I have to ask first, 'Surface Disasters' include things like earthquakes and the like or things like meteor showers and heat waves?
[X] Partially aboveground
[X] Water collection and Distillation plant: Really more of an Ice mine with little automated mining drones.
[X] Group Dorms: Small modules capable of holding four people each.
Surface: More resources to expand, but less time, only weak to 'surface' events, like meteor showers or storms.
Middle: Middle ground, we can either expand above or below based on whether we have more time or parts on hand, but we're going to be hit with both above and below events.
Below: More time to expand, less resources to expand, only weak to 'underground' events, like collapses and quakes.
Food: Third most necessary biological imperative (~7 days), and can feasibly supply O2 for a while though it may dreadfully reduce water supplies, and damaged. Can scrub O2 for H2O without much issue, but you can't really turn carbon into either of those...
Water: Second most necessary biological imperative (~2 days), and can fairly quickly supply food, but generates virtually no O2. We could always cannibalize some water for more air, but there's only so much water...
Air: Most necessary biological imperative (~5 minutes), least damaged but least supply of lesser imperatives. People are still meat, and H2O is just a couple hydrogen atoms or a quick whiz away.
Huts: Disasters hurt population less and people are less prone to negative social events, but when morale is low, population quickly becomes rebellion. Regardless, crime will be a bigger issue.
Tribe: Disasters hurt basically everyone currently off-duty in other structures or areas and people are more prone to social events, but morale can be harder to break and people are less likely to become seditious when the chips are down.
My choice: MAXIMUM ADAPTABILITY
-Costs more of whichever resource we have the most spare of to expand
-All negative events can occur, but only damage the colony by parts and not wholes
-Food (delayed) and water supply is protected, air can be electrolyzed from surplus and scrubbed from exhalation
-Population is protected from being eliminated all at once, population at risk for factionalism and individualism
I suggest that in any case where the population is in the community dome that partially above-ground not be the favored colony style, since more negative events will occur in general which could risk the population.
