Factorio Forums

Posted: **Sun Nov 17, 2024 12:49 am**

For now we have :
distance :: double : Distance from the location's parent body in map coordinates.
orientation :: RealOrientation : Angle in relation to the parent body.

It would be interesting to add
parent :: string : Name of the parent SpaceLocation, optionnal, if not set it would work like in current version

What will it affect :
- Position of the SpaceLocation is now related to the indicated parent SpaceLocation using distance and orientation
- SpaceLocation Orbit is drawn around the parent SpaceLocation
- SpaceConnection arc is drawn around the nearest common ancestor, unless the only common ancestor is universe origin or one of the connected space location in this case it will go in straight line

What it will permit :
- adding another star system with his own set of planets with orbits correctly displaying around their suns
- adding moons to planets with orbits around planets instead of sun
- Ease creation of new SpaceLocation around others
- Rearanging the map by changing distance and orientation of one SpaceLocation would move their child body with them

What other modification is needed in the base game :
The Sun need to be a defined Space Location even if no path SpaceConnection goes to it.
It will "orbit" around the universe origin. it can even have distance=0 to be at the center of the universe
Planets need to have parent="sun"

Related requests :
- Allow to set a space location's parent
- Orbit Line Movement
- Space Connection Curving
- Render planet graphics from lua code

Other works :
- PlanetsLib
The community has been using Planetslib to implement this proposal. They need to fake the orbits by registering a sprite for it, this result in a lot of sprites only for orbits, the rest of the PlanetsLib api has the intent to implements this sugestion.

Example of actual mods that would directly benefit :
- real-starry-universe
- space-exploration
- factorissimo-2-notnotmelon
- intercontinental-rocketry

Posted: **Sun Nov 17, 2024 2:33 am**

Posted: **Mon Nov 18, 2024 6:01 am**

This is neat. Currently us modders basically need to keep a spreadsheet of all planets to avoid collisions with other mods in the starmap. This would be a welcome feature.

Posted: **Mon Nov 18, 2024 2:44 pm**

micromario wrote: Mon Nov 18, 2024 6:01 am This is neat. Currently us modders basically need to keep a spreadsheet of all planets to avoid collisions with other mods in the starmap. This would be a welcome feature.

This would not prevent them to colide, but it would be less likely

Something interesting is that someone could make a final-fixes mod to check if some planets collides and simulate them orbiting a bit (changing orientation) to make them not colliding, with current implementation this is impossible because moons would not be around their planets, but with the proposal, it would be possible.

Posted: **Mon Nov 18, 2024 3:28 pm**

+1

adding moons to planets and have the orbit draw properly would be really cool

Posted: **Mon Nov 18, 2024 3:37 pm**

I find the proposal quite intriguing. It has the potential to significantly enhance the game's space simulation experience.

Enhanced Space Simulation: Introducing the parent attribute would allow us to simulate a more accurate representation of the universe, including star systems, planets, and moons. This would add depth to the game's exploration and construction aspects.

Mod Compatibility: This change would directly benefit several existing mods, such as real-starry-universe and space-exploration, enabling them to provide a more realistic space environment.

Expansion of Gameplay: Not only would this addition increase the depth of the game, but it would also offer players more opportunities for creativity and exploration, such as rearranging the map by altering the distance and orientation of a SpaceLocation.

I support this proposal and am excited to see how it could be implemented in the game. I'm also curious about the developers' thoughts and plans regarding this change.

Posted: **Tue Nov 19, 2024 3:29 pm**

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=120727

Posted: **Sat Dec 07, 2024 3:29 pm**

I'd also like more control of the starmap, particularly it would be nice if it could be modified dynamically. I'm thinking of making a mod where certain events may re-arrange the starmap or block some locations

Posted: **Sat Sep 27, 2025 4:39 am**

After lots of time, I reiterate this proposal with some consideration:

The community has been using Planetslib to implement this proposal. They need to fake the orbits by registering a sprite for it, this result in a lot of sprites only for orbits.

Also as for now space connection are handler in a strange way by mods, and placing planets at sweet spots is needed to have perfect space connection
I propose that space connection use some special logic:

if a space connexion connect a space location and his parent, then it goes in straight line between the two
if the space connexion connect two space location with common ancestor, then it goes in an arc around the deepest common ancestor
- two planets around a star
- two moons around a planet
- a moon and another planet around a star
if the only common ancestor is the universe origin, then it goes in straight line between the two space location
- space gates connecting two stars
- two planets on two stars

This proposal on space connection force the devs to declare the sun as a SpaceLocation and to add it as parent to planets

Posted: **Tue Jun 23, 2026 9:42 pm**

Would really love if this would be part of 2.1

Posted: **Wed Jun 24, 2026 5:39 pm**

Add this as a related request.
viewtopic.php?t=134210

This would have been to allow planetslib to render moons instead of visible planets in space, as that mod is basically deprecated.

Posted: **Wed Jun 24, 2026 10:16 pm**

front wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2026 5:39 pm Add this as a related request.
viewtopic.php?t=134210

This would have been to allow planetslib to render moons instead of visible planets in space, as that mod is basically deprecated.

I added it to the main post as a related request, and sure being able to see moons from planets or see planets from moons would be interesting
but i think it would be a hard part since we would need to reference each body we want to show and where for each Space Location.

We can take the Nauvis, Lignumis & Muluna example: Lignumis & Muluna are moons of Nauvis
So when orbiting Nauvis, we should see Nauvis and Lignumis & Muluna orbiting around
But when orbiting Muluna, does Nauvis show in the background as distant planet, what about Lignumis ?
The logic is the same for Lignumis.
How does mods would manage this ?

Posted: **Thu Jun 25, 2026 3:58 pm**

y.petremann wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2026 10:16 pm
front wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2026 5:39 pm Add this as a related request.
viewtopic.php?t=134210

This would have been to allow planetslib to render moons instead of visible planets in space, as that mod is basically deprecated.
I added it to the main post as a related request, and sure being able to see moons from planets or see planets from moons would be interesting
but i think it would be a hard part since we would need to reference each body we want to show and where for each Space Location.

We can take the Nauvis, Lignumis & Muluna example: Lignumis & Muluna are moons of Nauvis
So when orbiting Nauvis, we should see Nauvis and Lignumis & Muluna orbiting around
But when orbiting Muluna, does Nauvis show in the background as distant planet, what about Lignumis ?
The logic is the same for Lignumis.
How does mods would manage this ?

Currently, visible planets in space just reads that data from planetslib, and "just knows" how everything is set up. Your proposal moves that exact same data into the base game, so we can read it from there. If the base game does the moon renders, then no other action is needed. it is just there.

I don't consider the orbit graphics a problem for now (I'll fully support having the game do it natively), the tooling/math we have for it is solid until you reach a radius of 1000 on the map (that is where it starts breaking down, 2000 is the absolute limit). The distance between the sun and the shattered planet is 80, so we have plenty of room to work with.
The existing tooling is already working under 2.1, Panglia will most likely be the first moon using it.

Take that suggestion as the bare minimum we need to make it work the way it should.

If we don't get moons because it is not needed for the base game (a perfectly valid argument from wube that they usually use), but we can place the planet renders on the map then we can do it from there. IF we don't, we can still use the space map sprites for distant objects like we do now but I don't want to do that unless that is the only option we have.
IF we get all of that, perfect. If we don't, this is the minimum and we want this anyway for other stuff.

When I say "we" I'm one of the devs for planetslib.

Posted: **Thu Jun 25, 2026 8:59 pm**

front wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2026 3:58 pm
y.petremann wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2026 10:16 pm
front wrote: Wed Jun 24, 2026 5:39 pm Add this as a related request.
viewtopic.php?t=134210

This would have been to allow planetslib to render moons instead of visible planets in space, as that mod is basically deprecated.
I added it to the main post as a related request, and sure being able to see moons from planets or see planets from moons would be interesting
but i think it would be a hard part since we would need to reference each body we want to show and where for each Space Location.

We can take the Nauvis, Lignumis & Muluna example: Lignumis & Muluna are moons of Nauvis
So when orbiting Nauvis, we should see Nauvis and Lignumis & Muluna orbiting around
But when orbiting Muluna, does Nauvis show in the background as distant planet, what about Lignumis ?
The logic is the same for Lignumis.
How does mods would manage this ?
Currently, visible planets in space just reads that data from planetslib, and "just knows" how everything is set up. Your proposal moves that exact same data into the base game, so we can read it from there. If the base game does the moon renders, then no other action is needed. it is just there.

I don't consider the orbit graphics a problem for now (I'll fully support having the game do it natively), the tooling/math we have for it is solid until you reach a radius of 1000 on the map (that is where it starts breaking down, 2000 is the absolute limit). The distance between the sun and the shattered planet is 80, so we have plenty of room to work with.
The existing tooling is already working under 2.1, Panglia will most likely be the first moon using it.

Take that suggestion as the bare minimum we need to make it work the way it should. :) If we don't get moons because it is not needed for the base game (a perfectly valid argument from wube that they usually use), but we can place the planet renders on the map then we can do it from there. IF we don't, we can still use the space map sprites for distant objects like we do now but I don't want to do that unless that is the only option we have.
IF we get all of that, perfect. If we don't, this is the minimum and we want this anyway for other stuff.

When I say "we" I'm one of the devs for planetslib.

For me the main problem are orbits and space connections:
- unfortunatly space connection curve selection is actually unsolvable with planetslib currently, if we could at least have a way to define our own curve
- for orbit I proposed that planetslib would get shipped with a set of pre generated orbits and planets could tell "hey you know my radius, use the best pregen orbit and scale it down/up":

- we could register new or replacement orbits with a function like auto_orbit.attach_pregen(25,"__mod__/graphics/orbit-25.png")
- this would permit that changing orbit radius even in final-fixes would automaticaly select the best orbit from the pool of auto orbits
- multiple planets/moons could use the same orbit sprite implicitly
- an unused orbit would not necessarly be loaded
- modders would not need to generate their own orbit sprites (but they still could if they want)

Posted: **Fri Jul 10, 2026 9:46 pm**

y.petremann wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2026 8:59 pm For me the main problem are orbits and space connections:
- unfortunatly space connection curve selection is actually unsolvable with planetslib currently, if we could at least have a way to define our own curve
- for orbit I proposed that planetslib would get shipped with a set of pre generated orbits and planets could tell "hey you know my radius, use the best pregen orbit and scale it down/up":

- we could register new or replacement orbits with a function like auto_orbit.attach_pregen(25,"__mod__/graphics/orbit-25.png")
- this would permit that changing orbit radius even in final-fixes would automaticaly select the best orbit from the pool of auto orbits
- multiple planets/moons could use the same orbit sprite implicitly
- an unused orbit would not necessarly be loaded
- modders would not need to generate their own orbit sprites (but they still could if they want)

Remember that you can't generate the orbit at runtime. My last PR to planetslib includes a number of pre-generated orbits from existing moons, together with their settings. That should be enough to get anyone started.

This is not every orbit, but in practice it should be enough. IF we need more, then I expect Kryzeth (redrawn space compatibility) to jump in and make it sane like he usually does.
Every unused orbit also increases the file size of planetslib, and we won't make it require a separate asset mod just for this. This is my chosen middleground.

The actual helper function is:

Code: Select all

PlanetsLib.get_orbit_sprite(radius)

It returns the sprite for your orbit. Throws an error if that radius is not available, then tells you what orbits are included.

This is not released yet, will be in the next version.

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