Only 4 items can be left at each road flag for transportation so if you’ve got 2 arms of a T-junction trying to send items down the 3rd, you’ll create a bottle neck. This is another pinch point of productivity. Each section of road comes complete with its own little robot that will move resources up and down from flag to flag. Eventually, you’ll be making printing presses, brickyards, paper mills, tanneries and even space ports, all of which have their own prerequisites and building materials.Īll of these buildings have to be linked with roads and paths that can transport items. To create this you’ll need an orchard and an apple press which need to be unlocked via research. Level 2 buildings of any type need L2 energy which is generated by Level 2 residents – but these need apple juice to function. As each building type gets better, they get more effective/productive – but their underlying dependencies become more complex. Advanced by research at workshops that’ll need to be improved over time, every type of facility can be upgraded from level 1 to 2 and finally level 3. Everything is connected and can not operate in isolation of everything else.Īs The Colonists build towards a self sustaining colony, they’ll progress through 3 levels of scientific achievement. Water can be retrieved from a well and food can be obtained from farms that are dependent on L1 energy. L1 energy is generated by residential buildings, built from logs, which need food and water to run. The lumberbot will chop down trees in the world and turn them into logs, but in order to run, it’ll need L1 energy. From there on out, every building and facility is connected to a web of dependencies. This acts as the jumping off point the the whole colony, supplying a little L1 energy to get everything started. Instead, this is a game about being as productive as possible and getting things done quickly.Įach level begins with the landing of a rocket. This isn’t a settlement game built around survival which is so often the staple of the genre. They simply stop being as productive or stop working altogether. The robot race can’t die off because of a lack of water or food. There’s no failure conditions for the pacifistic levels of the campaign or in the sandbox mode. While The Colonists might list the Settlers and Anno games as its inspiration, there’s quite a lot of Factorum in this game too. Computer Resource Scheduling For Maximum Productivity
If your opposition manages to capture yours, it’s game over.
In the military levels, the aim is to use watch towers to capture the territory of AI opponents.
The faster the target is achieved, the better the medal rating from Gold to Bronze. In the former, the aim of each mission is to build a particular structure or achieve a certain scientific feat by a certain time. The core of the game is a 14 mission branching campaign that’s split between peaceful and military lanes. It’s inspired by the likes of The Settlers and the Anno games and those influences certainly shine through. The Colonists is a relaxed settlement builder from Codebyfire, Mode 7 and Auroch Digital.