[IDEA] Planetary Terraforming
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Adding to this https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers2/pc/topic/46645-planetenvironment-hostility-aliens-animals-weather-atmosphere and since Space Engineers 2 offers a chance to redefine planetary interaction, full-scale terraforming should allow players to reshape worlds beyond just aesthetics—altering atmospheric pressure, gravity, and environmental conditions to make hostile planets livable (or turn habitable ones into industrial wastelands).
Core Mechanics:
- Atmospheric Pressure & CompositionUse gas processors to extract or inject elements (O₂, CO₂, N₂, H₂), changing breathability and weather patterns.Low-pressure worlds (like Mars) could require atmospheric generators to prevent suffocation, while high-pressure Venus-like planets might need pressure stabilizers to avoid structural damage.Extreme changes could trigger storms, acid rain, or toxic fog, forcing players to engineer solutions.
- Adjustable GravityIntroduce gravitic manipulators (late-game megastructures) to tweak a planet’s gravity, affecting jump height, vehicle handling, and even orbital dynamics.Lower gravity could enable massive, floating bases, while higher gravity might crush poorly supported structures.Natural consequences: Moons with artificially increased gravity could pull asteroids or destabilize orbits.
- Terraforming ProgressionStage 1 (Hostile): Barren, no breathable air, extreme temps—requires sealed habitats.Stage 2 (Stabilized): Thin atmosphere, basic plant life, survivable with suits.Stage 3 (Habitable): Earth-like conditions, open-air farming, NPC settlements.Stage 4 (Engineered): Customized for industry (low O₂ for combustion safety) or luxury (paradise worlds).
- Visual & Gameplay Impact
- Watch ice caps melt into oceans, deserts sprout vegetation, or skies shift from toxic yellow to blue.
- Ecological backlash: Over-terraforming might trigger earthquakes or runaway greenhouse effects.
- Multiplayer strategy: Competing factions could terraform the same planet for conflicting purposes (e.g., one side wants a jungle, the other a mining hellscape).
Faction-Driven Terraforming Consequences:
- Rewards for Making Planets HabitableEco-focused factions (scientists, colonists) might reward player for terraformed worlds or keep living index for planet within range, offering rare blueprints, resources, or even allied outposts on the planet.Completing a "Paradise World" (full O₂, stable climate, vegetation) could unlock unique faction perks, like passive income from settlers or free maintenance drones.
- Punishments for Over-IndustrializationTurning lush planets into polluted wastelands could anger environmentalist factions, leading to blockades, sabotage, or fines.Extremely toxic worlds might attract scavenger factions who thrive in ruins, creating lawless zones with pirate raids.
- Strategic Warfare via TerraformingCorrupt a faction’s homeworld by pumping CO₂ into its atmosphere, forcing them to flee or surrender.Terraform in secret—mask your changes until it’s too late for factions to stop you.
- Faction-Specific Terraforming GoalsMining Guilds might pay you to strip a planet’s surface for resources, reducing gravity (via mass loss) and making it uninhabitable.Religious factions could deem certain worlds sacred—terraform them at your peril.
Why i see this fits SE2:
- Deep late-game goals beyond just building ships , its planet engineering.
- Realistic planetary science with creative liberties.
- Emergent storytelling—players could "heal" dead worlds or exploit them until they collapse.
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Endgame Terraforming sounds like a robust challenge. I like it!
Endgame Terraforming sounds like a robust challenge. I like it!
yes and even during mid game it might create a good purpose of why we actually do engineering and why we are creating huge ships, machines and different things.
yes and even during mid game it might create a good purpose of why we actually do engineering and why we are creating huge ships, machines and different things.
Terraforming in SE2 - absolutely not.
The authors of ideas like this have absolutely no idea what volumes and quantities of materials they are trying to talk about.
Even in the case of the miniature planets of the SE universe, we are talking about tens of thousands of cubic kilometers and billions of tons of materials.
Just to give you an idea - a kilometer thick layer of air on a 100km diameter planet has a volume of 32 thousand cubic kilometers and a mass of about 40 billion tons.
Terraforming in SE2 - absolutely not.
The authors of ideas like this have absolutely no idea what volumes and quantities of materials they are trying to talk about.
Even in the case of the miniature planets of the SE universe, we are talking about tens of thousands of cubic kilometers and billions of tons of materials.
Just to give you an idea - a kilometer thick layer of air on a 100km diameter planet has a volume of 32 thousand cubic kilometers and a mass of about 40 billion tons.
The idea of terraforming sounds exciting. But as has already been said here, it may require too many materials. However, if there are many players in the game and they like to throw themselves Engineering challenges, then why not? Maybe even integrate it into the main plot of the game, but closer to its end and not as a mandatory plot line, but as a side quest, so that solo players do not grab their heads :)
The idea of terraforming sounds exciting. But as has already been said here, it may require too many materials. However, if there are many players in the game and they like to throw themselves Engineering challenges, then why not? Maybe even integrate it into the main plot of the game, but closer to its end and not as a mandatory plot line, but as a side quest, so that solo players do not grab their heads :)
If this were any other space game this could work, however SE has NEVER been that kind of game at all. In SE the planets are NOT procedurally generated at all but hand crafted. There may be some procedural generation with things like NPC stations and such to a degree, but not the kind that would be required for this kind of stuff. Also you clearly do not understand just how massive of an undertaking this would be and resource intensive something like this would be for a game like SE, not to mention lag inducing. It would take YEARS to develop something like this, and again SE is not that type of game. If I want to go to a more habitable planet in SE I can just go to earthlike or such. There is zero need for something like this in SE.
If this were any other space game this could work, however SE has NEVER been that kind of game at all. In SE the planets are NOT procedurally generated at all but hand crafted. There may be some procedural generation with things like NPC stations and such to a degree, but not the kind that would be required for this kind of stuff. Also you clearly do not understand just how massive of an undertaking this would be and resource intensive something like this would be for a game like SE, not to mention lag inducing. It would take YEARS to develop something like this, and again SE is not that type of game. If I want to go to a more habitable planet in SE I can just go to earthlike or such. There is zero need for something like this in SE.
Start with the energy from the Sun. Using findings from IEEE. The Sun, the planets, everything below, and everything above is in electrical circuit. The rotating Sun, has twisting toroidal electrical fields, as do the planets. The fields in combination with rotation are akin to giant transformers. All of these systems are connected by Birkland currents which form what is known as the cosmic web. Stars are born in the z-pinch of these Birkland currents. The electricity coming from the Sun into the planets drive ecosystems, as can be seen by the relationship of the Sun spot cycle, the production of Elves and Sprites in the upper atmosphere, and then to the weather systems below affecting all life and the geology below the ground.
To some of you still following the Standard Model this may seem like fantasy. Do your research, there is crisis in cosmology.(Paradigm Shift)
My point is, use the energy provided to accelerate whatever system of terraforming you choose, it is a game, fantasize a little, use SE magic, and a lot of algae in pools. Giant domed towers collecting lighting may help. Latitude may be important.
Start with the energy from the Sun. Using findings from IEEE. The Sun, the planets, everything below, and everything above is in electrical circuit. The rotating Sun, has twisting toroidal electrical fields, as do the planets. The fields in combination with rotation are akin to giant transformers. All of these systems are connected by Birkland currents which form what is known as the cosmic web. Stars are born in the z-pinch of these Birkland currents. The electricity coming from the Sun into the planets drive ecosystems, as can be seen by the relationship of the Sun spot cycle, the production of Elves and Sprites in the upper atmosphere, and then to the weather systems below affecting all life and the geology below the ground.
To some of you still following the Standard Model this may seem like fantasy. Do your research, there is crisis in cosmology.(Paradigm Shift)
My point is, use the energy provided to accelerate whatever system of terraforming you choose, it is a game, fantasize a little, use SE magic, and a lot of algae in pools. Giant domed towers collecting lighting may help. Latitude may be important.
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