                            Concept : Sector Types

                            Concept : Sector Types

    GEOLOGIC BASICS      TRANSIT/COMMUNICATIONS      MILITARY/RESEARCH
    .  sea               )  radar installation       t  technical center
    ^  mountain          =  bridge span              r  research center
    s  sanctuary         *  airport/plane factory    l  library/school
    -  wilderness        h  harbor/shipyard          n  nuclear plant
    +  desert                                        v  chemical plant
    #  forest                                        f  fortress
    ,  swamp             INDUSTRIES                  e  enlistment center
                         d  defense plant
                         i  shell industry
    DESTRUCTION          m  iron mine                CIVIL/COMMERCIAL
    !  ruin              g  gold mine                b  bank
      wasteland         u  uranium mine             x  trade center
                         o  oil field                p  park
                         j  light manufacturing      c  capitol
                         k  heavy manufacturing      w  warehouse
                         y  lumber mill
                         %  petrol refinery
                         z  tank factory

                            Concept : Sector Types

                         a  agribusiness

                               GEOLOGIC BASICS

The geologic sector types represent the pristine, natural  regions  that  ini-
tially  make  up  the  planet.   While  many  of these areas can be colonized,
redesignated, and developed for other purposes, their geologic  types  forever
underlie  their developed designations.  (For example, if you designate a bank
in a wilderness, you get exactly that -- the sector remembers that  underneath
it  all,  it  is still wilderness terrain.  You can later redesignate the bank
back into wilderness or into anything else that can be built on wilderness  --
but you could not redesignate the bank to be a forest, since forest represents
a different basic geologic sector.

SEA - Sea sectors form natural barriers that can  only  be  crossed  by  ships
(made in harbors, below), planes, or bridges (also below).  You can not desig-
nate anything to be sea nor can sea be designated to be anything else.

                            Concept : Sector Types

MOUNTAIN - Mountain sectors  form  another  natural  barrier  that  cannot  be
redesignated;  however,  they  can  be  occupied  and  moved through (at great
expense in terms of mobility units).

SANCTUARY - Sanctuary sectors are created when a new nation is created.   They
are inviolate in that no one can fire at them or attack them.  This protection
ends when the new country first moves out of the  sanctuary  (called  breaking
sanctuary);  the  sector then becomes a capital.  NOTE: in games with multiple
sanctuaries per country ALL sanctuaries become capitals  when  any  one  does!
Once your sanctuaries are gone, they are gone forever -- you cannot create new
ones.

WILDERNESS - Much of the world is wilderness at the  beginning  of  the  game.
Wilderness  has  no particular attributes; you can move into it if unoccupied,
thereby making it your territory, but will probably want to  designate  it  as
something  else  once you own it.  A notable feature of pristine wilderness is
that fertility slowly increases over time, until  eventually  the  wildflowers
grow into might oaks and the sector becomes a forest.

                            Concept : Sector Types

DESERT - Desert is similar to wilderness, except that it can be home to only a
limited variety of sector types.

FOREST - Forest is essentially a vastly overgrown wilderness.  In its pristine
state,  forest fertility slowly increases over time.  Movement through forests
is difficult, although road and rail improvements can alleviate this  problem.
Also,  only a limited variety of sector types can be developed in forest, with
the most notably useful being the lumber mill.  Through its production of wood
materials,  the  lumber  mill  slowly reduces the forest fertility until it is
eventually reclassified as a wilderness.

SWAMP - Swamps represent any shallow water  sector  --  swamps,  coral  reefs,
marshland,  etc.   They  possibly may be inhabited, and cannot be navigated by
ships.

                          TRANSIT AND COMMUNICATIONS

                            Concept : Sector Types

RADAR - Radar stations can scan the surrounding area (up to 6 units  away  for
100%  efficiency)  and  generate a radar plot identifying sector types at dis-
tances up to 1/3 their range and ships up to their full range.

BRIDGE SPAN - A bridge span is the suspended part of  a  bridge  that  crosses
water sectors.  They are built and supported by infrastructure bridge heads in
almost any sector, and are much like highways except for three things:
(1) Bridge spans provide food through fishing, (the fertility can  be  thought
of as fish-count).
(2) Bridge spans must maintain at least 20% efficiency or else they collapse.
(3) If the bridge head supporting a particular bridge span  is  lost  (through
inefficiency) or destroyed, the bridge will collapse.

AIRFIELD - Airplanes can only be built in airports and most can take  off  and
land  only at airports (though some can take off and land in other sectors and
yet others can take off and land on aircraft carriers -- see `ship-types'  for
details) Airfields also provide facilities to construct, load, and unload bal-
loons and space shuttles.

                            Concept : Sector Types

HARBOR - Harbors combine shipyard facilities and docks.  Construction  materi-
als  are  converted into ships and the ships can be loaded and unloaded in the
harbor, (see info load).  No ships are constructed until the build command  is
given,  (see info build).  Harbors also provide facilities to construct, load,
and unload balloons.

                             CIVIL AND COMMERCIAL

BANK - Banks are used for smelting and  storing  gold  bars.  They  include  a
smelter  to refine gold dust into gold bars.  While the bars are stored in the
bank the busy little bankers invest them and return a  profit  on  their  use.
Banks  are of the Fort Knox variety; they are more impervious to shelling than
any other sector and military in them fight twice as hard  against  attack  as
those  in  industries.   Banks are also particularly adept at moving gold bars
around; bars are moved and stored in groups of four thus fewer mobility  units
are required to move a gold bar from a bank than anywhere else.

TRADE CENTER - Trade centers are your own personal international supermarkets.
They  are  where you put items up for sale for specific buyers, and also where
you buy items that visiting sellers have to offer.  Almost all items,  ranging

                            Concept : Sector Types

from single bushels of food to the latest high-tech military hardware,  change
hands  in  trade  centers.   (Ships  are  often the only exception, and can be
traded while at sea.)

PARK - Parks are provided to increase the happiness of  the  populous.   Parks
require  construction  materials  to provide maintenance services and add to a
nation's happiness  level.   The  conversion  of  raw  materials  takes  place
automatically  at  a rate dependent on the efficiency of the sector, the pres-
ence of the required materials, and the number of workers in the sector.

CAPITAL - Capitals are the source of bureaucracy  time  units  (BTU's).   They
accrue  in proportion to the efficiency of the capital and the number of civi-
lians at work in it.  If a country has a 100% efficient capital with 100 civi-
lians  in  it BTU's will accrue at the rate of 4 per hour, (assuming half-hour
time units).  Most commands use up BTU's, (see list of commands for numbers of
BTU's  used per command).  A nation may only have one active capital at a time
(although many sectors may be designated as capitals).  If an  active  capital
is  captured  by an attack a new one must be designated by the victim in order
to be able to collect BTU's.  The capture of a capital will result in the loss
of  money from the victim nation (loss of tax records, federal reserves, etc).

                            Concept : Sector Types

Capitals are twice as efficient at defending against attack as  other  sectors
(except  fortresses).   Use  the  capital command to make a capital the active
one.

WAREHOUSE - Warehouses are used to store shells, guns, iron, gold dust,  food,
oil,  light  construction materials, and heavy construction materials.  Moving
the above out of a warehouse only takes one tenth the mobility  cost  it  nor-
mally would.  Note: warehouses are often used as distribution centers.

                                  INDUSTRIES

DEFENSE - In defense plants construction materials are turned into guns.   The
conversion  of  raw  materials  into  guns takes place automatically at a rate
dependent on the efficiency of  the  sector,  the  presence  of  the  required
materials,  the  technology level of the country, and the number of workers in
the sector.  See info products for information on the  materials  required  to
produce guns.

                            Concept : Sector Types

SHELL INDUSTRY - These sectors are similar to  defense  plant  sectors  except
they turn construction materials into shells.  The conversion of raw materials
takes place automatically at a rate dependent on the efficiency of the sector,
the  presence  of the required materials, the technology level of the country,
and the number of workers in the sector.  See info products for information on
the  materials  required.   One  shell is used each time you fire, (except for
submarines which use three shells to make one torpedo).

IRON MINE - Mines produce iron ore by digging it out of the ground.  The  rate
at  which  it is produced is dependent on three factors; the efficiency of the
mine, the number of civilians working in the mine, and the mineral sample  for
the  sector  (min  on  the census report).  Iron is a renewable resource; i.e.
digging up iron does not deplete the mineral content of the sector.

GOLD MINE - Gold mines are similar to ordinary  mines,  (above),  except  that
they  produce  gold  dust.   The rate at which it is extracted is dependent on
three factors; the efficiency of the sector, the size of the  labor  force  in
the  sector,  and  the gold sample for the sector (gmin on the census report).
The raw gold dust can be transported to any sector but if it is left in a bank
sector  it  will be refined into bars automatically .  Gold is a non-renewable

                            Concept : Sector Types

resource; i.e. extracting the gold depletes the gold content of the sector.

URANIUM MINE - Uranium mines are very similar to gold mines,  (above),  except
that they produce radioactive materials.  The rate at which it is extracted is
dependent on three factors; the efficiency of the  sector,  the  size  of  the
labor  force in the sector, and the uranium content of the sector (uran on the
census report).  Uranium is  a  non-renewable  resource;  i.e.  extracting  it
depletes the content of the sector.

OIL - Oil fields produce oil by sucking it out of the ground.  The  extraction
of  oil takes place automatically at a rate dependent on the efficiency of the
sector, the oil content of the sector (oil on the census report), the technol-
ogy  level  of the country, and the number of workers in the sector.  Oil is a
non-renewable resource; i.e. extracting oil depletes the oil  content  of  the
sector.

LIGHT - Light manufacturing plants produce light construction  materials  from
iron.   This  production  takes place automatically at a rate dependent on the
efficiency of the sector, the iron in the sector, the technology level of  the
country, and the number of workers in the sector.

                            Concept : Sector Types

HEAVY - Heavy manufacturing plants produce heavy construction  materials  from
iron.   This  production  takes place automatically at a rate dependent on the
efficiency of the sector, the iron in the sector, the technology level of  the
country, and the number of workers in the sector.

LUMBER - Lumber industry sectors represent the logging operations, mills,  and
lumber yards which to produce wood materials.  Lumber mills can be constructed
only in forests, and production takes place automatically at a rate  dependent
on  the  efficiency of the sector, the sector's fertility, the country's tech-
nology level, and the number of workers in the sector.

REFINERY - Refineries produce petroleum by  processing  oil.  This  production
takes place automatically at a rate dependent on the efficiency of the sector,
the number of workers in the sector, and  the technology level of the country.

TANK FACTORY - These are factories that produce tanks  and  armored  vehicles.
You  use the build command to construct specific types of vehicles from avail-
able construction materials.

                            Concept : Sector Types

AGRIBUSINESS - These sectors are large farms and provide  food.   Agribusiness
sectors produce as much as five times as much food as other sectors.  The har-
vesting takes place automatically at a rate dependent on the efficiency of the
sector,  the fertility of the sector (fert in the census), the education level
of the country, and the number of workers in the sector.   See  info  products
for details.

                            MILITARY AND RESEARCH

TECHNOLOGY - Technical centers are bastions of pure technology research, which
is to say universities with massive defense department grants.  They turn con-
struction materials into technological advances thereby raising the technology
level of the country (which affects gun ranges, pollution, etc.).  The conver-
sion of raw materials takes place automatically at a  rate  dependent  on  the
efficiency  of  the sector, the presence of the required materials, the educa-
tion level of the country, and the number of workers in the sector.

                            Concept : Sector Types

RESEARCH - The research lab is a bastion of pure medical research, which is to
say  it  is  a  large  university  with  massive  March-of-Dimes funding.  The
research lab turns construction materials into medical discoveries which raise
the research level of the country and help retard the spread of disease, (usu-
ally caused by the pollution from technical centers).  Research  also  greatly
contributes  in the fight against disease by improving the ability of chemical
plants to produce plague vaccine.  The conversion of raw materials takes place
automatically  at  a rate dependent on the efficiency of the sector, the pres-
ence of the required materials, the education level of the  country,  and  the
number of workers in the sector.

LIBRARY/SCHOOL - The library/school sector is the foundation  of  a  country's
educational structure.  They use up construction materials to produce units of
education which raise the educational level of the country (which affects  the
efficiency of research and technology sectors).  The conversion of raw materi-
als takes place automatically at a rate dependent on  the  efficiency  of  the
sector,  the  presence of the required materials, and the number of workers in
the sector.

                            Concept : Sector Types

NUCLEAR - The nuclear lab is a bastion of applied technology, which is to  say
it is an immense underground building filled with evil geniuses playing Adven-
ture on huge computers.  The nuclear lab  turns  construction  materials  into
nuclear weapons.  No devices are constructed until the build command is given,
(see info build).

CHEMICAL PLANT - The chemical plant turns research into reality by  distilling
ordinary  food  and  petroleum  products into vaccine, which represents a wide
range of miracle drugs ranging from lifesaving medicines  to  powerful  toxins
used in chemical warheads.  The conversion of raw materials into vaccine takes
place automatically at a rate dependant on the efficiency of the  sector,  the
presense of the required materials, the research level of the country, and the
number of workers in the sector.

FORTRESS - Fortress sectors have many special characteristics;  you  can  fire
guns  from fortresses, whenever an attack is launched from a fort or on a fort
the military in the fort are stronger than military in any other type of  sec-
tor by an amount proportional to the efficiency of the fort. e.g. 100 military
in a wilderness attacking a 100% efficient fort that  has  25  military  gives
even odds; see info attack for details.

                            Concept : Sector Types

ENLISTMENT - The enlistment sector is the boot camp of  Empire.   It  converts
civilians  into  military,  once  the efficiency level has been raised to 60%.
Unlike the other production sectors, it uses only military as a workforce, and
converts civilians in the sector into military.

                                 DESTRUCTION

WASTELAND - This is the result of the explosion of a nuclear device.   Depend-
ing  on  the  game configuration, wastelands may be uninhabitable for anywhere
from just a few updates to forever.  Wasteland may, in time, revert back to  a
useful pristine geologic sector type.

RUIN - A ruin is a sector that has been reduced to rubble.  You cannot  inten-
tionally  designate  a  ruin;  the designation comes automatically if a sector
ever sustains damage that exceeds 3 times its current efficiency.  Ruins  pro-
duce  nothing,  and  are  of little use.  Continued damage will cause a ruin's
efficiency to INCREASE; as a ruin becomes more "efficient",  it  takes  longer
and longer to dismantle and convert into something more useful.

See also : designate, ruins

