Smooth stone floors vs other floors

[GiantSpaceHamster]

I know this is a topic that pops up in the general forum every once in a while, but I thought I'd add my two cents here.

Smooth stone floors are +3 beauty while carpets and stone tile floors are +2. While I get that smooth stone floors cannot be used everywhere, and with respect to the beauty value alone I don't have a problem with the difference, I feel that it restricts aesthetic choices too much. The player has to sacrifice in-game aesthetics (beauty value) for player aesthetics (how their base looks to the user, aside from in-game effects). I think it would be better if this conflict was not present. It would enable more variety for base aesthetics without arbitrarily compromising colonist moods.

Besides, the lack of resources needed for smooth stone floors more than makes up for the increased construction time. The extra beauty point is not needed to justify the fact that it's limited to certain ground surfaces given the conflict with player aesthetics.

[Grishnerf]

i have exactly the same problem with this.

i want to have a nice looking base, so i always/most the time use colored carpets. (mods, more Colors)
even if that means to waste potential beauty on stone floors in mountains.

now most people will tell you that smoothed floor has no value only Beauty. so it makes up for it.
but that IS also an Advantage to use smoothed floor.
less wealth = smaller raids = less difficult.

so i really dont understand smoothed floor in its current state. (+3 Beauty, no wealth)
it forces the Player to always use smoothed floor in mountains for mood reasons.
and that limits creativity/base design.

if smoothed floor just would be +2 Beauty like carpets it would be okey.
Noone would feel bad anymore to replace ugly cave floors with good looking carpets. 

[Limdood]

you're still paying for that wealth somewhere.

The goal isn't just beauty.  You're going for "impressive" rooms for mood boosts (permanent up to +6 on bedrooms, and temporary for dining rooms and rec rooms).  For impressive rooms, its a composite of beauty, space, wealth and cleanliness - a large, dirty, ugly room with 5 dozen AI cores will still be impressive.  A small, sparse, pretty room can still be only so-so on the impressive scale.

For bedrooms, dining rooms, and rec rooms, stone tile or carpet floor is arguably better (or sterile, which has a huge boost in impressiveness due to cleanliness factor) than smooth stone due to the balance of factors. 

For other rooms, namely workrooms or storerooms where pawns work in, smooth stone is better, since impressiveness doesn't matter and you only need to offset item ugliness.  That being said, smooth stone isn't a buildable floor, you can't choose WHERE it is, only what rooms to put on it, if you happen to have it.

Lastly, a giant, polished, unbroken, unblemished, shiny marble floor is probably hella pretty in comparison to carpet or tile