You can always specialize your domes. I will use medium dome for this guide. I usually do it this way:
Engineering - Factory - Production
We will have colonists with different interests, and we need to take care of their needs, if we want our population to grow and our production to be at its potential. These are the colonists i aim to have some of in this dome.
Engineers that works in my factories
(Relaxation, Shopping, Dining)
Non specialization that works in my basic service buildings
(Social, Relaxation, Shopping)
Medics that work in my Medical Clinics
(Social, Shopping, Luxury)
Officers that work in my security station
(Relaxation, Social, Exercise)
Basic service buildings:
(2 Diner, 2 Med Clinic, 1 Art store, 1 Security, 1 Large Garden) - I use one extra med clinic because i have colonists working outside in polymer factory, i also have colonists in Machine Part Factory and Electronics Factory working hard shifts, and this will make colonists use the clinics more. Since i have mostly engineers in the this dome, i have to make their needs a priority. That is why i have 1 large garden, to take care of their Relaxation need. I have 2 diners, not because i am afraid of starvation, but because Engineers has this as an interest and diners provide social needs for my medics, officers and non specialization folks.. They would not want to visit the grocer that often, so i dont have it in this dome. Instead, i use Art shop, that is a luxury building that takes care of their shopping needs. I use the security station, because it helps keeping my colonists sane during disasters and prevents crime in my dome, so i wont loose those precious advanced resources.
Special Buildings for this dome:
Spire: Arcology if i have it, to make more room for production buildings.
Casino Complex: I always pick casino if i have it, since it covers many needs at the same time.
Spacebar: Covers even more needs. Sometimes, colonists that work outside, get the alcoholic flaw, having a spacebar, would tend to their needs.
My medium Factory dome would look something like this:
4 Appartments (96) + Arcology Spire (32) = 128 colonists can live here
2 diner (12) + 2 Med Clinics (12) + 1 Art Store (3) + 1 Security (9) + Spacebar (6) + Casino Complex (9) + Polymer Factory (18) + Electronics Factory (30) + Machine Part Factory (15)
This adds up to 114 colonists needed to staff all the slots.
This leaves us with 14 unemployed people and one triangle left. Depending on your play, i would want a passage from my dome to another. That eats up 1 tile. I would probably spend the remaining space on passage + Smart home (4) + decorations or a service building if i can fit it in.and build one more polymer factory. Now everyone is employed and hopefully happy.
In this setup, i have many buildings on hard workload and all buildings on nightshift. Be aware that if youre not playing Brazil, all colonists take a penalty, if they work in a dome they dont live in.
Botanist - Farming
Botanists that work in farms
(Relaxation, Shopping, Luxury)
Medics that work in my Medical Clinics
(Social, Shopping, Luxury)
Non specialization that works in my basic service buildings
(Social, Relaxation, Shopping)
Basic service buildings:
(1 Med Clinic, 1 Diner, 1 Art Store, 1 Grocer, 1 Lake, 6 Farms)
The Art Store is key in this dome, as Botanists are luxury heavy and love shopping. This building takes care of most of their needs. We use 1 diner and 1 grocer, to balance the needs abit. Med clinic could be sacrificed if you are connected to a dome that can service them. I like to have it inside the dome though. We use 6 farms, loads of food will be made here. I suggest getting your soil quality up to 100% as fast as possible. In the early start, i always go for soybeans, since it increases the soil quality with 10% each harvest. When you have unlocked all the food types, i would suggest running Fruit trees and Corn together on a rotation, since the Fruit trees gives 10% soil quality per harvest and Corn decrease the soil quality by 10%. Many also use Quinoa permanently, which is also totally viable. When you start your farms, use Cover Crops first, it gives 40% soil quality increase, then use whatever you want. This will make your farms perform to its maximum potential way faster.
Special Buildings for this dome:
Spire: Water Reclamation (Best choice for this dome)
Housing: Smart Complexes (Extremely high comfort)
My medium Farm dome would look something like this:
5 Smart Complexes (60) = 60 colonists can live here
1 Med Clinic (6) + 1 Diner (6) + 1 Art Store (3) + 1 Grocer (3) + 6 Farms (36) + Water Reclamation Spire (6) + 1 Lake = 60
Again, we run with hard workload on all the farms for 1st and 2nd shift. Night shifts on everything, but i usually don't give them hard workload.
60 work slots and 60 housing, perfect!
We can make for all the other specializations too, but if you use the Mars wiki, you can find alot of info, like what buildings take care of which needs etc. Here is the building page that i used making this short guide for Engineers.
https://survivingmars.gamepedia.com/Buildings
I also used this for looking at colonists and their interests and needs:
https://survivingmars.paradoxwikis.com/Colonists#Specializations
Hope this helps abit.
