Voran Colonial Authority // Field Manual VCA-CITY-01

City Operations
Field Manual

Cities are the backbone of your economy — they generate credits, produce settlers, and grow your influence across the galaxy. This manual covers everything you need to build a thriving colony.

EconomyPopulationInfrastructure

Section 01 // Deployment

Getting Started

To found a city, you need a Settlement Hall placed on a planet and linked to an orbital base. The base provides your city with food and power — without it, your citizens will starve.

Once your city is established, population begins growing automatically every 5 minutes. Your job is to keep them happy, fed, employed, and safe.

Every change you make takes effect at the next production cycle (every 5 minutes). Numbers won’t update instantly — don’t panic if a fix doesn’t show right away.

Section 02 // Tier Progression

City Levels

Cities progress through three levels. Each level unlocks new buildings, raises your population cap, and increases tax revenue. To upgrade, your population must reach the required threshold and you must have researched the necessary tech tier. The upgrade is instant — your hall transforms into the next-tier hall with no downtime.

Lvl	Name	Population Cap	Max Settlers	Tax Bonus	Requirements
1	Settlement	10,000,000	5,000,000	—	Settlement Hall
2	Colony	100,000,000	30,000,000	+15%	5M pop, Tech Tier 3, Colony Hall
3	City	300,000,000	100,000,000	+40%	100M pop, Tech Tier 6, City Hall

Section 03 // Demographics

Population Growth

Your city’s population grows (or shrinks) based on birth rate and death rate, calculated every production cycle. Under ideal conditions — full healthcare, high happiness, plenty of food — your net growth is roughly 1% per cycle. That adds up fast.

+2%

Base Birth Rate

per production cycle

−1%

Base Death Rate

per production cycle

~1%

Net Growth (Ideal)

healthy, fed, happy city

Increases Birth Rate

Full healthcare coverage+0.5%

Happiness above 80%+0.3%

Food surplus (over 100%)+0.2%

Increases Death Rate

Food shortage+1% / 10% under

Complete starvation (0% food)+10%

Happiness below 30%+0.5%

Decreases Death Rate

Full healthcare coverage−0.3%

Prioritize food supply and healthcare early. A starving city with no medical care can spiral into collapse very quickly — deaths compound every cycle.

Section 04 // Civil Morale

Happiness

Happiness directly affects your income and population growth. It ranges from 0% to 100% and is calculated from seven weighted factors. Each service building covers a fixed number of citizens — if your clinics cover 500,000 of 1,000,000 people, your healthcare score is 50%. Build more service buildings as you grow to maintain full coverage.

Happiness Factors

Employment25%

Workshops, Factories, Commerce Centers, Industrial Zones, Corporate Campuses, Trade Hubs

Food20%

Food stored at your linked base

Healthcare15%

Clinics, Hospitals, Regional Hospitals, Planetary Medical Centers

Security15%

Security Posts, Police Stations, Police HQs, Security Fortresses

Education10%

Community Schools, Colleges, Universities, Grand Universities

Entertainment10%

Recreation Centers, Theaters, Entertainment Complexes, World Wonders

Religion5%

Shrines, Churches, Cathedrals, Grand Cathedrals

Employment works differently. It depends on the total jobs your Activity buildings provide and how much power your base generates. If your base is underpowered, some jobs go offline — directly hurting employment and happiness.

Happiness Thresholds

90%+

1.2×

Excellent income

70–89%

1.0×

Normal income

50–69%

0.8×

Reduced income

<50%

0.5×

Crisis income

If happiness drops below 30%, your city enters civil unrest — death rates spike and income plummets. Recover by restoring employment and rebuilding service coverage.

Section 05 // Treasury

Income (Credits)

Cities generate credits every production cycle. Your earnings scale with population, then get multiplied by your tax bonus, economy bonus, and happiness multiplier — before maintenance is deducted.

Income FormulaIncome = Population × Base Rate × Tax Bonus × Economy Bonus × Happiness Mult − Maintenance

Base rate: 0.008 credits per citizen per cycle.

Tax Bonus (from City Level)

+0%

Level 1 · Settlement

+15%

Level 2 · Colony

+40%

Level 3 · City

Economy Bonus (from Financial Buildings)

These bonuses stack. A city with a Bank, Central Bank, and Stock Exchange gets +45% economy bonus.

Building	Economy Bonus	Notes
Bank	+5%	—
Central Bank	+15%	—
Stock Exchange	+25%	1 max per city
Reserve Bank	+40%	—
Galactic Exchange	+50%	Megastructure, 1 per city

Maintenance is the sum of all building upkeep, deducted from income each cycle. If maintenance exceeds your earnings, your city runs at a loss. Don’t overbuild expensive structures before your population can support the upkeep — scale infrastructure with population.

Section 06 // Life Support

Food & Power

Food

Your city consumes food equal to its population each cycle, drawn from the linked orbital base’s storage.

Food CoverageFood Coverage = ( Food Available / Population ) × 100%

Coverage	Status	Effect
100%+	Well-fed	Slight birth rate bonus
50–99%	Hungry	Death rate increases
<50%	Starving	Severe death rate penalties
0%	Mass death	+10% death rate — city collapses rapidly

Keep your base stocked with food. If you see the starvation warning, resupply immediately — a city without food dies fast.

Power

Power comes from generators and energy-producing structures linked to your orbital base. Power affects employment — if your base doesn’t produce enough energy to meet demand, some jobs go offline.

Power CoveragePower Coverage = Energy Produced / Energy Required

At full power (100%), all jobs function normally. At 50% power, only half your jobs are available — cutting your employment score and hurting happiness.

Check your base’s status page — Energy Used / Generated tells you whether you need more power infrastructure.

Section 07 // Colonization Corps

Settlers

Settlers are citizens who can leave the city to crew ships, colonize new worlds, or staff structures. They come from your city's excess population and are stored in your Settlement/Colony/City Hall, appearing as a resource in your base's inventory.

Population Distribution

50%

Workforce

working in Activity buildings

10%

Reserve

kept in reserve

40%

Excess

available as settlers

Settler Caps (by City Level)

Level	Name	Max Settlers
1	Settlement	5,000,000
2	Colony	30,000,000
3	City	100,000,000

Settlers cost population. When you transfer settlers out, the city’s population decreases by the same amount. It must regrow that population through natural birth rate — settlers are not free. Plan accordingly.

Section 08 // Construction Registry

Buildings Reference

Every structure available across the three city tiers, plus the top-tier megastructures. Coverage values indicate how many citizens a service building supports. Maintenance is deducted from income each cycle.

Level 1 — Settlement Buildings

Building	Category	Jobs	Housing	Coverage	Cost	Maint.
Settlement Hall	City Hall	—	—	—	100,000	100
Basic Shelter	Housing	—	50,000	—	10,000	10
Apartment Block	Housing	—	150,000	—	50,000	30
Workshop	Employment	500	—	—	20,000	20
Small Factory	Employment	2,000	—	—	80,000	50
Clinic	Healthcare	—	—	25,000	30,000	25
Security Post	Security	—	—	30,000	25,000	20
Community School	Education	—	—	20,000	35,000	30
Recreation Center	Entertainment	—	—	30,000	28,000	25
Shrine	Religion	—	—	40,000	18,000	15

Level 2 — Colony Buildings

Building	Category	Jobs	Housing	Coverage	Cost	Maint.	Special
Colony Hall	City Hall	—	—	—	5,000,000	300	—
Residential Tower	Housing	—	400,000	—	300,000	80	—
Housing Complex	Housing	—	800,000	—	700,000	150	—
Luxury Apartments	Housing	—	200,000	—	1,000,000	200	—
Factory	Employment	8,000	—	—	600,000	150	—
Commerce Center	Employment	5,000	—	—	700,000	120	—
Hospital	Healthcare	—	—	100,000	600,000	150	—
Police Station	Security	—	—	100,000	400,000	100	—
College	Education	—	—	80,000	800,000	180	—
Theater	Entertainment	—	—	100,000	350,000	80	—
Church	Religion	—	—	150,000	280,000	60	—
Bank	Financial	—	—	—	600,000	100	+5% Economy
Trade Post	Trade	—	—	—	550,000	120	—

Level 3 — City Buildings

Building	Category	Jobs	Housing	Coverage	Cost	Maint.	Special
City Hall	City Hall	—	—	—	100,000,000	2,000	—
Skyscraper	Housing	—	2,000,000	—	5,000,000	400	—
Arcology	Housing	—	10,000,000	—	40,000,000	1,000	—
Elite District	Housing	—	3,000,000	—	80,000,000	2,000	—
Industrial Zone	Employment	50,000	—	—	10,000,000	800	—
Corporate Campus	Employment	25,000	—	—	8,000,000	600	—
Galactic Trade Hub	Employment	100,000	—	—	80,000,000	1,500	—
Regional Hospital	Healthcare	—	—	800,000	12,000,000	600	—
Planetary Medical	Healthcare	—	—	5,000,000	100,000,000	2,000	—
Police HQ	Security	—	—	600,000	6,000,000	400	—
Security Fortress	Security	—	—	4,000,000	120,000,000	2,000	—
University	Education	—	—	500,000	15,000,000	600	—
Grand University	Education	—	—	3,000,000	100,000,000	2,000	—
Entertainment Complex	Entertainment	—	—	600,000	10,000,000	500	—
World Wonder	Entertainment	—	—	5,000,000	150,000,000	1,500	—
Cathedral	Religion	—	—	800,000	6,000,000	300	—
Grand Cathedral	Religion	—	—	4,000,000	60,000,000	1,000	—
Central Bank	Financial	—	—	—	15,000,000	500	+15% Economy
Reserve Bank	Financial	—	—	—	150,000,000	2,000	+40% Economy
Stock Exchange	Financial	—	—	—	40,000,000	800	+25% (1 max)

Megastructures — Level 3

Megastructures are the pinnacle of colonial engineering — one of each per city, and each demands its own advanced research before you can raise it. The Spaceport opens at Tech Tier 6; the rest sit at the very top of the ladder at Tech Tier 7.

Building	Category	Tech Tier	Cost	Maint.	Special	Limit
Spaceport	Infrastructure	6	60,000,000	1,200	Ship operations	1 / city
Orbital Elevator	Infrastructure	7	800,000,000	5,000	Space elevator	1 / city
Galactic Exchange	Financial	7	300,000,000	3,000	+50% Economy	1 / city
Research Institute	Research	7	30,000,000	700	Research facility	1 / city
Planetary Defense HQ	Military	7	500,000,000	4,000	Planetary defense	1 / city

Section 09 // Operational Doctrine

Stable Growth Checklist

A phase-by-phase build order from first settlement to thriving metropolis. Follow each tier in sequence and scale your services with population.

1Early SettlementPopulation 0 – 5M

1Build housing first — Basic Shelters and Apartment Blocks to raise your population cap.

2Secure food supply — Stock your linked base with food before population grows.

3Add a Clinic — Healthcare reduces death rate and boosts birth rate.

4Build a Workshop or Small Factory — Employment is the biggest happiness factor (25%).

5Add a Security Post — Tied with healthcare as the second-highest service weight (15%).

6Ensure base has power — Underpowered bases mean unemployed citizens.

7Add remaining services — School, Recreation Center, and Shrine as budget allows.

2Growing ColonyPopulation 5M – 100M

1Upgrade to Colony Hall — Requires Tech Tier 3 and 5M population.

2Scale housing — Residential Towers (400K) and Housing Complexes (800K) are efficient.

3Scale services proportionally — Each building covers a fixed number of citizens; coverage drops as you grow unless you build more.

4Build a Factory — 8,000 jobs helps maintain employment as population booms.

5Build a Bank — +5% economy bonus starts compounding your income.

6Watch maintenance costs — Don't let upkeep exceed income.

3Thriving CityPopulation 100M+

1Upgrade to City Hall — Requires Tech Tier 6 and 100M population.

2Arcologies — 10M housing each, the most efficient large-scale housing.

3Industrial Zones and Trade Hubs — Massive job creation for a growing workforce.

4Planetary-scale services — Planetary Medical (5M), Security Fortress (4M), Grand University (3M), World Wonder (5M), Grand Cathedral (4M).

5Stack economy bonuses — Central Bank (+15%), Stock Exchange (+25%), Reserve Bank (+40%), Galactic Exchange (+50%).

6Build megastructures — Spaceport, Orbital Elevator, Research Institute, and Defense HQ.

Section 10 // Threat Assessment

Warning Signs

Watch for these problems and fix them quickly — most colonial failures compound every cycle if left unaddressed.

Population declining

CauseDeath rate exceeding birth rate

FixCheck food supply, build healthcare

Starvation alert

CauseFood coverage below 50%

FixResupply base with food immediately

Civil unrest

CauseHappiness below 30%

FixBuild service buildings, fix employment

Income negative

CauseMaintenance exceeds earnings

FixRemove expensive buildings or grow population

Settlers not producing

CausePopulation too small

FixNeed excess population beyond workforce + reserve

Employment low

CauseNot enough jobs or power

FixBuild Activity buildings, add generators

Section 11 // Commander's Briefing

Key Tips

Distilled colonial doctrine — the principles that separate a thriving metropolis from a dying outpost.

Food Is Survival

Always keep your base stocked. A city without food dies fast — starvation is the single fastest way to lose a colony.

Balance Growth With Services

Don’t just spam housing. If your services can’t keep up with population, your happiness will tank and your income with it.

Power Enables Jobs

An underpowered base means unemployed citizens, which tanks both happiness and income. Energy infrastructure is non-negotiable.

Economy Buildings Compound

A Level 3 city with all financial buildings gets +135% economy bonus on top of the +40% tax bonus. Stack them.

Settlers Cost Population

Transferring settlers out shrinks your city — that population must regrow naturally. Plan your colonization waves accordingly.

Maintenance Adds Up

Every building costs upkeep each cycle. Build what you need, not everything you can — overbuilding bleeds your treasury dry.

Production cycles run every 5 minutes. Changes take effect at the next cycle — don’t panic if numbers don’t update instantly. Patience is part of command.

City OperationsField Manual