Has anyone experimented with Big Bang settings to determine which settings will create the largest number of bubbles ranging in size from 7-10 sectors. I'm assuming course length would play a role here but not sure which way to take it. Am i correct in assuming that the bubble editor is not used for this purpose and that it is only used for creating "mega bubbles"?

I believe that in this current version, setting bubbles to 0 is best as there is a known bug which may produce a 'black hole' where you might get into it but not out again.

Course length has to do with the Galaxy density, I believe. A higher number would make the 2 farthest sectors farther apart, most likely lowering sectors to warping to less sectors than usual. And vice versa.

To increase the number of "regular" bubbles, set warp density lower (most important) and max course length higher (less important).

The gold bubbles are just the mega-bubbles. As to warp density, I've never experimented with it, but I would assume that increasing the maximum course length and the number of 2 way and 1-way warps would result in more bubbles like you describe. The more strung out a universe is required to be, the more bubbles there would have to be.

I've played in games that the majority of the galaxy is "in" a black hole, IE, the tiny pocket that is inside of this bubble is ipso facto totally unreachable for the rest of the game, because no one starts in it. (Other than maybe aliens that wander out)