Happened for me, 4 hours late.
Jane Turner
Volunteer Moderator
its stayed late today - if its also late tomorrow I think we can say its shifted. Sometimes after a delay its been but back to 17:30 server time on the next working day
Normally the first thing that shows up for me is state changes inside system maps, then later influence changes in system maps, then finally state changes in the galmap.
I (personally) count the tick as starting when I see a state change anywhere, then count it as complete for a particular system when the influence levels update.
As Ian says, the only way to be sure the tick has occurred is to check the numbers in a specific system then take some sort of action that will change the influence levels. When the System Map figures show something different to your record the tick has occurred.
Sadly (and it would be incongruous), there is no flag or message that tells you the tick has taken place.
You get used to logging in to check the figures at a more or less standard time so you can plan your day's activities, only to find your plans are somewhat low in the order of priorities (sometimes for a good reason, sometimes - seemingly - not).
BGS = Background Simulation.
The "tick" is when time when influence and state changes update roughly every 24 hours at the same time each day. The activity for that period is aggregated and applied as a change in influence for minor factions.
The update cycle (i.e. approx every 24 hours) worked correctly and consistently before 1.4, except for patch days. Since 1.4 in October last year the update cycle has been notoriously unstable and inconsistent on a weekly and often bi-weekly basis. There are dozens of player groups who are trying to support their minor factions but it's becoming impossible due to influence movements not occuring and player actions for the cycle being erased as a result.
Some of us plan activities based on these influence and state changes, e.g. fighting in a war, trading at a specific station, bounty hunting in a target system, supporting different factions through missions, or locations to sell exploration data for explorers returing home after a long journey. The locations and types of activities will change depending on the current influence levels and states in the system. Short, medium and long term plans are made for minor factions which constantly evolve and change as a result of our activities.
This all relies on regular and consistent influence changes which don't happen! Sorry for the longish post, I got carried away a bitThe BGS is one of the main reasons I've played elite since it launched in December 2014.
I agree with what youre saying. You have to have consistent ticks. I kind of understand why we need to pray to RNGsus to get just about everything in this game but if we are doing it for ticks then every person that spends their days doing BGS will be lost every time it changes. I would like to note it seems to be changing more often as of late too. The last 48 hours have had ticks at 5 p.m. est and My whole faction of people are wondering how this can be ok. 72 hours ago it was at 2 and then 96 hours ago it was 1. Its just all a little out of hand now.
Given how the tick seems to work, sometimes updating the same system multiple times, that may not be practical, or as useful as you think.
However I'd hope that FDev know/can tell when the whole BGS tick starts and has 100% completed. I'd propose a nice simple API endpoint/web page that shows two timestamps: 1) The last time a BGS tick started, 2) the last time a BGS tick completed. If #1 is later than #2 then you know a new tick is in progress and any data may still be in flux. If #2 > #1 then the tick should now be complete.
As far as I'm concerned not having ticks hit consistently would be like going to a 24 hour store not only to find out its not 24 hours but the owner also picks different, random, hours of different, random, days that they will be open. Not cool, FDev. Its not like I'm going to stop playing the game though but it needs a fix for sure and I really like the idea of having a tick counter somewhere. Again, that would mean the ticks still need to be consistent.
Jane Turner
Volunteer Moderator
we had a state tick but no influence
Same here. There seems to have been partial state changes but no influence changes.
It seems I have to leave it to our american brethren to get the data. Annoying!
Last edited:
And it worked! Tick is here
Rep inbound for the prayers of the faithful!