It’s exciting that we’re getting close to implementing this! I could have sworn there was a page that had collated this info, but all I could find was this thread:
Here’s a summary of all the settings not related to difficulty:
General Settings
Homeworld Type: Planet, Satellite, Random
Satellites (If homeworld is a planet): Yes, No, Random
Satellite Number (If planet has moons): [Enter number], Random
Terrestrial to Aquatic Ratio: Fully terrestrial, Mostly terrestrial, Balanced, Mostly aquatic, Fully aquatic, Anything Except “Fully aquatic”, Random
Natural Disaster Frequency: Frequent, Normal, Uncommon, Never
Life as We Know It: Yes, No
Microbe Settings
Starting Biome: Hydrothermal Vent, Tidepool, etc.
Compounds: Abundant, Normal, Rare
Endocytosis Chance: Certain, High, Normal, Low
Since there are so many starting options, and there will be tons more when the game is fleshed out, it’d be a good idea to allow the use and creation of presets. The game would ship with a few, and the player could make some of their own, or download ones other players have made on the forums.
Some ideas for presets would be:
Classic (Normal or random settings for everything, LAWK on, etc.)
Terracentric (Start on a balanced land to water planet with one satellite, normal settings, LAWK on, etc.)
Hardcore (All the hardest options, high disaster rates, slow evolution rates, fully random homeworld, etc.)