Economics

A planetary rating that affects the value of food produced (1-3) and rare food produced (1-8). These values are assigned during game set up based upon the age of the star (older stars are more biodiverse) and tend to be in opposition to the Mineral Richness of a planet.

When a planet isn’t habitable to a race (i.e., is in a red habitability ring), the population there must live in a controlled (or "enclosed") environment dubbed a "biosphere." Note that a biosphere functions in MOO3 as a concept, not as a building per se. Any population group living under harsh conditions is automatically living in a biosphere. Biosphere living affects maintenance costs, population growth rates (which are very low), maximum population (limited to 1 Population Point per region, but this can be improved by technology), prohibits bioharvest production except for "enclosed farming" buildings, and no population naturally moves to a biosphere (they all have to be brought over on colony and outpost ships).

Each Region can house up to two Dominant Economic Activities (DEAs). There are seven DEA types: bioharvesting, mining, manufacturing, research, government/social, military, and recreation/cultural. When built, a DEA "zones" half a region for that type of economic activity and allows those types of improvements to be constructed within that DEA. Important: the total number of DEAs on a planet cannot exceed the number of population points there (the DEAs and population Points don’t have to be in the same region, just somewhere on that planet).

There are no "jungle worlds" and "ocean worlds" in MOO3. Liquid availability and vegetation are relative to the species’ needs for a given planet. Imagine the Terraforming Grid divided into nine squares like a tic-tac-toe game. The general environmental nomenclature for a planet is determined by the square it currently resides in on the Terraforming Grid.

                Least Atmosphere                                Most Atomsphere

Hottest          Jovian                    Primordial                Protostar

                  Bio Arctic            Terra Approxima            Venusian

Coldest         Ice Ball                    Martian                Volcanic Rock

In MOO3, "freighters" abstractly represent civilian transport capabilities. Freighters are added to a civilization’s freighter pool each turn by its population points and Space Ports. Freighters are subtracted from a civilization’s freighter pool each turn by pirates, blockades, sieges, morale, etc. Freighters are used each turn to (first) move food to hungry population groups, (second) move raw materials to Manufacturing DEAs unable to fulfill their needs locally, and (third) migrate population points between planets that are not in the same orbit.

Gravity is natural result of a planet size and mineral richness (the more it has of either, the greater that planet’s gravity). Gravity is measured on a five-scale: Crushing (4G), High (2G), Medium (1G), Low (1/2G), or Negligible (1/4G or less). Gravity affects ground combat, economic output, and maintenance costs.

Measure the distance from a species’ perspective of a planet’s Atmosphere / Temperature ideal on the Terraforming Grid. A planet’s position on the Terraforming Grid can be altered via terraforming. Habitability Rings affect a region’s maximum population, fertility, and building / maintenance costs. The various Habitability Rings are:

A planetary rating that affects the base amount of minerals produced and the price for any rare minerals. These values are assigned during game set up based upon the age of the star (younger stars are more mineral rich) and tend to be in opposition to the Biodiversity Level of a planet.

Temperature is measured on a scale from 10 (very cold) to 100 (very hot) on the Terraforming Grid where a planet’s "habitability ring" location can be determined.

There is a limit to how much stuff a planet or region can hold. These limits are listed below:

• 1 Leader
• 1 Shipyard (appears automatically when that planet builds its first Industry DEA; allows ships up to hull size 4 to be built at that planet)
• 1 Planetary Shield
• 2 Planetary Defense Specials

A Trade Route consists of solar systems connected by Jump Lanes up to four connected systems away. To trace a Trade Route to a solar system, all Jump Lane levels must equal or exceed the distance being traded and not closed to trade either politically (via policies) or militarily (i.e., blockaded by hostile warships). The value of trade routes increases for a civilization with each rise in its freighter speed.

The univalue is a convention in MOO3 to quickly measure the development of a planet in terms of its economic development, environment, population size, and military defenses relative to abilities of the civilization that controls it. In short, it measures "target ripeness."