Echelon Mirrors broken in SMAX?

[Adalbertus]

I'm just building Echelon Mirrors for the first time in SMAX 2.0 (yes, finally got a big continent, so I decided to make a land-based energy park). Surprisingly, even with an Echelon Mirror in the next square (side by side or diagonal doesn't matter) I get four energy from a square at 3500 m height, when I thought I get five. On a 2xxx m elevation, I get three. The only thing which might be non-standard is that the park technically isn't my territory but unclaimed. Anyone knows about it or has an idea to fix it?

Are the interludes for the Borehole Cluster and Manifold Nexus really gone?

[Maniac]

You disovered the problem yourself. What I heard is that Echelons only work in your own territory. My suggestion would be to build a specialist base near or in the middle of your energy park. A size 1 base is enough. You could also send some extra supply crawlers to that base for mineral harvesting. Then you can quickly build clean formers in that base, about one every two turns, speeding up the construction of your park.

[Maniac]

Also the cost for raising terrain is lower the closer to one of your bases, so besides saving time building a base at your energy park also saves cash.

[Adalbertus]

Thanks, and the base will keep intruders out. Two colony pods are already coming from my pet Lal, so I'll have to buy instead of build the base.

Edit: My 200th post, finally!

[Method]

i always build sea based parks. they seem more efficient in that you get 5 energy in every square with a harness if you have a thermocline transducer and you probably dont need to raise as much land.

Edit: Now that i think of it, this really screws non-coastal bases . unless you wait for gravships, that is

[spartak]

I can never see the point of gravships myself. What are they ever worth waiting for?

[Adalbertus]

TKG, it depends on the landscape. This time I was lucky enough to get a map with three big continents (one for Santiago who just kicks the butt of both progenitors, one for Morgan, and one for poor Lal and me (Zak). Yang is stranded on a 2-base-island and seems to regularly discover that you can't build a base on rocky terrain). I had much of the continent to my own thanks to faster expansion and a few EC's and probe teams who essentially made Lal's units fighting against Lal ... (Lal still left with more land than I usually hope for, and he is fouth after me, Santiago and Morgan). I simply decided to dedicate a region of my continent to an energy park which already is >3000 m. And essentially you have to lift each tile once to get it to >3000, so there is not too much lifting involved. And if you design the setup

SSSSSSS
EEEEEEE
SSSSSSS
EEEEEEE
SSSSSSS
(S = Solar plant, E=Echelon mirror), you get (in the limit of a large area) an average of 7 energy per tile for 1 raising and 1 improvement (four from elevation, and each S has six E's where it gets more energy from). The decision depends probably more on where it is most practical to design the energy park. When I start on an island, I usually try to connect a few islands so that they make an inland lake which will be my energy park.

I don't think it really screws your inland bases. The important thing is that you get energy at all. If you don't go for massive psych assignments or permanent Golden Ages, it doesn't matter where your energy arrives. Because of inefficiency, most should go to your HQ, anyway. So this should be a costal base, or connected to the inland lake. And this is where you probably want to build yout SSC. The other bases need nuts and mins.

Edit: Yes, the Echelon mirror (not the solar collector) has to be in the territory. Lal was friendly enough to leave me his bases for 72 EC for both ...

[Mr. President]

Originally posted by Spartak
I can never see the point of gravships myself. What are they ever worth waiting for?

They move very fast (eight squares in a turn I believe) and never need to refuel. They can also capture bases, unlike other air units. If you're still fighting wars when you get them you can totally kick anything in your path. They're slightly better in SMAX, where String Disruptors and Dissociative Wave can help them get around those pesky AAA Stasis Sentinels.

[spartak]

Ah. TVM.

[Mongoose]

Gravship terraformers can work either land or sea tiles, IIRC.

[MariOne]

Of course,
if you go for transcendence, Gravships are not on the path to it, and the game should last very few turns anyway since they'd bcome available.
If you go for another kind of victory, and if you drag the game till Gravships become available, then you know that you did not play that game well.

Imo this is true both in SP and against humans.
I think I've never built a Gravship myself, if not for test purposes.
Too bad, this is a flaw in the endgame design.
Even when years ago Aredhran thought to set up some hi-tech pbems, starting already at Orbital time, the games were resolved thru conflict far before Gravships.

[Method]

thats all i use gravships for if i get that far mongoose. formers and crawlers

[Ned]

Try swapping grav ships and copters. It makes for a real interesting game.