3 new character spawning types have been added to the game to facilitate players joining an ongoing game: succession of inactive characters, new leader of rebel territories, and colonies.
Succession
If a character becomes inactive and doesn’t have any subordinates in his nation, he automatically becomes a new “succession” starting point available to any new player joining the game.
The player will inherit all the character’s possessions : techs, treaties, units and territories. The character’s name and portrait are replaced by the ones chosen by the new player during the character’s creation.
New leader
All the territories in “anarchy” because they rebelled or were purposely abandoned by their previous owner now become valid starting points. A character joining as their new leader will inherit the anarchic territory and a set of techs matching the content of the territory. A minimum amount of population, food, and materials is insured to make sure its not an impossible start. This type of start is however pretty random and risky, probably only for experienced players.
If you inherit a rebel city you might be facing the wrath of the territory’s previous owner!
Colonies
And lastly : colonies. Players can now change the status of one of their cities to make it a colony. This action is irreversible and the player will lose control of the city by doing so: he will no longer be able to build and access its resources.
The colony then becomes a valid starting location for new players to join.
While the territory is a colony, it costs no upkeep, no state power, has stable loyalty, administration and 0 waste. It provides a 5% income tax to its founder (regardless of tax rate in policies).
A player starting in a colony will receive full control of the colony and will start automatically in the founder’s nation as one of his subordinates.
The ‘colony’ then loses its status and becomes the new player’s capital.
The new player is bound to the founder by a colonial treaty ensuring that he remains in the nation and pays the colonial tax of 5% of his incomes.
If the new player chooses to illegally break the treaty, he will suffer its breaking penalties : 50% of his GDP and war with the founder.
Why build colonies ?
– territories generate a safe and reliable 5% tax income without costing anything, and require no management as they have a stable administration and loyalty. 5% might seem low but there’s no 'waste' lowering the raw income.
– you can expand your influence for “free”.
– you can exploit a specific resource and transfer it back via trade route without the cost of maintaining a new city.
– you can expand your nation and recruit new people in it. new members start with the advantageous colonial treaty giving you 5% extra tax on top of the nation rank taxes, and advantageous breaking closes to discourage them from leaving.
Why start as a colony?
– you start with all the techs of the colony’s founder, instead of starting from scratch. perfect to catch up if not joining a game from the start.
– you start within an existing nation, meaning you can benefit from their help and protection instead of starting alone.
– you start with a potentially well developed city and resources (depending on what the colony founder provided)
The colonies update
v0.0.13.x
– added succession start.
– added new leader start.
– added colony start.
– territory menu is now accessible from the worldmap.
– fixed issues with storage resource transfers.