I've been playing with the map generator

Talk about the ability to manufacture a solar system !

I've been playing a 3 limb solar system with 4 players, so each starts with about 25 variations of planets before you hit an outright enemy. And each has a block point, as long as you reach it before an enemy does, and fortify it, your fine.
But I accidently just made a very interesting system, with about 12 Terrans in a short ring in the center, and a motley lot of alsorans straggling out in 4 arms with 3 points of access to the inner ring. Each race starts outside and the first one to make it into the middle and block the others, gets access to all the terrrans.

But I'm also intrigued with having 100 planets in a single wide orbit. Blocking defense on the planet you start with, then choose a direction and keep going until you arrive home again !

Periodically, you stop to build more fleet, and as your fleet size grows, you make your blocking fleet more powerful as well. So on one end of the ring, you wait for the nearest enemy to finally find your home planet and defend it, while on the other, your into pure conquest. Eventually of course, you will push the final enemy towards your home planet as you advance.
I wish the map editor had some decent instructions though. Whats green and whats red on each slider mean ?
My first game I played a pre-made one, and the second one was me made. Yet the jump times in the second one were incredably slower, and I'm not sure why. As usual in a game, the manual was written by a writer, and NOT a PLAYER !!!
I've even come to terms with all the pirates on each planet. You just have to make sure you can defend yourself before you venture out.