It is possible and even probable that through the course of the game people are going to use large amounts of nuclear weapons on planetary surfaces. There will be a consequence to using massive amounts of nuclear weapons. These effects are as follows:
For every population level that is destroyed by nuclear or antimatter weapons, the planets’ habitability level is reduced by one level. Consult the Chart to see the different levels. All nuclear and antimatter weapons used against PDF and/or PCFs cause collateral damage. Collateral damage will kill a number of PU/IU equal to the damage of the nuclear or antimatter weapon used. Do not count the x5 bonus damage missile weapons get for being used in an atmosphere. Also, 10% of all nuclear and antimatter weapons miss that miss their targets will cause collateral damage as well(do not count weapons shot down by point defense and please note point defense may be used to shoot down weapons that miss to prevent collateral damage).
Bloody enough for you? It gets better! PDCs can use their missile weapons in ground support mode to help repel invading PCFs. Just as nuclear or antimatter weapons fired from space, these ground fire PDC weapons will cause the same exact collateral damage.
| Pop. Levels Dest. | New Effective Hab. Level |
|---|---|
| 1 | No effect |
| 2 | No effect |
| 3 | Outside of hab. index |
| 4 | Counts as a Hostile Environment |
| 5 | Counts as a Desolate Environment(O2) |
| 6 | Counts as a Desolate Environment(O2) |
| 7 | Counts as a Extreme Environment(O1) |
Thanks Mtrohde for the nuclear winter stuff!