The rules behind terraforming are currently sufficiently opaque that I can't be sure whether or not Orbital Mirrors not unlocking any options in my empire is a bug or just a lack of planets that fit the conditions. The terraforming rules badly need better documentation so that players can make intel...

Social Engineering does not actually appear to provide its documented effect of adding an improvement slot to planets. Save 1262 uploaded.

Each population type (race) also has habitability and growth rating based on both planet type and biome type, so the formal for max population can get complicated when you have multiple races on a planet. Sven can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that if you have Phidi on an Arid planet their a...

Out of curiousity- what's the difference in biome distribution between garden and paradise worlds? Both are listed as containing forest, reef, ocean, and vents biomes, so what specifically changes is not immediately obvious. (Off the top of my head, I'd assume that forest and/or reefs are expanded s...

After discovering Coral Blooms, Tendao isn't a valid candidate for terraforming to a Coral world. I should think it could be a candidate- there isn't anything obvious that disqualifies it. All other Island worlds I have are able to be terraformed to Coral.

OK, game_1256 just uploaded, with first contact with Sitovan's Marauders at Hamal I. You can see they have 1,013,518 Phidi slaves despite this being first contact. Only semi-related: why isn't the leader of Sitovan's Marauders named Sitovan? Or was Sitovan an old leader who has since been replaced b...

It seems odd that factories don't contribute anything to the empire when their host planet is on research/trade/city planning activities. I have no wish for factories to steal markets' thunder, but perhaps factories on planets running those settings rather than having an active construction project ...

OK, I just found the issue again. Are saves uploaded by 'upload game logs' in the options menu, or is there some other method I'm missing in the sticky threads? I'm not seeing that I can attach save files to forum posts.

What governs 'first impressions' with an alien species? I've noticed that it's possible to get yourself into a corner, influence-wise, if you establish early embassies and agreements with a neighbor that immediately declares war on you. 24 influence with no way to gain anymore is a bad sign for futu...

I'll start a new game to try and force that again- my current save in which that happened has long since had me purchase those poor enslaved Phidi to liberate them.

I'm particularly noting this because I'm seeing Phidi slaves as the Phidi Combine in newly-contacted Marauder colonies (that I promptly pay off for peace). Is this intended behavior?

While we're on morale mechanics: is there any timeout on morale penalties from the purchase of slaves? I discovered to my regret that buying slaves from Marauders then immediately freeing them once they reach their destination still is a net negative on morale for a long time as of yet. You'd think ...

I'm curious, though, how the number of foreign trade routes is determined- as, for that matter, the number of domestic trade routes in your territory is determined. With the understanding that specific numbers are likely to change, I'd still like to get an idea of the mechanics there.

How precisely is trade capacity calculated for domestic and foreign trade? Is the bonus income for foreign trade always twice what you're getting for domestic trade or the limit on foreign trade capacity, or is the amount of foreign trade you profit from determined in a more complicated fashion? I s...

Ah, well, that would explain some things. 'Embassies being broken' would explain why nobody ever accepted me establishing embassies with them, heh.