Proportions Mod Versions 2.5.2 and 2.5.3 available

oleg · #1 February 25th, 2003, 02:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by PsychoTechFreak:
I have noticed a way to reduce building times in 2.5.2 (or 2.5.1, I am not quite sure):

Build a Minor City then upgrade to Metropolis, I guess it would be the same with Megalopolis if it is in the same family. I saves about 30% material and time if you like to do the needed micromanagement, is it intended?

Same thing with research center I, upgrade to research megaplex III and others.

This topic has been debated hotly in older Proportions' tread. Yes, upgrading facilities vs building new from scratch can be beneficial but sometimes not. For example, it takes almost forever to fill huge brethable world with cultural facilities. So, in the time you build ciry and upgrade it to metroplolis I can build TWO cities if planetary space is not a problem.

PsychoTechFreak · #2 February 24th, 2003, 04:05 PM

Sorry, maybe it has been already discussed or I am missing your point, but what I mean is:

Let's assume, I plan to build ONE metropolis as a considerable project for a small planet.
1) Build it from scratch, needs 21 years.
2) Build a minor city, then upgrade, needs 14 years.

oleg · #3 February 24th, 2003, 04:28 PM

Yes, if you run out of space on the planet, you should go "vertical" and upgrade cities. Not much can be done about upgrade trick. The alternative been to raise the upgrade cost but then you will have to scrap the painfully build expensive cities to replace them with megapolises.

In my previous post I was referring to this scenario: you have a new colony with say 15 slots. You can either build cities or build city, upgrade it, build second city ... The former approach is more profitable but at the end you finish with 15 cities and it will take a century to upgrade them all

Aloofi · #4 February 24th, 2003, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by oleg:
You can either build cities or build city, upgrade it, build second city ... The former approach is more profitable but at the end you finish with 15 cities and it will take a century to upgrade them all

Ok, counting the prodution output, which way its more profitable?
Because maybe its not worth the effort to upgrade. I mean pound by pound (bulding time/expected prodution) the cities that you can build in the same time that you build metropolis might be more productive....
And what about Spaceport cities? do they upgrade to metropolis?
I don't know but sometimes I feel that the lowly Mineral miner is the best bet.
.

PsychoTechFreak · #5 February 24th, 2003, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Ok, counting the prodution output, which way its more profitable?

The upgrade way from the lowest possible facility (minor city) would be more profitable. Your minor cities would produce during the update time AND the overall costs and time are lower than building the higher facility from scratch, see my minor city to metropolis example below.

Quote:

And what about Spaceport cities? do they upgrade to metropolis?

I think they are different families, so they don't.

Aloofi · #6 February 24th, 2003, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PsychoTechFreak:

quote:

The upgrade way from the lowest possible facility (minor city) would be more profitable. Your minor cities would produce during the update time AND the overall costs and time are lower than building the higher facility from scratch, see my minor city to metropolis example below.
.

So which way wins the effectiviness contest:
1-Build the 15 minor cities and then upgrade.
2-Build one Minor city, upgrade, then go to the next.

dogscoff · #7 February 24th, 2003, 06:50 PM

Quote:

So which way wins the effectiviness contest:
1-Build the 15 minor cities and then upgrade.
2-Build one Minor city, upgrade, then go to the next.

Build, upgrade, build, upgrade. The costs are the same, but if you are upgrading as you go you are benefitting from the increased output of the upgraded facilities.

thing is, it takes something like 10 years (100 turns) for most of the city facilites to repay the min/ rad/ org investment of bulding them. Of course there are other benefits that are harder to quantify (shield generation, cargo space, storage, research/ intel output, looking cool) but if you are counting your minerals you probably want to be building nothing but miners anyway. Cities are only for ppl playing the loooooong game.

As a side note, in my single player game I'm about 500 turns in and I have built several megalopoli - some planets have 2 or 3. I also came across an AI world 2 systems away from its homeworld with over 20 major cities and 2000 million ppl on it! This is one well developped AI...

[ February 24, 2003, 16:52: Message edited by: dogscoff ]