Storage facilities
 

I've been going back and forth trying to decide whether building storage facilities is a good thing or a bad thing and I'm still not sure of the correct ratio of mineral vs organics vs radioactive.

I can see that having 'money-in-the-bank' is a good thing if you need to build a fleet or two relatively quickly and need the resources but if you never allow your resources to drop into the 'red' (minus) - is storage still useful?

Then - where do you build them? I've been putting them on small/tiny non-breathable worlds and on moons, hardly ever on breathables. Secondly - when do you start building them and how soon do you upgrade same?

Which brings up the third question: does mothballing use storage space on a planet?

Re: Storage facilities
 

Personal preference. I recommend increasing storage somewhat, but your play style needs to determine how much. The bigger your "bank account" the more of a surge you can handle in or out.

no, mothballing does not take up cargo space.

Re: Storage facilities
 

In the early game I usually build very few or none at all storage facilities. The only exception is if my resource production/consumption is very unbalanced and I have to do a lot of resource trading to compensate.
But when I have monolith facilities and resource converters then storage facilities become essential.

[ September 10, 2002, 16:36: Message edited by: Q ]

Re: Storage facilities
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yes, or in that case, no. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Seriously, you seemed to have figured it out, if the resouces are comming in so fast that you can't possibly use them,
1). Start using them!
2). Storage space then becomes space that could be generating research, intel, build ships, build units.

Elowan, seriously tho... if you build one or two more or less that is needed, what's the worst that can happen

Re: Storage facilities
 

cargo storage is good on moons to protect large planets.... 5 cargo and 1 space yard can build up quite a defencive force to protect that planet...

Resource storage should be started early to capture those resources that are generated at the beginning of the game that your empire cannot use... They will come in hand at turn 15 or 16 when your running a deficit...

Then when you expand and are producing more than you spend on a resource build them... build them every once in a while on the smaller planets... Ie. the Mediums and smalls... and occasionally on the large planets as required... Cant build them on all small planets... or you enemies know what to target all the time...

Re: Storage facilities
 

They also are a necessity if you're planning any substantial/wholesale upgrades. When you start upgrading standard (primarily non-racial) weapons and want to do 20 - 30 ships at a time, you'd better have some minerals stockpiled....

Or, if you're going to war 'hastily' and need to crank out ships on Emergency Build.

I personally like to use small breatheable planets with small mineral resource values and fill them with Storage Fac's. I usually plat Advanced Storage Techniques, so I can put 6 Mineral, 4 Rad, and 2 Organic Storage Fac's on each one.

Re: Storage facilities
 

They are essential for doing Retrofits. I was bogged down in a game because I did not have enough stored resources.

I had plenty of resource income, much more than I was spending, and much more than my 50K storage. But... My retrofits were not being done due to lack of resources.

I added resource storage, and my retrofits are being done, even though I have a smaller surplus.

If I had to guess...
1. Build Ques are funded this turn but Maintenance and Retrofits are funded next turn???
2. Or worse... Every thing is funded next turn and only what can be stored is passed to the next turn.

Re: Storage facilities
 

I think Production and maintenance is subtracted from generation.
I know that retrofits are withdrawn straight from storage AFTER production/maintenace, AFTER the storage limits are applied, and BEFORE the generation.

Re: Storage facilities
 

SJ,
I hear you. I think there must be something funny about how and when the storage limits are applied.

Re: Storage facilities
 

Somehow, it just seems wrong when your production, after maintenance and construction, is 100x what you can store. It just seems counter intutitive from ... oh ... dare I use the word ... realism.

I guess what most people would say is that I'm just not constructing ships fast enough. I could build more and expand faster, but I dunno, I just don't want to go MEE that fast.

When I have enough resources, and enough intel to defeat any opponent, plenty of research (so I'm outstripping the AI). I like to put storage facilities on some worlds.

I build 'em like this.
Mineral
Organic
Radioactive
Mineral
Radioactive
Mineral
Mineral
...sequence repeats
MOR MR M

Is that too many, is that too few ?... Do I need Organics, or rads that much ?... I dunno, but I HAVE backrupted myself on organincs building Urban Pac's everywhere. I have run low on Rads with fleets mounting WMG and Null Space

Early game they're kinda important too. You have few resource facilities. But can you spare the space.

Re: Storage facilities
 

I used to say I would not build them at all. Ooopsss. Boy was I naive.
I defer from the others in tha;
Early Game:
I buld them first chance I get to grab the early over abundance.
I tend to put them on High Mineral planets while I have an over abundance.
As I go minus I then scrap the ones on High Mineral planets and build Mines.
Later I will build them on smaller low mineral planets / moons.

Re: Storage facilities
 

play porportions, then. you start with alot more storage, and i think there is more realism

Re: Storage facilities
 

In P&N, each resource producing facility has some storage built into it.

Re: Storage facilities
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif I think you may wish to rephrase this, when you say:
a)production/maintenance is subtracted from generation (which implies generation comes first).
b) Retrofits are withdrawn ....AFTER production/maintenance and BEFORE the generation.

In any event, are you trying to say (in order of sequence):

1) new storage limits are increased (ie new storage facilities constructed)
2) retrofits are paid out of storage
3) the net of production/maintenance and production is added or subtracted to storage.

Just a bit confused... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif

Re: Storage facilities
 

The best place to put Storage Facilities is in a system that doesn't contain a Space Port. Doesn't sounds realistic but it works.
I also build enough Storage Facility to hold 1/4 Millian of all resources, for when I need them in the late game.

Re: Storage facilities
 

Ships are Mothballed in space. No storage used.

Any player who has never run low on resources isn't playing a decent human opponent. A minimal investment in 20 or so storage facilities over the first 30 - 40 turns captures early revenue which will prevent a critical shortage late in the game when suddenly there is a need to spend 250,000 KT of minerals to replace that destroyed fleet.

Save for the future. Always.

BTW, for most races I find a ratio of 4 mineral/2 radioactive/1 organic storage facilies to be effective.

Re: Storage facilities
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It's best NOT to concentrate your storage in any one place, though. What if the star in that system with all your storage goes nova? Oops... Similarly, if a large planet full of storage facilities has the 'unstable core' event, or just gets attacked and destroyed/captured by an enemy, it's a major blow. Best to put a few storage facilities on many large/huge planets scattered around. I tend to put them on Military Installations because those are low resource value planets anyway.

Re: Storage facilities
 

I didn't mean to say that this the only place I create Storage Facilities. I find it is best to colonise say 3 planets in a new system at a time, have 2 planets build Storage facilities, while the third is building the Space Port, and then build what even is needed.
I know someone will say that its better to build a SY or Minerals Facility, etc during this time, but everyone has their own styles - That is why PBW is so much fun. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ September 12, 2002, 03:10: Message edited by: Baron Grazic ]

Re: Storage facilities
 

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Is that correct? I thought for sure that funds are drawn instantly at the time of retrofit??? If you don't have enough on hand, the retrofit don't happen....IIRC...

Re: Storage facilities
 

You're describing turn-based mode. He was describing simultaneous mode.

PvK