Is it even possible to mod this?
 

O.K. folks, is this going to be possible?

I’ve never like the fact that the star pictures are so small when compared to the planet pics. Now the planets have a great look to them, but so do the stars, and most stars get ignored unless a fleet is hiding in them or the star is being targeted for an untimely demise. (Or ‘strategic’ demise if it’s in an enemies system)
So is it possible to have stars appear larger in the main window? The star pictures should preferably take up a 2x2 grid, but might also look good if they filled a 3x3 grid.
If this is an impossible request, I might have to come out with a planet pack that has stars appear to be the size of a huge planet, and all other planet pictures reduced. I want to avoid doing this because the planets would run a risk of being to tiny to be easily seen, and those planets look very good the way they are. Gotta love those cubeworlds!

Re: Is it even possible to mod this?
 

No, not really. You could simulate it by making lots of different system backgrounds that have a large star pic in them that merges with the pic of the star object, but the other sectors would not be stars, just backgrounds.

Re: Is it even possible to mod this?
 

nope. but you could make a something like that by making storms with no ability and giving them bits of sun pics. you could also give them 50000 damage to simulate a sun more accuratly.

Re: Is it even possible to mod this?
 

Keep in mind that a sector is a huge amount of space. The star would not be taking up the entire thing, just a small portion of the sector.

Re: Is it even possible to mod this?
 

It is possible to have the suns cause damage and even allow ships to 'hide' in them - but you must modify the map with the map maker to do so.

I once did this for a map I made for Tnarg. I think I posted it to the SEIV PBW site. Perhaps here as well.

Re: Is it even possible to mod this?
 

You can add those abilities to Normal Star in SectType.txt and some random stars will have them. See FQM for lots of examples.

Re: Is it even possible to mod this?
 

Thanks for the feedback. I've tried some of the suggestions, but am going to drop this idea. Reducing the planet pics gave me planets that had strange textured surfaces instead of the smooth features in the planet pack. Increasing the size of the stars gave systems an uneven look. Using the background to create an 'artificial' large star pic actually looked fantastic, but was very hit and miss with Fyron's Quad Mod. I think I'm going to pass the torch to the next modder who wants to take on stars!

Re: Is it even possible to mod this?
 

You have to move the position of any object in SystemTypes.txt (except for stars) that is within those rings that the background pic uses for the star.