Gameplay Disruption
Due to the disruption to game play last week and this week, 14 days of time were added to all active accounts.
Version 6
Game version should be updated due to the game reset and the significant changes in this update.
Game version changed to 6. Instead of bumping from 13 (2013) to 14 or 20, I decided to align it with the universe count, which seemed more appropriate.
Game universe 5 is officially done.
This is likely to be the last update before the reset. The software is ready at this point. A few things need testing and there are always bugs to fix.
Game universe 6 will start fresh at the end of next week, Thursday or Friday.
Saturday is tempting because it is Feb 29, how strange.
Game Reset Final Changes
A list of final changes has been on hold until the final days before the restart.
Lots of things changed this week, in preparation for the restart. Some data had to be lost, to keep going with the current universe for another week.
- Conditions such as poison, disease, and pregnancy were erased from all creatures.
- Missions were cleared from all spacecraft.
- Orders were cleared from all sentients.
- Broker transactions were cleared from all brokers.
- No existing solar system will match what is shown on the solar system scan reports. The scan reports show what the system would look like if generated using this update. Systems generated before this update will not match; they will be gone soon.
Some universal constants need tweaking.
Universal constants were changed. One was a scaling factor that affects the size of celestial objects, such as worlds, solar systems, sectors and galaxies. Here are things you might notice.
- All existing worlds will be slightly larger. This could cause changes to the terrain. Buildings and roads will be sunken into the ground or under the sea.
- Sectors became slightly larger. As a result, the speed of light changed to 177,210 m/sec. This is because the speed of light in SoH is defined as 10 minutes per parsec.
- The altitude at the top of the atmosphere, where you transition between in and out of the atmosphere, is now exactly 1500m on planets and moons, 3000m on gas giants.
- Orbiting and parking altitudes were adjusted.
- Spacing between worlds was adjusted.
- Solar systems generated after this update will have slightly wider spacing between orbits.
Asteroid belts have never been implemented.
Asteroid belts are mostly there now. They consist of one or more rocks large enough to land and build on, dubbed "planetoids". They also have hundreds of smaller tumbling rocks that you can't do anything with yet.
The planetoids tumble on two axes, making them an interesting experience to orbit and land upon.
The unusable tumbling rocks in the belt cannot be harvested yet. That can be implemented later. The belt needed to be put in place because it is part of the solar system.
Presence in a belt increases the density of the small rock sprites that indicate movement in space.
Large Moon
I have never liked the term "large moon".
Moons that are large enough to have an atmosphere are now called "titans". This is a nod to Saturn's moon Titan, which is the only moon to have an atmosphere in our solar system. It seemed obvious that it should become the class type name for all such moons.
World Size
Size increment of worlds is too large, allowing for only 12 different sizes.
World size increment is now more granular. There are roughly 10x as many world sizes now.
The size considered to be Earth standard is 12,800m dia. The real Earth is 12,742km diameter; its moon is 3,474km diameter.
- Planetoids are 1,200m to 1,800m diameter.
- Moons are 2,000m to 5,600m diameter.
- Titans are 5,800m to 19,800m diameter.
- Primary planets are 6,000m to 25,600m diameter.
- Home world planets are 10,800m to 14,800m diameter.
- Gas giants are 40,000m to 80,000m diameter.
It was reported that the distribution of quality throughout the universe is not a bell curve, as claimed in the documentation.
Quality of resources is now distributed using a standard distribution. The mean is 128 and the standard deviation is 42.3333333. That puts the probability of Q255 at 1:10000, or 3 sigma. This increases the probability over the previous distribution, in which the probability of Q255 was 1:16384.
Paper Mill
Lumber mill makes paper?
A paper mill was added to make paper and paper products. I didn't bother doing this when there was only one paper product but the number of paper products has grown.
Button placement on the construction window is temporary. Some rearrangement is needed. I may widen the button layouts to permit one more column of the large industry buttons.
Observed System Report
I should be able to see a system report for systems that are not explored that just shows the stars.
System report now comes in three flavors: Scanned, Explored, and Observed.
- The scanned report shows everything. It is produced for systems that have been scanned by your empire.
- The explored report shows basic information about all suns and worlds. It is produced for systems that have been explored by your empire but not scanned.
- The observed report shows basic information about only the suns. It is produced for systems that have neither been explored nor scanned by your empire.
The largest world has three resource zones but a ringworld arc section has only two.
The number of resource zones on a world now varies by size, up to a maximum of four. Homeworld size planets have 3.
A ringworld arc section has four resource zones.
A gas giant core has 1 or 2 resource zones, depending on size.
Genesis Device
I hate that thing. If terraforming is going to be implemented, it should be done using a better method, something a bit less "magical".
Genesis device removed from the game.
Co-orbital Worlds
It should be possible to have a co-orbital world opposite a world in the same orbit.
Co-orbital worlds can now occur. This is rare and only occurs in the habitable zone. It can happen in a homeworld system.
World Destroyed by Asteroid
When a world is destroyed by an asteroid, it should turn into an asteroid belt.
When a primary world is destroyed by an asteroid, it now becomes an asteroid belt besides throwing rubble asteroids around. Its moons and everything on them now become planetoids in the belt, instead of being destroyed when the primary world is destroyed. The moons are unharmed, unless subsequently hit by an asteroid. They will spin on an additional axis and tumble like an asteroid.
Moons move suddenly to their new positions as planetoids in the belt. This is not animated. It would be easier to draw some confusing effect on the screen during the transition but I'll just leave it; it's confusing enough if you are on one of those moons.
Solar system scans will continue to show the system as it was generated. Think of it as a star chart that needs updating.
If a solar system is ever regenerated due to decay, its original worlds are restored.
Moon Destroyed by Asteroid
When a moon is destroyed by an asteroid, it should turn into a ring.
Moons, including titans, are now replaced by a ring when destroyed by an asteroid. They also make rubble that flies around the system for a while.
As with destroyed worlds, solar system scans will continue to show the system as it was generated.
If a solar system is ever regenerated due to decay, its original moons are restored.
Axial Tilt of Worlds
Worlds should have axial tilt so they have seasons.
Worlds now have axial tilt. This tilts the plane of ecliptic of their moons and rings accordingly.
Axial tilt changes the pattern of sunlight to be seasonal. It does not have a seasonal effect on the weather. Maybe someday.
This change affects all existing worlds. They will now have axial tilt.
Axial Tilt of Suns
Suns could also benefit from an axial tilt.
Companion suns now have an axial tilt. This tilts the plane of ecliptic of their planets accordingly. We shall see if this causes a problem for NPCs flying around ringworlds at companion stars.
This change affects all existing companion stars. They will now have axial tilt.
System Generation Bug
Systems generated near the origin of any galaxy have a likelihood of creating duplicates. One such pair was found. Two solar systems near the core are exactly identical in every way, including all resource qualities.
This bug was reported years ago. The fix has been waiting for this restart to be enabled.
Titans at Planets
It would be fun if regular planets had a habitable moon once in a while.
It is now possible for a small titan to be created in orbit around a planet. It won't always be habitable. This can occur in a homeworld system.
OldSystemScan.txt
Nerf the code that keeps the system scan in sync with some very old systems.
OldSystemScan.txt file and associated code removed. Those old systems will not be the same any more.
Commodities Nerf
A bunch of old commodity data can be nerfed.
Eliminated a bunch of old commodity data. If any of those items existed, they were lost.
Broker Trade Agreement
Would love it if the other city automatically accepted the trade agreements if the avatar is in chain of command over both cities.
The remote broker will now automatically accept the trade agreement if they are in your chain of command.
Moon Sized Planets
Sometimes a planet is created that is the size of a moon. It looks strange to see it orbited by moons the same size as itself.
Fixed a bug that allowed primary worlds to be created at moon size. With the new size increments for worlds, the difference between the smallest planet and the largest moon is very small. You could still get a strange looking situation with a very small planet being orbited by moons that are almost as big.
![[Image: Big_Bang.jpg]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/386233710279917570/406232490118873099/Big_Bang.jpg)
![[Image: unknown.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/333190163180027905/679784182607642703/unknown.png)
