In Star Traders, Zones refers to all of the planet-side or orbital faction holdings where a captain will take care of business, repair their ship, accomplish their missions and discover lost artifacts. Zones are found on Systems within the quadrant map and are generally divided into two categories; Urban and Wild. The orbit of a world may also be considered part of it's zones, since some missions related to the zone will be accomplished there and zone statistics determine orbit statistics. It is worth noting that some systems may have more than one zone. Most often this will be an Urban and Wilderness zone but occasionally Systems will host two urban zones.
Orbit
When a ship first arrives in a System they will find themselves in orbit above whatever zone or zones are present in it. While separate from the zone itself, certain missions to a zone may involve activity in its orbit to accomplish. Captain may Patrol, Blockade or Spy within the orbit of a system with each action carrying various risks and rewards. These activities are considered as being done against the faction that controls the zone below. Zone statistics also determine the level of risk that any of these activities may entail. While Orbital Station Zones may also be in orbit of the world below, they still have a separate orbit area.
Urban Zones
Captains will spend a good deal of their time in the many Urban Zones of the various quadrants. Urban Zones are home to the peoples of the many factions and each zone is controlled by a faction Prince who has great freedom in determining the laws and nature of a given zone. Every zone has a single faction owner -- either one of the Great Houses, Syndicates or the Independents. Independent Urban Zones are often quite popular with Captains who do not have the required Trade Permit to trade premium goods in faction exchanges, but Captains will find lower prices at indie Exchanges. The specific attributes of each zone are influenced by many different factors including planet size, quality and atmospheric density.
Zone Statistics
Each zone also has a unique set of services that are determined by the ratings. Each Zone's rating will tell you much about what is available there and what a captain will be able to do when landing there:
- Economy: The strength and scale of the local economic engine. This rating impacts the Exchange's levels of both supply and demand.
- Starport: The size and capability of the local space construction industry. This rating impacts the cost and speed of all things Ship related.
- Military: The size and strength of the local Faction military forces. These forces are responsible for the security of the Zone.
- Government: The size and complexity of the local Faction governmental apparatus. The government rating impacts the number of services available in the Zone.
- Spice: The scope and organization of the local spice works and entertainment industries. This rating reflects how desirable R&R is for Star Trading Crews.
- Trade Law: Set by the local government, determines whether a particular good can be sold in the zone. The rating indicates how restricted trade is in the zone.
- Population:
Types
Every zone's economy is dominated by it's type. A zone's type is incredibly important in trading as it determines primarily what type of goods it supplies and what type of goods it demands. Zone type may also effect some of it's statistics and which kind of crew can be recruited there.
Every Zone statistic influences the others during the proc gen process and during gameplay.
| Mining Zone | Focused on the extraction of raw materials. Requires machinery. |
|---|---|
| Refining Zone | Prepares raw materials for use in Industrial Zones and produces some goods directly for consumption in Population zones |
| Industrial Zone | Transforms refined materials for Population and Tradeway Zones and sells equipment to Farming and Mining zones. |
| High Tech Industrial Zone | Similar to Industrial zones, but creates higher tech and higher value goods. |
| Tradeway Zone | An orbital zone which serves primarily to move manufactured goods. Often have lower trade laws. Often pay less than a specialized zone, as they are a clearing house / middle-man |
| Farming Zone | A zone focused on growing food stuffs to source Population and Refining zones. |
| Population Zone | An end zone for manufactured and food goods. |
| Luxury Population Zone | Similar to a population zone but demanding higher quality goods. |
| Orbital Station Zone | Landing on orbital station requires no fuel and takes only 1 turn -- much faster and cheaper than landing on the planet. |
Services
The specific statistics of each urban zone determine which services it offers. In general, most zones provide a Starport where a captain can refuel, repair and possibly upgrade their ship. Most zones also host a Spice Hall where captains can pay their crew, allow their crew time to spice and regenerate Morale and possibly recruit new crew members. A captain's Contacts are also found in zones and may provide a whole host of their own services including missions, access to Black Markets, special gear and much more. Access to zone and contact services will also depend on a Captain's reputation with the relevant party. In general, zone services are not denied until a captain has negative reputation.
Licensed Star Traders and their crew are restricted to the Star Traders' district in any Faction zone. This means that, they can only access the services that the Urban Zone is willing to provide, unless they seek out Contact Services, through an important person on the world who may provide additional or illegal services. During Missions and other types of operations, a Captain and crew may petition for a license to leave the Starport to visit a person of interest, the palace or other area outside of the controlled district.
Starport Services
| Service | Required Attributes | Notes | Reputation Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refueling | Requires 2+ Starport Rating | This service is Recommended when you have less than 50% fuel.
The Starport Rating itself has great influence on the price of Fuel. Refueling any amount always takes half of one day. |
At -30 Rep or Below, Refueling is denied |
| Repairing Ship | Requires 4+ Starport Rating | This service is Recommended when you have less than 50% Hull, or whenever any component is significantly damaged. Repairing your ship allows you to both fix ship components that are damaged as well as directly repair the hull. | At -20 Rep or Below, Repairing is denied |
| Upgrading Component | Requires 6+ Starport Rating | At -10 Rep or Below, Upgrading is denied | |
| Purchase Ship (Faction) | Requires 7+ Starport | Purchasing a ship requires at least 1 Military Rank. | At 0 Rep or below, Ships are not sold |
| Purchase Ship (Indy) | Requires 9+ Starport | No Star Trader will be denied. | |
| Dry Dock Ship | Requires Starport 7+ | Dry docking a ship requires at least 1 Military Rank.
Ships cannot be Dry Docked at Indie zones. |
Spice Hall Services
| Service | Required Attributes | Notes | Reputation Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paying Crew | Requires 0+ Economy Rating | Crew can only be paid once every 30 days, as stipulated in the Star Traders' contract they sign when joining a ship. Crew members will level up when they are paid, if they have enough Experience. Paying Crew raises their morale. It is recommended that you use Spice before paying crew because both improve morale but being paid can increase morale above 80 while spicing cannot. | Paying Crew is never Denied by negative Reputation |
| Recruiting | Requires 3+ Starport Rating | This service is Recommended whenever there are empty beds on board your ship.
The available types of crew are limited by the Zone Attributes. |
At -15 Rep or Below, Recruiting is denied |
| Spice Hall | Requires 3+ Spice Rating | This service is Recommended when your crew's average Morale is less than 75.
Spice and Entertainment in the Hall cannot raise crew Morale above 80, regardless of a zone's Spice Rating. The amount of Morale recovered with each round of Spicing and Entertaining depends on the zone's Spice Rating. Half the Spice Rating is guaranteed in Morale gain, and the other half is rolled as a dice. Therefore, with 10 Spice Rating, you gain 5 to 10 Morale with each paid round. Individual crew member Talents and Traits effect the Morale changes caused by Spicing. Some crew will gain Morale faster, or cause other crew members to gain or lose Morale at each visit to the Spice Hall. |
At -15 Rep or Below, Spicing is denied |
| Doctor | Requires 10+ Economy Rating | A Technologist Doctor can heal any crew member up to a maximum HP. If the Zone's Government Rating is below 8, the Max HP is equal to the Zone's Government Rating x 15. If the Government Rating is 8 the Max HP is 140, if the Government Rating is 9 the Max HP is 180, and if the Government Rating is 10 the Max HP is 250. | At -10 Rep or Below, Doctor is denied |
Exchange
| Service | Required Attributes | Notes | Reputation Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buying and Selling | Requires 0+ Economy Rating | Buying and Selling resources on the Exchange is limited by the local Trade Law and Permits. | At -20 Rep or Below, the Exchange is denied |
Orbital Operations
| Operation | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Spying | There must be an urban zone with 4+ Government within a system in order to be able to spy and gather intel records. |
| Blockading | There must be an urban zone with 3+ Economy within a system in order to able to blockade.
Due to their heightened network of trade, any Moklumnue system can be Blockaded regardless of its zone's Economy ratings. |
| Patrolling | Only systems with viable faction navy and economy can be Patrolled. Therefore, there must be an urban zone within the system to Patrol |
Wilderness Zones
Wilderness zones are uninhabited areas of a planet surface where captains may land in order to harvest resources. Sometimes they may even find valuable Xeno Artifacts, Intel Records, Rumors or information which will help them make a new Contact. Captains may also use Wilderness Zones to Stash goods they are carrying until a time they are able to sell them or that is more advantageous to do so. Explorer and Exo-Scout make it their business to explore Wilderness Zones using the Explore option which uses a Card Mini-Game to determine whether they will reap rich rewards or pay a terrible penalty. Certain missions may also require that a Captain explore a Wilderness Zone in order to find a specific item or locate a potential passenger.
Every Wilderness Zone has various stats which determine it's suitability of being used to stash goods, the richness of rewards offered and the danger potential explorers will encounter.
| Exploration Rating | How valuable the harvests could be here. This rating controls the chance of positive cards being drawn, and controls how good the best cards that are drawn could be. |
|---|---|
| Richness Rating | How many the harvests are here. This rating controls the number of times you can Explore this zone |
| Danger Level | How dangerous operating within this Zone is. This rating controls the chance of negative cards being drawn, and controls how bad the worst cards that are drawn could be |
| Stash Rating | This is not currently in use in the game! How safe stashing cargo within this Zone is. This rating would control the chance of the stash being looted during a Rumor |