Ground defenses really don't benefit from cover or terrain vs. orbital opponents. Ground defenses can remain hidden only until they fire, and then the enemy knows exactly where they are. And unlike ships in orbit, ground defenses can't move. Once located, they are very easy targets.

Long range ship ...

Agreed, fairly minor change, not a factor in battle outcome. Mostly stems from a sense of perceived "realism".
Actually, in terms of realism, I think point-defense weapons would probably be your most effective weapons against ground targets. You're firing at essentially point-blank range, and ...

Suggest to disallow point-defence weapons and anti-missiles fire against planet to 1) diversify weapons a bit and 2) let planetary defenses last a little longer.
Are you finding that point defense weaponry is doing a significant portion of your damage to planets? I would be surprised.

That aside ...

I don't think it's displayed anywhere, but it probably should be. I'm making a note of it.

Hazard rating?

Dacarnix wrote:Interesting.

Having colonists in orbit of (for example) a Barren planet next to Taribor will allow you to colonize Taribor without Habitat Domes?

I never would have guessed that.

Or am I misreading you?

That's correct.

The open ocean on Earth is like a vast desert; the vast majority of sea life exists in shallow water near the coasts or on the sea floor. Those organisms that you do find in the open ocean are often only there because they're on their way to somewhere else. The open ocean at the surface receives ...

The maximum population calculation is abstracted so that you are rewarded for adding population that is more suitable to underused biomes on a planet, but you are not penalized for having sub-optimal population (as we feel that would lead to very tedious micromanagement).

Arid worlds (including Steppes) have variable atmospheres. Those with a "normal" atmospheric density (listed in the planet info pane and indicated by greening on the surface) don't have the Hostile Environment penalty; those with a "thin" atmosphere do have the penalty.

All of this is being ...

zolobolo wrote:Charged damage I assume is the same concept you have implemented to Orthin Busbar systems?

No. Charged/electrical damage type does extra internal damage if it penetrates armor and shields.

Could this be used to generate unique planets by seeding different starting water elevation levels even within the same class of planet?
Yes.

Or to dynamically generate the devastation level?
e.g.: There would be two sea levels and coloring, one representing overall sea level (blue) and the ...

"Viable" is not the same as "optimal." I can and do win games using ion cannons, so it's not accurate to say that they are not viable.
I think we need to add mods for non-lasers, and I think it would help to implement the "charged" damage type to distinguish ions from lasers.
We are going to be ...

Working on a planet asset that's designed from the ground up to be transformable from Arid all the way to Island, and to also have a Swamp world phase.

The colors represent separate elevation layers.

The starlane mechanic was really restrictive in Endless Space 1 (you were essentially blind to anything outside your territory), but it works a lot better in Endless Space 2.

zolobolo wrote:Well I think this is due to the lack of interation with the core elements of the game.

I think you just described MOO4 in a nutshell. It doesn't feel like the designer really understood what made the original fun.