A Visualization of Galactic Settlement
I’m not a fan of galactic settlement simulations mostly because I think they simulate the wrong thing which is rate of diffusion. This treats the civilization as a static thing that simply spreads out at the edges. Compared to the history of human civilizations this is clearly unrealistic. The question to answer is what happens within the already colonized systems over time. How often would breakaway civilizations appear, wars, extinction events, mind upload cults, Luddite revolutions, stagnation, etc. Filters abound. The great civilizations of Earth’s past have succumbed to similar fates and we’ve only progressed by starting over again and again.