remote mining

[Gandalph]

OK, here are some numbers from a game I am currently playing. It is now turn #58. I have three robo-mineral bases with 4 level one robo-min comps.
MTCE=881min 87org 100rad Prod=5880min

I also have a rad base with 4 level 1 robo-rads.
MTCE=631min 87org 125rad Prod=4998rads

I don't know how this can not be seen as profitable. I did no additional research for this, just normal ship size increases. Once I get a battle station and higher levels of robo's, the numbers get astronomical. I have seen as much as 35kt of resources coming from one base.

EDIT: It allows me to finance a very large fleet without having a lot of planets.

[ May 16, 2002, 04:22: Message edited by: Gandalph ]

[eorg]

how much is the cost of one base and how long it mines before value drops to non-profitable rates?

[Ragnarok]

When I play I put Baseships on the astroids with 4 min miners, 3 farm miners, and 4 rad miners. The result is I make at least 8K in min per turn, at least 6K in farm per turn and at least 5K in rad per turn. The maintance on a Baseship is 2592 min - 140 Farm - 451 rad. So for me it's very profitable. Now only time it don't become profitable is when one of the %'s drop down to around 40% or lower. I've got on that's producing 218% min - 218% farm - and only 33% rad. I'm making alot off the min and farm but the rad I'm only making 500 per turn now. So pretty soon I might have to scrap that one and put a miner on it with only farm and min miners on it. Oh BTW, the % drops by 1 for every turn taken. So if you have a astroid that is say 250% in all 3 areas. Then I'm guessing you have about 20 years before you start losing money on it. That's just my 2 cents.

[DirectorTsaarx]

Originally posted by Ragnarok:
When I play I put Baseships on the astroids with 4 min miners, 3 farm miners, and 4 rad miners. The result is I make at least 8K in min per turn, at least 6K in farm per turn and at least 5K in rad per turn. The maintance on a Baseship is 2592 min - 140 Farm - 451 rad. So for me it's very profitable. Now only time it don't become profitable is when one of the %'s drop down to around 40% or lower. I've got on that's producing 218% min - 218% farm - and only 33% rad. I'm making alot off the min and farm but the rad I'm only making 500 per turn now. So pretty soon I might have to scrap that one and put a miner on it with only farm and min miners on it. Oh BTW, the % drops by 1 for every turn taken. So if you have a astroid that is say 250% in all 3 areas. Then I'm guessing you have about 20 years before you start losing money on it. That's just my 2 cents.

Your math sounds about right... and don't forget, people, that 20 years is 200 turns.

To answer Georgi's question of how quickly you mine enough mins/orgs/rads to pay for the base; with a good enough asteroid field, it should be very fast. In Gandalph's example, the first turn of mining pretty much paid for the mining base.

One Last point - I usually run such a surplus of orgs and rads off planetary production that I don't really care about the org/rad maintenance numbers on the remote mining bases. When you already produce thousands of kT more than you can use (or store), who cares what the maintenance cost is? So I usually just use the mining bases for minerals.

[Wardad]

Originally posted by Ragnarok:
...Oh BTW, the % drops by 1 for every turn taken...

Oh... an important point... so a base would really be better than a mining SAT.

Is that 1% only for the (one) resource being mined?

[Gandalph]

Originally posted by Wardad:
[QBIs that 1% only for the (one) resource being mined?[/QB]

AFAIK, yes.

[Derek]

One Last point - I usually run such a surplus of orgs and rads off planetary production that I don't really care about the org/rad maintenance numbers on the remote mining bases. When you already produce thousands of kT more than you can use (or store), who cares what the maintenance cost is? So I usually just use the mining bases for minerals.

Unless, of course, you play one of the many mods that alters the costs and makes radioactives much more important, and increases the importance of even organics. P&N is one such mod, as is mine, Derek's Mod Gold. Try one of those, and it really changes your perspective on which planets and asteroid fields are important, and which aren't...

Derek