Mlog: Extension

Dynamic faction expansion — factions autonomously build new trade stations, wharves, and shipyards over the course of a save. Introduced Phase 1 (mlog036) as a fork-original subsystem replacing DA’s static-map assumption.

Every ~30 min the observer walks each eligible faction, checks if they qualify for a new trade center / wharf / shipyard, verifies the MinDist* cluster distance rule, and queues one build if all checks pass. Concurrency is limited per faction (1 trade center + 1 wharf + 1 shipyard simultaneously).

In-game view

Layout (5 sections stacked):

• Options header — 2 fields: master + logging.
• Trade stations — 2 fields: Allow toggle + Min clusters slider.
• Faction wharves and shipyards — 2 fields.
• Xenon wharves and shipyards — 2 fields.
• Active trade-center builds table (serial per faction).
• Active faction wharf/shipyard builds table (with running tally in header WH=N SY=N).
• Active xenon wharf/shipyard builds table (with tally N/4).

Options

Master + logging

Setting	Default	Effect
Enable Extension functionality	Disabled (default from source; user’s save has ON)	Master toggle. When off, no expansion planning happens at all. md.$mlog_da_extension_state.$Enable in source.
Detailed logging	Enabled (mlog060 default flipped ON)	Emit [EXT/*] debug lines to script.log. Turn off if the log spam is a problem. md.$mlog_da_extension_state.$EnableLog.

Trade stations section

Setting	Default	Effect
Allow factions to build trade stations	Disabled (source) / Enabled (observed)	Allow expansion of trade stations. Peaceful lawful factions primarily benefit.
Min clusters between trade stations	2	Minimum cluster-hop distance from the faction’s existing trade station before a new one is allowed. 2 = at least 2 clusters away. 0 = same cluster OK.

Faction wharves and shipyards section

Setting	Default	Effect
Allow factions to build wharves/shipyards	Disabled / Enabled	Allow expansion of wharves and shipyards.
Min clusters between wharves/shipyards	5 (mlog058 revert — reason: previously reduced to 2, but real bug was decision logic picking shipyard instead of wharf when Terran SY was blocked; not a distance issue)	Higher than trade station distance because wharves/shipyards are heavier assets.

Xenon wharves and shipyards section

Setting	Default	Effect
Allow xenon to build additional wharves/shipyards	Disabled / Enabled	Xenon expansion opt-in. Off = no new Xenon wharves/shipyards ever.
Min clusters between xenon wharves/shipyards	2	Lower than lawful factions — Xenon are aggressive expanders by design.

Active builds tables

Three parallel tables show what’s currently being built. All three have a “Clear all active builds” red action button at the bottom that flushes the corresponding tracking table (useful if a build gets stuck).

Active trade-center builds (serial per faction)

Column	Meaning
Faction	Which faction is building.
Sector	Where the trade center is being placed.
Age	How long ago the build was queued (in minutes).

Serial per faction: each faction can have at most 1 trade-center build in progress at a time ($BuildingTradeStations is keyed by faction — one entry blocks the next observe tick from queueing another).

Observed sample-save state:

• Antigone Republic → Second Contact XI (95 min old)
• Zyarth Patriarchy → Tharka’s Ravine XXIV (135 min old)

Read: these have been building for 1.5-2.5 hours in-game. Vanilla station construction takes 30-120 min depending on hull-parts logistics; if a build is >200 min old and not finishing, something is stalled (usually the ware supply chain hasn’t delivered enough Hull Parts).

Active faction wharf/shipyard builds (WH=N SY=N tally)

Column	Meaning
Faction	Which faction is building.
Sector	Placement sector.
Type	wharf or shipyard.
Age	Minutes since queued.

Header tally shows the totals: e.g. Faction (WH=3 SY=3) means 3 wharves + 3 shipyards currently being built across all factions.

Per-faction concurrency: since mlog056, wharfs and shipyards live in separate tables ($BuildingFacWharfs + $BuildingFacShipyards), so each faction can have 1 wharf AND 1 shipyard simultaneously without one blocking the other.

Observed sample-save state:

• Holy Order of the Pontifex → Holy Vision → wharf (74 min)
• Teladi Company → CEO’s Doubt → wharf (64 min)
• Zyarth Patriarchy → Tharka’s Ravine XXIV → wharf (44 min)
• Teladi Company → CEO’s Doubt → shipyard (152 min)
• Zyarth Patriarchy → Tharka’s Ravine XXIV → shipyard (42 min)
• Provinces Adrift → Barren Shores → shipyard (378 min — 6+ hours! this one is probably stalled)

Read the 378 min row: Provinces Adrift’s shipyard in Barren Shores has been building for over 6 hours. Vanilla shipyards should finish in ~180 min max — this one either has no Hull Parts / Refined Metals in the region, or the build cue got stuck. Use “Clear all active wh/sy builds” to reset if a manual sanity check confirms the build has failed.

Active xenon wharf/shipyard builds (N/4 tally)

Column	Meaning
Faction	Always Xenon.
Sector	Placement sector.
Type	wharf or shipyard.
Age	Minutes since queued.

Header tally shows current count / max slots: e.g. Faction (4/4) means all 4 Xenon concurrent slots are full.

Xenon concurrency: mlog049 stored $BuildingXenWhSy as a LIST (not keyed table), and Xenon can have up to 4 parallel wh/sy builds regardless of specific sector. Xenon’s expansion rate is deliberately faster than lawful factions.

Observed sample-save state:

• Xenon → Black Hole Sun IV → shipyard (158 min)
• Xenon → Trinity Sanctum VII → wharf (43 min)
• Xenon → Morning Star IV → wharf (33 min)
• Xenon → Mitsuno’s Defiance → shipyard (28 min)

Read: Xenon are building 2 new shipyards + 2 new wharves simultaneously. Black Hole Sun IV is the classic Xenon-front sector — makes sense they’d reinforce there.

Clear-all buttons — when to press

• Only when a build is genuinely stuck — verify by checking the game map: does the station macro exist at the sector but with 0 modules built and no wares en route? Then the build cue died.
• Pressing Clear removes the tracking entry, which lets the next observe tick queue a new build for that faction (or Xenon slot). It does NOT undo any partial construction that already happened.
• Do NOT press Clear on healthy fast-progressing builds — you’ll just re-queue them and waste faction credits/wares.

Related mechanics

• 6h TTL on Extension Built lists — the mlog087 change that gives Built list entries a 6-hour expiry, so a cluster where a build failed doesn’t get permanently blacklisted. Reference the mechanics page for architectural details.
• Persistent tracking (mlog060+): $BuiltTradeCenters / $BuiltFacWharfs / $BuiltFacShipyards are tables keyed by faction, each a list of cluster refs where we’ve built. Used INSTEAD of vanilla isplannedwharf/isplannedshipyard (which is unreliable for the generic-factory-base macros DA uses).

Preset scope

All 8 top-level options are in Configuration Presets scope. The live-builds tables and Clear buttons are NOT — those are runtime state.

Turn off if

• You want a fixed-map, static-economy experience where factions never expand beyond gamestart assets. Set all three Allow* toggles to Disabled.
• Debug spam is too noisy — set Detailed logging to Disabled (still keeps the subsystem running, just quieter).

Notes on defaults

Every settings default in source is false — the subsystem ships OFF by default. The observed sample-save has everything enabled because the user turned them on. This is by design: Extension is disruptive to a save’s economy, so the mod won’t touch it unless you opt in.

Exception: EnableLog defaults to true (mlog060) — verbose logging IS on by default so if something goes wrong you have diagnostic data to send back. Turn it off once the subsystem is stable in your save.