Could you pair this with a reduction in the drugs needed by mining? Right now, if I have Industrial Planning at 2, and use an alpha core on my base population and an AI core of any grade on mining, I can meet the drug requirements without having to have a free port with light industry; once this change goes in, that will no longer be the case.
Hmm - design-wise, I'd rather not have skill effects apply to specific pieces of content like that, if that makes sense. I also like the idea of Mining requiring a larger world's infracstructure (or free port etc) to provide the needed drugs.
Nope, sorry, I don't follow - I'm not sure what you mean by 'skill effects apply to specific pieces of content' in this context.
And I do get - and generally agree with - the second point... except for two critical flaws in that idea:
One: You can't rely on a larger world's infrastructure, because smuggled exports don't count for filling demand from in-faction. (Local production does, even if it's illegal, though.)
Two: Any player colony is on an inevitable progression to size ten, which means you can't rely on a larger world even -existing-. (And, indeed, as a mining colony grows you'll inevitably hit a point where there are no non-player colonies that are able to supply the amount of drugs needed by its mining operations - this happens at about size eight.)
...Come to think of it, this change breaks a few other things, too. In 0.9, if you have level two or higher Industrial Planning, your colony's population will produce exactly as much harvested organs as it needs; if there's no matching reduction in demand in 0.9.1, you'll end up with large colonies requiring an AI core to avoid otherwise-automatic shortages there.
Also, with Industrial Planning, mining with no bonuses or penalties exactly matches up with the minerals required by refining; that'll break too. (Though, hm. As a reason to actually value planets with high mineral reserves, maybe this one isn't a problem per se.)
I mean, I'd really like if there was some good incentive to, say, drop a mining colony on that 250% hazard volcanic planet with ultra-rich rare minerals. But the way the game works right now, hazard rating completely trumps resources in terms of colony value.
