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System Generator Observations
I thought I´d share some of my observations from playing around with some of the settings of the AstroSynthesis standard generator. There´s going to be a lot of raw numbers in this one, but I figure they would help people pick the generator settings they need to get the end result they are looking for.
Part 1: The Terraforming setting
To test the effect of the Terraforming slider, I generated three sectors of 1000 systems each for every setting of the slider, and counted the number of planets marked "Hospitable". I left all the System Type and System Content sliders at average position. The number given for Hospitable worlds for each setting is the average, rounded to the nearest full number, of the results of all three sectors for a setting.
Then, because I only got that idea after I was finished counting, I generated another sector for each Terraforming setting and noted the median atmospheric pressure, atmospheric O2 content and temperature for Hospitable worlds of that sector; I picked the median instead of the average because calculating the average would mean a lot more work on higher Terraforming settings. If I ever re-do this, I´ll probably provide best and worst values for each field in addition to the median.
Well, here we go:
Terraforming 0: 3 worlds, .29 atm, 39% O2, -3 °C
Terraforming 1: 9 worlds, .34 atm, 39% O2, 14 °C
Terraforming 2: 15 worlds, .36 atm, 36% O2, -22 °C
Terraforming 3: 22 worlds, .40 atm, 39% O2, -29 °C
Terraforming 4: 34 worlds, .38 atm, 43% O2, -29 °C
Terraforming 5: 33 worlds, .59 atm, 37% O2, -42 °C
Terraforming 6: 42 worlds, .86 atm, 26% O2, -17 °C
Terraforming 7: 66 worlds, .86 atm, 27% O2, -8 °C
Terraforming 8: 100 worlds, .94 atm, 24% O2, 4 °C
Terraforming 9: 157 worlds, .94 atm, 23% O2, -2 °C
Terraforming 10: 338 worlds, .97 atm, 23% O2, 5 °C
Generally, I observed that the quality of Hospitable worlds in not only higher on the higher Terraforming settings, but also somewhat more consistent, with less extreme results. I haven´t looked into it in detail, but it appears that world with extreme day lengths (I´ve seen 300+ hours a couple of times) and tidally locked worlds are less frequent among Hospitable worlds in higher Terraforming setting.
As the Terraforming goes up, so does the number of systems with more than one Hospitable world - the best I´ve seen was a system with four Hospitable worlds. At Terraforming 10, the Hospitable worlds tended to be located in 220-250 different systems, i.e. about 1.5 worlds per system that had any.
Part 2: Average System Type and System Content settings
To get some data on this, I generated three sectors each with 100 systems - I used a lower number to keep total counts down, because the Search function for me only displays about 1000 items matching search criteria.
Note: Terraforming settings seem to have no influence on body counts; they apparently only modify the properties of Terrestrials, not add new ones or convert other bodies into Terrestrials.
So, based on my observation, with the average settings, you tend to the get the following on average for each system generated:
1.57 stars (1.91 per system that isn´t a space station, nebula or white dwarf)
0.12 space stations
0.04 nebulae
0.02 white dwarves
<0.01 black holes
25.07 child bodies (15.97 per star)
15.07 terrestrials (9.59 per star) including 0.32 planet systems (0.2 per star, 0.02 per terrestrial)
1.36 gas giants (0.87 per star)
0.92 asteroid belts (0.59 per star)
3.01 small bodies (1.92 per star)
0.52 planetoids (0.33 per star)
1.62 rings (1.03 per star, 0.1 per terrestrial or gas giant)
I hope you found those numbers useful. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
As I get to know AstroSynthesis better, and if there is interest, I will run more experiments; the next ones, I think, will deal with the system density slider and the System Type and System Content sliders. If I gather enough data, I may even compile it into a document for download in the Online Exchange.
Part 1: The Terraforming setting
To test the effect of the Terraforming slider, I generated three sectors of 1000 systems each for every setting of the slider, and counted the number of planets marked "Hospitable". I left all the System Type and System Content sliders at average position. The number given for Hospitable worlds for each setting is the average, rounded to the nearest full number, of the results of all three sectors for a setting.
Then, because I only got that idea after I was finished counting, I generated another sector for each Terraforming setting and noted the median atmospheric pressure, atmospheric O2 content and temperature for Hospitable worlds of that sector; I picked the median instead of the average because calculating the average would mean a lot more work on higher Terraforming settings. If I ever re-do this, I´ll probably provide best and worst values for each field in addition to the median.
Well, here we go:
Terraforming 0: 3 worlds, .29 atm, 39% O2, -3 °C
Terraforming 1: 9 worlds, .34 atm, 39% O2, 14 °C
Terraforming 2: 15 worlds, .36 atm, 36% O2, -22 °C
Terraforming 3: 22 worlds, .40 atm, 39% O2, -29 °C
Terraforming 4: 34 worlds, .38 atm, 43% O2, -29 °C
Terraforming 5: 33 worlds, .59 atm, 37% O2, -42 °C
Terraforming 6: 42 worlds, .86 atm, 26% O2, -17 °C
Terraforming 7: 66 worlds, .86 atm, 27% O2, -8 °C
Terraforming 8: 100 worlds, .94 atm, 24% O2, 4 °C
Terraforming 9: 157 worlds, .94 atm, 23% O2, -2 °C
Terraforming 10: 338 worlds, .97 atm, 23% O2, 5 °C
Generally, I observed that the quality of Hospitable worlds in not only higher on the higher Terraforming settings, but also somewhat more consistent, with less extreme results. I haven´t looked into it in detail, but it appears that world with extreme day lengths (I´ve seen 300+ hours a couple of times) and tidally locked worlds are less frequent among Hospitable worlds in higher Terraforming setting.
As the Terraforming goes up, so does the number of systems with more than one Hospitable world - the best I´ve seen was a system with four Hospitable worlds. At Terraforming 10, the Hospitable worlds tended to be located in 220-250 different systems, i.e. about 1.5 worlds per system that had any.
Part 2: Average System Type and System Content settings
To get some data on this, I generated three sectors each with 100 systems - I used a lower number to keep total counts down, because the Search function for me only displays about 1000 items matching search criteria.
Note: Terraforming settings seem to have no influence on body counts; they apparently only modify the properties of Terrestrials, not add new ones or convert other bodies into Terrestrials.
So, based on my observation, with the average settings, you tend to the get the following on average for each system generated:
1.57 stars (1.91 per system that isn´t a space station, nebula or white dwarf)
0.12 space stations
0.04 nebulae
0.02 white dwarves
<0.01 black holes
25.07 child bodies (15.97 per star)
15.07 terrestrials (9.59 per star) including 0.32 planet systems (0.2 per star, 0.02 per terrestrial)
1.36 gas giants (0.87 per star)
0.92 asteroid belts (0.59 per star)
3.01 small bodies (1.92 per star)
0.52 planetoids (0.33 per star)
1.62 rings (1.03 per star, 0.1 per terrestrial or gas giant)
I hope you found those numbers useful. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
As I get to know AstroSynthesis better, and if there is interest, I will run more experiments; the next ones, I think, will deal with the system density slider and the System Type and System Content sliders. If I gather enough data, I may even compile it into a document for download in the Online Exchange.
Comments
About the Terraforming slider, that is correct - the program only attempts to 'terraform' terrestrial planets. It has no effect on any other type of body.
I actually started compiling this data for myself, to get a feel for which setting does what, but I thought others might find it useful as well.