Both tried and discarded for gameplay/fun reasons early in development. And as noted by others, making something an option doesn't make it any easier to add or balance; it actually makes it twice as much work, since the game needs to work well in *both* modes.
Are you mentioning the "orbiting planet" and/or the inner orbit = volcanic and outer orbit = ice?
Either way, I see the potential difficulties in creating a truly functioning solar system, of both hardware and game play importance, and I have no illusions of the "simplicity" of adding options.
Options double (or more) the work needed to make sure those modes work of course. Does not mean that you can accuse an option of destroying your play type, which is where the "NO OPTIONS" crowd seem to place some of their more misguided ideals. There is an option to turn off pirates, and I love playing with pirates. Does having the option to turn them off ruin my game play? No, it doesn't affect me at all.
My discussion was based around the feasibility of an option, so I don't see the point of shooting it down as an option and then criticizing those who believe a few other options are cool. To be honest, after thinking about it for a while, and reading DAS123s statement makes more sense, and clearly during development it was considered (which I def. assumed was the case regardless) and found to be not feasible.
Now that I have that off my chest, do you mind me asking what exactly were the factors in not continuing with the mechanic? Just out of curiosity, not for personal vengeance or some other nonsense lol.