Colonists

From Starport: Galactic Empires

Colonists are the hearty pioneers of the galactic frontier. They can be found on Earth, in the Sol System, or recruited from any of the many Starports in the galaxy. The amount of colonists that can be successfully recruited from a starport depends on the experience, reputation, and charisma of the character recruiting. They are transported in ships' cargo holds. They can then be offloaded onto an existing colony.

Once settled into a colony they will live and work there, according to the colony's biodome settings. Colonists on colonies will reproduce and increase their numbers by themselves, over time, according to the reproduction rate of the planet type they're on, their ability to consume Anaerobes and Organics, the direction colony morale is heading, and any Weather Prediction research bonuses the colony has. Colonies with large numbers of colonists on them will be more productive, but large populations will also pollute more.

Colonists like to consume 4 of the resources in the game and will eat these resources from the stockpiles inside colony refineries. The 4 resource types that are eaten are called consumer resources. They are Anaerobes and Organics for reproduction, and Medicine and Oil for morale. Having one of the resources available but not the other will provide a significantly smaller bonus than having both resources for the bonus available.