Outpost

[ Colonization ]

An Outpost may be set up on an Outpost Site, which is found through Surveying. This requires the construction of an outpost which requires an investment of 10000 and 800 . Additionally, you may wish to assign one of your fleets to the outpost (see below). An Outpost is like a small system of its own. It has zones and its own economy, but it is very limited in scope. An Outpost site takes up (3|1) Sector Capacity.

An Outpost starts with a single cluster of 3 zones. It is possible to buy additional clusters as an upgrade. When Surveying for a site, you select a product (the example uses ). After spending the required amount of and , you'll find a site for an Outpost. This Outpost will consist of only the first Cluster

The outpost can support up to 1.0 which you could move there by Moving Population. The outpost generates 100 , regardless of the number of upgrades.

Note that you can't produce Organics on an Outpost due to the Habitable limitation.

A cluster has an associated product, and the three zones in that cluster will have bonuses accordingly. For example if a Cluster has as an associated product, it will contain one zone with a +100 , one zone with a +100 and one zone with +100 . This pattern (+100 material A, +100 material B and +100 Product AB; where A and B might be equal) is the same for every cluster, though each cluster has it's own associated product. While you are free to build whatever zones you like, the bonuses will only be available in the already mentioned pattern.

The first upgrade will make Cluster 2 available, with an associated product of your choosing (the cluster in the example), and unlock the 'Extra' zone. The second upgrade will make Cluster 3 available, again allowing you to choose the associated product (the example has ). You cannot upgrade beyond this point.

The Extra zone will not gain any bonuses, and can be used to complement the Outpost with whatever extra zone you see fit.

An Outpost requires maintenance, the cost of which are listed in the table below. Unlike the Space Habitat, which produces less without these materials, the outpost is an all-or-nothing deal. You either get everything or nothing. If the upkeep is not paid, the outpost does not produce any labour, and can not process any into zones, and no projects on the outpost can make any progress.

An Outpost can be upgraded twice, with cost listed in the table below. When upgrading, the maintenance cost changes and you get additional clusters. Each time, you must choose a product for that cluster.

Outpost Upgrade	Cost	Total # Clusters	Total Extra Zones	Total Zones	Maintenance
Original Outpost (for comparison)	10000 + 800	1	0	3	10 , 10 , 10 , 10
Upgrade #1	8000 + 600	2	1	7	20 , 20 , 20 , 20
Upgrade #2	6000 + 400	3	1	10	30 , 30 , 30 , 30

Outposts are affected by Piracy, so it is necessary to do regular Piracy Patrol to keep their economies rolling.

An Outpost is treated as a seperate entity with its own economy. This means that unlike a Space Habitat, you cannot simply use the products produced in your home system for this purpose, nor can you use raw materials produced there in Second Tier Zones in your home system. Rather, you need to arrange transportation between your home-world and the outpost. Unlike a regular system, the outpost does not maintain its own trade fleets. Instead, you will have to set up normal trade to supply the outpost and to ship any goods you need to and from the outpost.

As a special case, a trade fleet on a route between your home system and the outpost is allowed to take goods in two directions. This is a special case that only applies to one or more simple trade fleets flying directly between your home system and the outpost.