How to Play

Welcome to Outpost, a realistic strategy simulation of space colonization. Your mission is to colonize a hostile planet in a distant star system. You'll begin by selecting which star systems you'll consider calling home. You will send out VLBI satellites to four star systems to determine which is the most promising. This information will arrive at Jupiter while you are fueling up for your trip from it you will decide which of the four systems you will colonize. At this time, if you've packed them, you can send out ULBI satellites for information on planets in your star system of choice.

When you start the game, you'll choose a difficulty level. Many of Outpost's internal conditions are affected by your choice. Planetary Hostility, trading exchange rates, the amount of help you get from the AI adviser, the damage level your colony suffers during disasters, and a variety of other issues are affected by the difficulty level you select. The difficulty level you choose also affects frequency of disasters, how many rebels flee, and how critical your population is when you make a bad decision. During your first game, you may want to select a low difficulty level and increase the level of difficulty on a future game as your experience increases.