20121005_pulsar.jpg


We also generate some galactic features other than stars. One of these are nebulas. Nebulas are visible on the galaxy map and often contain a bunch of interesting star systems with special rare resources. In a nebula you can expect to encounter some special events and experience certain penalties and bonuses that may impact your decisions when it comes to colonization and fleet movement.

When we generate the contents of each star system we use different system initializers depending on what the system is being used for. If you, for example, were to start as a pre-scripted human you will be placed in our solar system, on Earth. Yes, all of this is moddable also. These initializers allow us to make sure that you, as a player, will always have something interesting to do within a system. They also provide us with ways to create a more balanced start, by being able to affect the content of your star system and systems that are neighboring to yours. It is worth knowing that these initializers have a certain random factor attached to them, so you should never expect the exact same setup between game sessions.

We generate a lot of interesting special content in the different systems, including the ones that no empire is controlling. This content ranges from debris to ships of unknown origin, that could be friendly or not so friendly... Speaking from personal experience when it comes to the “not so friendly” ships, I recommend all players to scout systems before going there with their science ships to survey a potential future colony. It is not fun having your science ship blown out of existence with your most skilled scientist aboard.

stellaris_dev_diary_03_01_20121005_drone_attack_scienceship.jpg


Next week we will talk about the different FTL types.
 
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Awesome Dev Diary. Considering how hyped I am for this game, it's hard to imagine that more hype could be brought into me, but it's been done. Awesome!


Kill count for Beta access: 7
 
I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed with one aspect - it seems from this that the only map types will be entire galaxies. Thing is, even with the highest number of stars, that will seems like a horribly underpopulated galaxy (there are billions of stars in our galaxy for example). Scale wise, it would seem to me to be far more fitting to at least have the option to merely model part of a galaxy - maybe a region a few hundred to a thousand or so LY in diameter (thus having a greater system density) but with a different shape to that of an entire galaxy.
 
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With the totally un-boring prospect of massive supernovae . . .

Yeah supernova are cool, granted there are things in its radius to blow up which is quite unlikely and that the relative time span your game is set in happens to coincide with the exact time a million year old star go "poof".

Also for all intent and purposes, B stars are very similar to O stars except they are much smaller but still pretty damn big compared to everything else. Very big and very hot, short life span, not much chance to find anything else but rocks around them, and likely to go supernova.
Given the scale of Stellaris (1000 stars, games that would last around a few hundreds of years) and the sense of scale of the map (stars are not much larger than planets), i doubt having O stars in game would do them justice, and they would probably add nothing more compared to B stars.
 
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I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed with one aspect - it seems from this that the only map types will be entire galaxies. Thing is, even with the highest number of stars, that will seems like a horribly underpopulated galaxy (there are billions of stars in our galaxy for example). Scale wise, it would seem to me to be far more fitting to at least have the option to merely model part of a galaxy - maybe a region a few hundred to a thousand or so LY in diameter (thus having a greater system density) but with a different shape to that of an entire galaxy.

They already said that star systems with only one or no planets are not represented. So this are only the 1000 star systems which are worth something.

And THIS is how it looks with around 500 planets:

http://www.stellarisgame.com/assets/the-game-bg/universe-3019eced36b229d06bfa007aa140adb3.jpg
 
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I think ~1000 stars are more than enough, especially if some of them are changing over time through events. Can't wait to try this game. I hope after Imperium Galactica 2, Haegemonia and SOASE I'll find my new favourite space strategy.
 
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They already said that star systems with only one or no planets are not represented. So this are only the 1000 star systems which are worth something.

And THIS is how it looks with around 500 planets:

http://www.stellarisgame.com/assets/the-game-bg/universe-3019eced36b229d06bfa007aa140adb3.jpg

And that still seem horribly underpopulated - and thus unbelievable and hence less immersive - to me. Even if only 0.1% of stars have something relevant, we're still talking millions in the Milky Way.

Just to note, I'm not by any means calling for the option to have maps like that removed. I'm asking for extra maps which represent parts of galaxies.
 
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FTL types is going to be an interesting dairy, hopefully we'll learn exactly about how wormholes work and what makes them viable. Would like to see a diary about ethics and racial design but I imagine thats still being developed/refined so probably not soon.
 
My question: Will each race have a preferred planet/atmosphere type? It was one of the things I liked about the Space Empires series and MoO3. It also provides an interesting mechanic, in that obtaining a client race with different preferences opens up new planets for colonization.

A few weeks ago a dev comment said that each species will prefer the climate of their homeworld, which you can customize at start.
 
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I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed with one aspect - it seems from this that the only map types will be entire galaxies. Thing is, even with the highest number of stars, that will seems like a horribly underpopulated galaxy (there are billions of stars in our galaxy for example). Scale wise, it would seem to me to be far more fitting to at least have the option to merely model part of a galaxy - maybe a region a few hundred to a thousand or so LY in diameter (thus having a greater system density) but with a different shape to that of an entire galaxy.

Agreed. I often pick map types that could represent a single cluster within a galaxy, or an irregular mass, because I'm not sure a galaxy exists with just 1000 stars. It's more entertaining, to me, to play as a pocket of the galaxy. Hopefully that will be an option, but from the sounds of it, every map will have a galactic core that is dangerous to enter.

Hopefully something we could mod.

(I also wouldn't mind seeing a mod that dramatically increased the number of stars, but dramatically reduced the dispersion of 'useful' planets, making for more spread-out empires and more unutilized, largely empty systems).
 
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Soo nice :)
 
I hope the 1000 stars aren't hard-coded. I wish to see how high it can be modded and remain stable on high-end systems. I want it as high as possible..
 
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I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed with one aspect - it seems from this that the only map types will be entire galaxies. Thing is, even with the highest number of stars, that will seems like a horribly underpopulated galaxy (there are billions of stars in our galaxy for example). Scale wise, it would seem to me to be far more fitting to at least have the option to merely model part of a galaxy - maybe a region a few hundred to a thousand or so LY in diameter (thus having a greater system density) but with a different shape to that of an entire galaxy.

The way I usually handle this in games (because every Galaxy level space game has this issue) is that we're only able to interact with ones of some importance. The rest that aren't in game are just useless systems with nothing of note, value, or use.
 
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The way I usually handle this in games (because every Galaxy level space game has this issue) is that we're only able to interact with ones of some importance. The rest that aren't in game are just useless systems with nothing of note, value, or use.

Sure, but are you really saying that in a galaxy of billions of stars, there are only 1000 with something worth looking at in?
 
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awesome! cool that you can customize your galaxy. oh, love the star destroyer in that last screenshot.
 
Good news everyone!
The amount of AI empires only affects how many AI controlled empires that are generated from the start, a lot more will spring into existence during your game. .

I'm pretty interested by this statement. Does this mean you can start a game with only yourself as a starting empire? And thus kind of create a W40k situation where incursions happen later. Or you empire fractures.
 
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Can't wait to see the DD on FTL types, I hope that wormhole tech can eventually be refined into proper Stargates late game. No more costly starships for me, just instant transport between my worlds.

It'll make the SG-1 mod easier to make for whoever takes up that task as well...