[[:start|Torque Tycoon]] > [[:components|Game Components]]

====== Projects ======

**Projects** are the permanent buildings that turn a commissioned Settlement into regional infrastructure. A Project is paid from cargo already in that Settlement's Reserve: starting it spends the Reserve and completes the building at once. There is no build time.

Three separate things decide what a Settlement can hold:

  - The **Settlement levels** of a region hand out its regional slots. The level itself occupies none.
  - A **slot** holds one building, which then grows through its own levels. An upgrade stays in the slot it already occupies.
  - The **perk** is what the finished building does. Levels replace each other: level 2 states the final value, it is not added to level 1.

**Site upgrades** build out what a site is for: the Survey Station, the Forward Airfield and Settlement Storage at a Settlement, and every building at an [[components:airfields|airfield]]. They are paid and built like any other Project but take no build slot and cannot be demolished. Their brakes are the required level and the cargo.

===== Regional slots =====

Regional Projects are built at any Hub or at the City of a region, each at most once per region. They draw from one pool of slots per region. Its size follows the sum of the Settlement levels of all Hubs and the City in the region:

^ Sum of Settlement levels ^ 2 ^ 4 ^ 6 ^ 8 or more ^
| Regional slots | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

A region with a level-2 City and two level-1 Hubs has a sum of 4 and therefore two slots, whichever of its Settlements the Projects stand at. Tbilisi follows the same rule. What already stands keeps standing: a region with more Projects than slots cannot start new ones, but its buildings keep working and can still be upgraded.

A City at level 3 also gains the seat for a server-wide [[components:institutions|Institution]]. The seat is separate from the regional slots. Site upgrades use neither.

===== Requirements for every Project =====

^ Requirement ^ What it means ^
| Cargo in the Reserve | The full cost must have been delivered to the Settlement or airfield that will host the building. Stored cargo does not count. Cargo only counts at the site it lies at. To build with stored cargo, take it out through ''My Location > Storage'' and deliver it. |
| A free slot | A new Regional Project needs a free regional slot, an Institution the City's seat. Upgrading a building that already stands needs none, and site upgrades never do. |
| Exclusivity | A Regional Project cannot be built a second time in its region, but the Settlement that owns it may still upgrade it. |
| Supply and Trust | The Settlement needs Trust of at least 55% **and** a Food store at least 85% full. This is why a Settlement in unrest cannot build. The airfield upgrades are the only ones without this requirement. |
| Project requirements | The per-level conditions listed below. An unmet requirement never hides a Project: the Projects radio menu lists it together with the current value. |

===== Regional Projects =====

Every Regional Project can stand at a Hub or at the City of the region, once per region.

^ Project ^ Levels ^ Domain ^ First requirement ^
| Checkpoint | 3 | Security | Settlement level 1 |
| Maintenance Works | 3 | Production | Three commissioned Sources in the region |
| Dispatch Office | 3 | AI logistics (Food) | Settlement level 2, Security 75%, Trust 60% |
| Transport Squadron | 3 | AI logistics (fleet size, reach) | Dispatch Office level 2 in the region, Settlement level 3 |
| Civic Administration | 2 | Trust recovery | — |
| Civil Defense Office | 2 | Unrest containment | — |
| Regional Depot | 2 | Source storage | — |
| Freight Office | 3 | AI logistics (Non-Food factories) | A Dispatch Office in the region, Settlement level 2, a built Sawmill in the region |

==== Checkpoint ====

^ Level ^ Cost ^ Requirement ^ Effect ^
| 1 | 6 Lumber + 4 Steel | Settlement level 1 | Regional Security +10 once, and a Security floor of 25%. |
| 2 | 8 Steel + 4 Fuel | Settlement level 2 | Regional Security +15 once, floor 40%. |
| 3 | 6 Steel + 6 Building Materials + 6 Fuel | Settlement level 3 | Regional Security +20 once, floor 55%. |

The Security increases are one-off and cumulative, while the floor is replaced: level 3 sets 55% rather than adding to 40%. A region starts a fresh world at 20% Security, so all three levels together bring it to 65%; anything beyond that has to be won in the air. The Dispatch Office's 75% requirement therefore cannot be met by building alone. Checkpoints keep working during unrest.

==== Maintenance Works ====

^ Level ^ Cost ^ Requirement ^ Effect ^
| 1 | 8 Lumber + 4 Steel | Three commissioned Sources in this region | Every Source in the region produces 15% faster. |
| 2 | 12 Steel | — | 25% faster. |
| 3 | 12 Steel + 4 Building Materials | — | 35% faster. |

The effect applies to every Source in the region, so its value scales with how many Sources the region actually has. However many effects apply, a Source never produces more than twice as fast as its base rate.

==== Dispatch Office ====

^ Level ^ Cost ^ Requirement ^ Effect ^
| 1 | 8 Lumber + 6 Steel | Settlement level 2, regional Security at least 75%, this Settlement's Trust at least 60% | AI transports keep this region's Settlements at 40–50% Food. |
| 2 | 12 Steel + 4 Building Materials + 6 Fuel | Settlement level 3, regional Security at least 80%, this Settlement's Trust at least 75% | The AI keeps Food at 65–80%, and the region gets priority once the global AI flight cap is reached. |
| 3 | 8 Building Materials + 3 Industrial Parts + 8 Fuel | Every Hub and City in the region at Settlement level 2, regional Security at least 85% | The AI keeps Food at 90–100% and keeps the Food factory stocked ahead of demand. |

Without a Dispatch Office a region receives no AI flights. The AI carries only Food; every other good, including Lumber and Steel, remains player work at every level. Each level's Security requirement is checked only when that level is built: if Security falls later, the office keeps dispatching and its transports are more likely to be intercepted. The number of simultaneous flights and access to other regions depend on the [[#transport_squadron|Transport Squadron]]. The Dispatch Office keeps working during unrest.

Each level holds Food within a band. A flight is planned when a Settlement's stock, including crates already on their way, falls just below the lower edge of the band, and it carries the width of the band in crates. For example, a Settlement with 18 crates of storage under level 2 receives a flight at about 64% Food, carrying 2 crates that raise it to about 75%. The AI covers the whole route: it collects the raw material at the [[components:sources|Source]], unloads it at the [[components:factories|Factory]] and carries the Food on to the Settlement. A route too long for one trip continues on the next flight.

Without player deliveries, the bands have the following effect on [[components:trust|Trust]]:

^ Level ^ Band ^ Trust at the lower edge ^ Result ^
| 1 | 40–50% | −4.8 per flight hour | Unrest still occurs, after about 30 flight hours from full Trust |
| 2 | 65–80% | +3.6 per flight hour | No unrest of its own; spread from another Settlement still lowers Trust |
| 3 | 90–100% | +24 per flight hour | Also holds against spread from a neighbouring region |

The AI delivers at most as much Food as the region's Settlements consume at level 1, one and a half times as much at level 2, and twice as much at level 3. A confirmed enemy shoot-down reduces this margin; a technical failure, mission restart or ordinary crash does not. At level 1 there is no margin.

A [[#civil_defense_office|Civil Defense Office]] and [[#civic_administration|Civic Administration]] also change how much Food a Settlement needs to hold its Trust.

The AI does not stockpile, with one exception: at level 3 it keeps the Food factory's own output topped up to a standing buffer ahead of demand. The inputs of every other Factory remain player work at every level.

==== Transport Squadron ====

^ Level ^ Cost ^ Requirement ^ Effect ^
| 1 | 10 Steel + 4 Building Materials + 6 Fuel | Dispatch Office level 2 somewhere in this region, this Settlement at level 3 | Two simultaneous AI flights in this region. |
| 2 | 8 Building Materials + 2 Industrial Parts + 8 Fuel | Dispatch Office level 3 somewhere in this region | Three simultaneous AI flights in this region. |
| 3 | 6 Building Materials + 5 Industrial Parts + 10 Fuel | At least one neighbouring region with its own Dispatch Office, regional Security at least 90% | Three flights; the AI may also use Sources and Factories in that neighbouring region. |

A region without a Transport Squadron flies one AI leg at a time, whatever the level of its Dispatch Office. The Dispatch Office required for the Squadron can stand at any Hub in the region, usually a different one from the Squadron's.

Level 3 opens the border to one neighbouring region, and only for the production chains the region cannot supply itself; a chain it can already produce locally is never imported. Reaching a region that is not a neighbour also requires the [[components:institutions|Air Logistics Command]]. Without a Transport Squadron at level 3, the Command has no effect.

Civic Administration, Civil Defense Office and Regional Depot have no requirements of their own and cost about the same. The Freight Office has its own per-level requirements and its own price, because it uses the region's AI capacity.

==== Civic Administration ====

^ Level ^ Cost ^ Effect ^
| 1 | 8 Lumber + 4 Steel | Settlements in this region regain Trust 25% faster. |
| 2 | 12 Steel + 2 Building Materials | Trust recovery 50% faster. |

Both levels also add an unrest warning to the Sorties panel of the [[components:live-map|Live Map]]: a Settlement of this region that will fall into unrest within 4 or within 2 flight hours without deliveries is listed at the top of the Supply group.

It multiplies the recovery rate that follows from the Food stock, so its effect grows with supply. Below 50% Food there is no recovery to multiply, and it has no effect.

==== Civil Defense Office ====

^ Level ^ Cost ^ Effect ^
| 1 | 6 Lumber + 6 Steel | Unrest spreading into this region does half the damage. |
| 2 | 10 Steel + 4 Building Materials | Unrest spreading in does a quarter of the damage. |

The office reduces only spread arriving in its region. A Settlement of this region that falls into unrest itself still drags down its neighbours.

Together with Civic Administration it changes how much Food a Settlement needs to hold its Trust against [[components:unrest|spread]].

==== Regional Depot ====

^ Level ^ Cost ^ Effect ^
| 1 | 8 Lumber + 6 Steel | Every Source in this region holds 2 more crates: 4 becomes 6. |
| 2 | 12 Steel + 4 Building Materials | Every Source holds 4 more crates: 4 becomes 8. |

Crates left on a Source's pad still occupy its storage, so the extra space also frees a Source blocked by its own uncollected output. The extra space is capacity only; it does not add stock after a restart. The perk pauses while its Settlement is in unrest.

==== Freight Office ====

^ Level ^ Cost ^ Requirement ^ Effect ^
| 1 | 12 Lumber + 8 Steel | A Dispatch Office in the region, this Settlement at level 2, a built Sawmill in the region | The AI keeps the Sawmill stocked ahead of demand, up to a standing buffer. |
| 2 | 10 Steel + 8 Building Materials + 4 Fuel | Tier 2 unlocked, a factory at Tier 2 or higher already built in the region, a Transport Squadron in the region | The Steel Mill and Building Materials Plant join the standing buffer. |
| 3 | 6 Building Materials + 5 Industrial Parts + 10 Fuel | Tier 3 unlocked, a Tier 3 factory already built in the region, this Settlement at level 3 | The Fuel Refinery and Industrial Parts Works join the standing buffer. |

The Freight Office keeps the finished output of each covered Non-Food factory topped up to a standing buffer of 4 crates. The AI never stockpiles beyond it; collecting crates triggers a refill on the next tick, as with the Food factory buffer of Dispatch Office level 3. Food is never covered; it belongs to the Dispatch Office.

When a covered factory's input is another factory's output, the AI takes only the surplus above that upstream factory's own buffer, so a covered Building Materials Plant cannot empty the Steel Mill's buffer. The Freight Office pauses while its Settlement is in unrest.

===== Settlement upgrades =====

^ Upgrade ^ Levels ^ Where ^ Domain ^ First requirement ^
| Survey Station | 2 | Hub or City, one per region | Exploration | Settlement level 1 |
| Forward Airfield | 2 | Each Hub | Operations | Settlement level 2 |
| Settlement Storage | 2 | Each Hub and City | Storage limit | Settlement level 1 |

==== Survey Station ====

^ Level ^ Cost ^ Requirement ^ Effect ^
| 1 | 8 Lumber | Settlement level 1 | Tier 2 rumors unlock across this region: Iron Ore and Coal Sources, Steel Mill, Building Materials Plant. |
| 2 | 12 Lumber | Settlement level 2 | Tier 3 rumors unlock: Oil Sources, Fuel Refinery, Industrial Parts Works. |

A region without a Survey Station never sees anything beyond Lumber and Food, so everything the other Projects are paid in has to be flown in from elsewhere.

==== Forward Airfield ====

^ Level ^ Cost ^ Requirement ^ Effect ^
| 1 | 8 Lumber + 6 Steel | Settlement level 2 | Rearm and refuel services at this Hub. |
| 2 | 6 Steel + 6 Building Materials + 8 Fuel | — | The Hub becomes a helicopter player start location after the next scheduled server restart. |

The Forward Airfield is built per Hub rather than per region, so a region with three Hubs pays three times for three airfields. At level 2, the completion message states how long remains until the next scheduled server restart; after that restart, players can select helicopter slots and spawn at that Hub. Both services, including the start location, stop while the Hub is in unrest.

==== Settlement Storage ====

^ Level ^ Cost ^ Requirement ^ Effect ^
| 1 | 8 Lumber | — | Settlement storage limit 16 crates. |
| 2 | 8 Building Materials | Settlement level 2 | Settlement storage limit 24 crates. |

The limit covers cargo stored with ''Cargo > Store'' at a City or Hub, see [[components:settlements#storage|Settlements]]. Level 2 states the final value; it does not add to level 1.

===== Airfield upgrades =====

Every building at an active [[components:airfields|airfield]] is a site upgrade: it takes no build slot and has no Trust, supply or level requirement; the cargo is the only condition.

^ Upgrade ^ Levels ^ Scope ^ Domain ^
| Direction-Finding station | 3 | Each airfield | Enemy detection, rumor sectors |
| Cargo Warehouse | 2 | Each airfield | Storage limit |
| Workshop | 2 | Each airfield with a runway | Aircraft upgrades |
| Insurance Agency | 2 | Each airfield with a runway | Aircraft and equipment insurance |

They are paid from cargo delivered to the airfield with ''Cargo > Deliver''. Delivered cargo takes no storage space; an airfield accepts a cargo only up to what its largest single upgrade still needs.

==== Direction-Finding station ====

^ Level ^ Station ^ Cost ^ Effect ^
| 1 | Loop Direction Finder | 8 Lumber | 40 km network radius. Airfields, Hubs and Cities can act as relay sensors. Detects AAA. |
| 2 | Adcock Direction Finder | 8 Steel | 55 km radius, Factories join the sensor pool, MANPADS, light camps and checkpoints become detectable. |
| 3 | Watson-Watt Direction Finder | 6 Industrial Parts | 70 km radius, Sources join the sensor pool. |

Each level also narrows the bearing cone it reports and the direction sector of a rumor anchored at that airfield. Upgrading clears the station's calibration, because the antenna has changed. The full mechanics are in [[components:enemy-detection|Enemy Detection]] and [[components:direction-finding|A/N Direction Finding]].

==== Cargo Warehouse ====

^ Level ^ Cost ^ Requirement ^ Effect ^
| 1 | 8 Lumber | — | Airfield storage limit 16 crates. |
| 2 | 8 Building Materials | — | Airfield storage limit 24 crates. |

Level 2 states the final value; it does not add to level 1.

==== Workshop ====

^ Level ^ Cost ^ Effect ^
| 1 | 6 Lumber + 4 Steel | Sells Workshop I [[components:upgrades|upgrades]]: extra crate slots. |
| 2 | 10 Steel + 2 Building Materials | Sells Workshop II upgrades as well. |

==== Insurance Agency ====

^ Level ^ Cost ^ Effect ^
| 1 | 6 Lumber + 4 Steel | Sells aircraft [[components:insurance|insurance]]. |
| 2 | 10 Steel + 2 Building Materials | Sells equipment insurance as well. |

Workshop and Insurance Agency stand only at airfields with a runway, not at heliports, so every aircraft can reach them, the C-130J-30 included. They serve pilots who land at their airfield; their offers are paid in [[components:credits|credits]].

===== Settlement levels =====

The Settlement level lies outside every slot pool and is always available. Every level adds one to its region's level sum, which sets the regional slots.

^ Level ^ Cost ^ Food target ^ 85% needed to build ^ What it opens ^
| 1 | — | 12 crates | 11 crates | Reached by commissioning. Adds 1 to the region's level sum. |
| 2 | 8 Lumber | 18 crates | 16 crates | Survey Station level 2, Checkpoint level 2, Settlement Storage level 2, and the conditions of the Dispatch Office and Forward Airfield. |
| 3 | 10 Steel + 2 Building Materials | 24 crates | 21 crates | Checkpoint level 3, Dispatch Office level 2, Transport Squadron level 1, and a City's Institution seat. |

Each level permanently raises the Food target, and the 85% supply requirement for every later Project is measured against the new target.

===== Unrest =====

Unrest begins at 30% Trust and building requires 55%, so a Settlement in unrest cannot start a Project. Existing buildings keep running, with the following exceptions:

^ Building ^ While its Settlement is in unrest ^
| Forward Airfield | Rearm, refuel and the start location stop. |
| Regional Depot | The extra Source storage is withdrawn. |
| Freight Office | The AI stops staging Non-Food factories in this region. |
| Survey Station | Shown as paused. Tier access the region has already unlocked is not withdrawn. |
| Checkpoint, Maintenance Works, Dispatch Office, Transport Squadron, Civic Administration, Civil Defense Office, Institutions | Keep working. |

The buildings a region needs in order to recover are the ones that keep working.

===== Demolition =====

Demolition removes a building completely, including all its levels, and frees its slot. Site upgrades cannot be demolished.

^ Term ^ Value ^
| Cost | As many Industrial Parts as the level currently standing cost in crates, minimum 1. A Checkpoint level 1 (10 crates) costs 10 Industrial Parts, a level 3 (18 crates) costs 18. |
| Cooldown | Four hours per Settlement, one demolition per window. |
| Returned | The build slot only. |

Industrial Parts come at the end of the longest production chain, which makes demolition expensive. The [[components:institutions|Public Works Office]] halves the cost (rounded up), refunds half of everything invested in the building (rounded down) and removes the cooldown.

Demolishing the last Dispatch Office in a region stops its AI flights.

===== Choosing the first Projects =====

  * **Survey Station.** The cheapest building and the only one that unlocks the cargo the other Projects are paid in. As a site upgrade it costs no slot.
  * **Checkpoint.** The only regional source of Security; the Dispatch Office requires it.
  * **Maintenance Works.** Its benefit scales with the number of Sources: large in a region with many Sources, small in one with the minimum of three.
  * **Dispatch Office.** The only source of AI flights, and it carries only Food.
  * **Transport Squadron.** Without it a region flies one AI leg at a time; level 3 is the only access to a neighbouring region's Sources and Factories.
  * **Forward Airfield.** Built per Hub, so every Hub that has one spends its own cargo; it takes no slot.
  * **Cargo Warehouse.** Worth building where pilots relay much cargo through the airfield; Projects do not need it, because delivered cargo takes no storage space.
  * **Civic Administration, Civil Defense Office, Regional Depot, Freight Office.** They compete with the Projects above for the same regional slots: Civic Administration where Trust falls faster than it recovers, Civil Defense Office where the damage arrives from neighbours, Regional Depot where Sources fill up without being collected, Freight Office where the region's factories are the bottleneck and the Dispatch Office and Transport Squadron already stand.

Current Radio Menu and Live Map values take precedence over this page when balance values change.

===== Related guides =====

  * [[guides:build-project|Build a Project]]
  * [[guides:commission-site|Commission a Site]]
  * [[guides:recover-settlement|Recover a Settlement]]

===== Related components =====

  * [[components:settlements|Settlements]]
  * [[components:institutions|Institutions]]
  * [[components:cargo|Cargo]]
  * [[components:security|Security]]
  * [[components:trust|Trust]]
  * [[components:unrest|Unrest]]
  * [[components:exploration|Exploration]]
  * [[components:enemy-detection|Enemy Detection]]
  * [[components:radio-menu|Radio Menu]]