Terraforming

What is terraforming?

Terraforming is how we modify a world's environmental attributes - surface temperature, atmospheric pressure, oxygen level, toxicity, hydrosphere coverage, tectonic activity, and biosphere development. Each world has its own starting conditions and equilibrium values that it naturally drifts toward, which are calculated from the physical characteristics of the world - gravity, mass, distance from the star, etc. Your job is to push those attributes into a range that suits a target species.

Different species have different environmental requirements. Finding a world that's already close to what you need will save a lot of effort. Check a planet's current attributes before committing to a terraforming operation.

Getting started

Before you can terraform real worlds, you'll need to complete the terraforming training simulation. Head to the datacentre at MIRFAKA-OBJ-1 and find the replicant_interface in the list of other devices. Run the terraforming scenario to learn the basics - how devices interact, how coupling rules chain together, and how to read the environmental feedback.

See the Simulations page for details on how to view and run a scenario

The simulation teaches you the core loop: deploy a Terraform Monitor, activate devices to shift attributes, watch your event stream for terraforming.status updates, and stabilise the world with an Atmospheric Regulator once you're close to your targets.

Use the Terraforming Update section on the Event Stream for a realtime (ish) dashboard to watch the environmental attributes with graphs, deltas, predictions and anomaly alerts

Once you've completed the training, you'll be able to activate terraforming devices in the real galaxy and be able to start working on real planets and moons across the galaxy.

The process

1. Find a suitable world - check its current attributes and equilibrium values against your target species.
2. Deploy a Terraform Monitor at the location to begin tracking changes.
3. Activate terraforming components to shift attributes toward the target range.
4. Configure your devices to control the strength and direction of their effects.
5. Watch for coupling effects and disasters - some attribute changes trigger chain reactions.
6. Once attributes are close, deploy an Atmospheric Regulator to suppress microfluctuations and hold the world stable.
7. For a recommended approach, see the strategy guide.

Device control

Every terraforming device can be configured with a strength value from 0.0 to 1.0. At full strength the device operates at its listed rate. Dial it back to reduce the effect - useful for fine-tuning attributes as they approach the target range without overshooting.

Some devices also support a direction setting that reverses their effect. An atmo processor normally increases atmospheric pressure and surface temperature, but reversing it will decrease both instead. Check the components reference to see which devices are reversible.

You may find that five orbital mirrors at full strength, plus a sixth running at 0.13 strength is the perfect amount to warm a frozen wasteland to Human level of comfort.

Attributes

Every terraformable world has seven environmental attributes:

• Surface temperature (K) - measured in Kelvin. Range: 50 - 1,200 K.
• Atmospheric pressure (atm) - measured in Earth atmospheres. Range: 0 - 100 atm.
• Oxygen (%) - atmospheric oxygen percentage. Range: 0 - 100%.
• Toxicity - atmospheric toxicity index. Range: 0 - 100.
• Hydrosphere (%) - surface water coverage. Range: 0 - 100%.
• Tectonic index - geological activity level. Range: 0 - 100.
• Biosphere index - biological development level. Range: 0 - 100.

Each attribute drifts toward its natural equilibrium over time. Smaller bodies drift faster; massive planets are more resistant to change. Your devices need to overcome this drift to make lasting progress.

Reading the status event

Every terraform tick, each active monitor emits a terraform.status event. This is your primary feedback loop - it tells you what's changing, why, and where things are heading.

If you panic and things start to go really wrong, just deactivate the terraform monitor and take a break. Balancing the attributes can be frustrating - the tick drops down to every 24h when deactivated. It's a game after all :)

{
  "body": "MARYR-2",

  "anomaly": {
    "type": "solar_flare",
    "severity": "dramatic",
    "ticks_until": 4
  },
  
  "effects": {
    "cascade": [{ "attribute": "biosphere", "direction": "decrease", "strength": "moderate" }],
    "devices": {

      "B70E7C07": {
        "device_type": "orbital_mirror",
        "effects": [{ "attribute": "temperature", "direction": "increase", "strength": "negligible" }]
      },
    
      "A3F19D22": {
        "device_type": "filtration_array",
        "effects": [{ "attribute": "toxicity", "direction": "decrease", "strength": "moderate" }]
      },
    
      "D8C44E10": {
        "device_type": "atmo_processor",
        "effects": [
          { "attribute": "oxygen",   "direction": "increase", "strength": "weak" },
          { "attribute": "pressure", "direction": "increase", "strength": "weak" }
        ]
      }
    
      },
    "equilibrium": [
      { "attribute": "temperature", "direction": "decrease", "strength": "weak" },
      { "attribute": "oxygen",      "direction": "decrease", "strength": "negligible" },
      { "attribute": "toxicity",    "direction": "increase", "strength": "weak" }
    ]
  },
  
  "asteroids": [
    {
      "designation": "MARYR-OBJ-1",
      "mass_class": "medium",
      "composition": "ice",
      "impact_eta": "2026-09-17T04:22:11Z",
      "orbital_distance_au": 0.34
    }
  ],
  
  "attributes": {
    "oxygen":      { "delta": 0.087,   "value": 5.23 },
    "pressure":    { "delta": 0.0041,  "value": 0.34 },
    "tectonic":    { "delta": 0.0,     "value": 15.0 },
    "toxicity":    { "delta": -0.42,   "value": 63.87 },
    "biosphere":   { "delta": 0.0,     "value": 0.0 },
    "hydrosphere": { "delta": 0.053,   "value": 8.14 },
    "temperature": { "delta": -0.1548, "value": 361.73 }
  },

  "projections": {
    "temperature": { "+6": 360.8, "+12": 359.87, "+24": 358.01 },
    "toxicity":    { "+6": 61.35, "+12": 58.83,  "+24": 53.79 },
    "oxygen":      { "+6": 5.75,  "+12": 6.27,   "+24": 7.32 }
  }
  
  "warnings": [
    "temperature approaching Evaporation threshold (373)",
    "Toxic suppression (toxicity > 30)"
  ]

}

anomaly

Details of any pending or active anomaly at the body - volcanic eruptions, solar flares, and similar random events. Includes the anomaly type, severity (minor or dramatic), and a countdown (ticks_until) so you can prepare.

effects

A breakdown of what's driving the attribute deltas, split into three sources:

• cascade - coupling effects triggered by threshold crossings. If you see cascade entries, a chain reaction is in progress.
• devices - per-device effects, keyed by device code. Each entry lists the attributes being changed, the direction (increase or decrease), and a strength band (negligible, weak, moderate, or strong).
• equilibrium - the natural drift pulling attributes back toward the world's baseline values. This is the force you're working against.

asteroids

Any active incoming asteroids on a collision course with this body. Each entry includes the asteroid's designation, mass class, composition, estimated time of impact, and current orbital distance in AU. Empty when no asteroids are inbound. See impacts for how to use asteroid strikes as a terraforming tool.

attributes

The current value and per-tick delta for each of the seven environmental attributes. A positive delta means the attribute is increasing; negative means decreasing. If all deltas are near zero, the world is stable.

projections

Predicted attribute values at +6, +12, and +24 ticks into the future, assuming current deltas remain constant. Only attributes with non-negligible deltas are included. Use these to spot overshoot before it happens - if the +24 projection has blown past your target range, dial back your device strength now rather than waiting for it to drift out.

warnings

Plain-text alerts for active coupling thresholds and approaching danger zones. If a coupling rule has fired (e.g. greenhouse runaway), it appears here. Warnings also fire when an attribute is within 10% of a threshold, giving you time to react.