Efficiency vs. Expansion

[kt_butts]

Does anyone know the exact effects of expanding past the "bureaucracy" warning? I've noticed an increase in drone activity, but I don't know the formula. Also, in the datalinks the fromula for energy loss due to inefficiency is:

Inefficiency = (Energy * Distance / (64 - ((4 - Efficiency) * 8))

How does is this formula effected after the expansion warnings?

Also, I know the warning message is not generated by conquering bases. Do these affect efficiency or not?

I am currently playing a game as Yang on a standard size map. I am wondering how far I can expand past 6 bases before I hit diminishing returns.

[WhiteElephants]

I believe that at the first inefficency warning you get a drone in a random base. For each new base you build after that warning you generate another randomly placed drone. You can reduce this by raising your effeciency rating. The formula for the number of drones due to inefficency can be found in the datalinks under advanced concepts I think. I'm not positive, but I believe that this is a good reason to raise your efficency rating past 4 in order to quell the drones otherwise there isn't much point in raising your efficency past 4 since you are already in a paradigm economy.

[Simpson II]

kt_butts,

The inefficiency that formula describes is not affected by the bureaucracy warning. You get bureaucracy for each base in excess of

(8 - difficulty)*(4 + efficiency)*maproot/2

difficulty on transcnd is 5. Maproot = square root of no. of map tiles divided by the square root of 3200; it works out at 1 on standard maps, near enough to 1 on large and about 1.6 on Huge (I think.)

For each base in excess of this number you get one additional drone at an apparently random base. For each base in excess of twice this number you get two, for each in excess of three you get 3 and so, on I believe.

So, for Yang on a standard map at Transcend you get a drone for each base past

(8 - 5)*(4 + 0)*(1/2) = 6

However if you can control the drones through police then it is not a big deal. If you have to go far away to build new bases then the zero efficiency will very quickly wipe out about half your energy production.

However, this does not apply to energy and labs from specialists, and specialists will also deal with the drones, so they are a nice way for Yang to manage a sprawling empire. Crawl in nutrients from condensor/farm/enricher combinations and you can keep up nicely with your more energy-rich counterparts.

[kt_butts]

Thanks for the tips! I have a couple of follow up questions. Are the random drones generated once or are they generated each turn. For example, I build my 7th base on a standard map, is there one drone that randomly shows up in one of my bases and can change bases each turn? Or is it randomly generated in one of the seven bases and stays there permanently? Also, can the random drones all show up in the same base (I found my 9th base and have three drones in the same base)?

[WhiteElephants]

I was always under the impression that the drones stay in the same base after being generated due to ineffiecency and that they appear at different bases not the same one. Good question, I wish I had a definate answer.

[kt_butts]

Another question would be how do conquered bases work into the equation. For instance, I build my 6 bases and the conquer 4 more. Then I build my 7th homemade base and the extra drones kick in. Do I get 1 drone for the 7th homemade base or do I get 5 drones for the 1 homemade base and the 4 conquered bases?

[Adam_Smith]

I think that as you conquer bases, if you are past your limit, then you will get drones at your home bases just as if you had built them yourself.

On another note. +2 efficiency is very good for this type of drones and -2 efficiency is no worse than null.

[Misotu]

I can confirm that I have Drones appear in my home bases when I conquer new bases. I've always assumed that this is linked to inefficiency.

[VoodooChild]

I have found that if I got my warning when I built my 6th base, that when I build my 7th base the drone will show in my new base. If you are running Democracy (no start-up minerals) this can create a nice little delimna.

[Simpson II]

I definitely agree that you get drones due to captured bases. I think that the drones stay at the same bases while your efficiency stays constant - I remember a game in which a base gained a drone when my efficiency went up. Many bases lost drones, but this one rioted on the next turn. I'll have to check at some point.

[Enigma]

With Yang it is generally easiest to just ignore the drones because of your +2 police rating (with police state). Most other factions have a harder time but the combination of support and police allows you to expand a lot cheaply. Once you get non lethal methods keep 2-3 police units in every base- you can save a shocking amount of energy by not having to hurry drone control facilities and not having to pay upkeep costs.
[This message has been edited by Enigma (edited September 11, 2000).]

[mark13]

Having played several games as Yang, I have noticed that when you do switch to Police State, the bureacracy warning comes a lot quicker. Could it be that when Yang was made immune to inefficiency the programmers overlooked bureaucracy?

For instance, playing as Yang on a standard sized map, i switched to police state early on (as soon as I had 40 credits to do it with) and on my third base I got the first bureaucracy warning. By the fifth base drones were starting to become a pain, and by ten I had to have Hologram Theatres put in to all bases above size 3. I don't know whether this is unique to my game, but this becomes a severe problem, even with two oplice units, and Police State/Planned becomes an absolute no-go.

If you're wondering, incidentally, my game is version 4.0.