My idea here began with the ending of that wild MADNESS game.
So now I have created several custom galaxy maps.
My concept here is that every home star or empire has exactly three nearby neighboring home stars or empires,
so no empire has a corner starting position.
These maps are somewhat circular. They are not a torus, but my 64 player map almost looks like the next best thing.
I am also adding 0.4 decimal light years to the starting positions,
to prevent round off confusions for determining scan range or hyperspace range or carrier flight times.
For example,
If starting distance is Standard = 12.4 LY , then
there is no doubt that is Scanning tech 11 , HR 10 , carrier flight time = 38 hours
If starting distance is Close = 8.18 or 8.267 LY = ( 0.66 or 2/3 ) * 12.4 LY , then
there is no doubt that is Scanning tech 7 , HR 6 , carrier flight time = 25 hours
If starting distance is Far = 16.49 or 16.53 LY = ( 1.33 or 4/3 ) * 12.4 LY , then
there is no doubt that is Scanning tech 15 , HR 14 , carrier flight time = 50 hours
I am avoiding using 12.5 LY because this can get into some confusion with carrier flight times.
If starting distance is Close = 8.25 or 8.333 LY = ( 0.66 or 2/3 ) * 12.5 LY , then
there can sometimes be a slight precision errors, resulting in 8.34 LY.
What is the carrier flight time ? Is it 25 hours or 26 hours ?
I am also avoiding using 12.0 LY because this can get into some confusion with Scanning and HR tech distances.
If there is any sort of precision rounding mistake, then it could be misinterpreted as 12.001 LY.
That can become Scanning 11 and HR 10, not the hoped for Scanning 10 and HR 9.
EDIT 2021 OCT
You can download design tools & data maps from my Google Drive.
Known problems :
These maps will still have very small rounding concerns, so I am unable to help you determining which carrier will arrive first when both carriers departed at the same tick.
If you are wondering who will arrive first to become the defender at an unclaimed star, then best of luck to you, and take the initiative, because the Ruler does not show enough digits of precision. LOL Hopefully small potatoes.