What are your preferred galaxy creation settings? AND WHY?
The why is important.
The why is important.
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Fave Galaxy Settings
- Thread starter OnyxAbussos
- Start date
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Regarding size, I like a huge spiral galaxy (4 Arms). This is because it leads to some interesting wars and ways to expand. Also, the the path of the endgame crisis is more interesting, as it has to advance based on which spiral it is in.
Regarding hyperlane density, I like to play on slightly higher density than normal. This is because I want to have chokepoints, and well as being able to travel without taking massive detours.
Regarding hyperlane density, I like to play on slightly higher density than normal. This is because I want to have chokepoints, and well as being able to travel without taking massive detours.
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pretty much what The Outcast Virus said plus Fallen empires to max and Marauders to max. 0.25 for wormholes and 2x gateways the rest is default I think
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Minimum habitable planets setting. No reason to have more, the late game economy scales hard enough as it is.
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0.25 habitable.
Guaranteed worlds 0
Large galaxy
Random placements
High aggressiveness
2275 mid year
2325 end game
No victory year
X3-X5 crisis multiplier
1-2 marauders
2-3 FE
Scaling Difficulty at Commodore difficulty.
Planet management ruins the game for me once i get to 15+ planets so minimum for me and keeps performance good for most of the game on large galaxy. ( until dx11 i was playing Medium only).
This causes a low fleet cap for most of game e.g. hard to hit above 500k fp without taking other planets.
High aggressive means an AI will punish you if you easy looking target likewise lots of wars else where between AI ( good ).
Setting mid game / late game year any earlier makes a little too challenging. Especially grey tempest.
These settings make the crisis formiddable and dependant on my play style at least to have a federation though I rarely play anything outside of a Egaltarian / Xenophile FWIW. Casual lay style.
Guaranteed worlds 0
Large galaxy
Random placements
High aggressiveness
2275 mid year
2325 end game
No victory year
X3-X5 crisis multiplier
1-2 marauders
2-3 FE
Scaling Difficulty at Commodore difficulty.
Planet management ruins the game for me once i get to 15+ planets so minimum for me and keeps performance good for most of the game on large galaxy. ( until dx11 i was playing Medium only).
This causes a low fleet cap for most of game e.g. hard to hit above 500k fp without taking other planets.
High aggressive means an AI will punish you if you easy looking target likewise lots of wars else where between AI ( good ).
Setting mid game / late game year any earlier makes a little too challenging. Especially grey tempest.
These settings make the crisis formiddable and dependant on my play style at least to have a federation though I rarely play anything outside of a Egaltarian / Xenophile FWIW. Casual lay style.
Galaxy shape: eliptical
Galaxy size: huge
AI empires: 20
Advanced AI: 0
Fallen Empires: 0
Tech/Tradition cost: 1
Habitable worlds: 3
Primitive civilisations: 3
Crisis strengh: 0
Mid-game Start year: 2350-2400
End game Start year: 2450-2500
Victory Year: 2550
AI Aggressiveness: high
Empire placement: random
Advanced neighbours: 0
Hyperlane density: max
Abandoned gateways: max
Wormhole pairs: max
Guaranteed habitable worlds: max
Marauders: max
Caravaneers: yes
Xeno comp: usually no
No need for outer space invaders or some ancients, galaxy belongs to young empires (and sprawl).
Galaxy size: huge
AI empires: 20
Advanced AI: 0
Fallen Empires: 0
Tech/Tradition cost: 1
Habitable worlds: 3
Primitive civilisations: 3
Crisis strengh: 0
Mid-game Start year: 2350-2400
End game Start year: 2450-2500
Victory Year: 2550
AI Aggressiveness: high
Empire placement: random
Advanced neighbours: 0
Hyperlane density: max
Abandoned gateways: max
Wormhole pairs: max
Guaranteed habitable worlds: max
Marauders: max
Caravaneers: yes
Xeno comp: usually no
No need for outer space invaders or some ancients, galaxy belongs to young empires (and sprawl).
I hate micromanaging but I hate inefficient economy more - therefore I deliberately set my game to "give" me as few colonies as possible:
- Habitable planets at minimum and guaranteed worlds at 0 to minimize number of colonies
- Max AIs, max, FEs, Max Marouders to prevent me from grabbing too many systems (and habitable planets)
- something llike pacifist ethics or Inward Perfection to prevent me from easy expansion through conquest, especially early in the game.
Beyond that, I dislike elliptical galaxies for their boring hyperlane networks, therefore, rather than going for minimum size I make the galaxy just large enough for 2 spiral arms.
- Habitable planets at minimum and guaranteed worlds at 0 to minimize number of colonies
- Max AIs, max, FEs, Max Marouders to prevent me from grabbing too many systems (and habitable planets)
- something llike pacifist ethics or Inward Perfection to prevent me from easy expansion through conquest, especially early in the game.
Beyond that, I dislike elliptical galaxies for their boring hyperlane networks, therefore, rather than going for minimum size I make the galaxy just large enough for 2 spiral arms.
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it's not technically a setting but i like to run mods that disable habitats for the ai so the game doesn't completely crawl before 2400
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When playing single player my favorite settings are:
Summary: The driving factors behind my choices is that I don't like the JOB+POP management loop and think it's just too much micro -- so I go for smaller, less populous galaxies. To make up for that I make my galaxies more crowded and more connected. The side effects are performance is generally fine even to late game && tech progression doesn't feel completely broken to me -- at least compared to larger, more populated galaxies.
*****************************************************************
The driving factor behind the Small Galaxy and limited Habitability is simply that I dislike a lot of the JOB+POP management loop. As such minimizing the planets in the galaxy is the best way I can keep the level of "micro" to a manageable level for myself. While not as big of a problem as it used to be the smaller galaxy also helps keep performance decent until later in the game.
I like Spiral Galaxies for that extra chance that natural terrain & random empire placement will shake up your game ... at least compared to elliptical or similar galaxy shapes.
MAX Fallen Empires allows for two fallen empires to spawn so there's a chance for a War In Heaven. Smaller galaxies wouldn't allow for that OR smaller number of Fallen Empires.
Max Marauders [two in this case] means I don't know why band of Maruders will spawn the Khan so it keeps me on my toes a little more.
I like the randomness of Caravaneers -- it breaks up the monotony.
Max AI Empires -- this acts as both a limit to the number of systems [and planets] I can expand to peacefully while also offsets some of the feeling that the galaxy is "too small" by having lots of potential neighbors.
Xeno Compatibility off: It keeps the species list a little cleaner esp. if I'm managing ascension on a non-Robo-path.
Random empire placement [as opposed to "clustered"] ... Seeing as the galaxy is smallish and crowded anyway this just lowers the chance that I'll have 3 empires "right on top of me" on day 1. Gives a little more room to expand to.
Hyperlanes at 1.5x : The extra connectivity still gives you a few choke points that you can build around and gives you a better chance of moving around early "space monsters" or similar. Plus with the slow movement speed it may give you quicker pathing if you need to go from one side of your starter empire to the other in limited time.
Wormholes & Gateways at 2x : These items keep me on my toes [Wormholes] and give me something to think about. With limited territory size I bump up how often they occur so improve odds I naturally have one in my territory.
No Advanced Starts: Given that the galaxy is so crowded having an aggressive Advanced Start AI as a neighbor isn't necessarily fun. Even with Advanced Neighbors "off" one can start pretty close to you and can wreck gameplay if unlucky -- better for everyone to start at about the same footing other than Marauders & Fallens.
- Small Galaxy, Spiral, 2 Arms
- 0.25x Habitability, no guaranteed planets
- MAX Fallen Empires, MAX Marauders, Caravaneers on, MAX AI Empires
- XenoCompatibility off
- Random empire placement
- Hyperlanes at 1.5X
- Wormholes and Gateways at 2x
- No Advanced starts
Summary: The driving factors behind my choices is that I don't like the JOB+POP management loop and think it's just too much micro -- so I go for smaller, less populous galaxies. To make up for that I make my galaxies more crowded and more connected. The side effects are performance is generally fine even to late game && tech progression doesn't feel completely broken to me -- at least compared to larger, more populated galaxies.
*****************************************************************
The driving factor behind the Small Galaxy and limited Habitability is simply that I dislike a lot of the JOB+POP management loop. As such minimizing the planets in the galaxy is the best way I can keep the level of "micro" to a manageable level for myself. While not as big of a problem as it used to be the smaller galaxy also helps keep performance decent until later in the game.
I like Spiral Galaxies for that extra chance that natural terrain & random empire placement will shake up your game ... at least compared to elliptical or similar galaxy shapes.
MAX Fallen Empires allows for two fallen empires to spawn so there's a chance for a War In Heaven. Smaller galaxies wouldn't allow for that OR smaller number of Fallen Empires.
Max Marauders [two in this case] means I don't know why band of Maruders will spawn the Khan so it keeps me on my toes a little more.
I like the randomness of Caravaneers -- it breaks up the monotony.
Max AI Empires -- this acts as both a limit to the number of systems [and planets] I can expand to peacefully while also offsets some of the feeling that the galaxy is "too small" by having lots of potential neighbors.
Xeno Compatibility off: It keeps the species list a little cleaner esp. if I'm managing ascension on a non-Robo-path.
Random empire placement [as opposed to "clustered"] ... Seeing as the galaxy is smallish and crowded anyway this just lowers the chance that I'll have 3 empires "right on top of me" on day 1. Gives a little more room to expand to.
Hyperlanes at 1.5x : The extra connectivity still gives you a few choke points that you can build around and gives you a better chance of moving around early "space monsters" or similar. Plus with the slow movement speed it may give you quicker pathing if you need to go from one side of your starter empire to the other in limited time.
Wormholes & Gateways at 2x : These items keep me on my toes [Wormholes] and give me something to think about. With limited territory size I bump up how often they occur so improve odds I naturally have one in my territory.
No Advanced Starts: Given that the galaxy is so crowded having an aggressive Advanced Start AI as a neighbor isn't necessarily fun. Even with Advanced Neighbors "off" one can start pretty close to you and can wreck gameplay if unlucky -- better for everyone to start at about the same footing other than Marauders & Fallens.
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OK -- I just read through a lot of the postings.
Am I crazy or are better than half of the people posting here not liking the "gameplay loop" of the fine control on POP & JOB managment -- thus smaller and less habitable galaxies??
If it matters I wrote a mod back around 2.6 (?) that cut effective growth rate by 50%, jobs by more than 50%, housing by roughly 50%, played with job productivity vs. upkeep, AI build weights, cut out habitats, etc. It had the effect of cutting pops exactly as I wanted, making +housing or +jobs techs more worthwhile, and also had the side effect of lowering the number of objects I had to interact with leaving me more time to concentrate on what I like vs. "micro".
Overall I liked what the mod did for "normal" empires. I suspect Hive Minds or similar swarm empires would have been OP but I don't play those often so didn't care about balance per-se.
Am I crazy or are better than half of the people posting here not liking the "gameplay loop" of the fine control on POP & JOB managment -- thus smaller and less habitable galaxies??
If it matters I wrote a mod back around 2.6 (?) that cut effective growth rate by 50%, jobs by more than 50%, housing by roughly 50%, played with job productivity vs. upkeep, AI build weights, cut out habitats, etc. It had the effect of cutting pops exactly as I wanted, making +housing or +jobs techs more worthwhile, and also had the side effect of lowering the number of objects I had to interact with leaving me more time to concentrate on what I like vs. "micro".
Overall I liked what the mod did for "normal" empires. I suspect Hive Minds or similar swarm empires would have been OP but I don't play those often so didn't care about balance per-se.
| Galaxy Size | Huge (1000 Stars) |
| Galaxy Shape | Spiral (4 Arms) |
| Hyperlane Density | 0.5x |
I like the exploration phase, and these settings are in my opinion the ones that makes it the most interesting. I know some will disagree, but I like some geography in my galaxy and the low hyperlane density as well as the 4 arms spiral are good at simulating this.
| AI Empires | 9 |
| Advanced AI Starts | 2 |
| Fallen Empires | 2 |
| Marauder Empires | 2 |
| Caravaneers | On |
I like when I can remember easily each and every empire I encounter, so the relatively low values proposed with a medium galaxy are quite good for me. As an added bonus it leaves some unoccupied space even late in the game, instead of having everything claimed by an empire as soon as the mid-game.
| Tech/Tradition Cost | x2 |
Repeatables are not fun, neither is the phase when you have unlocked all traditions. And it helps each technology to be more impactful, so you can build cruisers without worrying that you will unlock battleships before your cruisers fleet is even ready.
| Habitable Worlds | 0.5x |
| Primitive Civilizations | 2x |
| Guaranteed Habitable Worlds | Off |
Finding an habitable planet should be an event, not something common. And habitable planets should have a good chance to be inhabited already. Plus it allows new empires to join the game later.
| Crisis Strength | 1.5x |
| Difficulty | Commodore |
| Scaling Difficulty | No |
| AI Aggressiveness | Normal |
| Advanced Neighbors | Off |
Commodore is for when I first try a new empire, then when I replay them it's usually with Admiral or Grand Admiral setting. No scaling difficulty, if an empire is not menacing in the early game it will never be. AI aggressiveness I never tried to toy with.
| Mid-Game Start Year | 2300 |
| End-Game Start Year | 2400 |
| Victory Year | 2500 |
I'm OK with the pacing using the default settings here.
Everything else I keep on defaults for now.
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Galaxy Size: Small - Movement is too slow in this game, I'd do tiny if not for the fact that Tiny only allowed one FE
Galaxy Shape: Spiral-2 arm - Just to add a bit of strategic interest
Fallen/Mauarder empires: 2 each, just to have a chance at War In Heaven and Great Khan
AI Empires: Max: Just to hopefully have some interesting politics going on
Advanced starts: 2 (randomized) Advanced starts can help shake things up
Habitable Planets: 3x - I honestly would rather play on a huge map, but movement is too slow for a huge map to be enjoyable, so I crank up habitable planets to make up for it
Primitives: 5x - Basically guarantees you get one, and helps create more empires to make up for the fact that number of empires is so limited
Difficulty: Admiral/Grand Admiral - The AI is completely incompetent, might as well give it a boost
Scaling: On - I would however like some chance to prepare against a hostile enemy.
Galaxy Shape: Spiral-2 arm - Just to add a bit of strategic interest
Fallen/Mauarder empires: 2 each, just to have a chance at War In Heaven and Great Khan
AI Empires: Max: Just to hopefully have some interesting politics going on
Advanced starts: 2 (randomized) Advanced starts can help shake things up
Habitable Planets: 3x - I honestly would rather play on a huge map, but movement is too slow for a huge map to be enjoyable, so I crank up habitable planets to make up for it
Primitives: 5x - Basically guarantees you get one, and helps create more empires to make up for the fact that number of empires is so limited
Difficulty: Admiral/Grand Admiral - The AI is completely incompetent, might as well give it a boost
Scaling: On - I would however like some chance to prepare against a hostile enemy.
Galaxy size: Small
Habitable planets: 0.25
I find the game is most enjoyable if I have 10 planets or fewer. 15 is still okay, but 20+ is tedious. Both of these settings help me stay under the limit and reduce performance issues in the late game. Sometimes I even make the size Tiny, more rarely I make it Medium.
Midgame Year: 2225
Lategame Year: 2300
Victory Year: 2400
I find the midgame isn't very engaging and ever since the admin cap rework tech progress is too fast. Shortening the game by 33% compared to default settings helps alleviate both problems. Sometimes I make games even shorter.
Marauders Empires: 0
Fallen Empires: max allowed by galaxy size
The khan doesn't work well on small galaxy sizes because he conquers too much too quickly and replaces all the default empires, who just don't know how to surrender. And marauders by themelves aren't all that much fun to interact with now that the novelty has worn off. I do like the ancient empires though. They add a sense of history to the galaxy.
Primitives: 5
Primitives are fun. Whether as invasion targets for my conquerors or as wards to be nurtured and enlightened by my xenophiles/pacifists.
Hyperlane density: 2
I tend to play around and change this from game to game, but this is what I settle for most of the time. I find default density produces too many chokepoints while full density makes the connections too uniform and feels a bit off.
Wormhole Pairs: 3
Abandoned Gateways: 3
I like both of these for the added connectivity across the galaxy.
Caravaners: Off
They were fun the first couple times, but now they're just immersion breaking.
Difficulty: Commodore/Admiral/Grand Admiral
Scaling Difficulty: On
I tend to change around the difficulty somewhat, but I mainly use difficulty to off-set how bad the AI is at keeping up.
Everything else I tend to keep at default values.
Habitable planets: 0.25
I find the game is most enjoyable if I have 10 planets or fewer. 15 is still okay, but 20+ is tedious. Both of these settings help me stay under the limit and reduce performance issues in the late game. Sometimes I even make the size Tiny, more rarely I make it Medium.
Midgame Year: 2225
Lategame Year: 2300
Victory Year: 2400
I find the midgame isn't very engaging and ever since the admin cap rework tech progress is too fast. Shortening the game by 33% compared to default settings helps alleviate both problems. Sometimes I make games even shorter.
Marauders Empires: 0
Fallen Empires: max allowed by galaxy size
The khan doesn't work well on small galaxy sizes because he conquers too much too quickly and replaces all the default empires, who just don't know how to surrender. And marauders by themelves aren't all that much fun to interact with now that the novelty has worn off. I do like the ancient empires though. They add a sense of history to the galaxy.
Primitives: 5
Primitives are fun. Whether as invasion targets for my conquerors or as wards to be nurtured and enlightened by my xenophiles/pacifists.
Hyperlane density: 2
I tend to play around and change this from game to game, but this is what I settle for most of the time. I find default density produces too many chokepoints while full density makes the connections too uniform and feels a bit off.
Wormhole Pairs: 3
Abandoned Gateways: 3
I like both of these for the added connectivity across the galaxy.
Caravaners: Off
They were fun the first couple times, but now they're just immersion breaking.
Difficulty: Commodore/Admiral/Grand Admiral
Scaling Difficulty: On
I tend to change around the difficulty somewhat, but I mainly use difficulty to off-set how bad the AI is at keeping up.
Everything else I tend to keep at default values.
I'll say before hand that I have about two hundred or something mods, most of which add more variety. I also really like the Void Dweller Megacorp I have set up and usually play it often.
Huge galaxy, usually 24-30 AI, maxed out Fallen and Marauders, xeno-compatibility off, Grand Admiral with Scaling (the AI tends to massively outgun me early on even with scaling as my priorities are usually trade and playing tall), default everything else.
Huge galaxy, usually 24-30 AI, maxed out Fallen and Marauders, xeno-compatibility off, Grand Admiral with Scaling (the AI tends to massively outgun me early on even with scaling as my priorities are usually trade and playing tall), default everything else.
Galaxy Size: Medium
Galaxy Shape: Spiral (4 Arms)
Guaranteed Habitable Worlds: 0
I’d take a bigger size but not in exchange for more late game lag.
AI empires: 18
Advanced AI starts: 18
Advanced Neighbors: Yes
Difficulty: Grand Admiral
Scaling Difficulty: No
Ironman Mode: On
Makes the game start with a short scary phase, which most of the time can be resolved by looking cute and getting a few AI empires to build your federation fleet and from there you can snowball through the rest of the galaxy.
Marauder Empires: 2
Fallen Empires: 3
Crisis Strength: 5x
Mid-Game Start Year: 2250
End-Game Start Year: 2300 – 2325
Victory Year: 2400 – 2425
I wish the endgame start year could be set more granularly; 25 years can be the difference between totally unprepared and too late to be fun. I try to find a nice spot where the game doesn’t get too easy or too hard since the normal AI empires won’t deliver in this regard.
Xeno-Compatibility: Off
As much as the min-maxer in me wants to have that trait point and that trait slot xeno compatibility tends to make a mess with 18 AI empires and it’s just not worth it.
The rest is probably on default.
Galaxy Shape: Spiral (4 Arms)
Guaranteed Habitable Worlds: 0
I’d take a bigger size but not in exchange for more late game lag.
AI empires: 18
Advanced AI starts: 18
Advanced Neighbors: Yes
Difficulty: Grand Admiral
Scaling Difficulty: No
Ironman Mode: On
Makes the game start with a short scary phase, which most of the time can be resolved by looking cute and getting a few AI empires to build your federation fleet and from there you can snowball through the rest of the galaxy.
Marauder Empires: 2
Fallen Empires: 3
Crisis Strength: 5x
Mid-Game Start Year: 2250
End-Game Start Year: 2300 – 2325
Victory Year: 2400 – 2425
I wish the endgame start year could be set more granularly; 25 years can be the difference between totally unprepared and too late to be fun. I try to find a nice spot where the game doesn’t get too easy or too hard since the normal AI empires won’t deliver in this regard.
Xeno-Compatibility: Off
As much as the min-maxer in me wants to have that trait point and that trait slot xeno compatibility tends to make a mess with 18 AI empires and it’s just not worth it.
The rest is probably on default.