Can you use planets with a 0 rating?

Never. Despite the fact that, in theory, we could build cloud cities on Jupiter...

Never. Despite the fact that, in theory, we could build cloud cities on Jupiter...

in theory we could travel back in time if we had an infientatly long cylender spinning at the speed of light... then still in theory i would get you not to post that.

In theory alot of things are possible.

Actually, I was talking something a bit more scientifically-grounded than that. It would take a combination of shields, powerful engines, and massive power generators. Luckily, we could mine some of the necessary materials for the generators directly from Jupiter's atmosphere. The bad news is that rolling blackouts would be accompanied by suffocation and death, which might be good news if it prevents you from being crushed to death, frozen solid, or burned up as the city plumets into Jupiter's atmosphere. If you're really unlucky, you'll live long enough to take a swim in the giant oceans of acid that it has. Part of why it's considered more practical to colonize the moons and not the planet itself.

Now, some fun with meanings: "Cloud city" can mean "city that floats in the clouds" or "city that sits on the clouds." And, yes, there is a scifi basis for the first one. For some real fun, try "orbital defense array."

City in the clouds? Like Lando from Starwars?

I would suggest a cloud city in the Venusian atmosphere first... slightly less magnetic activity on Venus. It's closer, too. Not to mention that at the right altitude, the conditions are the most like Earth besides Earth itself (in respect to temperature and pressure, anyway). I like any thinking of putting people into space on a permanent basis, though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_Venus

If you like orbital defense array, think about a Populace Control Array for awhile.

Nope.

The planetary colonization technology and the changes in the expansion due this fall ,Dark Avatar, will have a real impact on the colonization race though.

The one thing you can use Type Zero planets for is also something you can use suns for: Blocking. At least once per game I find myself in a race towards an unclaimed colony or anomaly against another race's colony ship or constructor, and I can scramble a couple of nearby scouts or warships to at least delay the other race's ships by getting in their way and making them go around me. If their path goes through a solar system, I can use the sun and/or a couple of the planets to make my roadblock that much more effective.