Planetary Development Strategies

How to prosper and avoid having settlements annhilate each other

Alternate Mode (ALT Mode)

!!!~Use ALT Mode to get as many unlocks as possible before completing challege achievements~!!!

• Alternate Mode allows you to unlock new animals, plants, and minerals FASTER than otherwise.
  
• You unlock parts of ALT Mode individually.
  
• Select Advanced at the Menu screen and choose options.
  
• ALT Mode includes allowing faster movement speed, ability unlocks, and planet size.
  
• ALT Mode prevents certain challenge achievements, so don't be surprised!

In the Beginning...

Here is usually how I start an Era:
-->Figure out which developments I want to achieve
-->Use the Ocean Giant's basic combat ability to improve a Giant's movement speed

• Ocean Giant makes 2 oceans and encloses a Forest
  
• Ocean Giant makes 2 oceans and encloses a Swamp
  
• Rock Giant makes 2 mountains and encloses a Desert
  
• I make any kind of biome, and when a village settles, I create an Ocean within its borders (just beyond a project OR the space set aside for town - whichever furthest INSIDE from the borders)
  
• I make 2 oceans OR 2 mountains OR one of each and enclose 2 different biomes inside

Things to note -

• This kind of terraforming usually causes 2 villages to settle in the same biome. You can push one towards the other ocean or mountain, but once a nomad is roaming the planet, it will push your plants or animals out of the way for the village plot.
  
• You do have limited space, so you will only be able to work on about 1 project at a time per village. However, it will usually be completed!

Growth

For generic prosperity:

• Click to highlight areas taken by villages and things you've placed. Notice the range occupied by each and place new things accordingly.
  
• Alternate land slots with symbiotic organisms. OR fill those slots with things that get a bonus for each other of something nearby. You can amass a lot of technology this way with White Willows if you add the leaf aspect and you're doing a Science Project with the humans.
  
• Once the project is finished, destroy those organisms and get a different aspect on the final form to prevent greed in villages.
  
• Always upgrade to the max or find an organism to do it better. For example, Marshmallow gives a good tech bonus, but if you can get many White Willows to live nearby it boosts the tech aspect by a long shot.
  
• ON THE OTHER HAND, some animals or plants are better off when not fully upgraded or symbiotic. For example, rabbits are very prolific and when placed literally EVERYWHERE in a forest, they can provide tons of food. White willow gets some huge boosts when you put them together. Javelina also work like this.
  
• INDIVIDUAL BONUS > SYMBIOSIS BONUS:
  Parrotfish are also extremely good in this way and strangely best if you just put a bunch of parrotfish together instead of mackerel, clownfish and parrotfish for the parrotfish's symbiosis. You will find other situations like this!
  
• You will find that, once you collect ambassadors and ability upgrades, you will need to go back around your planet and re-establish better crops, herds, and mineral mines. Replace these things for the "Great" prefix, adding better bonuses to food, tech and wealth.

For an Era with only one of something:

• Upgrade to the max and destroy plants, animals; regrow final form with different aspects when possible. Only keep non-essential resources to finish human developments.

What to do with my Ambassadors?

Read the description box when an Ambassador appears.
You don't want to pick up an Ambassador that boosts an aspect for minerals if you're not using minerals in this Era!
However, you may be forced to pick up a useless Ambassador if your other Giants have one. Keep in mind you benefit from many aspect boosts provided.

• Think about what resource you need and what aspect would boost that. A Fruit aspect on your Forest Giant will provide more food. The Ocean Giant's Herd aspect may lead to more wealth in your village.
  
• Once you've seen what the Giants' abilities do (you can get a preview from the taskbar) you can figure out which Giant picks up which Ambassador FIRST!
  
• Having diversity in biomes is great, but don't feel forced to get different Ambassadors. You can get upgrades on abilities listed on the taskbar preview!

Discord

• Once you remove the excessive resource, greed should subside. Again, use Symbiosis to avoid this, but ONLY when you're not working on a project! Try to get Symbiosis with Awe whenever possible, especially if you're running a Plantation.
  
• More of something won't hurt if the resources it provides are diverse.
  
• As your village grows, it will encompass larger borders.
  
• Those borders may bump into a neighboring village OR an open ocean. You can fill the ocean with fish to generate prosperity!
  
• Avoid completing Plantation and Sacrifice Altar Developments

Further Expansion

• As long as 2 nearby villages have equal military strength, it's okay to leave them to their little squabbles and expand on the other side of your oceans or mountains. One side will get a war mark even if the war ends in a tie, or the attacking army is defeated.
  
• Be careful not to stray too far, because you DO need to maintain balance and develop projects.
  
• It doesn't really matter what kind of settlement you make because you just need to maintain symbiosis and awe (if possible) in the biome.
  
• Note that warring villages CAN cross the ocean!!! Including if they demand more from Giants!

What to do if a Giant is Attacked

If a Giant dies, you instantly lose the game and you don't complete that era, negating most development/achievement progress. Anyhow, here's a step by step guide on what to do in these scenarios:

1. Look at the village's population. If it's over a 3rd in the green, pound them into submission.
You need to be careful not to beat them too badly or a neighboring war-state may take advantage of this, wiping the rest of them out.

2. a) Use the Swamp Giant's Muck Bomb. After the cooldown, see how many people are left and if they are still greedy. Keep doing this until there's about a 3rd of the population left. You should be notified they have been humiliated or otherwise stop attacking a Giant.
b) Use the Ocean Giant's Aurora ability. Be careful as it may overpower you and annhilate the villages! Just use it to heal, unless a village is at full health (population).

3. In the meantime you MAY alter the resources available to them to inspire awe, create danger, or prevent too much of one resource making them greedy. It will take awhile before they regenerate, but they can and will rebel again if the conditions will it.

4. Beware the Plantation negates 15 awe with its enslavement characteristic. It's handy to keep this around for developing projects that need food, but if you can't regain enough awe or keep your Plantation's Village in check you may want to destroy that Plantation!!! The Granary is good enough! Likewise, the Sacrifice Altar is avoidable...

5. Avoid using the Rock Giant's Earthquake, as it usually humiliates a village on the first punch, but destroys it on the next! You can't stop the action once it's started. It might be okay to use on LARGE - I mean seriously HUGE - villages, but otherwise avoid in favor of the Muck Bomb!

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[reverendlarry]

I was pondering what best starting layouts I might want for 120 minute games and I came across your guide (years later, I know). But thank you belatedly for making such a cool resource!

I saw this "In The Beginning Section":
Ocean Giant makes 2 oceans and encloses a Forest
Ocean Giant makes 2 oceans and encloses a Swamp
Rock Giant makes 2 mountains and encloses a Desert
I make any kind of biome, and when a village settles, I create an Ocean within its borders (just beyond a project OR the space set aside for town - whichever furthest INSIDE from the borders)
I make 2 oceans OR 2 mountains OR one of each and enclose 2 different biomes inside


...I was wondering. Do you do "all of the above" on a new planet? Or just choose the Forest thing this time, the mountain/Desert thing another time, the Swamp thing another time? I'm trying to terraform the whole planet in some sort of balanced way.

[Apophis]

The earthquake damage is base 55. You can view the village's numerical health in HUD when you select it.

[That Wun Wabbit]

Thanks, much appreciated. I miss this game. Will have to boot it up again :)

[Fichie]

Awesome guid! Good stuff.

[Shaggy]

It just makes me sad to think thats the devs just abandoned this game...

[That Wun Wabbit]

Thanks @andrebads! Glad it helped :)

[Shaggy]

Very good guide !

[C0cheese]

Yes, thanks for sharing! I did not have the idea playing like that.

[That Wun Wabbit]

You're welcome!

[GunslingerXiX]

Very helpful, thank you.