These terms cover the Paleo Planet Simulator app and this companion website, operated by The Convergence Zone (Joe Boomgard-Zagrodnik). Using either means you agree to them. Questions go to joejoezz@gmail.com.
Every planet you build is run through a real climate model, but the results are a game, not a scientific prediction and not real-world weather guidance of any kind. Absolute numbers (rainfall, storm strength, temperature) can differ from the real Earth's own climate for reasons documented in-app -- that's fine for comparing planets against each other inside the game, and it is the only thing this app's output should be used for. Nothing in the app is a substitute for an official weather forecast or warning, ever.
Running a planet or a weather forecast spends credits. A limited number of free credits are given on signup; more can be bought as consumable in-app purchases through the App Store. Credits have no cash value, cannot be exchanged for money, transferred between accounts by any means other than linking Sign in with Apple (which moves only what you've purchased, never free credits), or redeemed anywhere outside this app.
All payments are processed by Apple. Refund requests go through Apple's own refund process, not to us directly -- we have no way to refund an App Store purchase ourselves.
Climate models sometimes crash or produce unusable output -- that's the model, not something you did wrong. A failed run refunds the credits it cost. Each account gets a limited number of these refund "mulligans"; once they're used up, a further crash on that account no longer refunds the charge, though it's still logged so we can see whether the model itself needs fixing. The app tells you when a run fails and whether it was refunded.
A finished planet's results become part of the app's leaderboards and Explore tab, visible to every player -- see the Privacy Policy for exactly what's shown. By running a planet you agree that its public results (name, picture, metrics, rank) can be shown to other players indefinitely, including after you delete your account, in anonymised form.
Leaderboards are provisional while the game is young: rankings, medal counts, and board contents may be reset or recalculated before the app leaves its early version (before v1.0) as boards, metrics, or the scoring rules themselves change. We'll try not to do this often, and never to erase a purchase.
Don't abuse the service -- attempting to break the free-credit or referral system, submitting deliberately corrupt data to crash the simulation repeatedly, harassing other players through run or planet names, or interfering with the leaderboards' integrity. We can remove or restrict an account that does any of this, with or without notice, and without refunding unused free credits (purchased credits already spent are not refundable through us either way; unused purchased credits on a removed account may be refunded at our discretion or through Apple).
The app is provided as-is. We work to keep it running and the model output sane, but we don't guarantee it will always be available, error-free, or produce any particular result. To the extent the law allows, we're not liable for indirect or consequential damages from using it.
We may update these terms as the app changes. We'll update the date at the top of this page, and call out anything material in the app itself. Continuing to use the app after a change means you accept the new terms.