Some general questions/comments

I am a long-time, but not particularly intensive AstroSynthesis 2 user, and I have just started playing around with the AstroSynthesis 3 trial version. Now I have a couple of questions.

Firstly, is there any way to change the distance from which routes are visible? Right now even with the default 40x40x40 sector, it is almost impossible to see any routes from outside the sector.

Secondly, while the lower end of star density in v3 is lower than in v2, it is still quite a bit on the high side - about 0.005 stars per cubic lightyear on average. In the real world, density in our neck of the woods is about 0.004 stars per cubic lightyear, and less than that further out towards the galactic rim. Would it be possible, in a future update, to either move the slider setting further towards lower densities? Or perhaps, as an alternative, could the slider be replaced with a field where the user can enter the desired star density per cubic lightyear?
Speaking of sector generation, I have tried, once, specifying a number of systems to be created and sizing the sector accordingly. Now that number is there, in the generator setting, and I cannot get rid of it; I need to delete it, manually, every time I use the generator, because otherwise the generator creates that number of systems instead of using the sector size setting entered. I suppose this is a bug? Either way, perhaps it would be more useful to have either a checkbox (like for spherical sectors) or a drop-down selection (like for Unit of Measure below the size selection) to switch between sector size and system number.

Thirdly, would be possible for a future update to allow customizing the criteria for "Habitable" and "Hospitable" worlds? For example I would prefer "Habitable" to be more like the current definition of "Hospitable", and "Hospitable" to be an environment that allows "free-range" colonies without extensive life support requirements.
Also - but this is far less important to me - it could be useful to be able to customize the ideal conditions that the terraforming function works towards, in order to simulate a region of space where a non-human civilization with different environmental preferences has been busy adapting worlds to their use.
Speaking of the terraforming function, it would be even more useful if it could be separated from sector generation in order for the user to apply it selectively to particular worlds or systems. I have had no luck with AlienAPI so far, unfortunately, but I imagine it should be possible to "extract" the terraforming function from the generator an turn it into a plug-in that can be used on one or more selected objects.


That said, AstroSynthesis 3 is already amazing enough that I´m almost sold on it already anyway, even if you can´t help with the first two problems and can´t/won´t implement any of the habitability/terraforming suggestions.

Comments

  • Okay, I see now that it is possible to set content and terraforming parameters when generating a single new system. That accomplishes quite a bit of what I had in mind when asking for a separate terraforming function.

    Two questions, though:
    1) Which content (i.e. relative frequency of various child body types) and terraforming settings are used for the "Generate System Content" function?

    2) Is there any way to trigger the "Generate System Content" function for several systems at once - for instance, for all currently selected systems?

Leave a Comment