The Empire has appointed you as Planetary Governor, you have de jure authority to rule as you see fit provided you send the required tribute and keep the planet loyal. Will you work with the factions who hold influence over the planet, set them against each other, or crush them under your boot?
Paying Tribute
Each standard year the administration will assign you a list of items for tribute, from resources to manufactured goods to military equipment to military manpower. Manage your production and population to meet these targets.
Interstellar logistics can be tough, so the administration gives some leeway: if you can't meet a target this year they will simply add the shortfall to the next; if you can't meet a specific resource requirement you can make up for it with a larger amount of something else.
If the planet has issues of civil strife the administration may be willing to lower it's requirements for the period, especially if you have the right connections. If the planet is producing plentifully they may also decide you can meet higher targets, especially if you have the wrong connections.
Paying Lip Service
Long before you became governor there were factions of influence: some local to the planet like noble houses, street gangs, or familial tribes; some throughout the Empire such as the Order of the Mechanicals.
Factions will decide how to interact with the player depending on their opinion and influence. Powerful factions may ignore your demands but if you're weak they may work with you against the other factions. Likewise weak factions may not oppose you in public but they think you have too much power they will be more willing to work together against you.
Manage faction influence in the open with arrests and appointments, or in the shadows with assassinations, bribery, and sabotage.
You Are Not Alone
Every faction is made up of characters that are both influenced by their faction and influence their faction back.
Characters have roles from leaders to political appointments to managers of local industry and production.
Character personalities affect how they respond to player interactions. Some will be willing to accept a bribe for their own gain while others will reject it and perhaps even expose the attempt publicly. Likewise sometimes a character may try to stop you interfering even if their faction demands otherwise, and some will work with you against their own faction's will.
Broader Conflict
Factions have hard power as well as soft, and can start conflicts within a single sector or across the whole planet, against each other or against you.
Faction influence in the population and the Planetary Defence Force determines a large part of who will win, so keeping influence and setting laws in your favour can make the difference.
Use your spies to figure out who's planning what, including seeing where conflicts may arise before they happen.
Full Planet Designer
Choose a planet preset and edit it's appearance or add your own graphical and sector maps with nothing more than simple .png images.
Pick from a variety of physical and societal types that affect how your planet will generate: barren deserts, lush jungles, an aristocratic feudal society, a gang ridden spire world, and many more.
Customise details as much or as little as you like - say exactly how many people or what resources or factories are in each sector, or how much tribute you have to pay, or simply let the game generate it all for you.
Planet generation is determined from a single starting seed so can always reuse a generation you like and share it with others.
