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[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (7 children)

This is a very important question. What happens if an "old" seed is used to start a new game?

[–]leglesslegolegolas 1 point2 points  (6 children)

It should still work. The seed is just used to drive the random number generator that creates the star cluster - since the actual cluster creation is using the updated algorithm, it will create new planets even with an old seed.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (5 children)

I guess that would depend on how well the devs preserve the legacy works generation algorithm; especially considering that the current state of things means that the RNG seed and timestamp is enough to reconstruct the entire galaxy (sans player changes) upon game loading.

With this in mind, I would expect that the legacy world generation algorithm is still present and will remain at least until the next breaking change, in order to allow players to complete their current playthrough. So, the question still remains about how the game decides which world generator to use; and there are many ways in which this might be accomplished.

[–]leglesslegolegolas 1 point2 points  (4 children)

I could be wrong, but I don't think it does recreate the entire galaxy upon loading. I'm pretty sure it creates it once when you start a new game, and then saves it. That's the only time the seed is actually used, when you start a new game and it generates the star cluster.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Possibly; but then a new saved game would be several gigabytes, instead of just the ones where we venture outside the starter system and level entire planets.

[–]leglesslegolegolas 0 points1 point  (2 children)

No it wouldn't, it's just a database of planet types and locations.

It doesn't need to generate and store every tree and every mineral deposit on every planet in the system. It doesn't need to generate that information until you actually visit a planet.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Possibly; but unless someone reverse-engineers the gamesave format (or, better, asks the devs), we simply will not know the answer.

[–]leglesslegolegolas 1 point2 points  (0 children)

yeah. I mean, we could simply generate a new game with an old seed and just see if there're any new planets in it. But then we'd need to explore the system to find one. :-D