Federal territories and regions

When the states form, two kinds of place get special rules. The biggest city becomes a federal territory (wilayah persekutuan), as in Malaysia: run by its City Hall under the federal government, with no state of its own. A land across the sea, or behind a narrow neck of land, becomes a region run like Sabah and Sarawak: it keeps its own land laws and immigration, and nobody may reclaim land in its waters. Both matter when you plan where to build.

See them

1. On the main toolbar, click Towns (the houses icon; tooltip Open town directory or found town) and choose States.
2. In the list, a federal territory has a white box and reads federal territory; a region’s states read (own laws). Click one to see its details.
3. In a town window, the line under Council: says Federal territory: for a federal territory, and State: … (own laws) for a town in a region.

Federal territories

The biggest town on the main land becomes a federal territory when the states form: Wilayah Persekutuan Great Brunthill, or Federal Territory of Great Brunthill with English names. A map of 512 by 512 tiles or more, with 20 towns or more on its main land, gets a second one: the biggest town at least a quarter of the map away from the first.

A federal territory's town window: its council is the City Hall, and the federal government runs it.

• City Hall. Its council is Dewan Bandaraya Great Brunthill (Great Brunthill City Hall), with a city council’s powers from the start. It builds council services like any city council, with a federal grant of a tenth of its taxes a year into its services fund on top. Its Budget window says City Hall of a federal territory: a city’s powers, and a federal grant of a tenth of its taxes for new services.
• The federal government runs it: the platform with the most seats in parliament. Its policy applies there at normal strength, paid with federal money. The territory has no assembly of its own, but its people vote for parliament.
• Only the city. On the map of states a federal territory covers its city; the land around it belongs to the state around it, and new towns never join a federal territory.
• No levy. States take a share of rich councils’ reserves each January; a City Hall keeps its own.

Regions run like Sabah and Sarawak

Another land with two towns or more, of at least 1,024 tiles and a sixteenth of the main land, becomes a region when the states form, with news: Negeri Dudingbury keeps its own laws. It gets up to three states of its own. Its states hold their elections on their own, in September, starting a year after the main land’s first general election; its towns’ seats still count in parliament.

A region's state: elections in September, and its own laws listed at the bottom.

Its own land laws

• Land premiums are twice as high as on the main land (see states and elections).
• Native customary land. Forest and farmland near a region’s towns belong to their people. The town gives it up only to a company it rates highly enough; otherwise clearing it, building on it or reshaping it fails with Native customary land: Dudingbury gives it up only to companies it rates at least Mediocre. Cutting trees lowers a town’s rating, as in OpenTTD, so a company can clear only so much forest (about nine tiles from a fresh start) before it has to win the town back, for example by serving its stations well.

Caution

The town checks its rating of your company in points, not by the word shown in its Local Authority window: it wants at least the very top of Mediocre. A company rated low in Mediocre is already refused, so aim for Good.

Its own immigration

• No commuting across its border. People don’t live in a region’s state and work in another state, or the other way round, whatever transit you run (see commuting).
• No new towns from companies. Founding a town there fails with Negeri Dudingbury controls immigration: companies can’t found towns there.

No land reclamation in its waters

A region’s waters reach 12 tiles from its shores, and across a narrow strait right up to the other shore. Nobody may turn sea into land there: clearing a sea tile fails with No land reclamation in the waters of Negeri Dudingbury.

Trying to reclaim a tile of the region's waters with the demolish tool.

The game checks this whenever a sea tile there would be cleared, so docks and ship depots that stand on the sea in a region’s waters are refused with the same message. Bridges over the water and ships are fine.

The region (hatched) and its waters, which reach right across the strait to Great Brunthill.

Tips

• Building a port facing a region? Put the dock more than 12 tiles from the region’s shore, or on your own side of a wide strait.
• In a region, budget for land: premiums are doubled (halved again if Roads and Growth governs there).
• Before clearing a region’s forest for a railway, check the town’s rating in its Local Authority window. Cutting trees costs rating fast; run the line around the forest if you can.
• A federal territory follows the federal government, so the general election in May decides its policy.

Switching it off

Federal territories and regions are part of the states:

SettingStates and elections

Main toolbar: Options and settings (the gear) → Game options → Advanced tab → Environment → Towns. Or type its name in the Filter box.

Choices: On, Off. Default: On. Choose Off for the game as in OpenTTD.

See also

• States and elections
• Town councils
• Commuting