Stellaris Developer Diary #9: Planets & Resources

It’s that time of the week again — a time when we can sit down and peruse the Stellaris space diary without feeling guilty.

This week, Stellaris wants to talk to us about Planets and their Resources. Two vital components for survival in the space race.

Planet Tiles: 

Like Galactic Civilization before it, Stellaris will implement a system of planetary tiles to manage buildings and resources across varying worlds. Not all tiles will be available and not all planets will have the same number of tiles. These planetary attributes can be altered as your scientific understanding advances.  Tiles are the areas where your building will be, well, built. Also, these building will gain adjacency bonuses in production depending on resources and other factors that have yet to be revealed.

Planetary Tiles and their modifiers

Planets will also be the lifeblood of your industrial empire. Deposits, also known as Resources, will spawn on planets when your galaxy is first generated. Some resources are more likely to be found in specific parts of the galaxy, creating choke points for competing for galactic species. Not all planets will have every resource you need, so scavenging the stars for rare resources will be a task unto itself.

Not All Planets Are Created Equal

Many celestial bodies can’t be colonized and subsequently will not have any building and resource tiles. Yet, these planets can be accessed from orbit, as game designer Grekulf explains:

Each planet has an orbital resource slot that can be worked if a Mining Station or Research Station is built in orbit around that planet. Sometimes you encounter planets that you could potentially colonize, but that is not habitable enough for you to want to colonize it. In those cases you may also want to construct an orbital station.

Orbital research

Once you begin to tap your planets for resources, you’ll notice that your populations have some basic needs to fill:

Food is a requirement for Pops to grow. If there is plenty of Food, Pops will grow faster. If there is a lack of Food, Pops will be unhappy.

Minerals are used to produce most things in the game. If Minerals represent matter, Energy Credits represent work.

Energy Credits represent all liquid assets and energy produced by our Empire. Actions, such as clearing tiles, cost Energy Credits to perform. This resource is mainly used for upkeep, and although it can be hoarded, that might not be the best way of handling it.

Physics Research, Society Research and Engineering Research are used to advance technologies in different fields of science.

There you have it. Planets will be unique and their accompanying resources will be distinct. Check back next week as we learn about Rare Resources and the Space Port.

Alex D'Alessandro

Gaming from the swampy flatlands of Florida since 1989, Alex D’Alessandro is always looking for a way to stay inside and escape the southern heat.