In S.P.A.Z. is it possible to stay in one chapter and collect lots of data to level up before advancing the game, thus not have to deal with any zombies? Or is the zombie attack guaranteed to happen after X number of jumps?
Time limit before the zombie apocalypse triggers
space-pirates-and-zombies
Related Solutions
From the Space Pirates and Zombies wiki:
The main benefit of having good relations with the UTA, aside from being able to wander near their ships and stations without being attacked, is that Friendly bases can be bribed with goons to let the Clockwork pass through one or more warpgates. This is the only other way to open a warpgate besides fighting its UTA blockade.
The story does change these mechanics:
Also, Chapter 4 drastically alters the Faction mechanics, including those of the UTA. The UTA join forces with the Clockwork against the zombies and will always be at Ally status in every system. The player can upgrade the UTA's starbases for a Rez and Goon cost.
Each local UTA faction works to protect their system from invasion. Each system will have a "defender strength" that will fight against the corresponding strength of any zombie invasion. The higher the strength of the UTA starbase, the higher the cap on system defender strength.
I see that you have managed to take down a bounty hunter base but would like to offer an answer nonetheless.
Respect and Bounty are essentially tracked by the same value. Respect is positive while bounty is negative. Whenever you destroy a bounty hunter ship or base you gain respect. Whenever you destroy UTA or CIV targets in a system covered by the bounty hunters you gain bounty.
The bounty hunters have been designed to be a challenge. They are tougher than normal, there is even an achievement for destroying a tier 3 bounty hunter base, describing the task as doing the impossible. I don't think the developers ever intended these bases to be used for farming. If you really want to take these targets down then I recommend that you get huge hull ships armed with the top tier weapons in a weapons category. You should also posses high levels in shields, armor and hull before you attempt this feat. Bounty hunter bases will be rebuilt after a couple of jumps.
If you want the bounty hunters off your back the quickest way possible, I recommend doing the challenges as you can always approach their bases even if you have a bounty and the respect reward from the challenges are quite high so very large bounties can be paid off with just a couple of challenges.
Best Answer
No, there is no time limit. The zombie invasion is triggered by advancing the main quest. However, the really good stuff doesn't really start appearing until later chapters, but I suppose it is possible (though very slowly) to data farm in the early chapters to pump your research.