From what I can tell it simply uses the groups, with my (quite limited) testing I've only changed the Random/WeightedRandom groups, so I couldn't say for sure whether it draws upon an actual galaxy map. However... There is an interesting map in the Galaxy folder called FrontEnd, which is not in galaxy.manifest and thus is not a selectable map. The tip I got from here mentions "frontend" for the backdrop creation... I'm going to test this out, be back in a few.

Edit: Confirmed! The map called FrontEnd is the map that is called upon when generating the backdrop. An example using a blue sun and Ecumonopolis planets, created solely by editing FrontEnd.

I gotta ask, how exactly do you plan to get a custom battle working? As maps only let you place planets and not planet objects... Though I'd be happy to help with this as I'd love to see custom battles in as well.

Oh you have not messed with the galaxy forge/map files much have you? You can place almost anything on a map except starbases, and even that you can do if you are clever enough with your modding (though sadly you can't define their position). The hard part is actually to make sure the opposing fleets don't destroy each other, but I have several ideas of how to deal with that too. I'll be making a proof of concept mod in about two days (I'll be on the road all day tomorrow), but I assure its possible.

That actually won't work because ships that are invulnerable won't fire on each other. A better way is to either make an impossibly high repair or armor buff make the ships near indestructible, but still able to fire on each other. An even better way would be for the fleets to respawn themselves, and I've got an method to do that too via a fleet beacon.

Okay I've tried making a quick map to test it (with time I don't have  )but I'm getting minidumps. I'm guessing its because I'm not using a random map (is that what you did Lavo?) like FrontEnd was, but it would be nice if someone could confirm if that was the issue. Just make an empty map with no players in GalaxyForge and run it with the dev.exe. The error I got was i < size, so if you get that with no bells and whistles like mine had it must need to be a random map.

I can still make it work with a Random map, but its a bit more work and it won't be a checksum free solution (which is unfortunate because it would be nice to watch a fleet battle while waiting for a online match).

Well I have finally found time to seriously implement main menu battles, but I'm afraid like shielded fighters we have got so close yet remain so far. I was successfully able to spawn two spawn two opposing fleets by modding FrontEnd to spawn a new planet called Plasmastorm Battle, which is just the default Plasma storm but with a different default template. In that I created two groups, each with a fleet, with one given to "RandomMilitia" and the other to "Pirate".

While both fleets spawned, fired at each other and even destroyed on another, there was one problem that made the whole thing useless. All the ships refused to move. They would fire at ships that happened to spawn in their firing arch, but they wouldn't move to attack targets or even just reposition themselves to to fire an enemy sitting 90 degrees from them.

So another mod idea bytes the dust thanks to another Puzzling Sins hardcode. I suppose my efforts could still be used to set up duels between two large entities like starbases or Super Star Destroyers, provided they both have enough range to fire across the gravity well. But mostly its a dead end unless anyone else has any ideas of something I've overlooked.

Have you played the escape from terra map? It opens with everyone's colonizer in the same gravity well trying to escape from an overrun earth. I haven't looked at the code for the map, but it might be worth looking at.

The stray bright ones are weird.  Was each panel made from a uniform color box in your editor without any effects added or was each panel created separately (the individual green boxes I mean)?

I'm not much of a model texturer but I do graphics for a living (oh, the irony).

When the graphics programs convert/save/compress file types, they all have artifacts and formats.  It may be the color squares you see aren't saving uniformly--meaning they have distortion--or are a graphic type that renders as un-uniform/distorted when seen in  alpha.  Basically, you are then seeing the inconsistencies in one prgram view that another might not have.

The other thing from the "on-off" boxes may be that the alpha layer isn't being applied to the entire portion of the image you  want specified.  I haven't looked yet but if you have to tell it where to look on the sheet, the alpha layer may not be in the right place or is a shape that doesn't cover where you think it does.

Is it Gimp or something else?  I bet Thoumsin may be able to explain it.

On a side note, I read your post about the Terra map and gave it a peek and I have a little more elaborate map pretty similar to it I did way back (It was my alternative to modding--using unique maps).

  It's a 1v8 map--"Vasari vs. All Others".  it has a lot of tricks and twists in it and I'll tune it up and post it today sometime.  I think it's fun and the Vasari has to raid commerce (and not lose his ships in the process) in order to gain some start income.

No they continued firing, I even saw a handful of ships blow up eventually. They just refused to move from whatever position they spawned in.

I don't really see how that will help with setting up battles in the main menu map, but doesn't every player need to start with a home planet under their control?

Yeah, thats how I figured it was done, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

Basic question...abilities can be set to have a percent chance of success, correct?

Thanks Zombie, "On the Buff" is fine.

I just wanted an effect that the longer you stayed near it, the greater the chance it could affect you.  So  my plan is to have the event trigger and then when it expires have it re-trigger until the target is out of range.

I'd like it to be keyed to a star's gravity well so that when you loiter near a star there's a chance ventually the gravity will pull you in or solar flares will zap you.

I would probably say no. The work around is just to convert the bombing into an ability take does the same thing but has a research requirement.