galaxy setup

from GalCiv2 Forums
Sorry if this has been asked before, but the various tutorials and strategy pages do not seem to me to agree or even to quite explain just what this is.
Habitable Planets
Number of Planets
Number of Stars
For the same density (ie per-sector) do you need to adjust these when you change map size? Is it total stars on the map or stars per sector?

Assuming I get number of stars at that point, do you need to adjust number of planets as you adjust number of stars to get the same spread of planets/star? Is it planets per map, sector or star that you are adjusting?

Finally, habitable planets, do you need to adjust that when you change the others to keep the same percentage of planets habitable? Is it total habitable planets per map, or per sector or per star, or as a percent of planets? Is it cumulative with the other planets setting in terms of creating planets (ie does it make an existing blank planet habitable or does it make a nw habitable planet in addition to any uninhabitable ones)?
Finally finally, what setting seems to give a good spread of 0..5 planets with maybe 1 or 2 habitable per star? And does this work regardless of map size or number of stars setting?

I can get the number of stars where seem to like it but the planet mix is still a bit frustrating to work with (especially since you can not always see the results until you play the game a while).
4,457 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The map size you choose will regulate the number of stars/planets accordingly.

Percentage of planets/stars, habitable-planets/planets will stay the same as you change map sizes.

I think you might be looking for abundant planets with commom habitable planets, from what you describe.

Kzinti empire2.JPG Sentient species taste better...

Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Do what I do - create a new game, save it, and then use the Shift-U all-map cheat to see what spread you got. I like playing with a somewhat limited spread of planets (about 10-15), but it's pretty game-ruining when, as in one game, the nearest habitable planet is 25 turns away, while the AI is sitting with 2 class 20+ planets right next to their capital.
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hi!
DarkYorPathfinder, the GalCiv game with its hidden game mechanics is quite frustrating for a number-chrunching player you seem to be. Developers rarely give any formulas. Collecting them is usually a work of many testbeds, trials and errors.

What's known is mostly posted on Galciv wiki, but each new version or patch of the game can change the game behaviour. Some of data there is outdated or incomplete. You're the most welcome if you can update them.

BR, Iztok

Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Here (from prefs.xml) is the way I seem to like it for TotA, although I am not entirely sure about the habitable planets because this way there is a danger some AI's (humans can use Ctrl-N) will wind up hosed by not having much in the way of colonization potential, and this seems to matter more to the AI than to a human player. I played one game on a similar map but with more planets and more habitable, and it was quite a good game but seemed a bit odd since every system had 5 planets and most systems had 1-4 habitable worlds.

I am wondering, however, if I drop this to a smaller map, say maybe one notch above medium, will everything scale or will the stars/planets/habitables need re-tweaking? Guess I can try the "lift fog of war" cheat key to find out how it works.

When I get used to the map editor maybe that will be an option. It is too bad you can not save off just the map separate from the actual game. Or if the map editor had a randomizer like the one in the game instead of what it has now.
[GalaxySetup]
HabitablePlanets=0
GalaxySize=6
StarDensity=0
NumAnomalies=0
NumAsteroidFields=4
NumMinorRaces=0
TechnologyRate=0
NumStars=3
NumPlanets=2
DisableTechTrading=1
BlindExploration=0
MegaEvents=0
SuperAbilities=1
AllowSurrenders=0
CulturalVictory=0
TechVictory=0
AlliedVictory=0
AllowTechStealing=0