I've been working on this for quite some time and I am stuck. All I would like is to be able to start as the Rebels with a handfull of starships, the HQ and only one planet. I cannot figure out how to set the random number of Rebel planets to one, any suggestions?

I don't think save game files work that way. By that point, the planets are already set. If we ever had the Rebellion code, we could possibly set a randomization number. As it is right now, we have no way to do that.

So then It Is not possible to create a game starting with only the HQ planet? I understand that no one has the proper codes to do this, but there Is always a way. I have some scenarios, as far as I know cain produced them, In one of them the Empire controls well over half the galaxy, while the Rebellion only controls a small sector. So I know that there Is a way to create a game somewhat close to the scenario I'd like to play on rebellion.

Have you ever looked at a saved game in a hex editor? I have (small galaxy) and it would take about 600 pages to print out. I would hate to image the huge galaxy. Unfortunately "hex" in not my primary, nor secondary language, therefore interpreting all of the data is very slow and difficult. The source code is the Rosetta Stone to figuring out how to change things the way you want

I'll just drop this in here for no reason other than the an awkward angle: But all those flags at the ceremony at the end of ANH represented worlds committed to the rebellion, according to the original book

 

I know nothing of the game codes, however, though good luck!