Lifeforms: buildings, population and research. Skie Field Manual · Lifeforms reviewed 9 November 2026. Discovery-limit announcement checked again on 9 November; its planned rollout remains unconfirmed. This guide covers: - Separate a planet’s species from its research choices. - Find population builds and the four research tables. - Check activation, reset costs and source limits. Three separate choices A planet’s species determines its Lifeform buildings. Population unlocks research slots. Each slot holds a technology with levels bought on that planet; eligible active contributions combine across the account. A technology’s origin species need not match the species living on the planet. Choose for the income or fleet you actually use. Rock’tal buildings can support an expedition research selection, for example. All Lifeform buildings use zero ordinary planet fields; population, food, cost and time are the relevant constraints. Lifeforms reference Open the page for the detail you need. Research tables are kept off this overview. Population & unlock builds — Starter prerequisites, 18-slot endpoints, food, conversion and population-package costs. https://theilluminate92.github.io/skie-guides/guide-lifeform-population.html Stacking, caps & selections — Read coefficients correctly, compare class perks and handle resets. https://theilluminate92.github.io/skie-guides/guide-lifeform-stacking.html Humans research — All 18 technologies, arranged by tier and slot. https://theilluminate92.github.io/skie-guides/guide-lifeform-research-humans.html Rock’tal research — All 18 technologies, arranged by tier and slot. https://theilluminate92.github.io/skie-guides/guide-lifeform-research-rocktal.html Mechas research — All 18 technologies, arranged by tier and slot. https://theilluminate92.github.io/skie-guides/guide-lifeform-research-mechas.html Kaelesh research — All 18 technologies, arranged by tier and slot. https://theilluminate92.github.io/skie-guides/guide-lifeform-research-kaelesh.html Discovery and activation For a Human discovery pilot, the Research Centre requires Residential Sector 21 and Biosphere Farm 22. Construct it, support the population and wait for the first slot. Intergalactic Envoys level 1 enables discovery missions from the Galaxy view DNA icons, not position-16 expeditions. Keep it active somewhere before replacing the pilot’s species or slot selection. A large housing capacity is not the same as actual, sustainably fed population. Higher tiers require conversion buildings; a population shortfall can deactivate research. Stop at the next useful slot rather than funding all eighteen by default. Discovery limits after transfers: announced change, not a confirmed rollout Gameforge’s 5 November 2026 announcement, checked 9 November: a transferred or merged account can be blocked from discoveries when its carried-over mission count exceeds the destination server’s age-based limit. Gameforge plans a one-time adjustment of affected counters to the current limit, without removing previous discoveries. It also plans to remove the discovery limit on servers older than one year; servers up to one year old keep their limit. The announced rollout window is November, before Orion’s global release, but this notice does not confirm an exact deployment date. Treat these as pending changes, not rules already active in your universe. After a move, check your discovery counter and the official update before budgeting artefacts or resetting a lifeform tier. A history count higher than the adjusted counter is expected after the fix. Before a large upgrade - Budget population infrastructure, prerequisites, the desired research levels and artefacts together. Technology selection costs are 200 / 400 / 600 artefacts for tiers 1 / 2 / 3, separate from resource research costs. - Options in the same slot compete. Record the whole tier before resetting, and check the current warnings and costs. A species switch preserves developed levels for reuse but the replacement setup must support its own active research. - Test the intended setup on one suitable planet. Compare actual account-bonus changes and keep the ordinary economy, cargo and fleetsave reserve funded. Quick checks: - Species buildings and research selections are planned separately. - The next slot has a complete prerequisite budget. - Actual population and reset warnings were checked. Sources: 5 November 2026 · Official discovery-limit announcement (planned rollout; checked 9 November) https://board.us.ogame.gameforge.com/index.php?thread/108159-changes-to-the-lifeform-discovery-limit/&postID=748102#post748102 Lifeforms FAQ · Origin ToolDevs administrator https://forum.origin.ogame.gameforge.com/forum/thread/153-lifeforms-faq/ Lifeforms and artefacts information · official announcements https://board.en.ogame.gameforge.com/index.php?thread/834308-lifeforms-information/= Official Lifeforms balance notes · Human starter prerequisites and conversion buildings https://board.en.ogame.gameforge.com/index.php?thread/832271-lifeforms-balance-notes/= Expeditions & You · official 2026 expedition technology guidance https://board.us.ogame.gameforge.com/index.php?thread/108136-expeditions-you-the-advanced-guide/= Lifeform Research Question · all-planet research example https://board.en.ogame.gameforge.com/index.php?thread/833426-lifeform-research-question/= Rock’tal overview · community reference for building/technology roles https://sidian.app/s/ogame-wiki/lifeforms/rocktal/overview Mecha overview · community reference for fleet technology roles https://sidian.app/s/ogame-wiki/lifeforms/mecha/overview Cargo Hold Expansion · community reference https://sidian.app/s/ogame-wiki/lifeforms/rocktal/research/cargo-hold-expansion-civilian-ships Official Lifeforms expansion announcement · buildings do not use ordinary planet fields https://board.en.ogame.gameforge.com/index.php?thread/831881-ogame-new-expansion-lifeforms/ Skie v1.6.1 · reviewed 2026-11-09