Coming back to this game and I love to play with tons of mods (faction mods, ship/weapon packs), such that my computer can't really handle it. Usually at the beginning of playthroughs it is fine but in later cycles it gets a little more choppy. For me it isn't a big deal it just takes a bit longer to save, hyperspace fps goes down a bit, and takes forever to start up (I'll usually just go get food). I'm going to eventually upgrade my hardware to get a stronger videocard for more vram (currently have 2gb).
In the meantime I have an idea for a fun playthrough that can manage the lag through campaign actions. My idea would be to start the game and develop a fleet that can live off the land with use of forging mods. So I can get supplies and fuel from mining (nexerelin) and then once my fleet is strong enough I can use planet killer devices/ saturation bombing to thin out markets so that perhaps the lag will be lessened. While I'm out in the wilds my agents can repair the relations from my genocide spree. So that I can eventually come back to the coreworlds and enjoy the diversity of factions without so much lag. I know this wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea and I would need a pretty strong fleet to make this possible, but wanted to know if this was feasible. Mainly because it is my understanding that all the extra markets are what slow the game down.