I know that the idea of fixing things like tectonic activity and gravity conditions has been discussed already and the general argument against it has been that it would be lore-breaking (in a mod that is already lore-breaking). I can understand how these two things can be considered overpowering, especially with the already existing terraforming functions in place.
However I feel that they can and should be done but with drawbacks to balance them out. I'll start with the easier of the two, high/low gravity. I believe that this can be fixed with the same sort of "mystery box" technology that MUDs already use. To implement it into the game, however, I propose the following conditions:
- A rare blueprint must be found, similar (if not identical) to the Defense Shield quest. Meaning having to face a massive enemy drone fleet to even unlock it.
- The facility would be very expensive to build and, while cheap in credits to maintain, require hyperspace fuel to remain functional. If the fuel supply is interrupted (pirates, raids, etc) then it stops working for that month and the gravity penalty returns for the duration as well.
- It should require an industry slot. This is the biggie. Not just a structure, of which you get a max of 12, but an actual industry, which you get 4 of at most. For this reason one must be very sure that it is actually worth it in the long run, especially considering that is a permanent facility. Tear it down and the bad gravity penalty comes right back.
Moving on to curing tectonic activity, this too can be done. First, context - high tectonic activity is usually linked to high levels of internal planetary heat just below the lithosphere, which is accurately represented in game by the fact that it most often appears on volcanic worlds. Solving this would require finding a way to vent massive amounts of geothermal energy into space until the core of the planet has cooled off enough to stabilize its tectonic plates.
- Again, a blueprint would be required, but this could be a regular (albeit rare) blueprint found in ruins and whatnot. Or another big fleet battle, your pick.
- Structure should be expensive to build and very expensive to maintain, and again require an industry slot. However the structure need not be permanent and could be dismantled once the process is completed.
- Every 3 years the planet would drop in three categories - tectonic activity (extreme to regular, regular to gone), temperature (very hot to hot, hot to normal, normal to cold, cold to very cold) and atmosphere (regular to thin, thin to none). Atmosphere because this heat stream is going to blow holes through the sky and cause massive devastation to said atmosphere. Because of this one is going to want to hold off with the MUD until this whole process is complete, lest they accidentally ruin their little paradise.
- Because of that it is possible that a planet may end up requiring solar mirrors afterward to bring the temperature back up to livable conditions, if the starting planet wasn't hot enough to soak the heat loss from the process.
- While this is ongoing population growth drops by 5% and stability drops by 5 points as well, because holy crap that thing is terrifying and no one wants to live near it. Access also drops by 50% because it makes approaching the planet very risky, and any player fleet docking there will lose 25% of CR for enduring the hazardous atmospheric effects.
- Any successful raid on that specific facility will trigger a explosion that both destroys the facility and drops stability by 10 points.
So again, could it be done? Yes. Is it worth it? That's debatable, or rather yes it is but it is going to be a very heavy, very intense and long term investment that will make the colony not only highly vulnerable but most likely completely useless until it is complete.