Pioneer dev forum

Spiffor's proposals for custom systems

I think about adding custom systems in the Galaxy. My idea is to make Pioneer's lore more visible to the player, in order to make this universe more "alive".

Here's how I imagine custom systems :
- Attuned with Pioneer's existing lore (very important)
- Preferably with star names that can be remembered : better 61 Cygni than NN°32-156
- Mimics as much as possible the systems as they already exist, with only minor tweaks and more settlements
- Peripheral : they add little small stories that, in the end, compile into the galaxy's grand story

Current systems so far

• 61 Virginis : Solar Federation farming colony
• 1 Orionis : A proudly independent hisoric colony
• 61 Cygni : Failed terraformed world
• Delta Eridani : A social democratic mining colony
• Lacaille 8760/Ayizan : impoverished outdoor world
• Wolf 1061 / Noril: Federal Industrial Colony (screenshot)
• Tau Ceti: Historic system with historic rivals. Wiki page
• Fomalhaut: Federal military outpost
• Sirius: Loose confederacy of city states
• Ross 154: Civilian research facilities
• 55 Cancri / Bathlight: Home of a native sensible species.

I packaged these systems in a mod file called spiffor_systems.zip
To test the systems, download the file to your pioneer/mods folder.

List of edits:

• October 29th 2018 : Added the 55 Cancri / Bathlight system
• October 6th 2018: Added the Ross 154 system
• October 1st 2018: Added the Sirius system
• September 22nd 2018 : Added the Fomalhaut system
• September 15th 2018 : Added the Tau Ceti system
• September 9th 2018 : Added the Wolf 1061/Noril system
• September 3rd 2018 : Added the Lacaille 8760/Ayizan system
• August 23 2018 : added the Delta Eridani system
• August 20 2018 : added links to github commits and to the mod.zip file. Three systems are ready (61 Virginis, 1 Orionis, 61 Cygni)
• August 8 2018 : first post

A well written background story certainly improves the game, and I think having more distinguishable systems preferably closer to the core (i.e. near Sol, Epsilon Eridani etc.) will really make it more alive.

Systems start to feel "cold" after playing for a while. Trust me, I've travelled thousands of light years in Pioneer, I've seen a lot in the galaxy; including the wonders of both the system and the terrain generator (and the face generator, but that's another story). Something like this is what I can hope for.

I say, keep up the good work!

Nice.

It would be nice if the custom scripts could tie into the economy of pioneer.
Looking at the pioneer source it's not clear to me what EARTHCOLONIAL does for the system's economy.

Welcome!
(Just to write down the IRC conversation for keepsies)
Quite nice system you cooked up. Interesting port names, and a nice green planet too.
I think I'd add an orbital station, given it was, and is an important agricultural world with huge volumes of export.

Soon possible to have alias names / additional names to systems:
https://github.com/pioneerspacesim/pion ... 4388/files

[edit : moved 61 Virginis' description here from the first post, as it besomes a recap]

So, here's my first custom system : 61 Virginis

"Solar Federation farming colony
As Earth was facing more frequent food shortages, the Solar Federation founded several farming colonies, of which 61 Virginis was the most successful.
The SolFed government divided fertile lands between twelve companies, in order to massively export Terran crops. The results exceeded Sol's expectancies during the first decades. However, the drawbacks became clear over time.
The farms being continent-sized, and managed from the capitol city of Colheita, entire biomes were destroyed and many indigenous species are now extinct. The Terran crops are poorly adapted to Abundancia's climate, and are increasignly dependant on fertilizer and machine power.
While the planet still manages to produce food for many SolFed citizens, its yield is decreasing steadily. As such, several farming companies are openly considering a relocation of their activity on another planet.
The future remains to be written yet : the University of Colheita has become a leader in the field of environmental engineering, and many inhabitants believe the planet's ecosystem can be revived with careful engineering and farming of local crops. Some farming companies have allowed these experiments on their lands."

nozmajner wrote: ↑Wed Aug 08, 2018 8:35 pm Welcome!
(Just to write down the IRC conversation for keepsies)
Quite nice system you cooked up. Interesting port names, and a nice green planet too.
I think I'd add an orbital station, given it was, and is an important agricultural world with huge volumes of export.

Agreed and duly noted.
I'll create a station before submitting on github

impaktor wrote: ↑Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:59 am Soon possible to have alias names / additional names to systems:
https://github.com/pioneerspacesim/pion ... 4388/files

Great !
For the time being, I'll write the custom name in the comments of the lua file (I wouldn't know how to teast my lua files before the feature's release).

[edit : removed the code, since it's now on github]

And here's the second one

1 Orionis / Cluaran

Short description : A proudly indepentant historic colony

Long description:
"Proud World for Proud People".
1 Orionis' motto can be traced back to year 2325, as the "Evergreen" -one of the legacy colony ships launched before the era of hyperspace travel- landed on planet Saorsa. Its founding fathers vowed to never live again under Terran oppression,
This heritage still shapes the system’s values to this day : independance, pride, and freedom.
1 Orionis acively took part in the War of Hope (2723-2725), as its volunteer forces fought alongside Epsilon Eridani against Sol’s attempt of hegemony. The system is a founding member of the Commonwealth of Independant Worlds and remains politically influent to this day.
In present day, the systems boasts a strong industry and is the birthplace of many an elite pilot of the Confederation Fleet.
Travellers will also find the citizens are a proud lot : be it of their tradition, their chilly climate, their language, their gas giants...

It was much more work than the first one actually. Had to start over a few times to get a planet's seed I'm satisfied with, and to locate the cities somewhere appropriate

Cool. Are all the events and years mirrored in the wiki, so we have an updated timeline to keep weaving new systems and Lore into the game?

@Spiffor: Nice one! Little bit of nitpicking: independent seems to be the proper spelling.
You are good at writing. That description is really good.

@Impaktor: those dates are adhering to the timeline.

A useful thing to know: you can pack the system file a s mod: into a zip file/systems/yoursystem.lua, and that way you can use it as a mod. Might be easier to show off these systems. And you can put a modified 02_local_stars in there too, it would override the existing one.
The user just has to put the zip into ~pioneer/mods, and it would be loaded.