Hello everyone.

This is the latest blog post from our STNH dev blog. If you want to read more about the details mentioned briefly in the dev diary and the various posts that led to this diary, check out the full blog, here:

https://stnhblog.wordpress.com/2019/04/25/dev-diary-8-4-planetary-specialization/

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One of the core tenants of the new economic overhaul, and what we are trying to do in New Horizons in general, is to offer players more choices. You can see that in our ship design philosophy, as well as the various decisions we have tied into policies and factions. Going forward, I want to give the player the tools to make every planet feel meaningful and important and to have a place in their ever-growing economy.

That means expanding our planetary specialization system. We already have a range of specialization that goes beyond what you can find in vanilla, and we already merged some of those specializations with the “colony type” mechanic – where every planet in your empire has a designation (like a rural planet).

Paradox themselves have already voiced their hope of letting the player influence the player designation of their planets. I want to take it one step further and to give players a wide range of specializations. We also hope to make picking a specialization a bit easier for the player, and not to swamp the planet decision menu with multiple options. Instead, a single click will open a menu that will let you pick a specialization from all those available.

Mind you, those specializations will still function, for the most part, as they do now – they will be restricted to one planet per empire. However, there will be a lot more of them, and they will come with very powerful and unique districts that should allow them to transform your empire.

In a previous blog post I’ve already explained how those unique districts will be different – they will require 2 copies of the relevant luxury goods, and a player could only build a maximum of 10 of those districts per planet – but those 10 districts will give far larger (if very specialized) bonuses than 15 generic districts.

There are currently 13 planned planetary specializations – although more might be coming. It specifically does not include the ‘weapon testing ground’ specialization (which can only be applied on non-colonized planets), slave colonies (that can be established multiple times by certain species on conquered planets) and not the capital specialization (which is an upgrade to your capital planet, and replaces the general districts with highly specific ones, that can give a variety of empire-wide bonuses).
As always, the list below is not final – if you come with more ideas for planets that fit the Star Trek lore and you think is missing, let me know!

Penal colony – A penal colony suffers from extreme crime rates, but on the flip side, gives an empire-wide bonus to crime reduction via a new prison district.

Wilderness preserve – a planet reserved to keep its natural state as much as possible. While its cities districts are highly limited, its preserve district is an amazing source for research data, needed for research districts across your empire. A wilderness preserve can only happen on an M-class planet that has deposits such as animal wildlife or tribbles.

Resort world – welcome to Risa! A planet dedicated to entertainment and tourism. Its unique district allows for an incredibly strong immigration pull, making this planet very popular and attractive to immigrants from across the galaxy. Another unique district gives a bonus of luxuries production, which is critical to support administration districts. It can only be established on an M-class planet with a unique deposit such as ‘natural attraction’ or tribbles.

Commercial hub – the central trade Centre of your empire. Its unique district allows for greatly increased trade generation and starport imports. It will require a having a valuable deposit such as javonite on the planet.

Mining complex – the most important mining planet in your empire. Its unique district not only allows for the extra generation of minerals but also of all local strategic goods. This specialization requires the planet has some strategic resource deposit, such as Dilithium, Pergium, etc. Mining planets tend to be highly polluted however, having no farms, and their pops usually require more food than usual.

Generator planet – the most important energy generation planet in your empire, in the spirit of Praxis and Essof IV. As you can expect, the unique district on this planet allows for extremely high bonuses to energy production. Mining planets tend to be highly polluted however, having no farms, and their pops usually require more food than usual. It can only be established on a planet with a thermal vent, pergium or deuterium deposit.

Forge planet – the central industrial complex in your empire, forge planet has unique districts that boost alloy and consumer goods production. Mining planets tend to be highly polluted however, having no farms, and their pops usually require more food than usual.

Religious retreat – a holy site for your people, such as Boreth or P’jem. Religious retreats support a very small population, but their unique monastery district improves local unity production.

Embassy world – an entire planet consecrated as neutral ground, such as Nimbus III or Khitomer. It supports a very small population, but its unique embassy district gives the empire a bonus to opinion modifiers.

Fortress world – the beating heart of your navy, the fortress world is your military HQ. Its unique district drastically increases the level of local bombardment protection and the number of defensive armies. A different district gives you a significant bonus to admin cap and fleet size.

Breadbasket world – a planet that is so fertile and prosperous, it can feed most of your empire by itself. Its unique district grants significant bonuses to food production. Only a wet M-class planet, such as continental, alpine, swamp or tropical planet, with a brizeen nitrate deposit, can become a breadbasket world.

University planet – a university planet (or memory alpha for the federation) is a planet entirely ceded over to academic institutions. It supports a very small population, but its districts grant a significant bonus to one of the three main fields of research.

Convalescence planet – a planet is given over to medical research and the treatment of injured troops, this planet has a unique district that greatly boosts the performance of the local hospital. It can only be established on an M-class plant.

That’s it for today! See you soon!