Big Changes Coming
EDIT: For additional changes see:
This post
I listed a few significant changes on Steam that were going to appear in the next update; not only the addition of new planets but some changes to modifiers and the way modifiers are assigned. In the process of making the changes I had planned, I realized there was a whole category of significant modifiers missing from the game... based on the tilt of a habitable (or terraformable) planet. This will affect modifiers in a significant way; especially since tilt modifiers will be fairly common. Therefore I am having to redo how modifiers work; mostly from the ground up. This will likely delay the release some (I am guessing an additional week). If you have any strong opinions about these changes, feel free to comment.
Seasons and Modifiers
Season Type Modifiers (all new).
You will be shown a dialog at the beginning of the game that allows you to pick the season type for your home world. It should be apparent that season type obviously affects growing season length so worlds with 2 and no seasons will get food production bonuses, and extreme seasons will get a food production reduction). The AI will also pick its season type based on a mix of random chance, and any food or migration settings it has.
- Unseasonal (very low tilt angle between 0 and 8 degrees)
- 2 Seasons (low tilt angle between 9 and 18 degrees)
- (4 seasons - not truly a modifier but it will appear as such.... this is the "normal" setting. Tilt angle between 19 and 28 degrees)
- Extreme Seasons (medium tilt angle between 29 and 50 degrees)
Currently Unsupported Season Types
The following season types are not supported by the game because tilt is not something that can be implemented as part of the graphics and it would call for new planet types (due to the fact that these planet types would not have ordinary pole types).
- Devastating seasons (high tilt angle between 51 and 70 degrees)
- Equatorial Fringe (planet is on its side, between 71 and 90 degrees, and poles are pointed at/away from the sun during half of its year)
Season Based Modifiers
Season based modifiers can happen anyway because there are more than one cause of these modifiers. However, specific season types are closely associated with these modifiers so season types closer to this particular modifier will increase odds of it occurring.
- ice age (new, unseasonal, this modifier will actually change a planet type at the beginning of the game if certain criteria are met. If the climate is changed, then the modifier will be removed. If not, the modifier will remain).
- wild storms (extreme seasons)
- hazardous weather (extreme seasons)
Non-Seasonal Modifiers
Close Orbit Modifiers
The odds of occurrence of these types of modifiers are only affected by proximity to the body being orbited and the mass of the orbiting body. Therefore they can only happen at certain locations within a planetary system. You will no longer see the tidal lock modifier in places it could not happen.
- Tidal lock
- Extreme tides (new)
- Slow rotation (new)
Mass/Size based modifiers
These modifiers are based primarily on the size of a planetary/moon body. Mass is not always determined by size. However, size is a significant factor. The larger the body, the greater the chance of having a high gravity modifier. The smaller the body, the greater the chance of having a low gravity modifier. Colossal/high mass planets will always have a high gravity modifier. Barren planets will always have a low gravity modifier.
- Ultra high gravity (new)
- High gravity
- Low gravity
- Ultra low gravity (new)
- Strong magnetic field
- Weak magnetic field
- No magnetic field (new)
- Thick Atmosphere/High atmospheric pressure (new)
- Squat plant life (new)
Location Based Modifiers
These modifiers are limited and based on the location of the star
- Vibrant nights (new, stars located in a nebula)
- Diverse nights (new, stars located in galactic rim)
- Asteroid impact (random, but higher chance close to asteroid fields)
Habitability/World type based modifiers
These modifiers are rare and generally show up on planets with certain types of environments, though they can happen anywhere. The closer they are to the "normal" environment for these, the higher the odds of their occurrence.
- thriving extremophiles (new, found generally on uninhabitable, but terraform-able planets)
- budding life (new, can be found on the 5 earth-like greenhouse worlds and their larger, high mass cousins)
- fossilized microbes (new, found on fringe worlds).
- abundant extremophiles (new, prefer extreme temperature dry planets and tectonically active planets)
- extreme biodiversity (new, prefer ocean planets)
- hearty organisms (new, prefer arid planets)
- gaia organism (new, prefer extreme temperature wet environments)
Random modifiers
- all remaining vanilla modifiers
- ice age (new, not based on tilt, see notes above)
- global warming
- violent storms (not based on tilt)
- retrograde motion (new)
- slow rotation (new, random occurrence not based on proximity/gravity)
- fast rotation (new)
- sloped orbit (new)
- eccentric orbit (new)
- frequent magnetic storms (new)
- extensive auroras (new)
- asteroid extinction event (new)*
- tectonic extinction event (new)*
- global warming (this modifier will actually change a planet type at the beginning of the game if certain criteria are met. If the climate is changed, then the modifier will be removed. If not, the modifier will remain).
Starred items above will also be modifiers that can happen as a result of random events.
EDIT: Random modifiers will be applied based on the system used by the original game. The other modifiers will be applied by scripts. Overall, expect planet modifiers to be much more common. After all, this is consistent with reality. The "perfect" planet is both relative and rare. Every planet will at the very least, have a seasonal "modifier" (icon letting you know what types of seasons the planet has).
