The RTSC Guide to Startopia
Part 16: The Bio-Deck

This is the uppermost deck of the Station, a giant glasshouse containing artificial "nanosoils" and climate control to build alien ecosystems. The Bio-Deck is the "soul" of the Station and offers a spiritual and natural environment for your Peeps to shelter in. Its where the Zedem Monks raise their Temple and the Karmaramans plant your forests. All of Startopia's homesick population find their spiritual and aesthetic needs met here as they relax and commune within a deck that mimics the conditions of their homeworlds. This is the game's most spectacular turf. You can see clear across the Station through the vast panoramic windows, and even truck outside in outer space to take in the whole Station. Whole forests can be grown up here, either to cultivate for cargo or just for the sheer hell of it!

You can see across the Station through the panoramic windows, and even truck outside in outer space to take in the whole Station.

You can grow whole forests up here, either to cultivate for cargo or just for the sheer hell of it! Every type of plant that grows here yields some type of Supply Crate. Small shrubs produce one; trees produce two. To grow vegetation, simply hire some Karmaramans and just leave them to it. They will stroll around planting trees and shrubs all through the sections of deck that you control.

The fantastic thing about the Bio-Deck is how you can sculpt and landscape it to your whims. You can raise and lower land, pour or drain lakes, build snowy hills or scorching deserts. You get four controls: raising and lowering land; adding or subtracting water; cooling or heating the soil, or saturating or drying out the soil. There are nine types of nanosoil, determined by the combinations of moisture and temperature and a tenth: water. Each type can only produce the one type of plant and shrub, but you can mix and blend nanosoils together to get some pretty nice organic effects. Any plant that finds itself outside its habitable soil and conditions will slowly wither and die.

The most effective Bio-Deck - i.e. the one that attracts the most paying customers - is the one that has the most interesting terrain. Raise lots of mountains, build some nice swimming holes and create different terrain to please different kinds of Peep. The more you mix and match environments, the more visitors they tend to attract. You can accessorize them further and beam Statues and other Deck items like Litter Bins and Street Lamps. But in order to do this you need to set them up on one of the lower decks and then beam them to the Bio-Deck via your Transporter Buffer.

Cultivation

Without a doubt the best way to obtain your vital supplies is to grow them on the Bio-Deck. This is dirt cheap, apart from the cost of opening new segments and initially hiring the Karmaramans to tend them. You have to be a little patient waiting for the first crops to grow but once you have sufficient Bio-Deck with its own gang of planters, you'll never run out of supplies again. You determine what type of plants grow by adjusting the moisture and temperature levels in the nanosoil they sprout from.

Each nanosoil type can support one type of shrub and one type of tree. Each plant type yields a different Supply Crate. Shrubs produce one crate; trees produce two. To farm vegetation, right click on a plant and it will be transformed by the Station's transporter system into its cargo crates. If the plant is not yet mature, it will show a timer icon to let you know when its ready. Plants are automatically harvested the moment they are "ripe" and the resulting crates will be automatically collected and stashed in the nearest Cargo Bay by your Scuzzer Droids. Well, most of them anyway. Your robots are not always prompt, and a little forgetful if you turn over too many trees. Some will be left behind and rot away to become useless Damaged Goods, fit only for recycling. Only Supply Crates can be obtained from the Bio-Deck - nobody's genetically engineered a Lavatron tree just yet! You will still need to buy or manufacture Hardplan, Tech and Furniture crates on the Engineering Deck.

Each plant type yields a different cargo. Shrubs produce one crate; trees produce two. To farm vegetation, right click on it. It will be transformed by your transporter buffer into its cargo crates. If the plant is not yet mature, it will show a timer icon to let you know when its ready. Preset plants will be automatically harvested and the crates picked up by a Scuzzer droid to be deposited inside the nearest Cargo Bay.

You can also beam up plants and then transplant them into Plant Bio-Pots, which allow you to turn your drab lower decks into shimmering tree lined paradises. Trees can be planted outside on the decking in pots, but only potted shrubs can placed inside Rooms. There's something about lots of lush greenery that can turn a dingy deck or a stark set of Rooms and Buildings into a warm, fuzzy environment you'd want to raise your kids in... Peeps do notice the difference.

You'll know your ecosystem in the Bio-Deck is up to scratch when Karmaramans start emitting Karmagasms. A Karmagasm is a red shockwave of energy that pours out of a Karmaraman in an expression of pure bliss and Oneness with the Bio-Deck. These are good vibes for the betterment of others: Peeps caught in the karmagasm's wake enjoy Mind, Body and Soul bonuses. Even Scuzzers are affected by this phenomena. Conversely, criminal Karmaramans emanate "bad auras" - little shockwaves of negative psychic energy that actually harms Peeps and Scuzzers within range.