This guide shows the known worlds that you may find in a game of Stars in Shadow and what other types of worlds these known worlds can be terraformed into. Below is a specification of the notions used in this guide. Before the lists are presented there is a section that describes the races and the general rules of terraforming.

Each type of world that can be found in the game has its own section. The description of the world type is copied from the game, and the Climate Zones section lists its climate zones. The first table shows the different kind of known variants of this world type, and the second table, if present, shows the known terraforming options for these variants. The following conventions are used in these tables:

• Size The size of the world. It can be Small, Medium, or Large.
  
• Temp The temperature of the world. It can be Hot, Warm, or Cold. Notice that cold worlds cannot be terraformed.
  
• Atmos The atmosphere of the world. It can be None, Thin, Normal, or High. Notice that only Inferno worlds have a high atmosphere and that only Iceball and Barren worlds have no atmosphere at all. All other worlds have thin or normal atmosphere.
  
• Sites The basic number of improvement sites on a world depends on the Max Population (see table below), thus an interval is often used instead of a single number. Notice that this basic number or interval does not include the increased capacity offered by the three technologies Adaptive Energy Grid, Artificial Sentience, and Social Engineering.
  
  Sites

  Max Population

  3

  0.0M - 2 999M

  4

  3.0M - 5.999M

  5

  6.0M - 10.999M

  6

  11.0M - 18.999M

  7

  19.0M - ∞
• Home World Since some of the home worlds are special worlds they are listed separately below the world type they belong to. These special home worlds have other values for max population and cannot be terraformed. The four special home worlds are:
  
  Name

  Type

  Race

  Rastaban II

  Medium Garden

  HW of Ashdar Colonials

  Tendao

  Medium Island

  HW of Phidi Combine

  Bacabs IV

  Medium Iceball

  HW of Orthin Conference

  Verrold

  Medium Glacier

  HW of Yoral Khaganate

  Dzibix

  Medium Arid

  HW of Tinkers
  Notice that Gremal, the HW of the Gremak Empire and the only Swamp world in the game is really just a medium Swamp world. Unlike the five special home worlds mentioned above, Gremal can be terraformed.
  
• Max Pop Max Population lists the maximum number of population of that race that can live on the world. Notice that the number is the basic number before the increased capacity offered by the two technologies Bionomics and Arcologies. This number is on the first line in the cells that list the data for the various races in the first table.
  
• Fertility The fertility rating of the world (according to the main race) is shown using one of the following codes:
  • Bad This means that the world cannot be colonized until the technology Habitat Domes is discovered and that when eventually colonized, the fertility rating will be low.
    
  • Promising This means that the world cannot be colonized until the technology Habitat Domes is discovered but that when eventually colonized, the fertility rating will be high.
    
  • Low This world can be colonized right away, but the fertility rating will be low.
    
  • High This world can be colonized right away and the fertility rating will be high.
  This code is on the second line in the cells that list the data for the various races in the first table.
  
• New World The new world that will result after terraforming will be listed along with its atmosphere. Notice that the size and temperature of the new world is always the same as the old world.
  
• Tech This column shows what technology or technologies are necessary to be able to perform this kind of terraforming. A code is used to save space, and the available codes are:
  
  Code

  Technologies

  T1

  Atmosphere Generation

  T2

  Terraforming

  T3

  Orbital Mirrors

  AC1

  Atmospheric Condensation + Atmosphere Generation. Notice that only Orthin can research Atmospheric Condensation.

  AC2

  Atmospheric Condensation + Terraforming. Notice that only Orthin can research Atmospheric Condensation.

  AC3

  Atmospheric Condensation + Orbital Mirrors. Notice that only Orthin can research Atmospheric Condensation.

  HW

  Hive Worlds. Notice that only Ashdar, Gremak, and Yoral can research Hive Worlds.

  CB

  Coral Blooms. Notice that only Phidi can research Coral Blooms.
• Race List The list of races shows which races prefer this new world compared to the original world, and thus gives the option to perform the terraforming in the build menu.

There are 7 playable races in the game, and they will be shortly introduced below.

The Ashdar Colonials population consists of Ashdar Teros Colonists and their home world is a medium sized Garden world called Rastaban II, located in the Rastaban system. The Ashdar Colonials can terraform worlds into Glacier, Arid, Island, Garden, and Hive, listed in order of preference from least to most preferable.

The Ashdar Imperials population consists of both Ashdar Haduir Colonists and Ashdar Teros Colonists, although the Ashdar Haduir Colonists are considered the main race. Their home world is a medium sized Hive world called Ashdar Prime, located in the Gienah system. The Ashdar Imperials can terraform worlds into Glacier, Arid, Island, Garden, and Hive, listed in order of preference from least to most preferable.

The Phidi Combine population consists of Phidi Colonist and their home world is a medium sized Island world called Tendao, located in the Seralta system. The Phidi Combine can terraform worlds into Glacier, Garden, Island, and Coral, listed in order of preference from least to most preferable.

The Gremak Empire population consists of Gremak Colonist and their home world is a medium sized Swamp world called Gremal, located in the Sabik system. The Gremak Empire can terraform worlds into Glacier, Arid, Island, Garden, and Hive, listed in order of preference from least to most preferable.

The Orthin Conference population consists of Orthin Colonist and their home world is a medium sized Iceball world called Bacabs IV, located in the Bacabs system. The Orthin Conference can terraform worlds into Glacier, Garden, and Island, listed in order of preference from least to most preferable.

The Yoral Khaganate population consists of Yoral Colonist and their home world is a medium sized Glacier world called Verrold, located in the Astir system. The Yoral Khaganate can terraform worlds into Arid, Glacier, Island, Garden, and Hive, listed in order of preference from least to most preferable.

The Tinkers population consists of Harmonized Tinkers and Disconnected Tinkers. They can also harmonize all the seven major races to make them more productive. Their home world is a medium sized Arid world called Dzibix, located in the Eye of Dzibix system. The Tinkers can terraform worlds into Glacier, Island, Garden, and Arid listed in order of preference from least to most preferable.

The Humanity population consists of Human Colonist and they start without a home world. Instead they start with an outpost in a system called Fargone. The Humanity can terraform worlds into Glacier, Arid, Island, and Garden, listed in order of preference from least to most preferable.

This section describes the terraforming rules in general terms as has become evident after playing the game for a while. There are in total 6 technologies that enable terraforming and their general behavior will be specified in the rules below.

1. A world has a set of possible terraforming options that does not depend on the race(s) living there.
2. Cold worlds cannot be terraformed at all.
3. A world keeps its size and temperature when terraformed. The atmosphere is normally kept or improved.
4. A terraforming option is only listed in the build list if the Max Population will increase after the terraforming is complete. Notice: The Max Population must increase by at least one unit. One unit of population equals 1 million people, but since the game truncates numbers, an increase of population may not be enough to raise the population to the next population unit. For instance consider a medium and a large warm Barren world occupied by the Gremak Empire. A medium warm Barren world cannot be terraformed into a warm Glacier world, but a large warm Barren world can be terraformed into a large warm Glacier world, why? A medium warm Barren world can house 4 500 000 people, which is equal to 4 population units, and a large warm Barren world can house 6 750 000 people, which is equal to 6 population units. Now a medium warm Glacier world can hold 4 800 000 people, which is still only 4 population units. Thus the option to terraform it into a warm Glacier world will not be displayed. On the other hand a large warm Glacier world can hold 7 200 000 people, which is 7 population units. This time the Max Population has increased by 1 population unit and the option to terraform it will show up in the list.
5. Terraforming options that increase the Max Population of the main race will always show up in the list even if the world currently have no population of that race.
6. Terraforming options that increase the Max Population of a foreign race will (normally - sometimes it works even if the main race is present) not show up unless the main race is removed from the world. Thus it is possible to terraform a Barren world into an Arid world when playing the Phidi Combine even if that option is unavailable to the Phidi. The trick is to add for instance Human Colonists to the world and then remove all of the Phidi Colonists.
7. The first general terraforming technology is Atmosphere Generation which generally allows the terraforming of warm worlds into Arid and Glacier worlds.
8. The second general terraforming technology is Terraforming which generally allows the terraforming of medium and large worlds with a thin or normal atmosphere into Island and Garden worlds.
9. The third general terraforming technology is Orbital Mirrors which generally allows the terraforming of hot worlds into Arid, Glacier, Island and Garden worlds.
10. Atmospheric Condensation is a special terraforming technology available only to the Orthin Conference. It allows Inferno worlds to be terraformed just like any other worlds. Normally, Inferno worlds cannot be terraformed.
11. Hive Worlds is a special terraforming technology available to the Ashdar Colonials, the Ashdar Imperials, the Gremak Empire, and the Yoral Khaganate. It allows the terraforming of worlds of any size with a thin or normal atmosphere into Hive worlds.
12. Coral Blooms is a special terraforming technology available only to the Phidi Combine which allows the terraforming of medium and large worlds with a thin or normal atmosphere into Coral worlds.

Inhospitable planets characterized by a thick toxic atmosphere. Extreme greenhouse effects create surface temperatures hot enough to melt most metals, making terraforming extremely difficult.

CLIMATE ZONES: INFERNO

The most common planetary type, these worlds are essentially massive rocks floating in space. Barren worlds have no significant atmosphere; though they are likely to contain useful mineral resources.

CLIMATE ZONES: AIRLESS

Iceball worlds have extremely thin atmospheres, and surfaces enclosed in a thick layer of ice. In the interior, heat from the planet's core melts the ice deep below the crust, creating vast subsurface oceans that may be home to chemosynthetic life. Most surface-dwelling or shallow water species will be limited to development on the freezing, barren surface.

CLIMATE ZONES: AIRLESS, VENTS

A thin atmosphere and rocky surface makes colonization of Desert worlds relatively straightforward, though few colonists will be comfortable here. If the planet is massive enough to support a thicker atmosphere, terraforming to a more hospitable type may be possible.

CLIMATE ZONES: ARID

A thin atmosphere and rocky surface makes colonization of Arid worlds relatively straightforward, though few colonists will be comfortable here. If the planet is massive enough to support a thicker atmosphere, terraforming to a more hospitable type may be possible.

CLIMATE ZONES: ARID, ICE (Dzibix has METRO insted of ICE)

Curiosity: Arid worlds can have either Thin or Normal atmosphere. The Max Population of a small and medium world with a Normal atmosphere is 1000000 higher than the corresponding Thin atmosphere world. This Max Population bonus is increased to 2000000 for large worlds. The first table verifies this. When terraforming an Arid world with a Normal atmosphere this bonus is kept for some reason, resulting in a higher Max Population on the resulting world as well. So while Arid worlds with a Thin atmosphere terraform to the standard variants, Arid worlds with Normal atmosphere terraform to a better variant that has its Max Population increased by 1000000 for small and medium worlds and 2000000 for large worlds. Apart from having a higher Max Population they are equal in all ways to the standard variant. To mark that the resulting world will keep this bonus the world data of the new world is written in italic text. Note that only the standard variants are listed in the tables for the different worlds that Arid worlds can terraform into.

Freezing temperatures cause sheets of ice to convert most of the land and sea on these planets. Most land and sea dwelling species will find the environment quite harsh, unless specifically adapted to the cold.

CLIMATE ZONES: ICE, VENTS

Unlike most terrestrial worlds which support a very thin surface layer of water, ocean worlds can have ten percent or more of their mass as water, forming oceans hundreds of kilometers deep, and with no dry land at all. The immense pressure in the abyssal depths leads to the formation of exotic forms of ice, even at higher temperatures, and so most of the habitable biome is open ocean.

CLIMATE ZONES: OCEAN, VENTS

A thin atmosphere and rocky surface makes colonization of Steppes worlds relatively straightforward, though few colonists will be comfortable here.

CLIMATE ZONES: ICE, ARID

Swamp worlds are rare. Gremal is the only known planet with this climate type.

CLIMATE ZONES: SWAMP, OCEAN

The surface of coral worlds are dominated by shallow water reefs. Ocean life is abundant, but there's little dry land.

CLIMATE ZONES: REEF, OCEAN, VENTS

Abundant water and a thick atmosphere make this planet type ideal for ocean dwellers. The atmosphere is also suitable for air breathers, though their settlements will be limited by the lack of available dry land.

CLIMATE ZONES: OCEAN, REEF, VENTS

Note: Tendao cannot be terraformed.

Garden worlds have a thick atmosphere and a climate ideal for life. The wide range of climates makes it possible for many different races to profitably coexist -- each developing the parts of the planet that they're best suited for.

CLIMATE ZONES: OCEAN, FOREST, REEF, VENTS (Rastaban II has ARID as well)

Hive worlds boast massive cities and have tremendous industrial capacity. However, the extreme demands of the Hives will destroy most life outside the arcology walls. The Hives themselves are well armored against the elements, and include extensive systems for regulating their internal conditions. It is possible to transform nearly any planet type to a Hive world -- all that's required is a thin atmosphere.

CLIMATE ZONES: METRO, ARID

Like the more commonly occurring Garden worlds, Paradise planets exhibit a range of different climate types. However, while Garden worlds contain some hasher regions, the surfaces of Paradise worlds are consistently abundant; with coral reefs and dense forests covering the majority of the planet. The native ecosystems are also extraordinarily resilient, quickly adapting to accommodate any industrial activities.

CLIMATE ZONES: REEF, FOREST, VENTS