Argh, can't believe I just found out this in trial and error. Suppose maybe I should have read the manual but I just dove in figuring learn by playing ala Civ 5.



But game doesn't really explain in tutorial or in-game dialog that expansion disapproval is zero if you establish a colony inside the ring of your influence circle. I was wondering why some colonies that I'd establish was happy or ecstatic right off the bat while others were miserable, and turns out the game only applies expansion disapproval factors to colonies outside your influence borders.



I hadn't really built the influence ring improvements until much later in game, more as a way to keep AI out, than as a tool to more rapidly expand my empire. But now, it's finally my attempts at Serious level lot easier by establishing key outpost colonies, all spread out, before my expansion approval gets too bad, and then when each of those spread out colonies get's their first influence border 30 turns later, use them as sort if mini-islands to establish more colonies without expansion penalty.

Another advantage of having a colony within your influence area is its dust and science income doesn't get cut in half.

oh that's good to know too. wasn't paying attention to dust/ science effects for outside my influence area. thanks.

If you build a colony outside your influence area, but then it later gets swallowed up by your influence area, do you still suffer expansion disapproval? If yes, does expansion disapproval ever go away or get reduced in any way? I normally haven't worried about it, since I expand too quickly to ever fail to hit 100% expansion disapproval (before techs that reduce that figure) and stay there. That being said, if I could avoid that occurring, it would be fantastic, and certainly would make things much easier.

It seems to help - e.g. Colony that started outside your influence area suffers more expanion disapproval until influence area swallows it.



But you suffer some expansion disapproval regardless it seems. Dont know the actual proportion or math, but there seems to be kind of two tiers of expansion disapproval:



A) a value applied to all systems, whether inside your influence area or not, as a purely incremental function - e.g. Every new system you add to your empire increases the overall unhappiness load to all planets

(Even if you build all systems inside your influence zone, you'll see this if you spread too fast and dont build happiness structures. So influence zone does not equal complete negation of expansion disapproval, just a moderate reduction it seems)



B) a extra expansion disapproval value applied to colonies outside your influence zone. you can easily see this by save/loading - have like 5 planets all content at whatever tax rate, settle 6th planet inside influence and it will start out bit below content. But settle that same type 6th planet outside influence and it will start out lot lower.



Expansion disapproval gets significantly reduced in two stages as far as i can tell - researching the two techs in bottom tree. First one (orbital counseling i think) reduces it by 20%+, think its like 22. Then another similar reduction in deeper part of tree.



It doesnt ever seem to completely go away, but does become a negligible factor by mid game because so many more counters to add happiness are avaialable. So the combo of a reduced negative (40%+ with both techs) plus so many new happiness modifiers ( bigger and better happiness buildings, luxury resource modifiers on planets one you research their discovery - love meta-enactogen - makes expansion disapproval really minimal.