Gas planets vs rock planets???

[Smolf]

What is your preference for starting planet? Gas or rock? (Ice is few in number and therefore out of question... at least, that's my opinion)

I have been discussing this for a while with a friend of mine, and we can't agree on this dilemma. I prefer gas planets because they are largest and therefore offer more room for your different facilities in fewer starsystems.

My friend always chooses rock planets, because they are more numerous and that gives a larger probability for a breathably atmosphere.

Ofcourse later in the game you can terraform your planets to fit your populations requirements, but thats not an option in the beginning of the game, where expansion is vital for your future.

So what do you do? Let my "hear" your opinions on this and your reasons.

(Sorry if my english isn't perfect, but I live in Denmark, so it's not my native language )

[Ruatha]

Ice isn't sucha waste as you might think.

In PBW games Ice can be a valuable commodity for trade, enabling you to get all three colony techs. Whereas if you start with rock you might trade and get gas colony tech if you're lucky but you'll have to stand in line to trade with the ice colony dudes.

Having said that I prefer rock, nothing beats solid ground underneath your feets.

Good to have one more scandinavian here.

[ May 08, 2003, 15:04: Message edited by: Ruatha ]

[FadingSuns]

I have to admit that I like Rock planets with no atmosphere. Almost every moon is prime even with limited cargo space. Once I get Ice tech it usually gives me the rest of the moons as well as larger planets to easily colinize.

[DavidG]

I pick Rock or Gas. I like Gas because the planets are always medium or larger. Thus less micromanagement. I think Rock are more numerous but lots of small planets (I believe in terms of Facility space things are pretty much equal)

What I like about Rock is that it is easier to find a sector with a rock planet and a rock moon. Very usefull for training ships.

[Gryphin]

I like the Gas Giant / Storage.
Things like Robotoid Factory have more of an impact.

I never thought about that, but yes, less micro managment.
Thanks David.

[Grandpa Kim]

The Iceman cometh!

Yes, I take ice! Contrary to popular opinion, they are as numerous as rock. And having it makes me a valuable commodity. You will pay big time for my ice tech!

[Cyrien]

I also prefer ice. It is slightly less common than rock but when you take that in with the fact that everyone knows that and then takes rock you actually wind up with far less competition and more space to grow. And of course everyone wants what you have and so few others have!

I ussually take none as well and live off of the moons mostly.

One weakness to this strategy is of course in order to get the same level as others you have to produce more colony ships since each small planet has less space.

One advantage however is that you finish building all your facilities on them and if you work like me and on anything with 6 or more facility slots (Oh how I love you Advanced Storage Techniques) you build a space yard... well you get some massive ship output capacity really fast as well.

Really I think they are all just about ballanced in the early game. Late game anything/none may be at a slight disadvantage being unable to terraform gas giants but this is easily countered by simply gaining another races population. Or worse case scenario having to blow up all the Gas Giants and remake them over and over till you get what you want(flash backs to SE3 anyone?)

[Aloofi]

I always take rock, cause there are greater chances of getting a breathable planet per system, thus allowing for stronger and more defensible Capital System Colonies.

[Dingocat85]

At least from what I've noticed:

There are more Ice planets than all others, but the planets tend to be pretty small. I loaded a Large map, and only counted 7 different types of Huge Ice planets.

Gas planets are obviously the biggest, none being smaller than Medium. However, there are fewer Gas planets than all others, and no moons are ever Gas planets.

Rock planets are an average - Average amount of them, average size.
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In Single-player SE4 (and I imagine in PBW aswell), Rock-planet Empires are the most common choice - so competition for planets can get rather fierce.

Because there are so few Gas planets, you could probably have just as fierce competition for them, if only half as many players started on Gas planets.

With Ice planets, not only are they the least favorite of the 3 (meaning more planets for you), but they're the most numerous. More planets also means greater chance a planet will have your atmosphere - with an Average Environmental Resistance, A Tiny planet with a breathable atmosphere is exactly as good as a Huge planet that's not breathable. Since there are more Ice planets (or so I think), there's a greater chance that one will be strategically placed within a Galaxy (i.e, right next to a Warp Point). Lastly, more planets means more Space Yards - No matter how advanced or fast your Space Yard is, the cheapest ships will never be built in faster than 0.1 years. But if you have, say, 6 Spaceyards in a system, you could build 6 ultra-cheap ships in that system in 0.1 years!
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And there's my completely unbiased comparison of the three planet types

[ May 08, 2003, 17:25: Message edited by: Dingocat85 ]

[bearclaw]

My preferance is for Rock planets for no other reason than Role-Playing aspects. I've got 2 empires that I play mainly. Both of them live on Rock worlds. No other reason.