The Planet Crafter Terraforming Guide

Our The Planet Crafter Terraforming Guide will tell you what you need to know about the process of turning a lifeless planet into a much more livable place.

What is Terraforming in The Planet Crafter?

Terraforming is a game mechanic in The Planet Crafter and is representative of your overall goal on the planet. Terraforming is the process of changing a planet's atmosphere, usually to make it livable for a particular life form (humans, in this case).

As one might expect, changing the environment of an entire planet is not an easy endeavor. It will take you at least 10 to 15 hours of gameplay before you start to see liquid water -- and that will probably be in the form of rain. Let's dive in!

How The Planet Crafter Terraforming Works

The Planet Crafter Terraforming process begins with increasing three key stats for the planet: Oxygen, Heat, and Pressure, all of which contribute to your Terraformation Score.

There are no natural ways to increase these stats -- instead, you'll have to Build various machines to increase each of these three. These machines, in turn, require Power (which you also must provide). You'll also need to provide Water and Food for yourself to survive, although it should be noted that these items are used for Crafting, too.

You can monitor the progress of Terraforming by Building a Screen - Terraformation. Now, we'll continue our The Planet Crafter Terraforming Guide with a breakdown of each of the key mechanics.

How to Increase Oxygen

Oxygen can be increased by building Vegetubes and placing special seeds inside of them. You'll have to find these seeds, though -- you can loot them from the various Storage Crates and points of interest in the world.

Later in the game, you'll be able to create Oxygen without the use of Seeds. However, the higher-end Oxygen items will require them, so don't throw them away!

Best Way to Increase Oxygen in The Planet Crafter

The best way to increase Oxygen in The Planet Crafter is with the Tree Spreader T3 -- it adds a massive 12,500 Oxygen per second to your planet. If you haven't unlocked those yet, your next best choice is to build as many Algae Generators or Biodomes as you can.

Adding to this, using a Golden Seed in the Tree Spread T3 provides the best Oxygen boost. If you don't have any of those yet, you can always use Plant Orema or Plant Volnus for a bigger boost compared to standard Seeds.

How to Increase Heat

Heat can be increased by building Heaters. Unfortunately, they require a rarer resource than most items -- you'll need to dig up Iridium to build them. Check out our Iridium Guide to find out where you can get it.

Heating is much more straightforward than Oxygen -- all you need to do is Build more Heaters (and replace them with higher-tier Heaters when you unlock them).

Best Way to Increase Heat in The Planet Crafter

The best way to increase Heat in The Planet Crafter is with the Heater T5. Once you've unlocked it, you can build it using only Iridium, Sulfur, and Super Alloy. If you haven't unlocked it yet, go with Building as many of the highest-tier Heaters you have available.

How to Increase Pressure

Pressure can be increased by building Drills. While the early-game Drills are cheap, the higher-end Drills will require rarer resources like Aluminum, Osmium, and Super Alloy. (It's worth it, though -- this opens up the path to automated ore mining.)

Best Way to Increase Pressure in The Planet Crafter

The best way to increase Pressure in The Planet Crafter is with the Drill T4. Once unlocked, it can be Built with 6 Super Alloy and 3 Osmium -- that's all! If you haven't unlocked it, Build as many of the highest-tier Drill as you can.

How to Increase Terraformation

You can increase your Terraformation by trying to increase Oxygen, Heat, and Pressure as evenly as possible. Unfortunately, it's difficult to figure out the exact mechanics behind this magic number.

If you're having trouble, try building a bunch of one kind of item (such as four Drills). If the Terraformation rate starts going up faster, you've got it. If it doesn't appear to be moving faster, try Building machines that increase Heat. If that doesn't work, replace them with machines that produce Oxygen.

If you've Built a bunch of machines and your Terraformation still isn't going up very fast, it may be a matter of not having enough machines. Gather up as much ore and materials as you can and get to work building more machines to generate Oxygen, Heat, and Pressure.

Best Way to Increase Terraformation in The Planet Crafter

The best way to increase Terraformation in The Planet Crafter is by evenly increasing your Oxygen, Heat, Pressure, and Biomass levels as much as you can. There's no simple trick that makes things easier here -- your only solution is to keep Building the necessary machines to bring that number up.

Can You Idle in The Planet Crafter?

Yes, you can idle in The Planet Crafter -- as long as you do it on the lower difficulties. Make sure to keep your inventory empty and stay inside a safe building. When you die, you should respawn exactly where you were standing last.

Building Biomass

Once you reach a certain point, you'll unlock a fifth measurement for your progress: Biomass. Check out our Biomass Guide to learn more about this additional Terraformation mechanic!

List of The Planet Crafter Terraformation Stages

• Barren - The starting point for your planet. There's not much of anything here except for rocks, ore, and the remains of failed Terraforming attempts from past visitors.
• Blue Sky - The sky changes from a harsh red to a delightful blue.
• Clouds - Self-explanatory -- clouds form in the sky.
• Rain - Rain can now fall on the planet. Bear in mind that rain is graphics-intensive and may slow down your PC; reduce your graphics options in the menu if your frame rate gets too low.
• Liquid Water - Small pools of water will begin to form.
• Lakes - Water will begin to rapidly rise in certain spots on the map, including the starting area.
• Moss - A faint green tint of moss will begin to appear in some areas. The Biomass mechanic is now unlocked and is a new aspect of Terraforming that you must develop along with the others.
• Flora - Grass and smaller plants will begin to appear.
• Trees - You are now able to grow trees and ramp up Oxygen production to an even higher level.
• Insects - The first signs of macro-sized life will begin to appear. You will be able to pick up Larvae off of the ground and use them to further spread Insects on the planet.
• Breathable Atmosphere - As the name implies, the atmosphere now has enough breathable air for you to survive without Oxygen. You can freely roam the planet without your Oxygen meter draining.
• Fish - Fish Eggs and Phytoplankton can be caught by the Water Life Collector and placed in Aquariums to increase Insects and Animals.
• Amphibians - Frogs will begin to appear in ponds.
• Mammals - This stage has not yet debuted, so it is not yet functional as of Early Access v0.8.008.

That's a wrap on our The Planet Crafter Terraforming Guide! Don't forget to take a look at our other guides down below -- there's a lot to learn about this game!