Planets & Colonies

PLANETS

Planets are categorised as being within certain temperature ranges, though for the most part the condition of the planet surface is its most important component. These comprise of the following basic types:-

Molten, Very Hot, Hot, Desert, Arid, Earthlike, Water, Cold, Very Cold, Frozen, Frigid, Ringed Frozen, Gas Giant and Ringed Gas Giant.

Each planet will also have a predominant atmospheric element too, giving it yet another method of classification. These are generally within the following types:-

Vacuum, Ionised Metals, Superheated Steam, Carbon Dioxide, Oxygen, Chlorine, Hydrogen Sulphide, Nitrogen, Ammonia, Methane, Hydrogen, Liquid Gas and Solid Gas.

All or some of these planets may exist round any star in any sector. Most Hot stars will of course have mostly hot class planets in their family where as cold stars will have cold ones, but this can vary and should not be taken as a definitive ruling. These classifications show only the MAJOR important gaseous nature of each atmosphere. Each atmosphere type will have other gases in lower or even higher proportions (i.e. An Oxygen class atmosphere will also have Nitrogen present in 50-80% quantities but it is the Oxygen that is the critical component, likewise the Chlorine type will usually have chlorinated hydrocarbons and nitrogen present too). As each player-controlled race in the game is from "human" stock, it should be pretty clear which planets may be considered habitable, and which ones are not. Planets outside of the colonisable range should not be dismissed though - it is certainly possible to colonise a Carbon Dioxide atmosphere world, but as this will entail a good few changes to their daily lives (atmosphere filters, breathing equipment, etc) then you can be sure that the population will find procreation a rather more arduous task than is the norm, and growth on these worlds will be subsequently reduced.

Every planet in the universe also has other classifications that determine its suitability for any colonisation and/or exploitation. Both gravimetric pressure and the amount of water on a planet will determine its suitability for colonisation too, while the amount of useable resources will also be a definite consideration. Finding a new Eden is all well and good, but if there are virtually no raw materials available within the planets crust, then it will mean that any new colony there will have to be constantly supplied with such from other areas of space - a task that may not be worth the effort.

The size of each planet can be an important fact, but certainly not for any initial colonisation. Even a world classed as "very small" is going to be large enough for a very big colony and it is not going to be considered a crowded world for a very long time into the future.

COLONIES

Any planet that a player (or NPC) race occupies is either a Homeworld or a Colony - only the name varies as both operate in exactly the same manner. Though there will be hundreds and hundreds of Stars in the Universe and thousands of planets only those on which races have settled are judged as colonies. Only these colonies have the ability to generate resources for each race and it is here that the construction of the various game units takes place.

Colonising a new world is a relatively simple matter. Worlds classified as both Earthlike and Oxygen are the best for purposes of colonisation, but your race can survive on most oxygen worlds, on some carbon dioxide worlds and later, when you can build domed accommodation, any world that is below 2.5 g and is within human temperature tolerances. A player must place colonists into their Colonial Transport ships (just load pop at a planet that you own, the best people are always selected for colonists), move these ships to the world they want to colonise and then off-load them. A new colony will then be formed. Dependant upon the type of world you have chosen to colonise, you will be given a projected "growth rate" of the populace given that all factors remain at a norm. This figure represents the rate at which the population will increase and is shown as a figure per thousand Population units. For example, a growth rate of 87 will produce a steady increase in population of 0.87% each and every production run. Basically, a growth rate above 80 is a good planet to build on.

However, these people are now upon a world with no form of protection from the Elements, you will quickly need to provide them with housing and food. Any colonies that do not have adequate shelter or food for the populace will see the excess people die off at the end of the next production run. Therefore any newly formed colonies are going to need these basic elements on the SAME TURN that they are founded. This process is also very simple. You must load Freighters with enough Construction points (simply called CON) to construct the required housing and farms for all the population, move it to the colony, and then off-load it, with orders to immediately construct the buildings. One thing to ensure is that you have enough newly landed colonists on the new world to allow the construction of the settlement you require. It is pointless landing a tiny number of people on a world and then ordering them to construct a city; they will simply be unable to do so. You could feasibly be in a position where you place a large number of colonists on a world and are unable to build a settlement of sufficient size to house and feed them, i.e. the number of people there is too large for an outpost to hold, but you don't have enough of them to build a colony! Or once a settlement is built, there are no workers left to build and man the necessary farms. Check the construction requirement of a settlement before attempting to build it. As a temporary solution, simply unloading food from freighters will tide the colonists over, but this is no long-term solution.