Green Economy

If your playing v1.6 DA, I'd like you to know that the worlds make 20% percent less cash than before.

I normally build at least one of each of these, happy center/morale project, Back/Econ Project on each planet, except under certain curcumstances. Sometimes, mostly on the larger planets, I build a farm, and I definetly try to get the Economic capital on one of my planets early in the game, normaly I stick an extra econ building and happy center there too, along with a farm or two...

I never have problems with economy, in fact, I always have better economy than my enemies, of course, I make sure I've researched far down the Improvement tech branches, factories, banks, happy centers, and research centers.

Another good thing to have is an economic resource, or a happiness resource, even better, is both.

1) Keep your populations low (13 or under) while building initial (that is, filling all tiles up through Habitat Improvement), except the home world, and maybe a world with a mystic spring.

2) Never build a world over 20 pop until you are pretty expert at the game. (Even then it is probably counter productive unless it has a couple of mystic springs and you mine several morale resources.)

3) Except for 1-2 producer planets, to start build every tile you can in money enhancers. As you balance things later you can over build with other stuff bit by bit.

4) Don't over load your home world with producer buildings at the beginning. Keep it simple; 2-4 (5 max) porducers (labs or factories, slightly more if you use a blend, less if you have the right bonus tiles), everything else money. Remember to keep the pop low - don't waste early tiles on farms and happy stuff.

5) Build only the most important bonus buildings for your strategy - otherwise don't irrevocably commit the tiles. Try to build only 1-2 unique buildings on any one planet. Avoid any but the buildings MOST directly beneficial to your strategy on the home world (example: Lab strategy home world gets Research Coordination, Tech capital, Omega research ONLY; maybe a Counter Intel later if needed to beat the spy war).

6) When in doubt, build more money makers.

7) Build freighters and Trade, Trade, Trade. Favor distant minors, but having one trade route with each potential opponent can help stave off early hostilities. If you do have several trade routes with a distant minor, make them great deals on whatever techs they have in trade for you best defensive and economic stuff; maybe even give them defensive stuff. You want them to survive and preserve your trade routes.

8) In Mid-game build the galactic privateer to protect your trade routes.

9) Build some econ starbases w/i range of your home world along the trade routes, but initally only build the trade enhancers. you can add Production/research enhancers later when the economy has an excess.

10) Round off any tech trades with cash from the trading partner.

11) Get sensors early, then build about 2 more survey ships; upgrade them to ion engines as soon as you can. They will more than pay for themselves even if anomalies are set to rare.

12) Despite conventional wisdom in these forums I rarely see the need for accelerated growth in the early turns. Consider adjusting your taxes every turn to keep your least happy planet at 41-42% approval. Just enough to grow normally, much better for taxes. Stretch that initial nest egg.

13) After early planets are grown out (remember, only 13-16 pop early on), set taxes to maintain only about 31-32% approval.

14) after Republic, set the taxes for higher approval (55%+) only just before elections (check the Civ Manager screens for next election date).

Note: all guidelines have exceptions, but by the time you're beginning to recognize them, you'll be able to write your own guidelines.

drrider

Oh, darn, forgot an important one.

14) Favor economic research whenever its costs/time are even close to the other possible tech choices.

drrider

This isn't the order I build, just the balance I have in the end.

I build one counter-espionage on each world (remember, it provides 20% morale, which is decent). Then, I build two farms AND two morale centers. This brings population up to just under 20 billion (with all the farm upgrades). Building a third farm will radically skew the planet balance, you need like 5 additional morale centers once you build that third farm, so only do it for huge planets, they will be your fat cash cows. Take note of tile bonuses and the planet itself, if you conquer a minor civ for instance, their planet can hold a very large population without any improvements, so consider it like they have a farm built in. Also, if there are tile bonuses, use them. A morale center built on a bonus counts as two morale centers, and a farm counts as two on the weak bonus, and THREE on the large bonus. Emphasis on the THREE because that would essentially be building THREE farms so you will need like 8 morale centers for that. But after you have got your farms and morale centers all balanced, build banks (I usually have 2), and I build an embassy (influence gets you cash too). Also, try to get the morale trade goods (there's 3 I think) and any morale resource starbases. They will help a lot. You may struggle a little in the early game, but in the long run I always have 90+ approval, and thousands of bc's flow in weekly while still at full spending capacity.

Actually a farm built on the yellow bonus symbol tile counts as 4 farms.

drrider

Here's a quick question: Do larger or faster freighters yield more money?

As such neither matter, because when the trade route is established, it grows by a fixed 1 parsec a Turn no matter the speed of the initial freighter setting it up. The route value increases in direct proportion to distance travelled after setup.

Base value of the route is Planet size and population at either end of the link, with the most important element distance of the route end to end.

So in a nutshell, a fast freighter gets it setup quicker as it gets their faster therefore dosh rolls in earlier, the further away the target planet the better, the bigger the planets at either side and the bigger the populations either side of the route the better.

If spoilt for choice go for distance, and take what you can get on the other elements, but remember that long term value is always gained by not having routes disrupted etc because of other wars - if they are you have to rebuild them, and the route value goes back to initial on restablishing one. By choosing, if at all possible by gazing in your game crystal ball (togther with that natural Strategic Brain that you have   ), stable worlds that will not be zapped in third party wars before you get at them, you maximise the route returns as each route builds in value on the base value at the start of each turn.

I usually lay one on each Race, then pack one or more minor that I know I will zap later in the game with the rest, that way I'll get some money back when I raid his bank, help him defend himself before I get at him, and not give away their element of the trade if it was another Major Race. Not a lot in the latter, but every bit helps

Regards
Zy

(Sigh...) no.

but they should, I think you should be able to put more than one trade module on a freighter, each one will increase the value of the trade route set up by that freighter.

Totally agree. That would make trade worth caring about.

Same for space miners - if you could add multiple mining modules to increase the speed at which they set up mining on asteroids.