Hi all, this is not a question of gameplay but of the inner workings of the game. I’m studying computer science and curious about this kind of a thing, so hoping someone in this very friendly and helpful community can explain this to me!

So, there are a gazillion planets in the NMS universe. Ok. Are those planets actually in existence, right now, sitting in a server somewhere, waiting to be discovered? Even the ones no one has visited yet, and maybe never will? That seems like a huge waste of server space.

If I discover and upload a planet, that planet will obviously get saved on a server and be available for others to visit, but at what point is the planet generated, terrain and locations and all? Is the universe ready, or do new planets / systems / planet details generate the moment any player first sees them? If I don’t upload a planet, will the same system exist for other players and look the same?

This doesn’t really matter from the POV of the player. I just find myself wondering.