Matrix Games Forums

Hi All,

I've flicked through the manual looking for an explanation of this but it all seems pretty obtuse...

I've been playing for a hundred or so turns and my zone has expanded. It still has one city. The manaul talks about having multiple zones. The menus give an option to colonize, which does absolutely nothing in my game. Colonists on the left hand stats have remained at zero since the start of the game.

So how do I get extra zones? How do I start accruing colonist? How do I found a new city?

Sorry devs, but either I've gone dyslexic in my old age or the manual leaves a bit to be desired.....

You need to have asset in hex that you want to colonize (usually truck station is best - but it can be everything) (it needs to be farther than 4 hexes from existing city - I think). Then you can send colonist and/or recruits there to start new city using button on right panel.

You can get new colonist when you will call governor of your city (for 2 PP) and modify default amount of recruited amount (on the same screen you can modify number of military recruits/wages/extra private economy investement/incorporating new city zone).

From my understanding so far:
You start in a zone that has a city in it.
A zone can only have one city.

If you move your military units into territory that's non aligned, you claim it and the hexes are added to your original zone.

You can add new cities in two ways.
Firstly by conquering a city in a neighbouring zone. (That city then remains in a separate zone to your capital)

Second way to get a new city is by building an asset somewhere in your existing zone, but when doing so tick the box near the top right that creates a new zone at the same time.

You'll then have a new city and a new zone. You can adjust the territory in this new zone using one of the tools on the right pane.
You would probably only want to create a new city in your existing zone if there are assets in it that are so far away from your current city that they cause an administrative burden.

I'm new to the game so if I've got any of this wrong feel free to correct me anyone!

Every City has one Zone.
Every Zone has one City.
Exact Zone bordeers are not fixed, City positions however are.

If you got any Assets in a Zone further then 6 or 7 Hexes from the city, you start suffering from "Administrative Strain" in that Zone, reducing all production output. A bit is not bad, but it can build up. That is one reason to build more Zones/Cities.

The New City needs to be far enough away from existing cities and there must be a asset in that Hex. That asseet will provide Temperature and Radiation Insulation (See 5.2.3.1.).
I prefer a Truck station, as all my cities get at least one T1.

You can create a new zone from any rural asset using the 'new zone' command from the right hand menus too.

Colonists are not strictly necessary - people will migrate about by themselves over time anyway.

Just that you do not need to tick the box at building or lose the chance. You can also select the asset and then click 'New Zone' on the right (1 of the 3 tabs).

Thanks very much for the responses! I'd completely missed the tick box and the fact you can set up new zone from the right hand side....

And thanks for not pointing out that I should read the blinkin' obvious