Here's a few suggestions... a Acid world with dead or dying landscape. Planets with multiple moons would be nice with similar or completely different biomes. Coral world... Bog world.. or a Mangrove world Salt marsh worlds.. Rocky worlds, like lots of mountains, plateaus, ravines. Dark biomes - pretty much doesn't have day or night but eternally dark. dunno those are a few ideas
Dyson spheres anyone? It wouldn't even need to have an actual star inside it, all you'd see from space would be a metal planet if the sphere is harvesting 100% of the star's output. So it would be functionnaly exactly like a metal/iron planet, but at the center of a system. You'd need a way to add another light source though, so maybe in a binary system one star is a Dyson sphere and the other would light the sphere and orbiting planets. If the sphere is in the process of being built you could have rings around stars or some kind of fragmented construction (not sure what purpose it would serve). Legacy sounds like the kind of faction that eats up entire stars and systems, they could have Legacy spheres unless an entire faction is dedicated to star harvesting.
I'd love to see a post-apocalyptic world. And more than that, maybe a couple different flavors therein. Maybe a heavily irradiated version denoting a nuclear apocalypse, and even a sweet mad-max style planet with ruined cities and raiders? How much fun would it be to come across piratey-raider factions with makeshift HV and SV or maybe even one or two CV planet-wide. Awesome old-tech style loot? (High-end components, etc). That sort of planet could provide a lot of unscripted mini-adventure, but if they intend to add mini-quests, you could see quests among the raiders and pirates to gain the upper hand over each other. Maybe even some survivors... In underground bunkers... Also, jungle planets? I definitely support true ocean planets with under water bases (and vehicle upgrades and techs to make water travel and access a legitimate thing we can do). Oh, and a shattered planet! Similar vein as post-apocalyptic, but like, half a planet where due to some disaster, impact, whatever, its half a planet with a scattered asteroid field and a lot of lava around that part of the planet. I'm not sure what it would be like to walk to the edge of a planet, but I'd love to find out!
Planeten um rote zwerge die tidelock, also rotationsgebunden sind. Auch die Farben der pflanzen sind eine andere. Je nach sternenklasse anders. Um rote zwerge sind sie zum beispiel sehr dunkel um das restliche schwache Licht auch absorbieren zu können. Wie krass wäre es durch schwarz oder dunkelrote Wälder zu Streifen. Eine andere Welt. Auf der ewigen tagseite eine Wüste die sich kreisförmig zur nachtseite immer mehr in Savannen und Wälder wandelt. Auf der nachtseite dann immer kälter bis zu einem äquatorialen kältepol. Vl auch noch Ausbrüche des Roten zwerges mit massiv steigender Radioaktivität und Störfrequenzen.
A world where the rules of physics don't apply. Wet and cold deserts, dry swamps, hot snowy areas, Trees with leaves at the bottom and an inverted umbrella at the top to collect water. Let's be different or you limit what worlds you can have.
A canal world is an obvious choice if one thinks about early scifi. It might also be worth exploring some worlds where all of the plant/animal assets are small. It'd be high detail and cute... and all one needs to do is scale down the 3d models (or possibly use more lower-poly ones). I do rather like the idea of a variety of different types of dead worlds (it'd give a sense of age to the universe) As an aside... I've thought that managing the flora/fauna with more logic could add to discovery. The idea that life forms needed to be seeded from one world to another... with 'ur worlds' that have their original (unique) ecosystem... worlds with reduced ecosystems (failed transplants where only a few species survived) and mixed worlds which combine ecosystems from more than one ur world.
I had a vivid dream about rivers and waterfalls in Empyrion (in response to the reflectivity in the gas giant dev updates making me think for a moment there was a new water system). It would apparently take some work to program though.
Or a world where everything is HUGE (possibly including fauna) and you feel like an insect. Some other ideas: Snowball Earth. Its pretty much like an ice moon but bigger, and with large open water lakes at the equator due to tidal forces breaking the ice apart and cooler temperatures. Living planet. I think maybe that's already where we're going with the Legacy faction playfield and the Nautilus infectors, but I love the sci-fi trope of an entire planet being made of breathing and living flesh, and possibly being sentient too. The planet then sends asteroids everywhere to spread through the entire galaxy. Example: Phaaze in Metroid Prime. Pangaea planet. Since the current temperate planets are covered with landmass with lakes, maybe we could have planets covered with water with one or more huge landmasses that properly reflect continental climate (different than the already existing islands playfield). These would consist of a mix between temperate and arid biomes, with wet biomes and tropical forests around the coasts and vast dry Omicron-like desert far from the shores. Tidal locked planet. Synchronous rotation happens when the same side of the planet is directed at its star during its entire revolution, functionnaly locking the daylight system into place. One side is constantly daytime and burning with hot temperatures, ther other side forever nighttime covered with ice with cold temperatures. Between the two sides, a crepuscular area have more temperate temperatures where life can subsist, eternally locked in twilight.
I was going to say a Tidally locked planet also but someone got to it before me. It would be interesting to have eternal daylight on one side of the planet (desert) and eternal darkness on the other (snow). Imagine the horrors you could have on the dark side of the planet? Another possible planet could be a crystalline world with mountain sizes crystals surrounded by smaller ones like everywhere (great source of pentaxid. Another possibility is Kuiper space objects used as planetoids with POIs on them (like pirate bases or something). How about a world where the oceans are methane and the atmosphere is a combination of methane/ethane making it difficult to see through the thick atmosphere just like Titan a great source of promethium and warp fuel.
trap world:- type dangerous . only visitable by sv (not cv - too expensive) flight mechanic does not operate on said world only wheeled transport only way off is a 'portal' maybe one way somewhere on the world to somewhere where a new sv can be built. either planet or infested base. reason to visit :- unique resource or opto bridges from crashed ships very high gravity world :- - need much much more thrust to leave world ie need to reconfigure vehicle if not got enough. - Structural integrity limits are much lower (ie need to make tougher bases) - in suit speed much lower due to higher gravity - wheeled transport as hover vehicles cant at high gravity venus type world. - at surface pressure results in higher structural integruty requirements - at surface toxic atmosphere results in high degradation - at surface need cooling lasers to withstand temperature - new modified hover motor to allow sky base high in atmosphere - where pressure ok but toxic rain . eupora type agartha - very thick ice - but water world or anything really beneath - you have to drill to get in industrial worlds - ok and i agree with others -- really need highly industrial homeworlds and colonys for the various spacefaring races... maybe only a few areas visitable for trade for security reasons - so only need to look high tech 'glitch' worlds - cross an invisible boundary - go through the wrong door - end up on a one way trip to somewhere else in the galaxy - dude where did i park that sv. mechanoid world - the droids/drones have rebelled -infinite drone spawns to keep you away -but they can't leave planet (yet)
A Foggy planet. I mentioned a cave world earlier, but that might be too difficult to create, so another (similar) idea would be a foggy world where only the mountain tops are clear of fog. Everywhere else on the planet is thick fog. The surface of the planet is a maze of deep ravines and canyons full of thick fog--you can only see a little ways ahead because the fog is so thick. This is similar to the "cave planet" (see above) because it's like a dungeon crawl, I guess, but with jump scares in the fog as creatures suddenly appear. Another idea is the fog forms a roof, and the area close to the planet's surface isn't very foggy. The ravines and canyons are narrow and twisty so it's hard to fly a ship, you have to explore on foot/bike/HV. There needs to be a valuable resource somewhere on the planet or nobody would go there. Maybe there's one or two crashed CVs, and if we can find them in all that fog we can fix and fly off in them.
I'm no game designer, but I'm fairly certain massive amounts of fog would create lag too. However, I think really steep ravines and twisting canyons should be doable (again, not a game designer). If the sides are steep enough, you wouldn't be able to walk in and out, thus creating the effect of walls and a dungeon crawl like experience. I do love this idea.
I like a lot of these ideas, and I'd like to see them. However, some of them are a bit on the... slightly-overzealous side perhaps (especially tidally locked and shattered planets). While they are good things to work on, Eleon might be looking for more basic planet types, so I'll throw a few out there, some have been mentioned, some are from me: Forest Planet. If you take inspiration from the fantasy genre, this can be a lot more than simple 'lots of trees'. You can have biomes defined by the vegetation present. So you could have forests full of huge trees, but with lots of space between them. You could have lots of smaller trees closer together, making HV movement a problem. Then you could get more creative and have fields of parasitic strangler vines - perhaps they feed on your base over time and crop up randomly around the planet. You could have plants which emit radiation. Or maybe a poisonous fog. Perhaps there are fields of fungus which send spores out in clouds if you get too close, giving you serious fungal infections which must be cured... You can also use this playfield to pull double-duty. Simply govern the tree type by temperature, and if the planet is warmer, you get more palms and fewer firs. Boom. Jungle planet. Windy planet. I think others have mentioned this, but it is a great idea because it can be incorporated on any terrain preset and in any planet location. However, if the whole planet is defined by wind, that wind has got to be serious. There are exoplanets where we believe the winds reach crazy high speeds. These planets would not be able to support much in the way of trees or even bushes, although maybe something like lichen could exist. Even grass would probably have a hard time. Perhaps vehicles move slower against the wind (might be interesting for PvP). Thin structures have a chance of blowing over. And if the planet has loose particles on the surface, like sand or fine ice, then that's flying around too, causing damage to vessels, structures, and your own suit. With shields, this would be a constant slow drain on pentaxid. The survey mentioned wind damage, so this is well within the realm of possibility. Water planet. This has of course been mentioned already, but I think it's worth bringing up again. There's two ways you can approach this. Obviously you can't do anything until water is overhauled, and we can have more than telluropods in the depths. More creatures, more landscape, and definitely Zirax bases and vessels. The question is if this is a 100% water planet, or the Ocean planet we have already. Both have their merits, so I see no reason not to include them both. One is an Ocean planet, the other is a Water planet. A water planet has no land, which means you special flotation devices on any ship you hope to land there. You'll probably need special engines to move underwater too, since thrusters probably wouldn't do too well... Dead planet. Mentioned quite a bit, but I watched Spanj's run on Project Eden, and I loved the feel of the dead starter planet. Start with a snow planet, make the snow constant, put ruins everywhere... yeah. Too easy to make. Obviously having the planet be completely deserted - while perhaps realistic - isn't very challenging, so add in the vestiges of a lost civilization. Robots still carrying out forgotten tasks, drones defending areas which have long since been looted, discarded artifacts leaking radiation everywhere, pools of toxic waste, perhaps a weather pattern which inflicts some kind of toxic poison instead of radiation. If you really want to go crazy, make a weather called 'Orbital Bombardment', and have a derelict cruiser up in the orbit, running on centuries old AI and solar power, occasionally bombard the planet, following some long forgotten order. Until you arrive and blast your way through it, of course. Gas Planet. This requires a bit more work, but I think is doable with a few simple tweaks. You just start with a perfectly flat terrain map, and then create a code so that anything which touches that terrain is sucked through it and lost. Then just make the sky one color, the clouds a slightly darker variation of the same color, and the ground a slightly darker variation of that. Boom. Gas planet. You'll need extensive fog in the color of planet of course, and biomes would be vertical instead of horizontal, but all the biomes would do is represent different pressures: the deeper you go, the hotter it gets, the higher gravity gets, and the higher pressure gets (maybe pressure will become a thing in the future). But the gases making up the atmosphere are also thicker, meaning you can harvest them faster. For this planet to be more than a pit stop, we'll need a way to make floating bases. Drones a floating Zirax bases and Polaris mining bases would abound around such rich resources, obviously. Those are just some more basic ideas off the top of my head. I think they've all been mentioned before, but not quite how I saw them, or not with ease-of-implementation in mind. I think all of these should be fairly easy to add in. The gas planet might take a little longer, and the Water planet obviously requires a whole water rework. Also, I can't believe I never noticed this until it was mentioned: RIVERS. PLEASE. WE NEED RIVERS!!!
Im just hoping the galaxy will not have life in every planet like NMS which puts life everywhere. I wish it would be more rare so that finding life would feel rewarding. Rather than having too many planet types I feel more variety in creatures and plants would make sense. Going to a different planet would be cool if we didnt see the same creatures there as in other planets. However, at the same time, it could be said that some of these creatures were once brought to these planets like cattle and they reproduced and became a part of the local wildlife (like an invasive species). Here is my planet suggestion: Sulfur lake barren worlds of different kinds. Just weird ugly smelling planets with large lakes of odd looking volcanic activity and atmospheres. There doesnt need to be plants and animals for these planets to be interesting. We will need all kinds of interesting looking lifeless planets where the player can mine, setup outposts, and gather resources. Maybe explore to find rare items in a crashed ship somewhere. Or an abandoned and destroyed mining outpost. There also deosnt need to be enemies in every planet. Drones in every planet can get old. I epxect to see lifeless planets completely devoid of anything other than maybe the occasional abandoned outpost or crashed ship or satellite. You might ask, what is the threat to the player in such a planet with no enemies? Well the environment itself and the constant risk of running out of supplies. Also the visuals themselves being so unique and interesting would keep it interesting. More weather and sky effects are needed. For example, some planets might have constant bombardment of meteors that are a threat to the player. Some planets might have really cool sky effects like the northern lights.
the reason why I dont believe fog creates lag is because fog can be rendered by the graphics card without affecting ram, or the cpu. Your graphics card should be able to handle it without lagging up your machine. I am a developer but I am not 100% familiar with the Unity engine.. Though I have messed around in it.
I like the idea of a cave world and I suspect it wouldnt be too hard to do using some the tech they already have for digging tunnels and creating POI's already buried underground. I think it would be worth the effort. I also like the idea of a constantly foggy planet that maybe only lightens up the fog at night or something like that. With luminescent plants to help you see a little better? I know having too many light sources might cause lag issues but maybe not.
Few idea's... 1. A plains world might be nice, just long grass rolling hills... raptors... 2. A Tundra world 3. Ice world with volcano's 4. A world that's in transition, an Akua world that's becoming part desert world, basically two worlds merging to one. An Auka world hit by a massing meteor that's got lava everywhere. or a lava world transitioning to a desert world. 5. An odd point, an Alien world isn't actually a world type. Its a corruption or something right, so Alien -Planet type could be a thing? For example how about an Alien Ice world?
I have developed a post apoc world for a private server, it's not that hard to do, just a matter of finding enough suitable POIs for it. Use a desert, strip the nest and oasis biomes, spam an ungodly amount of ruin POI cities, done. Jungle planets are more challenging, but doable in the current system, provided you have a good reference of trees. True ocean would be useless, as the bases cannot use weapons and would be permanently submerged in the current water system. Nevermind the lack of water creatures (1). A shattered planet would be... technically impossible in some regards. You can't make a non-sphere in orbit, however... You can make a planet with silly biome makeup (so desert, then magically lava). However you'd have no control over the specific placement of biomes beyond very careful and special use of specialBiomes, which are really experimental.
