THE CASE FOR THE ROBOTS AND THE MINORS.

Toxic atmosphere could easily be corrosive as well; radiation can interfere with electronics.

again just some kind of simple coating.


most types of radation can be stopped by a thin layer of tin foil.



oil or something similar.

And water can be stopped with a rubber gasket

The Yor already have one of the best super abilities, one of the colonization techs, and in general are massively powerful. They don't need any more advantages.

Really, most of the extreme environments could be handled with simple airtight enviromental seals - toxic/corrosive, water, barren(have to keep out windblown sand, maybe?) and radiation. Only heavy gravity would be a problem, and that could be handled with sturdier construction.

It would have been nice to have the Yor have different colonization techs to reflect this - maybe 5 linear techs giving 20% habitability on all worlds instead of 10 techs giving 50% for one type. Of course the Yor cost would have to be higher (to balance getting all types with one tech line) and they would not be able to trade/steal for normal extreme techs, nor would other races be able to trade/steal the Yor techs. Imagine the chaos of having 200% habitable extreme planets!

Just assume that the upgrades you mention as solving those problems as what the extreme tech represent for the Yor. Besides, those kinds of upgrades are not nearly so simple as you seem to think. As a matter of fact, they would tend to be very costly, resource-intensive endeavors.

Really, the same can be said for any race. When we're talking about toxic worlds, radioactive worlds, barren worlds, we're talking about extreme cases. On a toxic world, I don't expect some acid raid. I'm talking about sulpherous athmosphere, thick clouds of CO2, quicksilver-"contaminated" oceans. Athmospheric storms of corrosive acid.

Radiactive worlds are swirling clouds of doom that hardly a coating of lead could protect against, much less a "thin layer of tin foil". Radioactive dust that gets into machinery, not to mention every other lifeform, disrupts machinery and electronics, etc.

Water worlds are obviously covered by water, maybe with the only "land mass" deep, deep in the ocean, subjecting colonizers to extreme pressures under the best of circumstances.

Barren worlds are, out of this lot, most likely the most forgiving. Wide, long stretches of arid land, deserts, moving between hot and cold at extreme temperatures, where the only life can be found in the precious few oceans or water masses, or deep below ground.

That's not true. Check out this Wicki article on the effect of ionizing radiation on electronics, and the extent some computers are "rad hardened" by fairly extreme methods. Some hardened systems have three computers vote against each other, to mitigate radiation damage:

WWW Link

Remember there are some extremely harsh environments in space, nothing like what we have on Earth or anywhere in the Solar System. When the game talks about radiation planets, for all we know they might be referring to planets being bathed by radiation from nearby supernovas, or being swept by axial radiation beams from neutron stars or black holes. The Yor were designed by the Iconians to operate as servants in whatever environment the Iconians can tolerate. Since the Iconians need extreme colonization tech to live on high radiation worlds, it's reasonable to assume that the Yor might need it also.

On the other hand, appeals to logic don't go that far in this game. It doesn't make much sense that the Iconians built the Yor and were defeated by them, but somehow the Iconians retain a natural ability to colonize Toxic and Aquatic worlds, but the Yor never managed to steal that tech from the Iconians? Well, maybe they developed that tech after they had to flee their homeworld.

It basically comes down to game balance more than logic. Some of the races that aren't as strong in the early phases of the game, get a few more planet types they can colonize.



Well, their economy is a little shaky in the latest TA betas, and they're light on influence abilities. I don't think getting one extra planet type to colonize makes them too powerful.

I love the Yor, but I don't think just because they are Robots they should get such a huge advantage over the other races as starting with the ability to Colonize all (or even most) of the special planets. They already start out with the ability to customize one type, and thats enough.
--Don't forget, they arn't just Robots. They are robots that have been granted Sentience. Even if they could survive some of harsher environments without any technological aid, none of them are going to want to live there. They are not just mindless killing machines, they are "non-organic" living creatures with free will. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want live where its Super Hot, even if I could survive it.

Heavy Gravity could also be a problem. It is not reasonable to assume that the entire population of robots would have the strength to survive on a HG planet. They would probably have a more finite top end strength than humans.

You could make a case for the huge dragonlike Drath being okay for HG worlds

The square-cube law says otherwise.

Good point, being tiny and buglike would be the more effective way, but immense strength relative to size would be helpful.

Then, I have never read that the Drath are immensely strong just dragonlike.   

Okay, so Torians, Drengin, or Arceans are just as tough as machinery when t comes to enviroments? They need oxygen(or do they?) to live and that is a major weakness when it comes to enviroments. If you go into a cave filled with toxic gas, you will die. Send a robot in and he wouldn't be phased at all.

also why would a robot care if a planet had plants or life on it or not.
In fact plants and life would just get in the way



of course the other problem is that robots don't reproduce like living things do. Although it might be agrued that they might reproduce like ants or bees ie have a queen.

... which is why the Yor already have that Super Ability.

Anyways, I don't like your idea, but it is easily moddable. So mod it.

lol @ your "sighense".

While we are at it, why would they need morale improvements or farms? I guess the bottom line is that we can't have a totally different game for the robots. Besides I always assumed they were biologically based.

Well fluff wise at least the Yor can "eat" and draw energy from the organic matter so farming actually does have a point for them. Though I think charging stalks are supposed to represent energy distribution centers that function like farms but do not in fact produce food.

As to why yor might not like non-barren environments, perhaps it has something to do with the nature of thier "spark" ie the energy that gives them sentience. Perhaps radiation fields somehow dissapte/interfere with the spark and thus require special research to be done to create the proper adaptations. Just food for thought.

alpha rays can be stopped by a thin layer of paper a sheet of note book paper.

beta rays can be stopped by a thin layer of steel about the thickness of tin foil.


Gama rays cannot be stopped by anything short of thick lead.


and according to the army to get rid of the radiation after exposure take a shower.

of course don't go back into the contaminated area.

Durrrr...

(PS: Beta particles penetrate a hell of a lot further than a 'thin sheet of tin foil'.)

I suggest you also figure out why the "take a shower" is recommended, but is NOT a 'treatment'.

not for sickness but for the removal of the sand/particals caring the radiation.

Call it weird, but i'd find an extra dimension of space as much involving strategy wise than even the toughest irradiated environments.
Maybe it's just my mind tilting towards X-Com/Apocalypse concept - but, nothing better than splitting the very physical nature of the 3d planes and having to cope with inter-dimensional foes.

Theory has it that strings rule the universe(s -yup, these IS a plural there), and that the further you go along almost linear gravity, the worst time bends on itself. Thus, singularities like BH & Stars (mainly superNovaes in the making for eons ahead) would supply the missing dark-anti-matter to propel an hypothetical dim-ready "ship" all the way to the past or future. Effectively breaking the **current** space continuum, as we can or will eventually understand it.
Even the Yor could use that!

- Zyxpsilon.

Beta particles have all the characteristics of electrons found in atoms, except the electric charge of positrons is opposite that of electrons. At the time of their emission, they travel at nearly the speed of light. The high energy of beta particles enables them to travel through matter to a depth of several millimeters. They lose their energy by interacting with other atoms and by releasing a form of radiation known as bremsstrahlung (German for “braking radiation”). Bremsstrahlung occurs when negative beta particles are attracted to the positively charged nuclei of atoms. The velocity of the beta particles increases as they approach the positive nuclei then decreases abruptly as they move away from the nuclei. The rapid acceleration and deceleration of the beta particles produces radiation. Bremsstrahlung radiation is strongest in radioactive elements, which have a high atomic number, or number of protons within the nucleus. Elements with a low atomic number, such as aluminum, are used in shields to block beta radiation. Lead blocks radiation types such as gamma rays and X rays but has high atomic number, so it cannot block beta radiation. When beta particles enter materials, they can cause chemical changes, such as darkening of glass. Most beta particles lack the energy to penetrate beneath the skin, but in high doses they can cause skin damage.




WWW Link


your right it does take more than tin foil try your skin.

of course if you are stupid or unlucky enough to have to stay in that area problems will start to happen.

but as i said a robot would use said radation as a fuel source if possible.

THe Yor are robots created by the Iconians to server them on their planets there for their bodies would have been designed with similar Radiation/Gravity/Humidity tolerances as found on the Iconian home world. However they are more tolerant of worlds without atmosphere than organics since they don't need it.

The amount of radiation we are talking about would not be stopped by a thin layer of tin foil. The radiation levels in space for example are massivley higher in places than anything found on the surface of a planet with an atmosphere.

this is true but again we are talking about robots and not living flesh. see next reply