Planetary Settlements place you in command of living frontier towns as their municipal Overseer, and following the Beacon expansion, a single save can simultaneously manage up to four settlements across the universe, including cloaked Autophage Construct towns unlocked after They Who Returned that generate Void Motes alongside trade goods. Rather than settling for the harsh, storm-swept world picked by your initial distress broadcast during The Settlers, buy a Settlement Chart from a Space Station Cartographer, fly to a lush Paradise planet with gentle skies and calm Sentinels, and plot your town on turf you actually enjoy visiting. Claiming Overseer authority at the central Hub Interface requires three units of the local culture's gift (GekNip, Convergence Cubes, Vy'keen Daggers, or Atlantideum for Autophage towns), followed immediately by raising your Overseer's Office. Consult this kit's dedicated Settlements section and Settlement save-management mode whenever you want to review full building catalogs, citizen perks, town renaming, or direct warehouse collection.
Beacon building upgrades from C-class to S-class
The Beacon overhaul gave every structure inside your settlement its own class rank and exterior upgrade terminal right beside its front entrance. Newly built structures start at C-class, and supplying planetary minerals or crafted parts such as Metal Plating, Microprocessors, and mid-tier alloys upgrades each building individually from C-class through B-class and A-class up to S-class. Because towns cannot generate surplus exports until Productivity exceeds daily Maintenance Cost and wipes out initial Debt, always approve and S-class-upgrade Farms, Factories, Marketplaces, and Warehouses ahead of saloons or decorative towers.
Citizen policy rulings and Sentinel raids
Inside your Overseer's Office, terminal prompts ask you to approve new construction, adjudicate citizen disputes, welcome wandering visitors, and authorize expeditions. Always accept arriving visitors because Population is the slowest stat to grow, favor permanent positive town perks over small one-time payouts, and decline risky citizen expeditions unless you want to gamble population count for Nanites. Periodically, corrupted or standard Sentinels raid your town limits; teleporting back promptly with an AI-piloted Hardframe Minotaur preserves citizen Happiness and nets extra Salvaged Glass.
Custom production and the 20 real hours clock
Once net Productivity turns positive and town Debt reaches zero, upgraded production buildings let you select two specific resources, gases, or manufactured trade goods for your citizens to stockpile continuously over up to 20 real hours, ticking forward even while your game is closed. Open Atlas Field Kit's Settlements section for complete Gek, Korvax, Vy'keen, and Autophage structure tables and perk breakdowns.