I am thinking of making a 4X game, and I am wondering if anyone knows of some good resources for generating star systems (not planetary surface maps). Ideally I would be able to calculate radius, gravity/mass, atmospheric composition and ground composition.
Star system generation for 4X games
You don't need that precision for 4X game (it's not "Elite/Privateer" where you fly ships aroud these systems/planets). Usually it's done by randomly generating star systems on a 2D plane and then connecting them by routes/lines (Orion2, EndlessSpace), then they add 1-6 planets inside a system.
I created a random galaxy generator a few months back.
The basic algorithm started by creating stars, then orbiting planets at various distances, giving each different sizes, climates, and resources.
Am I to understand this is what you are trying to achieve as well?
If so, I could give a few pointers on the basic algorithm I've used and see if this can work for you as well.
Author
Your understanding would be correct Orymus3, and I would appreciate any help you could provide.
There are many ways of doing this, I've done them all at some point.
My favorite solar system generation system is based on accretion. you populate the system with dust then drop in planetoids. Have a look at https://github.com/kayahr/StarGen/blob/master/StarGenSource/accrete.c
It gives you a lot of detail about each planet and produces believable systems.
The next technique just uses a random number generator and a set of rules. You can create your own rules to fit your game. If you want to look at an example of this look here http://www.jongware.com/galaxy1.html The trouble with this is it generates one galaxy, with a fixed number of stars. A lot of stars admittedly.
The last common one is a much more abstract system. Used when you don't care how realistic things turn out and want completely different galaxies every time. Have a look at this page http://seegras.discordia.ch/Roleplay/Traveller/Software/ and the software Traveller System Generator 1.0
Give us some more details and we can be more helpful.
The last common one is a much more abstract system. Used when you don't care how realistic things turn out and want completely different galaxies every time. Have a look at this page
if these are anything like the original traveller planet generation rules, they should be more than adequate for your needs. I'm familiar with Traveller, as well as 4x's like MOO and Galactic Civs.
Reminds me of an article I read yesterday, so in case it's of any use:
Author
Thanks for those links Stainless and jefferytitan. I will take a good look at all of them over the next few days and then hopefully start work on my 4X game.
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement