Colony Management

Litcube · #1 March 25th, 2003, 03:41 AM

Has anyone else had the following problem:

Have colonized 50 or so planets, all maxed out in facility capacity. I then research the Central Computer complex. Of course, I want to maximize my research capabilities. I jump into my excel spreadsheet, and do some math. I find out that any planet with over 6 Research Facilities would benefit from the Central Computer complex. Anything equal to or less than 6 wouldn't benefit.

So, besides performing 3 clicks on every one of my godamned colonies, and then counting the research facilities on the planet, is there ANY other method of doing this quickly? It's a pain in the ***. Especially since there are so many one per planet facilities that provide a % bonus to certain resouces (i.e. Robotics Factory).

QuarianRex · #2 March 25th, 2003, 03:52 AM

Hit the colony button (near the planets button on the upper left) and then click on facilities. Scroll down lookin at the facility totals till you find the planets you want.

BadAxe · #3 March 25th, 2003, 03:53 AM

Click the Colony Button (F5), and choose the View Facilities. It is just slightly less painful than your current method.

geoschmo · #4 March 25th, 2003, 03:55 AM

Go to the colonies window, click the production button on the right and then click the column header for research. This will sort your colonies in decending oder of amount of research production. Doesn't really tell you exactly how many facs each has, but it will show you the ones that will benefit the most.

You can also hit the faciliiies button and it will tell you how many of each facilitiy are on each planet. But I always find that view a little hard to read and not of much use.

Geoschmo

Litcube · #5 March 25th, 2003, 05:27 AM

Thanks, that does help, but it's still pretty sloppy. There should be a right click menu that allows you to scrap / add add to const. queues. Upgrading manualy is an integral part of the game.

Ward · #6 March 25th, 2003, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Have colonized 50 or so planets, all maxed out in facility capacity. I then research the Central Computer complex. Of course, I want to maximize my research capabilities. I jump into my excel spreadsheet, and do some math. I find out that any planet with over 6 Research Facilities would benefit from the Central Computer complex. Anything equal to or less than 6 wouldn't benefit.

Just a note to your counting. Computer complex(CC) I (10% for planet) becomes effective after approximately 11 facilities, CC II (20%) 6 facilities, CC III (30%) 4 facilities. I presume that the game adds base production and then adds all %. This means that after you have System wide CC (I don't remember the name) it is more beneficial to have more research labs before you start building CCs. Did you know this? Was just curious.

Quote:

So, besides performing 3 clicks on every one of my godamned colonies, and then counting the research facilities on the planet, is there ANY other method of doing this quickly? It's a pain in the ***. Especially since there are so many one per planet facilities that provide a % bonus to certain resouces (i.e. Robotics Factory).

When I want to do this I usually use the following combination: F5, Sort by research, Click the planet, Ctrl-K, select the facility and press OK, Q, add the facility. This may seem as a slow method but I can assure you it is quite fast.

Litcube · #7 March 25th, 2003, 10:59 PM

Actually, that's pretty much what I was looking for. Unfortunate hole for the interface, but the keys do the job.

Litcube · #8 March 26th, 2003, 06:51 AM

Alright. I've given it a try. And I'm completely unsatisfied with the interface in this respect. It shouldn't be that hard to get the best out of colonies. It should be easier than that. Almost everything else about the game is pretty flushed out, and I'm happy about that. But why the interface issues? I'm sure someone else has ran into it.

The problem is presented due to the fact that numerous facilities of the same type can be added to a planet. There must be a mod out there somewhere.

narf poit chez BOOM · #9 March 26th, 2003, 09:26 AM

if your fighting the ai, you don't need to be that precise. just drop one on each planet with at least 10 facilities / each system and don't have multi-purpose planets. by sorting by name you can also see if you have any minerals/researh in the system.

Taera · #10 March 27th, 2003, 11:06 AM

i might be crazy but usually by the time i get industry techs i know exactly what are my important research/production planets.
Of course going to the colonies list and looking at Research/Intel/Other production helps too.

Dont do the math for the facs, do the math for numbers. Numbers are easier to see and use.