[WIP] [TC] X3 Galaxy

[celludriel]

I've added the vanilla game argon prime region setup to my argon prime setup and ended up with this

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 38CD0C7F4/

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 61F00E923/

I'm not sure how I feel about this ... wouldn't it be better gameplay wise the roids are on the edges ... Here is an example with just patches of asteroids

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 11CDBB1BE/

[Lc4Hunter]

I know it´s very (maybe too) early to ask this, but do you think or see a chance to change the hexagon layout to the "classic" sector layout (i know, sectors are clusters)?
Maybe it´s just me but i can´t understand why someone chooses this layout... or maybe it woukd be possible to change not the cluster "design" itself but there position like this:
https://s15.directupload.net/images/181211/vj8blshb.jpg



{Images posted directly to the forums should not be greater than 640x480 or 100kb, oversize image now linked - Terre}

[celludriel]

grmbl do you have any idea how long it took me to figure out to rotate those gates properly

Maybe after the experiment and if the community decides they want to help out make a complete X3 map then we can reconfigure the location of the clusters. For now , for the experiment, the hexagons stay where they are. I got some decent news I managed to add nice looking asteroid belts to argon prime

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ ... B43D1A941/

Their rotation is of but that can be fixed. Now I have a challenge though.

- How many belts do I need in each cluster
- Which belts will go in which cluster (ore, silicon, nvidium, gasses, ice)
- What backdrops will go in each cluster (currently they are all Cluster_01)
- How many factories do we need to keep 15 clusters running

[Lc4Hunter]

grmbl do you have any idea how long it took me to figure out to rotate those gates properly

It was just a question (for the moment ).
I already tried to find any information about the layout but... well... i don´t get it.
Currently i primary try to understand how the models work and how to get new stuff into game but it´s a little bit more difficult then it was in X3

[vrod]

Kuddos!
Great work so far. Keep it up!

[Tomonor]

- How many belts do I need in each cluster
- Which belts will go in which cluster (ore, silicon, nvidium, gasses, ice)
- What backdrops will go in each cluster (currently they are all Cluster_01)
- How many factories do we need to keep 15 clusters running

Depends on how close to the old role you want to get. I strongly suggest you to check out X2: The Threat if you haven't already. That game had both nebulae and asteroids around, and they were pretty fitting.

For instance, Argon Prime used to have a single nebula in the middle of the sector.
Herron's Nebula was filled with blue nebulae and asteroids.
Ringo moon was just a single gray planet with completely black/starry background.
The Wall was most similar to Argon Prime, with the exception that the nebula in the background situated to the west side of the system, implying that that's where the Sonra nebula has ended.
Home of Light is supposed to have a planet that's exploded, with some red nebulae.
The Hole is once again, a celestial body-poor sector with only stars and minimal sunlight texturing the horizon.
Power Circle comes with a destroyed planet.
Antigone Memorial is supposed to have a giant sand-textured planet nearby (Sandwell).
Ore belt/Cloudbases/President's End/Three Worlds depends on your interpretation, but these sectors were filled with asteroids. Special case for Ore Belt though, where the belt itself was covered with thick nebulae and it used to spawn a tremendous amount of Kha'ak ships.

As for the minerals, imo the only rule should be that Nividium is supposed to be rare. Really rare.

[jmattspartacus2]

The game is 64bit, it should be able to handle any big numbers you throw at it
If the game uses double precision floats, then the max number that can be stored (if I understand right) is 1.79 × 10^(308) which is bigger than the known universe in real life, I think we're good! (The real universe is about 9x10^(26) m across)

[celludriel]

Well I just learned how I can create/manipulate existing backdrops to create my own. Considering I have only so much time and although I love the lore described above I'm gonna do the following. I'm making two generic backdrops for now

- One with empty space but a nice nebula
- One with one planet in it
- (if I find one I'll make one with a destroyed planet)

I'll use those for this experiment. for the distribution of resources however I have no idea. I could hold to the lore described, but how would that be balance wise ... I have designed with some help the following types of belts. Each belt is 75km long and 40km in diameter

- ore belt (ore and silicon)
- ice belt
- hydrogen belt
- helium belt
- methane belt
- nvidium belt

What I need now is an amount on these belts and where to put them all. At the moment is just guess work how much the economy needs to kick off and survive. I've been told though that resources regrow, so a belt will never run out

example of the ore belt

Code: Select all

  <region name="x3g_ore_belt" density="1.5" rotation="0" noisescale="1000" seed="32" minnoisevalue="0.05" maxnoisevalue="1">
	<boundary class="splinetube">
	  <size r="4000"/>
	  <splineposition x="-37500.0" y="0.0" z="0.0" tx="0.3" ty="0.0" tz="1.0" inlength="990.0" outlength="11708.4" />
	  <splineposition x="0.0" y="0.0" z="20000.0" tx="1.0" ty="0.0" tz="0.0" inlength="18370.2" outlength="18370.2" />
	  <splineposition x="37500.0" y="0.0" z="0.0" tx="0.3" ty="0.0" tz="-1.0" inlength="11717.1" outlength="1000.0" />
	</boundary>
    <falloff>
      <lateral>
        <step position="0.0" value="0.0" />
        <step position="0.1" value="1.6" />
        <step position="0.2" value="1.8" />
        <step position="0.5" value="1.0" />
        <step position="0.6" value="1.8" />
        <step position="0.8" value="1.7" />
        <step position="0.9" value="1.6" />
        <step position="1.0" value="0.0" />
      </lateral>
      <radial>
        <step position="0.0" value="1.0" />
        <step position="0.51" value="1.0" />
        <step position="0.65" value="0.85" />
        <step position="1.0" value="0.0" />
      </radial>
    </falloff>
    <fields>
      <positional ref="fog_outside_set1_blue_macro" lodrule="nebulafar" densityfactor="0.70" rotation="360" rotationvariation="0.5" noisescale="1000" seed="3214" minnoisevalue="0.0" maxnoisevalue="1.0" distancefactor="0.3"/>
      <debris groupref="env_debris_station_l_05" densityfactor="0.051" rotation="360" rotationvariation="0" noisescale="1000" seed="32" minnoisevalue="0.5" maxnoisevalue="1"/>
      <debris ref="env_debris_station_l_06_macro" densityfactor="0.051" rotation="360" rotationvariation="0" noisescale="1000" seed="32" minnoisevalue="0.5" maxnoisevalue="1"/>
      <asteroid groupref="asteroid_highyield_v1" lodrule="asteroidxl" densityfactor="2.0" rotation="360" rotationvariation="4" noisescale="4000" seed="1309" minnoisevalue="0.0" maxnoisevalue="1"/>
      <asteroid groupref="asteroid_ore_l" densityfactor="2.0" rotation="360" rotationvariation="4" noisescale="1000" seed="32" minnoisevalue="0.5" maxnoisevalue="1" />
      <asteroid groupref="asteroid_silicon_l" densityfactor="1.0" rotation="360" rotationvariation="4" noisescale="1000" seed="32" minnoisevalue="0.8" maxnoisevalue="1"/>
      <asteroid groupref="asteroid_ore_m" densityfactor="4" rotation="360" rotationvariation="8" noisescale="1000" seed="32" minnoisevalue="0.1" maxnoisevalue="0.8"/>
      <asteroid groupref="asteroid_silicon_m" densityfactor="2" rotation="360" rotationvariation="8" noisescale="1000" seed="32" minnoisevalue="0.1" maxnoisevalue="0.8"/>
      <asteroid groupref="asteroid_ore_s" densityfactor="6" rotation="360" rotationvariation="16" noisescale="1000" seed="32" minnoisevalue="0.01" maxnoisevalue="0.8"/>
      <asteroid groupref="asteroid_silicon_s" densityfactor="3" rotation="360" rotationvariation="16" noisescale="1000" seed="32" minnoisevalue="0.01" maxnoisevalue="0.8"/>
      <asteroid groupref="asteroid_ore_xs" densityfactor="8" rotation="360" rotationvariation="32" noisescale="1000" seed="32" minnoisevalue="0.01" maxnoisevalue="0.5"/>
      <asteroid groupref="asteroid_silicon_xs" densityfactor="4" rotation="360" rotationvariation="32" noisescale="1000" seed="32" minnoisevalue="0.01" maxnoisevalue="0.5"/>
    </fields>
    <resources>
      <resource ware="ore" yield="medium" />
      <resource ware="silicon" yield="medium" />
    </resources>
  </region>

[jmattspartacus2]

Belts regenerate based on the abundance, I'm looking forward to seeing how this pans out!

[celludriel]

Well I've learned all I need to , to make a galaxy it seems. There will always be new stuff to learn along the way. Now I also realised I will never be able to make the entire galaxy on my free time by myself. However I did set a scope for what I like to do

https://i.imgur.com/TQ4Y8cq.png

If I can finish this, you should have a playable galaxy. All races, xenon and pirates. It's still a lot of work though. I'm now looking at ways to automate most of it through some java programming.

[Xe-131]

Well I've learned all I need to , to make a galaxy it seems. There will always be new stuff to learn along the way. Now I also realised I will never be able to make the entire galaxy on my free time by myself. However I did set a scope for what I like to do

You ought to make a video or two on youtube as a tutorial - I was just searching for something similar and came across your sample video of Argon Prime, really great stuff. I'm sure you could turn this into a mini community project if enough people catch on!

[Tomonor]

Quick question: can you set individual soundtrack files to systems, or are they not related with each other?

[RTest]

Well I've learned all I need to , to make a galaxy it seems. There will always be new stuff to learn along the way. Now I also realised I will never be able to make the entire galaxy on my free time by myself. However I did set a scope for what I like to do

https://i.imgur.com/TQ4Y8cq.png

If I can finish this, you should have a playable galaxy. All races, xenon and pirates. It's still a lot of work though. I'm now looking at ways to automate most of it through some java programming.

Why not do an random galaxy generator?

[celludriel]

@repatomonor

Yes you can do that , you can even in a cluster set a different music if you enter another sector in there.

@RTest

Possible but babysteps ...

[X2-Illuminatus]

I removed the img tags from several oversized images. Please note the forum rule on allowed image sizes:

General Forum Rules

...

8. Images posted should not exceed 640 x 480 and 100kb in size

[celludriel]

Ok so I took a few steps back today , and started working on a java tool that inputs json and outputs a flyable galaxy. It's coming together nicely

INPUT: https://github.com/Celludriel/X4_Univer ... alaxy.json

OUTPUT: https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 1BE5F66EE/

I still got some work like wrong coordinates for gates and a mistake in the json file for two gates. But I basically have recreated what I did the past two days by hand now, automatically with a click of a button.

[XTC0R]

Ok so I took a few steps back today , and started working on a java tool that inputs json and outputs a flyable galaxy. It's coming together nicely

INPUT: https://github.com/Celludriel/X4_Univer ... alaxy.json

OUTPUT: https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 1BE5F66EE/

I still got some work like wrong coordinates for gates and a mistake in the json file for two gates. But I basically have recreated what I did the past two days by hand now, automatically with a click of a button.

You impress me more and more every day. We might really get a galaxy editor at the end?

[jmattspartacus2]

That is beautiful keep up the good work!

[nickolaiproblem]

Ok so I took a few steps back today , and started working on a java tool that inputs json and outputs a flyable galaxy. It's coming together nicely

INPUT: https://github.com/Celludriel/X4_Univer ... alaxy.json

OUTPUT: https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 1BE5F66EE/

I still got some work like wrong coordinates for gates and a mistake in the json file for two gates. But I basically have recreated what I did the past two days by hand now, automatically with a click of a button.

I'm likely what I'm seeing when do you think version 1.0 will come out?

[celludriel]

INPUT: https://github.com/Celludriel/X4_Univer ... alaxy.json

OUTPUT: https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ ... F844C3F94/

Small progress update, now all stations are being generated by the tool after reading the input from the json. So all balancing can be done in the json.

@nickolaiproblem "when it's done "