What base facilities to you never or rarely build?

[CEO Aaron]

Never builds: Skunk Works; Brood Pits; Punishment Spheres

I'm suprised to find someone who says they never build Genejacks. What a great facility!

[livid imp]

It could posibly be worth building if it had a 0 maintaince cost.

[Dis]

I have built skunkworks when I first started playing, but never anymore.

[livid imp]

I am shocked nobody has mentioned the single most god-awful p.o.s. facility......

The Skunkworks!

Build a crawler instead. Have it harvesting resources until the point you need to use it. Much more efficient.

[Petek]

Covert Ops Center -- Never built, since Probes are usually Elite by this point anyway.

Paradise Garden -- Gives a base two extra talents. Again, of no use by the time it's available.

Psi Gate -- I'll build these on super-huge maps late in the game when I'm mopping up. Rush build one in a captured enemy base. Then transport choppers through the gate (only one per turn, though) to wipe out the AI. Not the only way to accomplish this, but adds variety.

[Dis]

I have built genejack factories before, but those drones really start to pile up. So I never build them anymore.

[WotanAnubis]

I never build Punishment Spheres. Of course, I'm not a particularly good or efficient player who plays for the fun instead of the win and Punishment Spheres just don't sit well with me.

That's also why I don't build a lot of Genejack Factories.

[Dis]

that's an exploit.

after building voice of planet, both the presurve and temple weren't enough to get my eco damage down. including the tree farm etc.

but at the point I never care about eco damage.

and I never run specialized bases like you do. Many of my "core" bases end up building the same things.

and by that reasoning, Punishment spheres are a big no-no for me. I have never ever built one in the entire time I've played SMAC.

[Flubber]

OH and some of the psi facilities to pacify planet are not needed. The ecodamage formula shows how repeatedly building and scrapping the cheapest one of these types of facilities is the way to go.

[Flubber]

I hardly build psi gates as well since my games hardly ever get to the point where they are available but I don't build all the facilities in all the bases either--For example

Science productivity bases-- hardly ever get things like command centres, punishment spheres, bioenhancement -- It will build all the science and energy enhancements and then pump out crawlers/trawlers from then on.

Military bases -- may get ONLY a p sphere and the morale enhancers-- The idea is a base with 0 energy production but high minerals

Crawler factories-- these may get a psphere but often you can just use specialists if they happen to grow-- The sole purpose of this type of base is to feed crawlers to the science or military bases so it builds no other facilities.

The thing I probably build least in the early game is a perimeter defense. I figure if I can't kill the enemy units before they attack my bases, I'm already in trouble. So they are just a sometimes thing if I need some added defense at a chokepoint until I can get units there.

[Dis]

I'm finding sometimes there are too many options in SMAC expansion. You never really have time to build everything. There are some base facilities I never build. And some game designs I find to be useless. Although it is great to have more options, because I'm sure there are some of you out there, that probably use these. So that's why I made this thread.

Psi gates is a big one for me. What good are they? There are more as well, but I'll need to load up my last save game. I never build these facilities so I don't remember their names.