Terraforming Revision

Sales Pitch

Hey there!  Yes, you browsing the Ideas!  Do you play ES2?  Of course you do, you’re here!  Well, when you were playing have you ever experienced the scenarios below?

=====================

Scenario 1

(Hypothetical, not real turn scale, quite melodramatic)

Player:  Ah, this system is humming along nicely.  5 huge planets:  2 Lava, 2 Barren, and a Forest.  Almost all full of happy citizens building, farming and sciencing.  Hmm, I should build some ships, explore a bit, and get those sciencers to research that next big discovery!

5 Turns later:  Ships built, next big discovery researched

Player:  Okay, time to shift this system to making more food so I can get more citizens to fill the rest of my empire!  Time to get one lava and one barren terraformed!

5 Turns later:  Lava -> Desert -> Arid -> Jungle -> Atoll, Barren -> Arctic -> Snow -> Boreal -> Ocean

Player:  Now we're farming lots!  Oh... not as much industry or science as before.... oh well, I need those citizens!  Back to exploring.... wait, is that an enemy fleet?!  And it’s coming right for my precious system!  Oh dear!  Now I need battleships and military science..... uh oh, I won't have the new ships or tech in time to save the system because those planets cannot be changed back!  Oh nooooooo!

=====================

Scenario 2

(Also hypothetical, also melodramatic)

Player:  Moving all these hot planet loving populations from this cold system to other systems with hot planets is going to be SOOO tedious... I wish I could just change these planets to hot ones!

=====================

If either of these scenarios have happened to you, you're not alone, and I have good news!  I have developed a new way to terraform those planets into anything you need with just a couple clicks!  What's that you say?  It’s too good to be true?  Oh no, it's absolutely true and I will show you!  Just scroll down for some lovely pictures and stick around for some of the details!

Visual Stimulus

Here is the current terraforming path chart (mono-directional, limited):

Here is a suggested new terraforming path chart (two-way, unlimited):

Here are some images of what I propose:

Picture #1

Picture #2

Picture #3

Working Scenario

Before we get into the details, let's walk through each picture above to give you an idea of what is happening:

The player goes to the System Management screen and finds the planet they want to change.  They would then click the Terraform button under the planet (see picture #1 above) which would bring up the new Terraform Management window (see picture #2 above).  From here the player can see all the options available to them, based on their researched technologies, and what base stats each available planet type offer.  When the player hovers their mouse over each option a popup of the planet would appear with the total industry cost and time to terraform the planet (see picture #3 above).

Now, using those pictures above for your mind theater, imagine a scenario where you used this new system and wanted to change a planet.  Let’s describe the result:

For this scenario the player chooses a Lava planet to be terraformed into a Barren one.  The total terraforming process would take the planet through six different stages (see the “Current Path” above: Lava -> Desert -> Savannah -> Monsoon -> Steppes -> Arctic -> Barren).  If each change cost 1000 industry (this is hypothetical, not the suggested cost) and the system currently produces 500 industry per turn (the planet being changed is excluded for the calculation in this scenario to keep it simple) then the total cost of the change is calculated at 6000 industry and it would take 12 turns.

GUI Details

As you see above, this idea is a rework of the way a planet is terraformed, not the details of the planet or their FIDSI.  In addition, the current chart above could still be applicable (though this could be adjusted, per other ideas posted) but with two way terraforming and only to be used in determining the costs of the change desired, calculated on the back end.  How transparent these costs would be to the player I will leave to the whim of the Devs.  The afore mentioned cost of the transformation would be determined by the number and type of "changes" the planet would have to go through to get to the desired results.  The only addition I would suggest is that Gas Giants be included in the terraforming process but only to other types of Gas Giants (see “New Path” and picture #2 above).

Cost Details

Realistically the cost of each change would differ depending on which tier you are going from and which change you are making.  For example, a single stage change from an extreme (Tier 1 - Lava) to the next stage (Tier 2 - Desert) would be higher than going from the most diverse (Tier 5 - Ocean) to less (Tier 4 - Boreal).  The reverse direction for each would also be separate in cost, for example, going from less diverse (Tier 4 – Boreal) to more diverse (Tier 5 – Ocean) would cost more than more to less.

Visual Details

I will suggest for the Devs two options for drastic changes, such as the one in our scenario above with multiple stages, in the actual visual change of the planet from start to finish.

The first suggestion is the planet could just jump from the start to the final product.  This option is simpler but not as visually fun.

The second option is to see each step along the way.  Taking the above scenario, it would go like this:

Two turns into the process the planet would change to a Desert.  Another two turns would see the planet change to Savannah.  Still another two turns and the planet is Monsoon.  At turn 8 the new look is Steppes.  The planet is Arctic two turns after that.  Finally, on the 12^th turn the planet is Barren.

Finale

Now that you have all the details and walked through how this would be done, I hope you’ll see this is a simpler way to present terraforming for all player levels, while still providing the depth and nuance of play that experienced players enjoy.  Please feel free to comment below any suggestions and if you’d like to see this happen upvote the idea and then tell your friends to do the same.

For those who read this far, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your time!!!

Fin