Hey there. I'm an experienced Minecraft modder and have been interested in dipping my toes into Starsector modding.

I've been looking for an overview to help understand how some of the game's systems are put together. Aside from the sparsely-notated Javadocs, and looking through the source of a few of the megamods, it doesn't seem like there's much to go on.

There are a lot of resources on adding new ships, factions, etc. But if I would like to hook into the intel system and create new events or missions, for example, are there resources that explain how those systems work?

A few questions for other modders:

How do factions decide to spawn fleets? How do "fleet goals" work? Are the quantity and quality of Faction fleets tied to the sim in some way?

How is new intel generated? What are the differences between "Bar Intel", "Comms Relay Intel", and "Event Intel" (e.g. pirate raid, expeditions, "X will happen in Y days")

To what extent are objects generated at campaign start? Do exploration objects like domain probes, derelicts, etc, all get generated at campaign start? Are these simulated in the background, and can I generate new things as intel is received?

What are the limitations of the modding API?