Some more biology research

[Dutchling]

Memory insertion device, 10% exp - 50,000 RP

[Thiosk]

I'd be happy with Rejuvination treatments that one could apply to your finest officers.  At great expense.

[Mel Vixen]

Actually cloning-vats could be nice for a increaded population growth - if they would have some drawbacks say a significant loss in income while they are running, rising unrest levels (Anti-GM and cloning Activists) or using sizeable amounts of minerals.

edit: And a cloned officer could cost minerals and Money too.

[Antagonist]

Long-levity and medical improvements ARE most obvious for this, but research to increase suitability to live on alien worlds without needing genetic engineering is another.  Combat improvements such as implants and biological warfare has been mentioned.  Xenobiology is another I think should be considered, but more on that in a bit.

The benefits of biology research would most reasonably be increase in medical trade goods (indirect wealth bonus) as well as population growth bonus.  I've never really been completely happy that the only thing that unsuitable worlds affect is infrastructure needed to live on it.  In my opinion it should have a major effect on population growth, with potential biology research to overcome it, either expanding a population's habitable ranges or just reducing the impact of it being outside that range.  Moving reducing colony cost to the biology tree, or adding a similiar research to the biology tree (biology optimises the life-support infrastructure, meaning less of it is needed, logistics improves the design and logistics, reducing cost).

As for xenobiology, the most obvious benefit is trade goods on alien worlds and colonised garden worlds as well as a diplomancy bonus.  I don't think any other research yet assists diplomancy, but then again I am unsure it alone is worth the RP.

[PTTG]

Move terraforming equipment research to the Biology tree.  Consider Biology less as a study of genetics in particular and more in the sense of Life Science as a whole.  Then it is easy to see that the sculpting of a biosphere is quite obviously a Biology endeavor.

[Thiosk]

Move terraforming equipment research to the Biology tree.  Consider Biology less as a study of genetics in particular and more in the sense of Life Science as a whole.  Then it is easy to see that the sculpting of a biosphere is quite obviously a Biology endeavor.

I agree wholeheartedly... but terraforming is at this time simply gasses, which are (presumably) nonbiological in origin. 

THAT BEING SAID, the addition of biomes is something im quite interested in, and could be a big part of terraforming.  Sure, you can probably get mercury's pressure up and temperature down, but would it ever be colony cost zero?  I doubt it-- no hydrosphere... i dont think theres a magnetosphere (but I don't remember).

Should a colony cost zero world really require no "infrastructure?"  I think it should be capable of generating infrastructure faster than population growth, unlike a >0 colony cost world, but if you plopped half a million people on an infrastructureless planet, they'd probably die horribly for numerous reasons.  Should an infrastructureless planet be able to house 10 billion people?  i doubt that too.

I'm not sure that the added complexity of tracking magnetospheres, biospheres, biomes, and hydropsheres is really worth it, though.

[Mel Vixen]

Well (gm-)plants can be part of terraforming. They can filter different gases out of the air (carbondioxide, water-vapor etc.), theyr foilage could change the albedo a bit (a dark green reflects less then light grey stone), and produce Oxygen. GM-plants could also free some workers from the agricultur economy. 

I think radiation, hydro- and mangnetosphere etc. can be factored into the suitability. I dont think they would make the game harder as it is right now, they would just another thing you would have to consider if you want to terraform a planet to 0 col-cost.

[Antagonist]

As for hydrosphere and magnetrosphere and biosphere stuff... I would like to see these in terraforming and infrastructure costs, as well as growth rates.

Infrastructure I see as domes or gas masks or heaters, not as roads and buildings, that is to say, stuff you need IN ADDITION in order to cope with the alien world.

As an example, look at the Avatar movie.  It is a non-hostile poisonous atmosphere so people can walk around it unprotected.  It is just not breathable so requires sealed buildings and gas masks.  A planet without a hydrosphere would require water recycling and purification plants as infrastructure.

However, if you need a gas mask to walk around and a air-sealed building to live in it will make it much harder to raise a family, in my mind impacting growth rates.  Even more so if in order to have your little farming plot you need to dome encase the entire property with proper sun lamps and irrigation, something far easier on a garden world.  There should be a bonus in growth rate as well for terraforming a planet to ideal earthlike, not just 'good enough to walk around without a mask' as now, perhaps even a happiness bonus.

Biosphere is an incredible terraforming tool, capable of not just generating a correct atmosphere(oxygen generating microbes), but also affecting the albedo of a planet.  Google Daisyworld.

As a measure to combat micro-management that an increased amount of terraforming variables would bring, how about adding a 'terraform to garden' button?  This will automatically pick the optimal route to reduce infrastructure costs without needing manual calculations.

I support terraforming under Biology.

[Lex Talionias]

off topic but with cloning officers.

it would recreate them at a cost, memory implants and such would never make them as good as the original but still decent with a few issues just for clones added in.  i would suggest cloning facilities being needed to do it and a research project needed just to be able to create the clone in the 1st place with additional costs plus using a biology scientist to operate the cloning program.

[Karakzon]

could have the population auto rename its species to be say
Martian for mars
Vesuvian for venus
etc etc

and have it so that the longer the colony has been going, natural evolution takes place more so the humans living their adapt.
Then have this adaption figure change depending on the number of imported conlonists.  Ie:
If i stuck 10million people on a world with 20mill worth of infrastructure, by time it gets to 20mill it should have adapted the humans to a small extent of say a single % or so if i didnt import more colonists to that particular world, and over time this new species world would change to lower infrastructure costs, and over time could become an easy choice to colonise simular worlds to the one they adapted to, speeding up the aurora colonisation process in th elater game.
 -more along lines of heat and gass tolerance/atmosphere pressure and gravity, not going to become immune to sulphur or go beyond the genetics reaserch trees expanded variables for colonists-

[swarm_sadist]

Not sure if necro-ing is better or worse than creating more topics. 

Agriculture
It could reduce the number of people required for the agriculture sector.   It can start off at pre-industrial levels of about 90%, moving 10% until about 50% (which is the start of the industrial revolution for humans).   Current rates for the US has 2.  4% of it's population in agriculture (not including 'environmental' workers such as terraformer scientists, park wardens, veterinarians, etc).   Fewer workers required in agriculture, the more available for manufacturing. 

Biological Weapons/Antidotes
The use of organic weapons, such as viruses, bacteria, parasites, diseases, and even insects to kill enemy populations, biosphere or agriculture.   These could be designed just like a ship, with specialities like kill-switches, extra lethality or increased resistance to antidotes.   If the enemy develops an antidote, you can simply produce a retrofit version of your bio weapon (EX: BACILLUS ANTHRACIS STR A2025-90/29).   The computer could cull all the old ones so you could effectively have an unlimited number every game.   An antidote would have to be produced every time a new strain is developed, meaning you would need to constantly fund your bio warfare division to keep your population safe.   Or you could cut back to save money.   Either way, the virus should not be 100% effective and the cure should not make you invulnerable either. 

Medicine
Generally considered any technique that is capable of maintaining health through disease, trauma and ageing.   Keeps your officers alive longer (preferential medical treatment), raises the lowest and highest possible growth rate slightly (civilian trauma augmentations? better health industry?) and reduces crew loss in battle (like the induced coma from warhammer). 

Population Tailoring/Genetics
Increasing or decreasing population growth, increasing or decreasing optimal gravity/temperature point, increase the range of gravity/temperature habitable, improve intelligence (species would produce better officers and more wealth per capita), reduce death rates (put a cap on negative growth rate) and improve loyalty.   Since evolution is the steady change of a species, there should be the ability to modify already engineered species.   A flag mentioning that the species is second generation artificial can be used to keep track of how much tampering has occurred in their genes.   Too much tampering could result in species sterility, or genetic decay. 

Triage
Gives your commanders a second chance to recover from what would be a life threatening injury.   Not quite sure what determines if an officer dies in combat (i'm guessing a dice roll), but if they do get the unlucky "die" roll, then they should get either another roll or a percentage chance to survive.   Maybe make their health take a hit (to take into consideration scars and disfigurement) so it is not a "free" life.   Maybe also allow "killed" ground forces to go back into the force pool, similar to the trickle-back system in Hearts Of Iron. 


Other Ideas:
Biosphere - To protect against climate change? Protection from radiation damage? Mask thermal emissions of colony?

Looking forward to being on the forums.

[MehMuffin]

Another military application, why not the ability to engineer mega beasts of war to assist your ground forces? Sure, the assault battalions do fine, but couldn't they do a little better with a few fifty foot tall leopards with steel plated, spike covered skin to back them up?

EDIT: I think it would also be neat to have more drastic species changes, like turning into a hive mind race.

[swarm_sadist]

Trans-humanism taken to the extreme?

Building genetic killing machines for land combat is simply adding another type of land force. Although you could make it a wealth only cost to build them. Hmm....

[Hawkeye]

I am throwing this in as Thiosk has mentioned the lack of a magnetosphere on mercury.

What if the earth magnetic field vanishes?

The Ionosphere will create a magnetic field by itself because the sun sends charged particles at 400 to 500 km/s towards us. As those particles are charged, they also carry a magnetic field.
In the Ionosphere there are charged particles and neutral gas. Because a plasma (Ionosphere) prevents a magnetic field to enter, the particles from the sun are slowed down and "splashed" over the Ionosphere, they do put the Ionosphre under preassure, however, so to speak.
The interesting thing is, that the electrons from the sun interact different with the neutral gas in the Ionosphere  than the protons, resulting in the electrons being slowed down faster than the protons. This in turn creates a current, which generates a magnetic field between the earth and the sun.

According to the models/simulations, this effect will creat a magnetic field of a similar strength to our current one in 350km in less than an hour.


This is a rough (very, very rough) translation of a german educational tv-show (Alpha-Centauri) with Prof. Harald Lesch, an astro-physicist (plasma physicist?).


Why am I posting this?
One, if you understand german, you should realy have a look at this show on youtube
Two, according to this, a magnetosphere is not necessary for live to exist on a planet, as an atmosphere will create its own magnetic field.

[Person012345]

I agree wholeheartedly... but terraforming is at this time simply gasses, which are (presumably) nonbiological in origin. 

THAT BEING SAID, the addition of biomes is something im quite interested in, and could be a big part of terraforming.  Sure, you can probably get mercury's pressure up and temperature down, but would it ever be colony cost zero?  I doubt it-- no hydrosphere... i dont think theres a magnetosphere (but I don't remember).

Should a colony cost zero world really require no "infrastructure?"  I think it should be capable of generating infrastructure faster than population growth, unlike a >0 colony cost world, but if you plopped half a million people on an infrastructureless planet, they'd probably die horribly for numerous reasons.  Should an infrastructureless planet be able to house 10 billion people?  i doubt that too.

I'm not sure that the added complexity of tracking magnetospheres, biospheres, biomes, and hydropsheres is really worth it, though.

I've always assumed infrastructure just referred to the infrastructure required to keep you alive on a barren planet, things like bio-domes, air conditioning etc. Rather than what we think of as infrastructure as in road and rail etc.