Too many empty systems

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spikethehobbit
Space Squid
Posts: 66
Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2012 7:24 pm

Too many empty systems

#1 Post by spikethehobbit »

I just quit a game where my home world was in the middle of a block of fourteen empty systems. There wasn't a single planet (let alone inhabitable) within supply range. The game before that had a single system within supply range, but nothing inhabitable.
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em3
Vacuum Dragon
Posts: 630
Joined: Sun Sep 25, 2011 2:51 pm

Re: Too many empty systems

#2 Post by em3 »

Um... what galaxy generation settings are you playing with?
https://github.com/mmoderau
[...] for Man has earned his right to hold this planet against all comers, by virtue of occasionally producing someone totally batshit insane. - Randall Munroe, title text to xkcd #556

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Vezzra
Release Manager, Design
Posts: 6095
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 12:56 pm
Location: Sol III

Re: Too many empty systems

#3 Post by Vezzra »

@spikethehobbit: can you post the complete game setup parameters (seed, galaxy age and size, monsters, natives, specials etc.) and the exact FO version/build you're using so we can recreate the situation you encountered? Because there are checks and corrections in place in the universe generation scripts that are supposed to prevent such situations. If you end up in starting locations with no planets at all in the near vicinity, that would indicate a bug.

spikethehobbit
Space Squid
Posts: 66
Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2012 7:24 pm

Re: Too many empty systems

#4 Post by spikethehobbit »

I play trunk. The only private mod is a custom species.

I don't have the random seeds anymore. Sorry. I'll keep an eye out for if (when) this happens again.
Systems:150
Galaxy Shape:Random
Galaxy Age:Random
Starlane Frequency:Low
Planet Density:High
Specials Frequency:Medium
Monster Frequency:High
Native Frequency:Low
Max AI Agression:Maniacal
Number of AI Players:6

Edit:Young Galaxy has a high number of empty systems.
Edit2:Young and Ring galaxies can have large empty areas. I'm trying to generate one that has a start zone in the middle of one.
Edit3:Disc galaxies are candidates as well.
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spikethehobbit
Space Squid
Posts: 66
Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2012 7:24 pm

Re: Too many empty systems

#5 Post by spikethehobbit »

I think I figured this one out. Nebula systems seem to be counted as non-empty, so it is possible for the player to be surrounded by them. Since there are no stars yet, it looks like all empty systems.
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Vezzra
Release Manager, Design
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Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 12:56 pm
Location: Sol III

Re: Too many empty systems

#6 Post by Vezzra »

spikethehobbit wrote:Nebula systems seem to be counted as non-empty, so it is possible for the player to be surrounded by them. Since there are no stars yet, it looks like all empty systems.
Nebula systems are (or should be) considered empty systems by the galaxy generation scripts. The "checks and corrections" I've been talking about check for the amount of actual planets in the systems surrounding an empire home system, and adds some extra ones if there are too few. However, there is no check of the habitability of those planets for your starting species.

So, it should not be possible that you end up with no planets at all in the system surrounding your home system (meaning, if you're encountering that, it's a bug which needs to be addressed), but it definitely can happen that the planets in those systems aren't particularly habitable for your starting species (which probably should be taken care of by some additional checks and corrections, to ensure a certain minumum of habitable planets in the near vicinity of an empires homeworld).

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Oberlus
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Re: Too many empty systems

#7 Post by Oberlus »

I don't know how many different FO games I have started, but should be way over 200. I usually play planet density high, sometimes medium, seldom low.
I have never found a galaxy where I need to travel more than two starlanes to get to another planet.
The normal situation is to have at least one planet in one neighbouring system. I'm not sure to have ever encountered the situation where all neighbouring systems were empty, but if that ever happened, then for sure there was a planet on one of the next systems (two starlanes away from homeworld).

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