Colonists

Outpost 2 has three Colonists classes: Children, Workers, and Scientists. Children have no productive function in the colony, but after a period of time, they may become Workers. Workers operate structures in the colony. Scientists also have some duties in operating structures, as well as doing research to advance the overall colony technology.

Periodically, new Children may be born at the colony. However, this can happen only if all Child make up less than half of the population and you have an active Nursery. Children may become Workers when they are old enough and if you have an active University. Workers may be assigned to operate structures or to take classes at the University, after which they become Scientists. Scientists are required to operate some kinds of, and they may be used in place of Workers if you do not have enough Workers. However, using Scientists in place of workers will drop your Morale. Also, Scientists may be assigned to research projects at the laboratories.

Note:The number of Nurseries and Universities you have has no effect, colonists will continue to be born and become workers at the same rate whether you have one Nursery / University or 100. The only benefit to having multiples of these buildings is redundancy in the unlikely event that one is destroyed, or if you want to be able to train more than 10 workers into scientists at a time. Colonists may die in several ways. Some Colonists, young and old alike, will die because of illness, injury, or old age. These deaths cannot be prevented, although they can be reduced through the construction of Medical Centers and keeping your Colonists happier, that is, keeping Morale high, will also lengthen the life-spans of the Colonists. Colonists who are assigned to operate a structure will be killed if that structure is destroyed. You may prevent this by idling structures that are in danger of being destroyed. Unfortunately, while the structure is idle, it is not performing its function, which may be worse than the potential loss of the Colonists. idling a Common Ore Smelter, for example, may result in the loss of valuable metals.

Note: There is a short delay between a structure being idled, and the workers/scientists actually leaving that structure. Idle your structures well in advance of an expected disaster or your people may end up dieing anyway when the building is destroyed. Finally, Colonists will die if there is insufficient Food available. Normally, each Colonist requires one unit of Food. This can be stretched a little bit. In times of famine 100 units of Food can feed 105 Colonists, but any Colonists over this amount will die of starvation, with Children and Scientists being more likely to starve than Workers. Information about your Colonists is shown in the Colonists report in the Command Pane. To see this report, click the Resources Reports button (third from the left), then select COLONISTS in the list box and click the DETAILS button.

This Command Pane displays information about the colony's Colonists.

• Total Population shows the total number of Colonists in the colony.
• Children indicates the total number of Children in the colony.
• Workers shows the total number of Workers in the colony.
• Assigned refers the number of Workers assigned to operate structures, followed by the number of Workers required to operate all non-idled structures plus the number assigned to University training.
• Available denotes the number of Workers who are not assigned.
• Assigned as Scientists shows the number of Scientists assigned to fulfill the Scientist requirements of various structures.
• Assigned as Workers indicates the number of Scientists assigned to fulfill the Worker requirements of various structures.
• Assigned to Research shows the number of Scientists assigned to research projects.
• Available provides the number of Scientists not assigned to any of the categories above.
• The STRUCTURES button takes you to a list of all structures that affect the number, type, or longevity of your Colonists: Nurseries, Universities, and Medical Centers. The SUMMARY button returns you to the Resources report.

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