Planet

NOTICE: This page is a Work in Progress as much of the lore/Development for the game is yet to be established.

A planet is a spherical body found in space. They are often characterised as bodies of gravity which form spherical bodies from materials, varying from gases, solid rock or even ice. Planet types and characteristics often depend on their spawning location and other factors, such as the whether they are within the Habitable Zone. Although their size varies, planets are often smaller than the smallest star types.

Generation

Planets are generated using the Galaxy Generation mechanic. They often form within the vicinity of star systems and once a Long Range survey is performed on a system. Most planets will not be identified until a Medium Range survey is performed. Those which form generate in the Habitable Zone have a chance of generating both life and tech signatures, with will appear after the former is performed.

Generation Process

Planets that generate in a star system are created using real-world data such as the Roche limit and Titius-Bode Law.

Planet Types

Terrestrial Planets

Terrestrial planets are composed primarily of rocks and solid materials such as metals. They often consist of a core and multiple material layers. Some terrestrial planets spawn with liquid environments or with molten substances on their surfaces, such as Earth-like Analogues or Lava Planets. Some also spawn with atmospheres with gases in their ozone, with some becoming Earth-like analogues capable of supporting life itself.

Atmospheric Terrestrials

• Characteristics: Rocky surfaces and atmospheres, though often lack liquid surfaces like water or lava.
• Examples: Mercury, Venus, Mars
• Notes: Will often spawn in or outside the Habitable Zone, often between the Lava Zone and the Frost Line

Lava Planets

• Characteristics: Rocky surfaces and atmospheres with molten materials on their surfaces.
• Examples:
• Notes: Will often spawn in the Lava Zone in a star system's orbit.

Earth-like Analogues

• Characteristics: Rocky surfaces and atmospheric, with the surface being able to support life and generate water on their surface.
• Examples: Earth
• Notes: Will often spawn within the habitable zone of certain stars, such as G and K class stars

Giant Planets

Giant planets are a term given to planets which exceed Earth's size. Examples include Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus.

Gas Giants

• Characteristics: Surfaces are often composed of light materials and gases, often Hydrogen or Helium.
• Examples: Jupiter, Saturn
• Notes: Can currently spawn outside of a star's frost line, due to the volatile nature of the planet's content.

Ice Giants

• Characteristics: Surfaces are often composed of frozen materials heavier than gases, such as Carbon or Water.
• Examples: Uranus, Neptune
• Notes: Can currently spawn outside of a star's frost line.

Dwarf Planets

Ice Dwarfs

• Characteristics: Surfaces often similar to Ice Giants, with their surfaces containing frozen materials.
• Examples: Pluto, Sedna
• Notes: Will spawn outside of a star's frost line.

Rocky Dwarfs

• Characteristics: Surfaces are similar to Terrestrial Planets.
• Examples: Ceres
• Notes: Can spawn both inside and outside of the habitable zone.

Rogue Planets

• Characteristics: The planet is found independently from a star system.
• Examples: Sigma Orionis

Development

Refinement of planetary spawning began during the 0.225 dev builds alongside Galaxy Generation process. These including implementation of calculations for the Roche limit, Hill Spheres, Orbital Periods and Velocity in a star system. Additional features were planning, including atmospheric pressure and chemicals, ocean chemicals and greenhouse effect calculations. Though some were partially implemented, development of these were paused and delayed until future versions.

Rogue Planets and Planetary Nebulae are intended to be implemented into Tech Demo 4. The former was implemented in dev build 0.226.0.19. Future versions are intended to feature further characteristics and astronomical objects generating within a planet's orbit such as moons and planetary rings, using the hill sphere implemented in 0.225's development cycle.