STARSIM : BEYOND SPACE – TECHNICAL / MECHANICAL FAQ

What is STARSIM : BEYOND SPACE actually simulating?

Persistent state and activity across ships, stations, factions, jobs, logistics, production, consumption, passengers, mail, parcels, security, raids, combat losses, ship replacement and economic conditions across the network.

What does persistent mean internally?

Loaded activity can run physically in near real time. Unloaded activity advances as simulation state using elapsed deltaTime. A ship can retain its assignment, cargo and state without remaining physically enabled in an unloaded orbit.

How do ships transition between simulated and physical states?

STARSIM uses an AI Package to Task Bridge. PackageNotifyScript manages the handshake between simulated state and enabled Creation Engine AI Package behavior. Tasks help synchronize state as objects become active or inactive.

How is AI work organized?

Archetype -> Job -> Command -> Task. Archetype defines allowed high-level behavior. Jobs are faction-assigned work packages. Commands break jobs into mid-level instructions. Tasks execute low-level behavior and state transitions.

Who assigns a ship a job?

Ships seeking work register with their owning faction. The faction evaluates Archetype, station needs, Product Requests, patrol needs, logistics demand, replacement requests and other priorities, then assigns an appropriate Job.

What data structures support the simulation?

Native Collections, including Lists, Queues and Stacks, are used where normal Papyrus arrays are too restrictive. Queues are particularly important for logistics and shipbuilding workflows.

How does object reuse work?

A Pool System reuses Creation Engine objects instead of constantly creating new ones. The Spawning System activates or creates physical representations when needed, while the Template System stamps simulation metadata onto records.

Why does the Gate Network exist technically?

The simulation needs a reliable, bounded road network. Gates make the orbital network a graph with predictable connections. That lets freight, patrols, security, pirates and faction fleets route through known corridors and bottlenecks. Cruise or Turbo handles movement inside an orbit; Gates connect simulation orbits.

How are Gate routes calculated?

The network is represented as a graph and uses Dijkstra pathfinding to calculate routes between connected orbit nodes.

Why are dense systems more heavily gated?

More network orbits distribute station density and economic traffic, create intentional bottlenecks, improve predictable AI routing, provide piracy interception points and patrol routes, and create locations where large battles can emerge. Frontier networks are generally simpler.

How does Plot Course work?

The player selects a destination orbit on the Mapping System. While the course is calculating, user feedback is displayed. Once complete, a glowing orange route is drawn from the current orbit to the destination and the next Gate receives an in-space quest-style target.

What changed in v1.0.9 navigation?

Scan was replaced by Plot Course; a one-time permanent map choice was added; Gate names now include directions; inter-system connections use System Gate labels; orbit labels distinguish same-system Gate Network from Network Inter-System; the opening tutorial now guides every Gate from Kreet to Jemison or Beta Ternion to Jemison in NG+; tutorials were expanded and color coded.

How does station production generate freight?

Production and consumption create inventory requirements. When a station runs low on a required Product, it creates a Product Request. The owning faction tries to satisfy it internally. If it cannot, the request enters shared Logistics, where a suitable organization and ship can receive the job and physically move the goods.

What is reserved inventory?

When a ship is assigned to collect a quantity of Product, that amount is reserved so another AI job cannot claim the same stock. The reservation remains until pickup completes or the assigned ship is destroyed.

What happens if a freight ship is destroyed or captured?

That shipment is interrupted. The cargo is not treated as if it arrived. Depending on player action, surviving cargo can be taken, the ship can be captured, or the loss can contribute to downstream shortages and replacement demand.

How do corporate stock values work?

Corporate stock values respond primarily to production performance. Successful transactions can strengthen the value; stalled production cycles can weaken it. Do not describe this as a direct player stock-trading interface.

Why is there faction banking?

Starfield credit values cap at a little over two billion. Faction banking distributes simulated wealth so faction finances are not constrained by one capped credit variable.

How do passengers, mail and parcels work?

Passengers accumulate at hubs and taxi corporations transport them between hubs or stations. Mail and parcels use the same broader traffic framework.

How does security scanning work?

A security ship selects a target, flies toward it, approaches within roughly 2 km, scans it, then moves to another target. NPC traffic is scanned too. Docked ships are excluded.

How do pirate raids work?

Pirate FactionExt logic runs on a timer, verifies that another raid is not already active, selects a Settled Systems orbit, selects raid size and pulls required ships from reserve.

How do Starborn raids work?

Separate Starborn FactionExt logic operates on a longer timer. After the main story has introduced Starborn, hostile Starborn can enter an orbit and attack broadly. Replacements can spawn up to the configured maximum as they are destroyed.

How does ship replacement work?

Destroyed faction ships create replacement requests in a shared queue. Building replacements consumes economy resources, connecting battle losses directly to production and freight demand.

How are docking and carriers handled?

Stations use Docking Flowers, with a player spot guaranteed, plus internal hangars and Capital Dockers where appropriate. Carrier hangars assign ships internally; fighters can jump out for combat and return afterward, avoiding the need to keep every carried fighter physically loaded.

Why did combat need rebalancing?

Persistent simulation places fighters, freighters, corvettes, bombers, carriers and capital ships into the same battles. STARSIM therefore gives A, B, C and Capital roles stronger differences in speed, maneuverability, durability, weapons and tactical use.

How are asteroids used?

Asteroids use defined templates, health values appropriate to the combat rebalance and loot/resource tables. They can also provide physical cover during combat.

How does Unity integration work?

When the Armillary is rebuilt, the Unity Gate becomes available through the STARSIM network. The Unity orbit remains outside normal star-map presentation even after activation.

How does Shattered Space integrate?

Va’ruun’kai hooks into the Gate Network after The Oracle jumps, allowing Shattered Space progression to coexist with the network.

How does STARSIM respond to heavy game or Papyrus load?

The simulation dynamically reduces its own workload. It can increase update intervals, reduce processing frequency, slow selected systems or temporarily suspend them, then resume normal behavior as capacity returns.

What reference-handle behavior has testing shown?

Long-duration testing has generally held around 97,000 reference handles, typically within roughly plus or minus 1,000. This is a testing observation, not a universal guarantee for every load order.

What performance claims are safe?

QOG and Bethesda tested extensively under load, including long playthroughs, FPS, saves and reference-handle consistency. Testing stayed at or near 30 FPS across supported platforms. 

What are the install requirements?

Place STARSIM : BEYOND SPACE near the bottom of the load order and start a new game or NG+. Due to an engine initialization issue, adding it to an existing save does not initialize correctly. Initial background setup can take up to about two hours.

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