Let's talk about Bacterium

[varonica]

Bacteria are the background noise of the galaxy, specific requirements for other types exist that restrict them by planet type, star type and even region, so sometimes you have to travel a long way to get a particular type of bio, but most bacteria has much broader criteria so it appears basically everywhere, ignore it or scan it if you will, but it's something you will always find no matter how far you travel.

 

[Commander Biscuit]

that's super valid point lol. In fact, that's the first thing NASA is looking for in other planets so I guess it make sense that every planet with biological features will have at least one form of bacterium.

Yup. If you're frustrated with finding these kinds of planets, you can experiment with the star class filter and filter out some of the less productive star systems. I tested hot vs cold initially, figuring "hotter" systems produce more life, but didn't get reliable results until I started filtering out younger stars. K stars seem to be a sweet spot, which are quite a bit older than hotter younger stars (O, B). Older star systems presumably have older planets in them, that have had more time to develop different, more complex kinds of life on them? Still don't have a definitive answer as to the best places to hunt, but there's some patterns that will form with enough time spent looking for them.