empty universe…

Greerings.

Has anyone else run into the problem of there being NO ships around?

I just finished the candy from a baby mission in my
second run through the game (after successfully finishing
the game once) and the universe is empty of shipping.
Since the crippled transport in that last mission, I have yet to
see a single ship. I have flown all over the cluster to all the
l-points and bases and have seen ZILCH.

I do have the ‘Free Form’ mod installed and active, but I started a fresh game,
so that should not really do anything, correct?
Other active mods are Jafs (more cargo, no talk) and base docking cutscene elimination.

Has anyone seen this before? Could it be related to the fact
that I’m cancelling out of all the animations this time around.

This is puzzling and annoying.

Thanks,

CW