Colonizing

INTRODUCTION

Colonizing planets is a staple of any good 4X game. In Imperia, however, colonizing planets is not as simple as clicking a button. In fact, colonizing a planet is a huge undertaking, usually requiring several years to survey, prepare, and populate a planet. Think carefully about colonizing a planet before committing the resources and money towards doing so!

FIRST STEPS

To colonize a planet, the planet must be known, i.e. have a scan level of at least 1. From there, the planet must be fully surveyed before it can be colonized. The survey levels are as follows:

  • NONE - The planet is known, perhaps from an astronomical survey, but nothing beyond what type (i.e. gas giant, barren, etc) is known.
  • ATMO - An atmospheric survey has been made on the planet, surveying its atmosphere, gravity, etc. This will reveal the planet's Bio rating.
  • GEO - A ground survey has been conducted on the planet, surveying continents, geologic faults, etc. This will reveal the planets' tectonic, luxury mineral, and strategic mineral ratings. At this point, an outpost can be created.
  • FULL - The planet has been surveyed for habitable land, and specific parts of the planet have been identified as optimal for colonization. At this point, a new colony may be formed.

NOW WHAT?

Great, you have a planet that can be colonized! What do you do now? Well, like most things in Imperia, you create an Edict! In this case, you will create a Stellar Edict to Colonize Planet. Once the Edict passes, the colonization process will begin. Note that you can choose what type of planet the new colony will be by assigning an initial Primary Designation to the planet. This will change the amount of ADM and money to colonize the planet.

MY COLONY IS NOW ACTIVE!

That's fantastic! Your colony will be considered a NEW COLONY for purposes of classification for at least 20 months (2 years). This will give you the following benefits:

  • Much greater chance for immigrants to come
  • No government penalty for insufficient government on a planet
  • Very low taxes
  • Your viceroy will be initially very loyal to you (after all, you did give them a new planet to play with!). HOWEVER, if the planet is a pit (bio below 50), the viceroy will not be nearly so happy…
  • Your system and sector governors will also be happy with the new real estate

Have a consideration for the effect that placing a new colony in an established system will have on the surrounding systems and sectors. Pops who are living on struggling planets will want to move to a newly colonized planet because of the new opportunities it represents. Be careful that you do not inadvertently create a 'black hole' effect in a system or even a sector - other viceroys who are affected negatively will be more jealous (and angry) while system and sector governors who see their total populations decrease will be similarly upset! Also, sector governors who see that a new system has been colonized in another sector will generally react negatively, since after all, it wasn't their sector that saw the addition of a new system!

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