To ask again: what could this be? It's the first generation of the Exodus universe. Until now, you could already fly through our space, but the stars had no planetary systems. Well, about a dozen did, but those were copies of the Solar System.
What's happening now? We are generating 50,000 star systems and writing them to the database.
Creating this tool took several times longer than expected, and it still needs polishing, but it works!
What could be so difficult? Surely you just turn on a random number generator and generate things within set limits? That was the first version. The result was interesting, but not very good, and too... cinematic, perhaps. In short, heuristics went out the window.
Now it is all much more complex. First, we take a star's data from a real astronomical catalog and calculate its remaining parameters based on current scientific understanding. We then use that information to estimate the size and composition of its protoplanetary disk. Next, we add many planetesimals: the embryos of future planets. They accumulate surrounding disk material, merge, collide, and break apart, gradually forming planets, moons, and asteroid belts. Then a planet acquires an atmosphere and a geological composition. Biology, if present, modifies the atmosphere, producing the final climate, with greenhouse effects, albedo, and many other factors.
What is the point of all this? I tried to create a believable universe, albeit with a certain bias toward life being fairly common. And it looks as though it worked.
So if players ever begin to change the gas composition of an atmosphere on a large scale, we have mathematics that will indicate what changes would take place on that particular planet. Terraforming? Surprisingly, yes. If you find a planet with a greenhouse effect, like Venus, and somehow start removing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, temperatures will begin to change. Likewise, on an icy planet near the boundary of habitability, increasing certain gases would raise the temperature and melt the ice.
Now we can do things like that.
One stage remains: generating surfaces for all the planets where landing is possible. And that module is almost ready! That's the next step.
Then, when you arrive by ship at any of the 50,000 stars currently being processed (there are 120,000 in the catalog), you'll find whole planetary systems. You'll be able to land on most of the planets, see a unique surface, and interact with it!
Build a base, survey the area, explore the local flora and fauna...
There you go! )))