Not a fan of the new machine habitability percentages.

[fourteenfour]

fifty percent is too low for the three standard types of climate and probably needs to be adjusted down for tomb worlds - I always felt that removing the nasty blockers on a tomb world should have increased the habitability of the world... but I am off track here. Basically, a hundred percent was always too good but they were machines and had other issues so it was easy to not worry much about it. However given the play style of servitor and assimilator it is easy to get caught off guard and expensively at that.

In summary, it just doesn't feel good and nor feel right. Again, they are machines, on habitable worlds they should be wholly unaffected but of course have issues with tomb and similar worlds. Do basic robots now have preferred environments? (I have not looked).

 

[Nyrael]

No, they shouldn't be unaffected. I think robots should have WORSE time settling planets outside their preference than biological species. Machines may be sturdy, but they are entirely unable to adapt to anything they weren't built for, unlike biological which have easier time with adapting and evolving. A machine built for dry environments will break to moisture pretty quickly, a machine built for moving on hard ground will have issues moving on sand, and so on. Not to mention that temperatures can affect electronics and frames, and they are unable to regenerate those.

A machine should have 100% habitability for any preference they are built for (and be unaffected by any other habitability modifiers) but have severe penalties for other planet types. To make them stronger if need be, they (and maybe Psionically ascended biologicals because those don't care about laws of nature) should also be able to colonize some usually inhabitable planets like frozen and molten worlds (for balance purposes, only if they have a random trait similar to "Terraforming Candidate") because a machine can be built for that.

 

[AaronWaterhog]

fifty percent is too low for the three standard types of climate

Keep in mind you can, from the beginning of the game, robo-mod machines to change their habitability to fit planets other than your original class.

 

[Zeelilus]

Keep in mind you can, from the beginning of the game, robo-mod machines to change their habitability to fit planets other than your original class.

In addition to this, you can also just make a template and after you settle a new world, set your assembly to the appropriate template. Don't even have to actually mod any pops, just make the templete.

 

[Geodynamis]

Keep in mind you can, from the beginning of the game, robo-mod machines to change their habitability to fit planets other than your original class.

....you can?

 

[Me_]

No, they shouldn't be unaffected. I think robots should have WORSE time settling planets outside their preference than biological species. Machines may be sturdy, but they are entirely unable to adapt to anything they weren't built for, unlike biological which have easier time with adapting and evolving. A machine built for dry environments will break to moisture pretty quickly, a machine built for moving on hard ground will have issues moving on sand, and so on. Not to mention that temperatures can affect electronics and frames, and they are unable to regenerate those.

A machine should have 100% habitability for any preference they are built for (and be unaffected by any other habitability modifiers) but have severe penalties for other planet types. To make them stronger if need be, they (and maybe Psionically ascended biologicals because those don't care about laws of nature) should also be able to colonize some usually inhabitable planets like frozen and molten worlds (for balance purposes, only if they have a random trait similar to "Terraforming Candidate") because a machine can be built for that.

Wait. EVOLVING? In a few years? That's not how evolution works. Or did the game's timespan change to millions of years?

 

[Nyrael]

Wait. EVOLVING? In a few years? That's not how evolution works. Or did the game's timespan change to millions of years?

Give people genetic engineering techs and they'll speed that up themselves. Thinking of it, it's already represented by the game.
Though that was not really the main point of the post.

 

[Incompetent]

....you can?

The only exceptions IIRC are Life-Seeded, Voidforged and Subaquatic Machines. Then you need a tech to change habitability.

Interestingly, Shattered Ring is not an exception: your starting pops have the useless Ringworld preference, but you make a template immediately to make sure all future pops have the standard habitability preferences (and then mod those original pops if you feel like it, although that costs Engineering). You also get 50% habitability on the damaged ringworld segments (going up to 75% with Virtuality), even if you don't remove any of the blockers, because habitability floor trumps habitability ceiling.

 

[Foxosaur]

I have a suspicion that we will be seeing organic habitability being a lot harder to get over in the future compared to now but dealing with machines was a step change to allow it across the board to work.

So I think whilst it may seem a huge nerf to regular machine players but for us organic players a similar fate is coming as it stands right now, it's just too easy to get over with migration pacts. For me, I think the game will be better it being more difficult in this area and make specific origins have a longer impact.

 

[fourteenfour]

I have a suspicion that we will be seeing organic habitability being a lot harder to get over in the future compared to now but dealing with machines was a step change to allow it across the board to work.

So I think whilst it may seem a huge nerf to regular machine players but for us organic players a similar fate is coming as it stands right now, it's just too easy to get over with migration pacts. For me, I think the game will be better it being more difficult in this area and make specific origins have a longer impact.

the issue with migration pacts of course being getting stuck with lithoids who tend to displace other specie because their habitability is so much better. granted some government types can suppress that but with others its best to not even invite them

 

[FleetingRain]

In addition to this, you can also just make a template and after you settle a new world, set your assembly to the appropriate template. Don't even have to actually mod any pops, just make the templete.

Oh dear me, I've been playing this patch left-handed the entire time.