Why isn't this breathable?

[Person012345 (OP)]

Why are neither of these atmospheres:





breathable for these guys?



There's no dangerous gases, they were created specifically for this planet and for what it's worth the oxygen content is lower than that of earth's at it's peak. Am I missing something obvious here as to why this atmosphere isn't working?

[Black]

My guess would be oxygen above 30% of atmosphere as being the reason.

[Person012345 (OP)]

My guess would be oxygen above 30% of atmosphere as being the reason.

Ah, indeed. For the record Earth's oxygen percentage reached 35% during the carboniferous period so 30% max seems a little harsh.

[MarcAFK]

We weren't alive then.
I agree a 30% cutoff is a bit harsh, but increasing oxygen percentage, AND pressure can easily cause central neural toxicity, as well as increased risk of fire.
At one atmosphere 40% starts becoming toxic, and 55% becomes intolerable, at half an atmosphere you can get to 70% without starting toxicity, with 95% still being somewhat tolerable.
But with increased atmospheric pressures 30% and under starts being toxic. I'm guessing steve picked a number that was a bit of a compromise. Maybe more complex toxcity mechanics is justified considering how the rest of the gasses are treated now.
I'll attach the chart I found just for reference.

[stabliser]

Add more Nitrogen, to increase pressure which will lower the oxygen percentage, you have 29 degrees of temperature margin to play with.

[Hazard]

Humanity would not be able to survive in a Carboniferous era as the extremely high oxygen content damages the lungs and other tissues. It would also greatly increase the risk of fire.

Frankly, long term breathing of 30% oxygen in a standard pressure atmosphere wouldn't be good either, as long term treatment of breathing issues with high (28%) oxygen support like is done for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and similar issues is known to cause lung damage, among other problems. It's just preferable to having the patient die due to not being able to breath.

Surviving in that sort of environment would not be impossible, not necessarily, but it'd be something where humanity would have to adapt to the changing circumstances. Be it by living at higher altitudes (where oxygen pressure is lower) or by evolution making the lungs less efficient and other tissues more resilient to high oxygen environments. This evolutionary adaptation is something that at least in game can be covered by targeted genetic manipulation.

[Energyz]

Yeah but we are not talking about humanity, but an alien race. Life was plentifull at carboniferous period, and it was 35%.

Limiting breathable atmosphere to <30% of oxygen is fine for humans, definitly stupid for aliens

[Jarhead0331]

My take away from this discussion is that Aurora is an amazing game.

[Pedroig]

Change your maximum Oxygen Deviation to .5 on the race screen.  That should solve it...

[Person012345 (OP)]

We weren't alive then.
I agree a 30% cutoff is a bit harsh, but increasing oxygen percentage, AND pressure can easily cause central neural toxicity, as well as increased risk of fire.
At one atmosphere 40% starts becoming toxic, and 55% becomes intolerable, at half an atmosphere you can get to 70% without starting toxicity, with 95% still being somewhat tolerable.
But with increased atmospheric pressures 30% and under starts being toxic. I'm guessing steve picked a number that was a bit of a compromise. Maybe more complex toxcity mechanics is justified considering how the rest of the gasses are treated now.
I'll attach the chart I found just for reference.

Of course, but I'm not playing humans. As far as human tolerances go, we probably couldn't survive there (note: not a doctor), but life can and high oxygen is probably preferable for insectoids so I'm just saying, as an absolute cutoff for "life can no longer get by even if it evolved here" it seems a bit low.

[stabliser]

I think Steve may be missing a variable for Oxygen% for alliens, which is restricting this species to a lower oxygen percentage that seems to match its oxygen atmospheres tolerance.

[Garfunkel]

Increase your Maximum Oxygen Deviation. It's probably a left-over from Human species.

[SpikeTheHobbitMage]

Increase your Maximum Oxygen Deviation. It's probably a left-over from Human species.

Black got it in the first reply.  O2 is over the 30% limit.

[Gabethebaldandbold]

your atmosfere is to thin, you need to increasi it, the oxigen percentage in your home world is less than 10 %, an atmosfere with a concentration larger than this is going to be very harsh on your people

[Father Tim]

My guess would be oxygen above 30% of atmosphere as being the reason.

Yes, Oxygen over 30% is a toxic gas.