Moon surface: biggest map size possible

[Clandestine]

I am trying to create a map as big as possible with the grey moon surface look.
Unfortunately the biggest I can go is 93x38 with the planetoid class selected and normal size toggled on.
Moon class planets can't get that big of a map, even with large size selected. All other planet classes don't give me a moon surface no matter how often I try.

How is it possible to get a bigger "moon map"?

[Don_Kiyote]

good idea.

I had a blue world the other day. It looked so nice, but I couldnt play it, because the game didnt have a mod enabled.

Lifeless Planetoid maps might be very interesting to play on. But even such extreme environmental conditions, ie. being without an atmosphere, make little difference on the concrete gameplay. Resource demands should be different though. Water will be valuable.

Have you tried the custom world gen?

[Clandestine]

Yes I've tried the custom one but it doesn't create moon surfaces ever, at least for me.
The interesting thing is, it seems that the size of the map matters. Trying to get a moonsurface with planetoid class but large size will not get a moon surface either, only small and normal sizes do.

Other factors I am observing are that the planet has to be geologically dead (so I guess lava class planets will never work which is sad because it would make for a nice extreme "environment"). If in the second step of planetary creation the planet isn't geologically dead, I have to restart because rerolling at that point never changes this attribute.

Another thing I noticed is, that all my moonsurface-maps I managed to create have considerable old planet ages as in 3,8b years being the youngest.

I'm not sure if the atmospheric pressure also has an effect on the map itself. I managed to get a few geologically dead planets which weren't created with the moon surface, and all of them had an atmospheric pressure of over 400mb. The moon surface planets usually are below 380mb.

Like you say, resource scarce worlds are what I'm interested in, because I think they should allow for interesting strategic gameplay resource wise. I'm not an expert in Shadow Empire, but as far as I have come, sadly most resources are easy to get once you have access to all the planet core mining techs. But water could still be a problem because you can not influence supply and demands as you can with resources for industrial needs. And since there is barely an atmosphere, getting water from it should be also problematic.

[Don_Kiyote]

I'm not sure if the atmospheric pressure also has an effect on the map itself.

Other way around: Planet Size --> Gravity --> plus a bunch of other factors --> Atmospheric Pressure (afaik). Larger planets should tend towards more atmosphere; and also towards more geological activity, thus further tending towards more atmosphere.

I can see approximately what you are looking for in terms of game play. But I would say that its actually a more difficult request to fill than you realize. Planet generation depends on a specific fantasy Planetology, right? So while technically any map can be drawn, only certain types are possible to generate. Just like in the real universe.

So the question becomes: What is the complete story: Geological, Biological, and Socio-Political, of this Moonscape? What kind of real life planet is it analogous to, as far as Science can tell for now?

For example: how did it fit in to the Galactic Empire? Was it, like, some sort of Space Truck Stop, maybe? If there are no resources *at all* on it, why are there people on it at all. And why are people fighting over it now? If there are no resource tiles, what are those factions fighting over exactly, anyways. Should we prepare for an ultra-low population scenario?

I guess you just want to try playing on a particular map type, simple as, so maybe making up a story to answer all these questions seems beside the point. Fair enough.

But that story is necessary to different parts of the game in several different ways, Without some kind of answer to the questions about the Planet's history, and the parameters they give to the Planetology system, it seems like it might be pretty hard to actually make the game work at all, except in some kind of skirmish mode, maybe.

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...maybe there is a moon map, *attached to* a planet map... like a 'hyper-map'... ha... I always like those kinds of boards... anyways, I know I havent helped you find what you are looking for. Sorry and good luck.

edit: You could just halve the scale size of the map hexes on an otherwise normally generated Planetoid. Instead of each hex representing 200km, it could represent 100km. I mean, a mod should be able to do that. That would give you exactly what you want, maybe.