Story

Planet AZ884

A planet full of resources and poison: a purple north under smog, a green south called Cibola, linked by a highway network.

AZ884 is almost twice the size of Earth and rich in resources. Life there is barely possible all the same. The Colonial Authority has set its sights on the planet anyway, and you are its person on the ground.

Discovery

In 2419 the Colonial Authority's probe Vigil-7 reached the planet with catalogue number 884 of the Azimuth Zone. Its readings set off alarms on Phobos: kryptonite in open fields, spice in a glowing river, pig iron in a cliff face kilometres high. No known planet holds so much of it in so little space.

The Authority planned the settlement for nineteen years. In 2438 the time has come, and you are part of it (Chronicle: from Earth to AZ884).

Two halves

The north glows purple. Veins of light run through the rock, and above it hangs a thick blanket of smog made of sulfur, methane and chlorine gas. Acid rain falls. Without filters nobody lasts long. Your start zone is here.
The south is called Cibola. It shimmers green and is still unexplored (Cibola).

The landscape of the north

The cliff closes off the land to the north. Pig iron can only be mined here.
The canyon with its blue lava river. The glowing spice drifts in it.
Kryptonite deposits sit in hollows as green crystal fields.
Mesas and rock needles stand everywhere. Some carry rubies and other finds (Boulders, Mesas and Toxic Lakes).
Toxic forests and toxic lakes with glowing alien flora. Nobody can remove the lakes.
The plateau: above the colony lies a second level that you open up with access towers and platforms (The Upper Level).

The start zone from above — The start zone: rock wall, highway and the canyon with the lava river

The rock wall in the north, laced with veins of light

Kryptonite field — A kryptonite deposit in its hollow

Toxic forest — A toxic forest with glowing trees and small mesas

Down in the canyon the spice drifts in the lava river. The walls rise up on both sides.

Flight through the canyon, along the spice river

The highway network

A planetary highway network links all districts. Everything you build needs a connection to it through your roads. The world is divided into districts like a chessboard: letters from west to east, numbers from the cliff southward. Your start is called K-1 (Districts and Their Names).

The Colonial Authority's goal

The Authority wants to claim the north and later push through the planet's core all the way to the south with the drill project. Nobody knows what lurks down there (The Drill Project).