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Parallel Ridge Energy Park
I guess the time has come to share my spreadsheet-tested energy park design, which I call "Parallel Ridges".
The energy park problem is one of dual, conflicting optimizations: terrain is raised most efficiently in a diagonal ridge (that would be in cardinal direction N, S, E, or W), while Echelon Mirrors are most efficient when laid down in a circular pattern.
My compromise is the Parallel Ridge. Pick two points, separated by 3 squares one way and 2 squares the other, and raise them diagonally (N, S, E, or W) in the same direction, so that their 2000m sections will interlace like a zipper.
Interlace and stagger your Echelon Mirrors. If you lay down the proper pattern, your Mirrors will fall in "strips" of every other square, like this:
M s M s M s <-- strip
s s s s s s
s M s M s M <-- strip, staggered
except, of course, the "strips" run NE, NW, SE, and SW -- because Alpha Centauri's map treats the cardinal directions N, S, E, and W as "diagonal". The reason for staggering is to avoid "hot spots", because energy production over 8 units is lost.
A good way to get the right pattern is to build E.M.'s on the starting points of your ridge, then starting at point 1 move diagonally toward point 2, then to the side that is not adjacent to point 2, then build a 3rd Mirror. Use those 3 as a guide for building the rest. Put solar collectors anywhere >= 2k & adjacent to at least 2 Mirrors. Then send in the crawlers!
If your formers only have a move of 1 (as mine do 'til hover) use a single former to go ahead of the others to build roads. It wastes turns for more than 1 former to enter a terrain square that doesn't have a road.
A final note: the most efficient way to start the second point of your ridge might be to "build to it" from your 1st point. I leave it to you to figure this one out.
The big advantage of the "parallel ridges" design is that it gives you lots of "surrounded" Echelon Mirrors which produce their maximum 8 units' output while at the same time allowing you to raise terrain in linear ridges. It is a compromise between the optimal linear pattern for raising terrain and the optimal circular pattern for maximizing the surface areas of your Echelon Mirrors.
A minor advantage of the Parallel Ridges is that you can keep on expanding it as long as you need more energy. I have found it most convenient to build along a pole, because you don't have to defend the pole side. As an added bonus the poles themselves are always "rocky" (build far enough away from the pole so that you get both the energy AND the mines.)
I leave it to you to decide where to drill aquifers. I sometimes put bases in the 1k areas on the edges of the ridge, but as a rule I don't allow base terraforming considerations to interfere with energy production, except occasionally in deciding where to drill aquifers.
I have put some serious thought into energy park construction, and "Parallel Ridges" is the culmination of that work. Tell me what you think!
The energy park problem is one of dual, conflicting optimizations: terrain is raised most efficiently in a diagonal ridge (that would be in cardinal direction N, S, E, or W), while Echelon Mirrors are most efficient when laid down in a circular pattern.
My compromise is the Parallel Ridge. Pick two points, separated by 3 squares one way and 2 squares the other, and raise them diagonally (N, S, E, or W) in the same direction, so that their 2000m sections will interlace like a zipper.
Interlace and stagger your Echelon Mirrors. If you lay down the proper pattern, your Mirrors will fall in "strips" of every other square, like this:
M s M s M s <-- strip
s s s s s s
s M s M s M <-- strip, staggered
except, of course, the "strips" run NE, NW, SE, and SW -- because Alpha Centauri's map treats the cardinal directions N, S, E, and W as "diagonal". The reason for staggering is to avoid "hot spots", because energy production over 8 units is lost.
A good way to get the right pattern is to build E.M.'s on the starting points of your ridge, then starting at point 1 move diagonally toward point 2, then to the side that is not adjacent to point 2, then build a 3rd Mirror. Use those 3 as a guide for building the rest. Put solar collectors anywhere >= 2k & adjacent to at least 2 Mirrors. Then send in the crawlers!
If your formers only have a move of 1 (as mine do 'til hover) use a single former to go ahead of the others to build roads. It wastes turns for more than 1 former to enter a terrain square that doesn't have a road.
A final note: the most efficient way to start the second point of your ridge might be to "build to it" from your 1st point. I leave it to you to figure this one out.
The big advantage of the "parallel ridges" design is that it gives you lots of "surrounded" Echelon Mirrors which produce their maximum 8 units' output while at the same time allowing you to raise terrain in linear ridges. It is a compromise between the optimal linear pattern for raising terrain and the optimal circular pattern for maximizing the surface areas of your Echelon Mirrors.
A minor advantage of the Parallel Ridges is that you can keep on expanding it as long as you need more energy. I have found it most convenient to build along a pole, because you don't have to defend the pole side. As an added bonus the poles themselves are always "rocky" (build far enough away from the pole so that you get both the energy AND the mines.)
I leave it to you to decide where to drill aquifers. I sometimes put bases in the 1k areas on the edges of the ridge, but as a rule I don't allow base terraforming considerations to interfere with energy production, except occasionally in deciding where to drill aquifers.
I have put some serious thought into energy park construction, and "Parallel Ridges" is the culmination of that work. Tell me what you think!
. Of course, why they didn't just go to "9+" instead of "8+" is anybody's guess (I mean, if they wanted to avoid displaying two digits in a square, why not just simply stop at 9?)
n ... Ted S.
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