[dogscoff]

I also had a hard-code idea about planetary space (your "hive" comment reminded me.)

First up, the "minimum population to operate facility" would have to be implemented. I blieve this was put into the game in the early stages and then disabled before release.

Second, remove the "domed" and "non-domed" status for planets. Each planet would have a maximum population for native breathers. If the population doesn't breathe the atmosphere, you have to...

Number three, build a new "Dome" facility. Each dome allows a certain amount of the population (say, 20million or so) to be non-breathers. You could even have different tech levels of domes, allowing higher populations.

Think about it:

Under the current system, a huge methane world with 200 million methane breathers has 25 facility slots. Add 1 million hydrogen breathers, however, and suddenly you only have 5 facility slots. This is crazy. Under the new system, the same world with the same mixture of population would have 24 facility slots (one slot being taken up by the dome for the hydrogen breathers.)
If you wanted a lot more hydrogen breathers on there, you'd need to build more domes -you'd have to balance your population requirements against your facility requirements.

Building a dome would not increase the maximum population of the planet (although a facility to do that would be cool). It would just allow a certain amount of the population to be non-breathers.

Of course, it means you could have 4 free facility slots on a tiny world even if you can't breathe the atmosphere there, but if the minimum population per facility was balanced right, those extra facilities would be useless without more domes=-)

It would make population handling far more realistic, flexible, interesting and challenging.


Another bonus: Domed facilities would become more realistically vulnerable to attack (ie one (un)lucky shot could destroy a dome facility and kill millions.)



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"Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
"I think so Brain but, if you replace the P with an O, my name would be Oinky, wouldn't it?"