Ok some noob questions

[Snowflake]

They are simple so I lump them together.

Is Rec Commons of any use if you've got VW, if you are running specialist style? (Not many workers so no drones perhaps. But will it give you talents for you to enter GA?)

Alien Artifact in late game. Still use for SPs or better used for tech? (Late game tech are so costly. But you may get an unwanted tech. But again if you play against AIs who knows they could gift you techs you don't want anyway. )

CommerceTech. What the heck exactly are they? (Build techs or the ones with economics in its name?)

[GeoModder]

Commerce techs: IIRC those are mostly 'Build' techs who have the commerce increase flag enabled in the alpha.txt file. Basically, any researched tech that increases your energy income from pacts and treaties. Don't ask me to name them all, you can check for yourself in the #TECH list.

Haven't run a specialist game myself sofar, but sooner or later rec commons become handy when in a popboom you forget to check bases' F4 screen. Less chance a forgotten drone pops up and messes with the popboom of a base.

For the AA, definitely used for a tech in late game, most likely enough crawlers around to hurry a SP, and those are so costly as well in late game that it rarely makes much turn differences.

So, that's my 2 cents...

[Santiago_Claus]

Commerce Techs improve your Commerce Rating, which increases your trade income.

If you like to gift bases taken from bad guys over to Pacted good guys, a higher Commerce rating is a great boon.

Late-game SP's are easy to build while techs grow ever more expensive. Cash artifacts in for tech.

Rec Commons only reduce drones. If you have no drones, RC's do you no good.

[GeoModder]

Xpost, Santiago?

[Sikander]

Use the psych setting on the base screen to review your base's psych status. This is fairly revealing. It shows you when your next population point will be a drone (assuming you know a thing or two about how this works), at which point it might be time to build something to control the drone, create a specialist or reallocate a non-psych specialist to a psych type.

Rec commons are a good buy for the money btw, as they take care of two drones for minimal upkeep and initial cost.

[Frankychan]

Originally posted by GeoModder
Commerce techs: IIRC those are mostly 'Build' techs who have the commerce increase flag enabled in the alpha.txt file. Basically, any researched tech that increases your energy income from pacts and treaties. Don't ask me to name them all, you can check for yourself in the #TECH list.

Haven't run a specialist game myself sofar, but sooner or later rec commons become handy when in a popboom you forget to check bases' F4 screen. Less chance a forgotten drone pops up and messes with the popboom of a base.

For the AA, definitely used for a tech in late game, most likely enough crawlers around to hurry a SP, and those are so costly as well in late game that it rarely makes much turn differences.

So, that's my 2 cents...

Agreed, somewhat.

I don't really run specialist-only cities (I don't know why), but I tend to build the RC's after a while....like when my pop hits 4 or 5. That's usually when drones become a problem for me.

AA late in the game should definitely be used to gain technology. The latter tech, much like the very early techs, is very valuable and the artifact shouldn't be wasted on trying to hurry the SP's....you would be better off just using creds or finding additional mineral resources to try and hurry the SP.

[Rubin]

No need to check the alphax.txt file for the commerce technologies. The in-game help menu (F1) has them all listed under Commerce (basic) in the basic concepts menu. However, I did check the alphax.txt file to see if the information was correct--and it is correct.

The commerce related technologies are: Industrial Economics, Industrial Automation, Planetary Economics, Industrial Nanorobotics, Sentient Econometrics, and Environmental Economics.

[Santiago_Claus]

Xpost indeed ... you must be a fast typist, Geo, for I didn't spend much time writing that.

[Snowflake]

Thanks guys! And thanks Rubin for listing the techs for me. Didn't expect that Eco Eng is not one of them ... But it makes sense since it increases min not energy.

[Googlie]

Originally posted by Sikander
Use the psych setting on the base screen to review your base's psych status.

It's a good idea to get into the habit of doing this per base on a regular basis after you get the first drones appearing. Elsewhere is documented the fake drone bug - where a drone or two appear in your base resources display, but when you flick to the psych display there aren't any drones. Particularly prevalent with Yang and Miriam

[CEO Aaron]

IIRC the bug is with Police, the effects of which aren't properly displayed on the summary screens, which is why your support-rich factions don't see it often.

[Googlie]

Aha - could be. I never thought of that.

[Mead]

Re: Ok some noob questions

Originally posted by HongHu
They are simple so I lump them together.

Is Rec Commons of any use if you've got VW, if you are running specialist style? (Not many workers so no drones perhaps. But will it give you talents for you to enter GA?)

Alien Artifact in late game. Still use for SPs or better used for tech? (Late game tech are so costly. But you may get an unwanted tech. But again if you play against AIs who knows they could gift you techs you don't want anyway. )

CommerceTech. What the heck exactly are they? (Build techs or the ones with economics in its name?)

Hong Hu

First - You claim that these are noob questions but your are (as we, including you, of course, know) that you are, far, far, far from qualifying as a noob player.

Second - Onto the substance of your questions:

I like Rec Commons. Yes, they cost mins to build and EC to run, but they do take away 2 drones. Regardless of the faction I run I like two less drones until when and if I get Telepathic matrix (alright, I admit that by the time I get it, the game has already been well, well decided in my favor, but I really like the movie that plays. Those are nice legs are they not [an objective observation, of course]).


Third - I almost always use the AA's for tech. Sometimes I will even hold onto them for a while until I am ready to cash them in (after I get the desired tech I am researchin at the time). I will finish researching those techs I will get quickly anyways, or buy/steal the techs I can BEFORE I cash in those AA's. Even though I tend to get tech rather quickly late game (due to a succesful energy park/SSC) I like the boost the AA's give.


Fourth - Commerce Tech's, I roughly know what they are. I welcome the benefit, but admit, that I primarily view what the techs for what they can do for me.

Of course, any tech that leads to: IA, Air Power, Tree Farms, Fusion, HSA, and CV is a good tech for me. (whoops I almost forgot about the techs that lead into CBA)

Mead

[Snowflake]

Well I still need to finish one transcend SP game.

One reason I ask about rec commons is because I almost never build it especially when I play Hive. I usually try to grab VW so they are not needed most of the time, especially with polices and/or HGP. But it sounds strange doens't it. It seems to me almost everybody builds it.

[Blake]

For Hive if you get the AV (+1 Police) LLV (-2 drones under Planned) then just between those two you can have 11(!!) free drone control per base. Hive is spoilt when it comes to drone control.
Playing on transcend I cant see ever doing without rec commons unless you have both VW and HGP, or can use police. Then again I always have atleast 2 workers on boreholes, so my bases would revolt often if I tried getting away with just netnodes...

The fake drone bug can happen with punishment spheres too, where 1-2 drones sometimes show up, especially in captured bases, makes it harder to tell at a glance that it is a punishing base. I think it has to do with super drones.