Author Topic: Auto-Terraforming  (Read 2030 times)

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Offline Borealis4x (OP)

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Auto-Terraforming
« on: July 08, 2017, 01:57:31 PM »
Couldn't there be a button or something that sets terraforming to automatically set the parameters to make the planet habitable for your people?
 

Offline Detros

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Re: Auto-Terraforming
« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2017, 02:24:58 PM »
One issue may be you may have multiple races in your people pool, each with different terra demands.
 

Offline MagusXIX

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Re: Auto-Terraforming
« Reply #2 on: July 09, 2017, 10:45:09 PM »
One issue may be you may have multiple races in your people pool, each with different terra demands.

True, but there could be a population selector dropdown in the terraforming menu that tells it which population you'd like the atmosphere to conform to.

Once it's optimal for one population it's much easier to tweak and adjust than it is to do all the math from scratch on some toxic-atmosphere world.
 

Offline Barkhorn

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Re: Auto-Terraforming
« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2017, 11:02:27 PM »
There's no math to do, its actually really simple.

1: Is world lower than 1 atm? If yes, see A, if no see B
2a: Add 0.1atm Oxygen
2b: Add 0.3atm Oxygen
3: Add greenhouse or anti-greenhouse until temp is within tolerance
4: remove toxic gases
5a: add inert gas if total is below 0.3
5b: remove inert gases until colcost is 0
 

Offline MagusXIX

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Re: Auto-Terraforming
« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2017, 07:16:18 AM »

3: Add greenhouse or anti-greenhouse until temp is within tolerance
5a: add inert gas if total is below 0.3
5b: remove inert gases until colcost is 0

These steps are where you either have to do math, or just start guessing and hoping you don't miss the event as it cruises by - or worse, that you didn't guess too high and *then* miss the event as it cruises by, accidentally bjorking your colony cost.

And why do either when code can do the calculations such that the atmosphere comes out perfect every time? By adding a button to use for automatic terraforming for populations you don't take anything away from the game - you can still terraform just as before. You're still free to make all the wonky atmospheres you want, or to terraform for a population without using the auto-button. But for those of us that don't want to be assed with math or guessing + paying close attention for the terraforming events, it'd be a godsend that'd mean we don't have to pay any cognitive switching penalties and can continue focusing on fleets, resources, or whatever else we find more interesting. This sort of optional automation of features is a good thing, as demonstrated in almost every other similar game.

There are only two drawbacks that I can currently see to having a "Terraform world for <population>" option:

1) Steve has to code it (this is the big one, his workload being what it already is.)
2) It makes a very small but very tedious/unfun part of the game easier and less cumbersome for people, and I'll miss knowing that others are suffering from it because I hate people. (Please forgive the sardonicism. It's genetic.)
« Last Edit: July 10, 2017, 07:17:59 AM by MagusXIX »
 
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Offline Barkhorn

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Re: Auto-Terraforming
« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2017, 12:02:33 PM »
There's no math for 3.  I just set the greenhouse or anti-greenhouse gas to 0.9.  If I can't hit my desired temp before then, the colony is never going to be warm/cold enough.

Similar idea for 5.  Too much air?  remove inerts until you get the "Air is breathable" message.  Too little air?  Add nitrogen until you get the "Air is breathable" message.
 

Offline Garfunkel

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Re: Auto-Terraforming
« Reply #6 on: July 15, 2017, 12:10:25 PM »
There is a very useful Excel sheet floating around that automates the whole process, you just put in the starting values and the target temperature and it tells you what to do.
 
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