Terraforming, Water & Saplings Guide: How to Turn Rock Into Forest

How Do Biome & Terraforming Rules Work on Kewa?

When you first land on Kewa, only the central valley around her meltwater river is green and breathable. Beyond that lush cradle lies vast stretches of grey Barren Rock where Peeps cannot breathe and farms cannot grow.

Every hex tile on Kewa’s back follows a strict 4-stage ecological state machine:

1. Barren Rock (Unbuildable / Unbreathable Frontier): Raw carapace stone. Can only hold roads, power lines, or mines if covered by a nearby Forest’s oxygen aura.
2. Dry Dirt: Created when a Landscaper spreads Compost over Barren Rock.
3. Fertile Soil (Lush Green): Created automatically when Dry Dirt sits within 4 hex tiles of Water.
4. Living Watered Forest: Created when a Tree Nursery plants Saplings on Fertile Soil within 4 hexes of Water—projecting a 4-hex Breathable Oxygen Aura and +20% Woodcutter / Fruit Plantation bonus!

The 4-Hex Water & Oxygen Rule Explained

Nearly every ecological interaction in Beyond These Stars revolves around a 4-hex radius:

Step-by-Step Terraforming Loop: From Wood Waste to Forest

To run a continuous terraforming engine without starving your construction stockpiles, connect these three buildings into a closed ecological loop:

Step 1: Harvest Wood Waste for the Composter

Every time your Woodcutter or Sawmill runs, it generates Wood Waste as a secondary by-product (see Resources & By-Product Chains).

• Build a Composter (6 Planks, 4 Stone; 2 Peeps) right next to your Sawmill’s By-Product Yard.
• The Composter turns Wood Waste + Organic Waste → Compost continuously with zero pollution.

Step 2: Spread Compost & Dig Channels With the Landscaper

Place a Landscaper (8 Planks, 6 Stone, 4 Tools; 2 Peeps) within 16 hexes of housing (see Peeps Commute Rules) near the barren rock frontier.

• Assign the Landscaper to Spread Soil (consumes Compost to convert Barren Rock hexes into Dirt).
• Once you research Hydro-Engineering, use the Landscaper to Dig Water Trenches extending from Kewa’s glacier river pools so every new Dirt hex sits within 4 tiles of Water.

Step 3: Cultivate Saplings in the Tree Nursery

Build a Tree Nursery (8 Planks, 4 Compost, 4 Tools; 2 Peeps) adjacent to your new Fertile green hexes.

• Supply the Tree Nursery with Water and Compost to grow Saplings.
• Plant Saplings in 3-hex clusters every 6–7 tiles along your irrigation trench. Within minutes, you will have a self-sustaining Oxygen Corridor stretching all the way to distant mineral veins and Thermal Spires!

Balancing Glacier Meltwater & High-Altitude Valleys

Kewa’s dorsal landscape is divided into distinct elevation zones: the Glacier Peak, Midland River Valleys, Rocky Crags, and Thermal Ridges.