Paying for SPs @ 2 credits per mineral!

[Googlie]

It doesn't work if the alpha(x).txt is set to (instead of its default 2:

25, ; Combat % -> Defend in range of friendly Sensor
10, ; Combat % -> Psi attack bonus/penalty per +PLANET
50, ; Retool percent penalty for production change
3, ; Retool strictness (0 = Always Free, 1 = Free in Category, 2 = Free if Project, 3 = Never Free)
10, ; Retool exemption (first X minerals not affected by penalty)
20, ; Minimum # of turns between councils

[Chaos Theory]

I've heard that a value of 3 there acts the same as a value of 2, but never tested it.

[Commy]

Yo, Chaos Theory, what is the blue 'supporter' thingy for?

[Chaos Theory]

http://apolyton.net/members/

[Blake]

Ah what the hell. I'll describe the generic method of switching production without losing minerals and with disregard to prerequisites - orbitals without aerospace, tachyon defense without perimeter, ships in landlocked bases, north without south.... erm, not the last one.

This example will involve building an aquafarm in a landlocked base.

Select any old base which has 0-10 stored minerals, and can build what you want to switch to. (ie a sea/coastal base for aquafarm)
Set the current built to aquafarm.
Set the first item in the queue to anything - it doesn't matter. This is just a voodoo ritual so the queue can be saved (empty queues can not be saved).
Save the queue (right click on the queue, choose "Save current list into template")

Go to the landlocked base.
Load the saved queue
Close the base screen then open it again. (Another voodoo ritual to make it update the current build as well as the queue)
The Aquafarm will now be the current build. Optionally delete the queued build(s).

So really, the trick is simply that when you save and load queues, the current build also goes with the queue. Then there are the two rituals to make it work properly, and the bug whereby you don't lose production when you should.

I do tend to use this to get sea-builds in landlocked bases, and tachyon before perimeter (making tachyon the first build at new base)... but I don't exploit it for free production changes. Of course it is a cheat, but it can also be used as a kind of loophole to achieve things that can be done in other, legal, ways. Like you can get ships in a landlocked base through solar shade or raise terrain or that teleporter thing, you can have tachyon without perimeter by selling the perimeter.
In some cases it doesn't seem to go against the spirit of the rules - building ships and naval yards in a landlocked base is prohibited because it's pointless or silly, rather than exploitive, but you might legitimately want naval yards in your landlocked bases because of predicted sea level rises. In other cases it obviously is breaking the rules, like launching orbitals without aerospace and free production changes.
Another “pointless” use is saving an early SP to a queue, the SP then gets completed but you can still load that queue any time you want to stockpile production for a future SP… obviously only useful in quite specific cases, but I’ve used it at least once, probably as Hive on some double blind research settings. One example would be saving production for the VW, the ME is the only un-built SP, but you don’t want to “accidentally” complete it – ideally you want to have enough production stockpiled to complete the VW the turn you get plan.nets but this would involve completing the ME. Luckily you previously saved another SP (say HGP) to a queue and that has been built already, so you load the HGP queue into the SP base, and can safely stockpile.
Bugged Queues… fun things to play with.

[Ned]

Originally posted by Blake
Ah what the hell. I'll describe the generic method of switching production without losing minerals and with disregard to prerequisites - orbitals without aerospace, tachyon defense without perimeter, ships in landlocked bases, north without south.... erm, not the last one.

This example will involve building an aquafarm in a landlocked base.

Select any old base which has 0-10 stored minerals, and can build what you want to switch to. (ie a sea/coastal base for aquafarm)
Set the current built to aquafarm.
Set the first item in the queue to anything - it doesn't matter. This is just a voodoo ritual so the queue can be saved (empty queues can not be saved).
Save the queue (right click on the queue, choose "Save current list into template")

Go to the landlocked base.
Load the saved queue
Close the base screen then open it again. (Another voodoo ritual to make it update the current build as well as the queue)
The Aquafarm will now be the current build. Optionally delete the queued build(s).

So really, the trick is simply that when you save and load queues, the current build also goes with the queue. Then there are the two rituals to make it work properly, and the bug whereby you don't lose production when you should.

I do tend to use this to get sea-builds in landlocked bases, and tachyon before perimeter (making tachyon the first build at new base)... but I don't exploit it for free production changes. Of course it is a cheat, but it can also be used as a kind of loophole to achieve things that can be done in other, legal, ways. Like you can get ships in a landlocked base through solar shade or raise terrain or that teleporter thing, you can have tachyon without perimeter by selling the perimeter.
In some cases it doesn't seem to go against the spirit of the rules - building ships and naval yards in a landlocked base is prohibited because it's pointless or silly, rather than exploitive, but you might legitimately want naval yards in your landlocked bases because of predicted sea level rises. In other cases it obviously is breaking the rules, like launching orbitals without aerospace and free production changes.
Another “pointless” use is saving an early SP to a queue, the SP then gets completed but you can still load that queue any time you want to stockpile production for a future SP… obviously only useful in quite specific cases, but I’ve used it at least once, probably as Hive on some double blind research settings. One example would be saving production for the VW, the ME is the only un-built SP, but you don’t want to “accidentally” complete it – ideally you want to have enough production stockpiled to complete the VW the turn you get plan.nets but this would involve completing the ME. Luckily you previously saved another SP (say HGP) to a queue and that has been built already, so you load the HGP queue into the SP base, and can safely stockpile.
Bugged Queues… fun things to play with.

Blake, you are a wonder. Really.

[livid imp]

Originally posted by Blake
.....tachyon defense without perimeter.....

Why would you want to build a tachyon before a perimeter defense?

[Chaos Theory]

Tachyon fields defend against land, sea, and air all at once. Perimeter defenses only work against land.

[livid imp]

That would be a good reason. So is it completely pointless to put a PD on a sea base?

[Maniac]

Certainly not! Perimeter defences defend against amphibious attacks.

[Ned]

Blake, I tried it out and it works like a charm. Switching production using your method of loading a queue, closing, and then reopening causes no loss of minerals. While one can use this to rush-build SPs at 2 ec's per mineral, I assume one could also rush-build units and prototypes just as well.

Just in case no one else has noticed, switching production from the F4 screen by turning on the governor also results in no loss of minerals. I also think this happens when a governor is managing a base in general, as a I have noticed more than 10 minerals left when a governor completes an improvement and there were more than 10 extra minerals.

[Commy]

And then there's the old scenario editor...

Man, if you could just somehow get rid of the flag that says you cheated...