the buyout is a know bug i think, it will be fixed probably for next update but i may able to fix a mod for that though, i'll take a look

PS : so i taook a look and i can remove the automated absorbtion while leaving the buyout option, however for now the buyout is still a fixed value as i couldn't find a way to set the interpreter's contect for this formula ( will ask some dev how to do it <.< )

Influence is definitely going to need some adjustment. I'm not entirely sure how it functions but it seems to run purely off of Influence gain which is a problem because the Empire generates enough of that stuff to feed it's entire empire. I feel like their needs to be a sort of cap to how much influence can grown per system, forcing you to atleast have control of systems nearby an empire to actually start encroaching on it.

P.S. That is the perfect image.

tl;dr: yeah I'm a nerd.

We all had the same idea, with UE, abuse  and see what happens.

Hmmm.

I've got 3 planets at turn 50 (I know). Using a 45° ruler on my screen +/-2cm:

Planet - Radius (cm) - System  output - area (cm², gross estimation)

Planet K - 10cm - 22 - 314

Planet P - 19cm - 72 - 1133

Planet M (capital) - 32cm - 161 - 3215

I though the problem was inf output related to inf radius instead of inf area but no.

It seems area covered by circles is related to something else OR that capitals have a huge, very huge boost (product in cross are no equal for the capital).

If it's area, it's fine.

161 output in planet M is broke into 73 from planet, 12 from system improvement, 47.3 from hero skill, +28.8 from happy

Products in cross says inf output in capital should be somewhere near 500 instead of 161 (under the heavy hypothesis that inf output is what rules influence area).
In that case : wow, that one boost for sure :)

or maybe have all the other systems that arn't yours that are inside your influence sphere slow down it's developpement (meaning that your influence will have to be greater than the combined influence of every zone it's eating through to continue to grow)

PS : you need to factor in the moment they started having an influence zone, but i think asking a dev for the formula would be easier and better ^^

What is the formula used for influence circles ?

How much a capital gets as a bonus for influence area ? +200% ?

Is it possible to mod this ? Say +50% or +100% only ? +61.8% :p ?

Setting this could be a game option by the way :)

THOSE LOOKING FOR A FIX : DROP THE FILE IN Endless Space 2\Public\Simulation (overwrite when asked). It's a handmade mod there might be issues with it (there shouldn't be any actually, but we never know). Don't forget to make a backup of original file (or you can just verify integrity of cache to restore the official version)

Mod Border Growth Nerf.rar

More seriously, while playing a normal game as UE (by that i mean no cheat or bug abuse) i simply noticed than in 100 turns 70% on the galaxy was in the influence zone of my capital

It makes influence too strong as there is no way to counter it (except having more and going to war i guess)

I belive the time it would take to assimilate a colony should increase depending on the number of improvements and population (and maybe approval) (it would take les time to convince 2 setlers in a shelter they are now part of your empire than a great city of milion of inhabitants that provides everything they need)

I don't know the formula used but a more logarithmic one would be better (based on the surface to add and not to the radius of the circle for instance)

!!!!! UPDATE : I tweaked the files a bit to tone down the border growth (basically used the volume formula instead of area)

Here are some Before after shots : 

Note that on the 2nd screenshot i used the old value calculation and used it for the vision range so we can clearly see the difference.

Path is : Endless Space 2\Public\Simulation

SimulationDescriptors[ColonizedStarSystem].xml

PPS : fixed a bug that resulted in systems behaving like they were in rebelion even though they were content O__o

A system's Empire points generation is the same dimension as a length, not a area, in formula used.

(lines 262 - 271 in [Your drive letter]:\SteamLibrary\SteamApps\common\Endless Space 2\Public\Simulation\SimulationDescriptors[ColonizedStarSystem].xml )

If a system is generating 100, then the radius growth is (((what it was + 100)/pi)^0.5)*0.75.

This formula seems to be totally wrong in my point of vue, or maybe I can't read those xml (total noob there).

If you add a radius to a sum of , then  is supposed to be a length (dimension L), not an area (dimension L²).

(yeah, I was a physicist in a previous life)

I'd try (what it was + ((100 ^ 0.5)/pi) * not 0.75 but a balance factor that would be tied to the go-go-go-golden ratio again :D (be it 161% or 61%).

I'm lazy to try to mod the file and start a new game. Also, this could destroy my current games since the "what it was" part must be serializable and may be saved in savegames.

Warning, my studies are 15 years from now so my maths have to be double checked.

I would try formulas tied to volume to, because space is supposed to be volumes (volume of a sphere = 4/3*pi*r^3). Not sure at all if this is probant.

The thing is the current formula is "working" somehow with the basic systems, and balanced for the game, so, meh. I don't understand the xml maybe.

Formula aside, what I'm suspecting to be the culprit bug is for Homesystems only. I think that the $(SystemInfluenceStock) of Homesystems only is the whole Empire point generation. So, the sum of all planet's empire point generation. The colony systems seems to be fine. (but I don't understand the xml formula)

I have been searching for confirmation there but I don't really know where to find this.

Can you confirm this, WeaponizedCafeine ?