I know I'm doing SOMETHING wrong

[Guest]

I have this problem, but I'm gonna 'set the stage' or so.

I'm on the Ultimate Builder Map (which looks like the Map of Planet, btw) as the Gaians. I've consumed Lal a while ago, and Miriam is up on a small island barely connected to the Lake / Ruins landmass I'm on. I took 2 mind worm boils and a couple rovers up there (I'm on Specalist difficulty, dont laugh too hard) and have managed to take quite a few of her bases. Not sure if I'm gonna take over all her bases or beat her into a submission pact, since she has a LOT of bases up there and the distance from my bases is rather high.

Here's my problem. I've built my own bases up pretty well infrastructure wise, and I'm not building too many units because of support issues.

I have no idea what to assign these bases to do! I've had all of em on Stockpile energy for a while, which has allowed me to ramp up my labs somethin' feirce (11 turn breakthroughs to 4) and occasionally funnelling it back into Economy. However, I know I'm doing something wrong.

So what do you guys do when you've built all the 'definately need' buildings, and your terraforming is almost done, and your bases are too far away to put troops onto the field?

[spartak]

Sounds like you don't have your tech set high enough to generate improvments at a fast enough rather. Once you have spaceflight and advanced spaceflight you should be churning out Hydroponic stations and solor energy thing as fast as you can. Boosts you economy really good and allows you to concentrate on other stuff that farming....

Spare formers can spend their time building tubes or being cashed in for Special projects....

[Earwicker]

While away the years by building lots of crawlers. You can put them to good use getting extra resources for their home bases, and can cash them in for SP's when you do get the next good tech.

With regards to Deirdre, definitely beat her into submission, then give back most of the bases you take from her (keep a few for strategic purposes (to launch another invasion if you are so inclined). You will be delighted with the extra commerce energy at your central bases, where the energy will be put to good use and not lost to inefficiency.

She should be more than happy to surrender to you if you are running green (which I would expect you are if mind worms are part of your attacking force).

[Kirov]

If you don't have any facilities to build at the moment, you can:

1) build crawlers (IMHO the best way to use your mineral output)

2) build probe teams (like crawlers, they don't need any support, and like crawlers, you can't have too many probe teams)

3) build space stations (but as I understand, you don't have the appropriate techs)

3) prototype new units (you can always disband them after that, and sometimes it's good to have some elements previously prototyped, esp those time-consuming)

4) assign specialists (by clicking on worker icon you can change them into technician or librarian, for instance; they don't gather any minerals then, so you don't waste any minerals.

Be sure to check if you have Bioengineering tech allowing to build units with clean reactor.

Good luck! The drones need you...

[Method]

wow. i sometimes have that problem in the early game before any facilities are discovered, but it doesn't occur to me on a regular basis

you could always sell and rebuild your improvements, esp centauri preserves and temples of planet

[Frankychan]

like they said, you could make these bases make crawlers and have them supply your bases by switching their 'Home Base' to whichever base needs resources.

What I like to do is have these bases make missiles, then distribute these missles to my other bases, switch their home base to the new one, then have the missles on "Guard Duty".

Or you could just make planet busters and kill everyone...

[Main_Brain]

Colony Pods&Formers until your Empire stretches to the bases you conquered. Alias the 'Domai Way' :=)
Also buildings some Roads in the general Direction might work.
Also you can build Units and Rehome them to the conquered BAses up there, that way you only temporary loose some Mineral Production Capacity.
Of course you could also build soem additional Formers to start Project like 'Energy Park' 'Red Planet' or smth. else.
The Crawler approach seems to be the best solution unless you, prefer the 'Worker instead of Machines! Ban Crawlers!' Approach.
Oh and raise your Research

[Kirov]

What's the 'Red Planet' project?

I didn't realise there are other big terraform improvements than Energy Park. Are there more of them, besides those two?

[Alinestra Covelia]

Another thing you could do is to gift these bases to pactmates, especially if your pactmates have very few bases and these bases are giving you management headaches.

A gifted base loses its dissenting citizen, and the inefficiency it suffers will change depending on the new managing faction. But most importantly it allows your cities another Pactmate city to trade with in terms of commerce.

Commerce isn't affected at all by distance from capitals, etc, so it's a good thing to have. I've played several games as the Hive on a conquest spree, and several as a generous Pacter, and the latter type always gave me fewer budget problems.

[Earwicker]

Originally posted by Kirov
What's the 'Red Planet' project?

Sounds like covering your whole territory with fungus. Works great later in the game (if you are not FM) when fungus squares are all incredibly productive.

Another use for vast numbers of formers is to raise land, making your territory larger and providing some land bridges (complete with mag tubes, if you have them, for easy access).

[Jamski]

And there is also the green planet project (or a walk in the woods) But then you really need hybrid forest in every base. The secondary aim is to totally kill all the fungus on Planet, then Planet is DEAD !

-Jam

[Kirov]

Yea, and maybe 'cheese planet' project, i.e. covering it all with boreholes.

[Earwicker]

Originally posted by Kirov
Yea, and maybe 'cheese planet' project, i.e. covering it all with boreholes.

Or the underwater sunlight project, boosting ecodamage until the seas rise and float everything away.

[Main_Brain]

ahh u mean the 'Blue Planet' approach?

[Clear Skies]

I wanna know what the Purple Planet approach is...