Tendao Terraforming

[nweismuller]

Is it intended that Tendao can't be terraformed up to Coral? It doesn't seem to me that Tendao should be particularly unsuitable for such a process, when every other Island world can undergo the transformation. It seems odd.

[bjg]

I'm confused. Terraforming to Coral was not possible, and I don't see it in the changes list. Is it now?

[nweismuller]

It's been possible for Phidi for a long time. I think it's unique to the Phidi tech tree.

[bjg]

It's been possible for Phidi for a long time. I think it's unique to the Phidi tech tree.

Thanks for the explanation. As for Tendao - isn't it already "bigger" than a regular Island?

[nweismuller]

It's been possible for Phidi for a long time. I think it's unique to the Phidi tech tree.

Thanks for the explanation. As for Tendao - isn't it already "bigger" than a regular Island?

Not really. It has a larger Vents biome and a smaller Ocean biome, if I recall correctly, but for Phidi themselves it works out to the same population cap, or slightly smaller.

[Arioch]

I believe the way it works is that terraforming options are disabled if they would be a "downgrade," and this is the case for most of the homeworlds.

[nweismuller]

I believe the way it works is that terraforming options are disabled if they would be a "downgrade," and this is the case for most of the homeworlds.

I can say with full confidence that a Coral terraforming for Tendao wouldn't be a downgrade- the population cap for Tendao isn't any higher than a normal Island for Phidi, so a Coral terraforming would raise their population cap from a base of 18 to 20. I have really wanted to make Tendao a Coral world, but ironically it ends up stuck with a lower pop cap than any other Island world I get in the long term.

[nweismuller]

Island planets have 2 units of reef biome, 3 of ocean, and 1 of vents, multiplied by size, by default. Tendao has 3 units of reef, 1.5 of ocean, and 1.6 of vents. Coral planets get 4 units of reef, 1.2 of ocean, and 1 of vents. Phidi have a habitability of of 4 for reef biomes, 3 for ocean, and 0.8 for vents. Orthin have a habitability of 4 for vents, but are inferior for ocean and reefs.

As such- an Island world with only Phidi has a maximum population of (2*4)+(3*3)+(1*0.8)=17.8. Adding Orthin increases that to 21 (increasing vents population from 0.8 to 4). Tendao with only Phidi has a maximum population of (3*4)+(1.5*3)+(1.6*0.8)=12+4.5+0.8+0.48=17.78, or actually very slightly lower than a default Island world. If it has Orthin available, this increases to 16.5+(1.6*4)=22.9, or a notable improvement over default Island worlds. A Coral world with only Phidi has a maximum population of (4*4)+(1.2*3)+(1*0.8)=20.4, significantly better than either an Island or Tendao. With Orthin, this increases to 23.6, still better than Tendao.

Tendao is better than normal islands if and only if you have Orthin to supplement your Phidi, and is inferior to Corals even with a mixed Phidi/Orthin population. Terraforming to Coral is never a downgrade for Tendao and should be allowed. Given that the archetypal Phidi playthrough is not very aggressive, it can hardly be guaranteed to have Orthin to upgrade Tendao.

Tl;dr: math indicates that Tendao is only ever superior to normal islands if you have Orthin as well as Phidi, and is always inferior to Corals; Coral terraforming is therefore always an upgrade for Tendao and should be permitted.