I believe you can make a custom map that would fit those criteria. And besides...how much bigger does a galaxy really need to be?

I find anything besides "large" is overwhemling. I guess I'll work my way up to the next size eventually

I think you should be able to create any size map you want up to the max your system will handle. I love incredibly huge maps that take a couple (or more) weeks to play. As it would be optional, it would not affect those who like quicker games or those who do not have the system to handle the computations.

Cheers,
Superconductor

I just played gigantic with tight clusters, 9 opponents. It was fast enough on my PC with 512 MB Ram , P4 2.8 mhz, 800mb paging file. once I shut down all other irrelevant programs.

But it was damn boring.... You get to develop peacefully any way you like, and when that happens the game is a walkover.

I think I'm just going to win by alliance yeah with all 9 opponents! (so far I got 5 already, with the other 4 at friendly), I can't reborthered to build ships , even though armed with the top class engines, they just take too long to reach the enemy from one end to the other (not to mention even if life suport ultra, I had to build a starbase at the extreme range, so I could gain access to the dregin) and my damn Tolarian allies just refuse to attack the Dregin (don't they hate each other??).

I think my ships are already going plaid, I'm hitting speeds in the low 40s and i still have room for guns and armor. I've made troop transports that go into the 70's--they can get to their target in only a few turns.

Still, much as I like Huge, it is rather annoying having 2.5 minutes between turns, five seconds to even select a ship or planet, and 3 seconds for every two tiles that any given group of ships move. Maybe I need more than 3.2 Ghz.

Also, the game seems to crash a lot when ten races with dozens of ships each all go to war, but that might be a personal problem.

I don't know about the rest of you, but ever since the old Stars! days ('94 IIRC), the only games I play are in the biggest galaxies filled with planets and enemies. Anything less is just pointless as it ends too fast. Seconding the 'Insane' galaxy size (and Ludicrous speed engines).

hm, on my comp giant galaxies arent any slower then medium and I dont have that uber top high end comp, just a 3 old thing with 1 gig ram

I would love even bigger galaxies, and I would like to see any changes to the random generator, as my "abundant" maps are far away from being abundant

My computer's 2.1GHz with 1.5GB DDR RAM and a 256MB Radeon 9600. I play abundant everything in a gigantic galaxy with 9 opponents. Saved games take pretty long to load; but once things get running, it's pretty much smoothe sailing.

I can't say I really need or want anything larger, though. Not yet, anyway...

The Epic map is 18x18, while Gigantic is 16x16--so yes, Epic is larger.

My computer has trouble with Gigantic when there's too many races and habitable planets.

I've tried to make custom maps, but I can't seem to do it in Notepad and I don't know what else I could use. I can design them okay, but they always crash the program when i try to load them. And, since I can't start threads due to the new forum bug, I can't really ask about it in the depth I want.

Edit: The maps are easy to locate, being in a suitably named folder, and if you open them with notepad they show up as XML files. They're pretty simple--it's basically X item at Y coordinate. So, you can put a planet of type such-and-such at a certain grid location, or a star of type such-and-such at another grid location, or a resource of type 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 at such-and-such location... easy. But apparently, Notepad doesn't save the file properly, because the game dies when I choose the map from the menu, even if it's just a renamed version of one of the standard maps.

There is a custom map called 'Epic Galaxy' (Could be Collectors Edition only, not sure.) That one is roughly 3 times the size of the real galaxy. My computer crashed while loading it as it ran out of memory I could just see the mini map and well it looked about 4?! times the size of gigantic.

3 times the size of the real galaxy....are you sure? Because our REAL galaxy has BILLIONS of stars in it.

The Epic map is 18x18, while Gigantic is 16x16--so yes, Epic is larger.

gigantic maps are 18x18

It's not so much the size of the map, as the number of stars and planets (and ships) in it. If I make a gigantic galaxy with rare stars, rare planets and rare inhabitable planets, it runs a lot better than a huge galaxy with high settings for stars, planets and inhabitable planets, and the difference escalates as the game progresses.

This is with P4P 2.8GHz, 1GB RAM, 4GB swap, 128MB Radeon 9600 Pro Atlantis, as I don't put games on my "work" computer. (don't ask)

this is all xml isnt it ud think it be easy change like with civlization you just change hex hieght and the hex width

ud think same be true with this game.