Max Density Unlock

Raises the Dark Fog Max Density limit on the new-game combat settings screen. Vanilla stops at 3x; this mod goes to 8x by default, in 0.5x steps.

What higher density does

• More Dark Fog hives per star system (up to the engine limit of 8 per star).
• More relay stations sent to planets.
• Higher difficulty rating, which also raises Metadata gain.

Above about 8x every star is already at 8 hives, so extra density only adds relays and difficulty.

Configuration

BepInEx/config/MaxDensityUnlock.cfg

• MaxDensityLimit (default 8, range 1–100): highest value on the slider.
• DensityStep (default 0.5, range 0.05–10): density added per slider notch.
• FillStartingSystem (default true): the starting star system begins with as many hives as Max Density allows (8x → 8 hives). Set false for vanilla (about 60% × Initial Occupied of that). Initial Occupied at its minimum still means no starting hives.

Changelog

• 1.1.0: starting system begins fully occupied to match Max Density (FillStartingSystem), including with Galactic Scale 2.
• 1.0.0: first release.

Notes

• Only affects new games. The chosen density is stored in the save, and a save made with the mod still loads without it.
• The mod also caps each star at 8 hives. Without that cap, densities above ~4x crash galaxy generation.
• Multiplayer (Nebula): every player needs the mod, or galaxy generation won't match.
• Galactic Scale 2: supported. GS2 uses its own hive formulas (limit ≈ density × 4/3, max 8), and FillStartingSystem also applies to GS2 galaxies.