Finally found some time to start listing some of my findings so far.
- Black Hole system will always have SSI 079 (hex) = 121 (dec).
- It appears there is only ever one Black Hole system per region.
- Atlas Interface system will always have SSI 07A (hex) = 122 (dec).
- It appears there is only ever one Atlas Interface system per region.
- All systems with SSI 000 - 07A (hex) = 0 - 122 (dec) will always be yellow.
- All systems with SSI 07B (hex) = 123 (dec) and higher will have a chance to be coloured.
Not sure what the exact odds for the colours are, but from my main research system, about 70% is yellow and 30% is coloured (Red, Green, or Blue).
For Abandoned and Uncharted the probabilities are as follows:
| Colour | Abandoned | Uncharted |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | 0 | 0 |
| Red | 0 | 0.95 |
| Green | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Blue | 0.1 | 0.4 |
- Shadow systems are systems you would normally not be able to get to. This is only possible by editing the save to have the player spawn there.
- Shadow systems are not visible in the Galaxy Map.
- Shadow systems do have a portal glyph sequence, but when used with a Portal, will always error and instead send you to a random ‘valid’ system in that region.
- If the player is in a shadow system and then uses a portal, returning through the portal will get them back to the shadow system.
- If a base is created in a shadow system, teleport will work fine.
- The SSI where shadow systems start, can vary per region. In my main research system, it starts at SSI 0ED (hex) = 237 (dec), but in the exact same region in Hilbert, it starts at 226 (hex) = 550 (dec).
- The max SSI value for (shadow) systems in a region is FFF (hex) = 4095 (dec).
- Any value higher will always point to SSI 4095, even though the value will remain unchanged in the save file.
- Any negative value is internally subtracted from 4095 (dec) and can therefor point to different shadow systems and even to valid systems. -4094 will for example point to SSI 001, the first valid system in a region. These negative values also remain unchanged in the save file.
- Setting a waypoint to a shadow system in the Discovery tab, will always point to the first system in the region.
- The Space Station suffix name is always the same for any system within that region, if it has one.
- The Space Station suffix name will even be the same in another galaxy for that exact same region. The Space Station model used will be different though.
- The Spectral Class for the respective coloured systems, will be ‘set’ for the full region. So if a region’s yellow system uses F as Spectral Class, all yellow systems in that region will then use F. If a red system in that region uses M as Spectral Class, all red systems in that region will use M.
- The Spectral Class for the exact same region in a different galaxy, will not necessarily be the same and can be different but will still be ‘set’.
- Besides the Space Station naming above, it appears that all regions and the systems within are being procedurally generated across galaxies, and therefor differ for any other specifics. Of course the same rules still apply.
I may have forgotten some details, but for now the above are my main findings from the research done.
There is still more I wish to investigate, which requires comparison with other regions. I do for example wish to check core (even those hidden from sight, known as the ‘haze’) or near core regions, but also those at the outer edge of a galaxy, known as the ‘fade’.