Bigger Galaxies?

malthaussen · #1 March 23rd, 2005, 04:14 PM

I'm starting up with SE4 after a hard-drive meltdown, and IIRC, there is a mod somewhere which permits the creation of galaxies rather larger than are allowed for in the standard game. I've searched a bit through the forums, however, and have not found a pointer to this mod, and it apparently is not included in the "extras" on the Gold disk.

So, if someone could point me to this mod, I'd appreciate it.

-- Mal

Suicide Junkie · #2 March 23rd, 2005, 04:24 PM

Edit settings.txt with notepad.

Simply change "Maximum Number Of Systems := 100"
to "Maximum Number Of Systems := 255" or whatever your prefered value is.
More than 255 will overflow though.

Unless you add more names to the systemnames.txt though, you will run out, and be left with a set of unnamed systems.

Gandalph · #3 March 23rd, 2005, 04:24 PM

You don't really need a mod to do this. Open settings.txt in the data directory and change the Maximum Number Of Systems := 100 to up to 250. This will give you up to 250 systems on a large map.

Now there is a very good Mod that effectively does this for you and gives many quadrant type options called Fyron's Quadrant Mod and it can be found at spaceempires.net

Atrocities · #4 March 23rd, 2005, 04:51 PM

You could also download and install FQM or FQM Deluxe and use those after modifying your Settings to use 255 systems.

malthaussen · #5 March 23rd, 2005, 04:57 PM

Thanks. Given that my internet connection is dialup, I don't think I'll be doing many 30 mb downloads anytime soon, but adjusting the number of systems will be easy.

-- Mal

Slick · #6 March 23rd, 2005, 05:07 PM

If you do this, you will also want to increase the number of names in the systemnames.txt file. If you don't, the game will still run fine but there will be lots of systems that have blank names. Their planets will be just I, II, III. Makes things confusing after a while.

malthaussen · #7 March 23rd, 2005, 05:17 PM

Names are no problem; I'm already adding to the list, since SE4 doesn't include names of Milky Way stars in it's list. With enough Denebs, Arcturuses, and Betelgueses, I'll have plenty of names.

A couple of questions, though. Can I use an apostrophe in the name, or will this cause a crash? (eg, "Deirdre's Star"). And what happens if I have more than 250 names?

-- Mal

Fyron · #8 March 23rd, 2005, 05:57 PM

Quote:

malthaussen said:
Thanks. Given that my internet connection is dialup, I don't think I'll be doing many 30 mb downloads anytime soon, but adjusting the number of systems will be easy.

-- Mal

You could download the JPEG version. It is only 8.5 MBs. It requires converting the jpeg system images back to bitmap, as in the included instructions, however. This is easy if you have a program capable of batch conversions.

Of course, you still have to download the Planet Pack of the Image Mod to play with FQM Deluxe, which is another 6 MBs...

Alternatively, you could get FQM Standard, which is practically the same mod except that it does not use any custom system or planet images. It is only 1.2 MBs in size.

NullAshton · #9 March 23rd, 2005, 06:00 PM

Hoth is a planet on Star Wars, first heard of in the movie Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. It was the location of the Rebel's secret base, that is before it was found out and anniliated.

malthaussen · #10 March 23rd, 2005, 06:06 PM

Ah, Hoth is Hodr. I wonder who changed the spelling? The only Hoth I know of is "Pappy" Hoth, the German panzer general.

I was wondering if the FQM standard was useable without the image mod, it is good to know that it is. Since it has been over a year since I played SE4, I want to fool around with the standard version a bit before modding too extensively. Seems like whatever programs I get (Baldur's Gate, Jagged Alliance 2, Age of Wonders, etc...), I always get bogged down in mods.

-- Mal