Cities

**Cities** are the backbone of your empire; they generate most of the things your empire needs to thrive. As such, managing and protecting your cities is a key part of the game.

# Creating Cities

Cities are created by using a special command on colonizer units. Each faction starts the game with one colonizer; additional colonizers can be constructed in cities. Cities cannot be created within two spaces of existing cities or hives.

# Construction

Each city uses its production to build useful stuff, including units, buildings, projects, and some operations. More things to build are unlocked as new technology is researched.

You can add items to a city's build queue by clicking on them in the build menu of the city management screen. You can remove items from the queue by clicking on them, or reorder them by dragging them.

All the city's production is added to the item at the top of the build queue until it is finished. A city never works on more than one item per turn; if the first item is finished, any leftover production is carried over into the next turn.

You can build things more quickly by spending credits; building an item with credits costs 8 credits for every 1 production remaining to be done (but unlike regular production, does not consume minerals) and finishes that item in the next turn. Any leftover production from the previous turn is applied to the item before calculating its cost in credits; all production from the *current* turn is carried over into the next turn, since nothing new can be worked on while an item is being built with credits.

## Units

Units are people or vehicles that can move around the map, and are used mostly to explore and fight.

## Buildings

Buildings improve a city by generating resources, improving efficiency, or granting other benefits. Only one copy of each building may be constructed in each city.

## Projects

Projects provide either an instant one-time benefit or a permanent bonus to your entire empire. Each faction can only build each project once per game.

## Operations

Operations are special actions that can be used on the main map. Some operations are obtained by constructing an associated building that allows them to be used once every certain number of turns; other operations must be built from scratch every time you want to use them.

# Territory

Each city automatically claims some of the map as your territory, causing it to be shaded in your faction's color. Tiles in your territory can be worked by population in your nearby cities, and other factions' units cannot enter your territory unless you are at war (or have an open borders agreement).

Once a tile is claimed as your territory, it cannot be claimed by other players except by capturing the city that claimed it.

## Expanding Territory

When you found a city, you automatically claim the tile where the city was founded plus the 6 adjacent tiles (unless they have already been claimed), for a total of 7 tiles.

Cities can claim an additional tile when their population increases, starting with the 8th person in the city. The new tile claimed must be adjacent to one of the city's current tiles, not already claimed by another city, and not more than 3 spaces away from the city itself. You can choose the next tile to be claimed by clicking its flag icon in the city management screen; if you do not choose one in advance (or if your selection becomes invalid), one is chosen automatically.

If there are no legal tiles to claim when a city expands, it does not claim a new tile.

If a city's population decreases, it will not lose any territory it has claimed, but it won't claim any new territory until it expands beyond its largest previous size.

## Transferring Territory

If you have two cities close to each other, some map tiles may be within range of both cities. If a tile is claimed by one city, but you want the other city to work that tile, you can transfer control of that tile to your other city by clicking on it in the city management screen of the city that you want to transfer it to.

The city to receive the tile must be within 3 space of that tile. You *cannot* transfer a tile away from a city that is directly adjacent to that tile (though it is possible to found a new city adjacent to a tile that has already been claimed, in which case the original city can retain control of that tile).

Transferring control in this way does not delay the territorial expansion of the city receiving the tile or speed up the expansion of the city that loses it.

Even though a single terrain tile can be worked by multiple people at once to harvest different resources, it cannot be worked by multiple cities at once, even if they are trying to harvest different resources.

# Resource Production

Each city generates resources for your empire based on its population, terrain, and buildings.

Tiles only produce their food, mineral, industry, or science yield if they are worked by city population assigned to the appropriate role. However, other resource yields (including credits, morale, pollution, and habitat) are produced automatically as long as the tile is claimed by your city, regardless of whether anyone is working that tile.

## Assigning Roles

Each unit of population in a city can be turned into either a farmer, a miner, a worker, or a scientist. The game assigns each new unit of population a role automatically, but you can reassign them manually by clicking a role box to "pick up" people from that role, then clicking on another role box to assign them that role.

### Farmers

Farmers work your territory near the city to produce food. Each farmer can collect all the food produced by a single map tile, and will automatically work the tile with the highest food output that is not already being worked by another farmer. You cannot assign more farmers than the number of food-producing tiles claimed by the city.

Farmers *only* harvest food from their assigned map tile; other resources are not collected. Multiple types of resources can be harvested from a single map tile, but doing so requires assigning multiple population (in different roles) to that single tile.

Each farmer adds 0.4 pollution to the city.

### Miners

Miners work like farmers, except they harvest minerals instead of food.

Each miner adds 0.6 pollution to the city.

### Workers

Each worker generates 2 production. Workers do not need map tiles to work on, but their output is enhanced if they can work a map tile with a construction bay improvement.

Each worker adds 0.8 pollution to the city.

### Scientists

Each scientist generates 2 science. Scientists do not need map tiles to work on, but their output is enhanced if they can work on a map tile with a field lab improvement.

Each scientist adds 0.2 pollution to the city.

## Growth

Each person in a city adds 1 growth, regardless of their assigned role.

## Taxes

Each city can specify a tax rate between 0% and 100% (in increments of 5%). Each person in a city (regardless of role) generates credits based on the tax rate; higher tax rates generate more credits, but lower morale.

A tax rate of 70% has no effect on morale. Tax rate adds +1 morale for every 10% below 70% (for a maximum of +7 morale at 0% tax rate), and -1 morale for every 10% above 70% (for a maximum of -3 morale at 100% tax rate).

## Morale

Morale affects how efficiently your population creates resources. The productivity of all roles and the credits from taxes are increased by positive morale or reduced by negative morale. Growth is reduced by negative morale but is unaffected by positive morale.

Morale is affected by the city's tax rate, habitat, and pollution.

### Habitat

Habitat represents the amount of living space available for a city's population; each city starts with 8.

Population in excess of a city's habitat results in slums, reducing the city's morale by 1 for every point of population in excess of the habitat.

### Pollution

Pollution is caused by a city's population (the exact amount varies depending on the assigned role) and by certain terrain features within the city's territory (notably fungus); it can be reduced by other terrain features (forest, purifiers) and by certain buildings.

If total pollution is positive, then pollution is subtracted from the city's morale. Negative pollution has no effect.