Settlements & Projects

Hubs and Cities are collectively called Settlements. They still work differently as delivery destinations (see Site types), but they share the same activation, leveling, and project system described here.

Activation

A newly mapped Settlement is inactive. Before it starts consuming supply normally, it needs an initial delivery of a specific cargo — usually Food. The map and F10 show this requirement in place of the Settlement's normal stock while it's open.

Sources and Factories work the same way: a mapped but inactive one needs its own initial delivery before it starts producing. For a Source, that delivery only finishes its construction — it still won't produce anything until its first Ausbau step completes (see Source-Ausbau below).

Levels

Once active, a Settlement has a level, starting at 1. Higher levels raise how much Food the Settlement needs to stay supplied, and open up bigger jobs. Leveling up costs cargo beyond Food — typically Lumber for the first step, then Steel and Building Materials for the next. Exact amounts are a balancing detail and may change; check the F10 menu for current requirements.

Reserve

Any non-Food cargo you deliver to a Settlement doesn't get consumed right away — it banks into that Settlement's Reserve. The Reserve is spent on projects (below), not on day-to-day supply.

Starting a project

Open F10 > Other > Tycoon > Projects at the Settlement. It lists every project you can currently work toward, each requirement shown as reserve/required, with a Start action once you have enough in the Reserve. Starting a project spends the Reserve immediately and completes right away — there's no drip-feed progress bar to wait out.

Survey Station

Hubs can build a Survey Station, up to level 3, through the same Projects menu. Level 1 is a foundation step; completing level 2 or 3 unlocks Tier 2 or Tier 3 site rumors across the whole region — see Exploration. A Survey Station's level can never exceed the Hub's own Settlement level.

Security projects

Hubs can also build up regional Security through the Projects menu. That track is covered in Security & Threats, since it's about defending the region rather than growing the Settlement.

Source-Ausbau

Sources grow through their own Source-Ausbau, up to level 3, funded and started through the same Projects F10 menu at the Source itself. This is deliberately independent of the Settlement level of the region the Source feeds — a Source and its region can be at different levels, so a strong Source can outpace a weak region or the other way round. That mismatch is intentional, not a bug: it's part of managing the wider supply chain.

A freshly built Source sits at level 0 and produces nothing until its first Ausbau step completes. Each completed step raises both how often the Source produces and how many crates it can hold before its stock is full.

A Source's Ausbau reserve is separate from its production stock: deliveries land in a dedicated input zone next to the Source, distinct from the pickup zone you collect its output from. Costs follow the same Lumber → Steel → Building Materials progression used for Settlement levels. Check the Projects menu at the Source for its current step's exact requirement.