The decisions you make in relation to Citizen Requests, Citizen Disputes, New Arrivals, and Policy Decisions will influence the way your planetary settlement develops. The choices you make can impact every element of settlement overview stats and settlement features, such as population, happiness, productivity, maintenance cost, and sentinel alert level. As a result it’s important that you make the right choices to ensure that your settlement continues to prosper, especially considering that some of the consequences of your choices aren’t always made clear. The below tables show all the known outcomes for settlement decisions of each type.
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How to Respond to Settlement Decisions in No Man’s Sky¶
(1 of 3) You should never be afraid to turn down requests for glorious expeditions if you can’t afford them, or if you don’t want to lose population size in exchange for materials.
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Citizen Request Choices¶
A Grand Day Out¶
| Endorse | Deny |
|---|---|
| +4 - 5% Happiness and increased settlement debt | -2% Happiness, no increase to settlement debt |
A Glorious Expedition¶
| Endorse | Deny |
|---|---|
| Settlers return with items or currency in the form of units or nanites at the cost of -2 Population and increased settlement debt | No impact to overview stats or settlement features |
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Citizen Dispute Choices¶
Contested Ownership¶
| Choice 1 (left option) | Choice 2 (right option) |
|---|---|
| Adds the Hostile spy suspected settlement feature | Adds the Hostile spy suspected settlement feature and decreases productivity |
Criminal Enterprise¶
| Choice 1 (left option) | Choice 2 (right option) |
|---|---|
| Reduces settlement debt | Adds the Enemy spy detected and Atmosphere of suspicion settlement features |
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Faulty Goods¶
| Choice 1 (left option) | Choice 2 (right option) |
|---|---|
| Adds the Hostile spy detected settlement feature | Adds the Atmosphere of suspicion settlement feature |
Relational Difficulties¶
| Choice 1 (left option) | Choice 2 (right option) |
|---|---|
| No impact to overview stats or settlement features | No impact to overview stats or settlement features |
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New Arrival Choices¶
A Good Neighbour¶
| Choice 1 (left option) | Choice 2 (right option) |
|---|---|
| Adds a random positive feature if you accept technology, adds valuable material if you accept gift | No impact to overview stats or settlement features |
A Mysterious Warning¶
| Choice 1 (left option) | Choice 2 (right option) |
|---|---|
| Adds a Blessed positive feature if you heed the warning, or directly contributes to happiness if you don’t require the feature, also increases settlement debt | Adds a Cursed negative feature if you don’t need the warning, also increases maintenance cost |
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A Stranger In Need¶
| Choice 1 (left option) | Choice 2 (right option) |
|---|---|
| Increases standing with the alien race associated with your settlement, also increases settlement debt | Decreases standing with the alien race associated with your settlement, also adds a Cursed negative settlement feature |
An Unexpected Guest¶
| Choice 1 (left option) | Choice 2 (right option) |
|---|---|
| Adds a random positive settlement feature and +1 to population, can also increase or decrease maintenance cost depending on guest | No impact to overview stats or settlement features |
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Friendly Business¶
| Choice 1 (left option) | Choice 2 (right option) |
|---|---|
| Adds a random positive settlement feature, also increases settlement debt | No impact to overview stats or settlement features |
Policy Decisions¶
Fiscal Opportunities¶
There will be a number of Fiscal Opportunities presented in various forms, but all of them relate to whether or not you should tax a specific activity in the settlement. This can range from taxing the consumption of a currently untaxed ingredient, tax a new technological development, or tax a specific leisure activity. It doesn’t matter what the scenario is, since the choices and outcomes are always the same, detailed below.
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| Tax | Don’t tax |
|---|---|
| Increased productivity at the cost of -2% citizen happiness | Decreased productivity but +2% citizen happiness |
Market Regulation¶
This policy decision is similar to Fiscal Opportunities, in that you’ll have a range of scenarios where specific activities that your settlers have begun to engage in are brought to your attention. The main difference here is that instead of a choice between taxing or not taxing the activity, you’ll have to decide whether or not to ban it. The results of the choices are exactly the same.
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| Tax | Don’t tax |
|---|---|
| Increased productivity at the cost of -2% citizen happiness | Decreased productivity but +2% citizen happiness |
Bettering the Settlement and Improving Our Lives¶
In addition to Fiscal Opportunities and Market Regulation, you’ll have two other main types of decisions related to the Bettering the Settlement and Improving Our Lives categories. These will always have a positive outcome for the settlement and its settlers, although you will sometimes need to pay an initial one-off fee for the choice to take effect.
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| Decision | Effect | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Automated pipe network | Reduced maintenance cost | Bettering the Settlement |
| Fund vital maintenance | Reduced maintenance cost | Bettering the Settlement |
| Fund productivity improvements | Increased productivity | Bettering the Settlement |
| Fund welfare measures | Increased happiness | Bettering the Settlement |
| Inspiring stimulation gas | Increased productivity | Bettering the Settlement |
| Research additional facilities | Increased productivity | Improving Our Lives |
| Research camouflage measures | Decreased sentinel alert level | Improving Our Lives |
| Research commercial innovation | Increased productivity | Improving Our Lives |
| Research farming technology | Reduced maintenance cost | Improving Our Lives |
| Research housing tech | Increased population | Improving Our Lives |
| Research industrial tech | Increased productivity | Improving Our Lives |
| Research leisure technology | Increased happiness | Improving Our Lives |
| Research maintenance tech | Reduced maintenance cost | Improving Our Lives |
| Research new industrial units | Reduced maintenance cost / Increased productivity | Improving Our Lives |
| Research public goods | Increased happiness | Improving Our Lives |
