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Distinctive Biomes

Rework of planet types and terraformations, including the addition of two new tags.

ES2 has a great variety of planet types, but only a handful stand out gameplay-wise. Desert and Arctic have good yields and decent number of pop slots while retaining their Sterile and Hot/Cold tags, and higher tier planets like Terran are great for going all-in on pops, but many others, particularly those that sit awkwardly between Fertile and Sterile, have few synergies or differentiating factors.

This mod aims to make a greater range of types memorable and viable, and the terraformation graph less of a funnel. Two new tags are added for planets that both sit in between Fertile and Sterile, yet in distinct ways:

"Sparse" planets are uniformly harsh places for life to survive: think wide open plains, poor soil, and a monoculture of very hardy planet and animal life. Arid, Savannah, Steppes and Tundra gain this tag, and links to Dust and Industry.

"Stormy" planets are largely pleasant but fall short of the Fertile habitability level due to the frequent extreme weather events: floods, cyclones or blizzards. Monsoon, Mediterranean (renamed "Tropical") and Snow gain this tag, along with Science and Food synergies.

In general, the difference in population capacity between has narrowed, while contrasts in yields and approval across types has increased. Hopefully, the choice of whether and what to terraform will be less automatic and more about what you need to do with a particular system. The cost of terraformation has gone up, and a moderate Influence cost has been added.

The new terraformation graph is a bit "wider" and "shallower" generally. Notably, every planet has at least two possible terraformations, and Tundra, Mediterranean, Ice and Ash may all be terraformed into (which is not possible in Vanilla). Boreal and Jungle are additionally considered "final".

As in Vanilla, Riftborn mostly go in the opposite direction, but gain the ability to terraform Barren and Lava upwards (improving the quality while keeping it Sterile).

CHANGES

Terraformation:
- Graph and planetary yields altered (according to attached diagrams)
- Added moderate Influence cost (mostly between 100-500 depending on the increase in yields and game speed, though Riftborn and unique Unfallen projects are costlier)

System Improvements:
- "Epigenetic Crop Seeding" improvements get +2 Food/Pop on Stormy
- "Magnetic Field Generators" improvements get +3 Science/Pop on Stormy (replacing the +1 on any planet)
- "Interplanetary Transport Network" improvements get +3 Industry/Pop on Sparse (replacing the +1 on any planet)
- "Xenotourism Agencies" improvements get +3 Dust/Pop on Sparse (replacing the +1 on any planet)
- "Eco Habitats" improvements add a pop slot on Stormy
- "Cosmetic Genetics" improvements add a pop slot on Sparse (replacing Sterile)

Planet Specializations:
- Food Planet Specializations (Evolved Soils, Alien Grafting, Aquaculture Dome) bonus increased by +100% on Stormy (replacing Fertile)
- Dust Planet Specializations (Colonial Exchange, Atemporal Finance) bonus increased by +100% on Sparse (replacing Sterile)
- Influence Planet Specializations (SPIN, Edenization, Bio-Enhancement) bonus increased by +50% on Temperate
- Resource Extraction Planet Specializations (Slag and Sludge, Self-Mining NPO) bonus increased by +50% for Strategic on Sterile, and Luxuries on Fertile

Population Types:
- Horatio get +2 Approval on Stormy (replacing the +2 on Hot)
- Kalgeros get +4 Approval on Sparse (replacing the +4 on Sterile)
- Amblyr get +2 Industry on Stormy (replacing the +2 on Sterile)

For an ESG-compatible version, see here.

For an "Excellent Space 2"-friendly variation, see here.