GC13 wrote:
I don't understand how expanding slowly will get me research faster than getting people down in every possible system first. It's not that I can't rapidly expand safely, so why go slower?

I find it's a fine balance between not going too fast nor too slowly. If you're constantly focusing only on expanding, then your core worlds don't get a chance to grow to a decent size. But if you expand too slowly, the only way to get new systems will soon be down to prying them from the cold, dead hands of your enemies (which isn't too easy to do if you're too small).



Early-mid game, I tend to alternate between colony ships and infrastructure, leaning a bit more on infrastructure (I always want more colony ships, but tend to tell myself "Just one more building!"... and it somehow usually works out).



In terms of tech, though I prefer the Applied Sciences & Exploration and Expansion branches, I try to keep it balanced overall: generally, I'd rather get three techs that will take me 2 turns each than a single one which will take me 6 turns. This keeps my growth balanced and fluid. There are always exceptions, of course (don't waste time on something that won't be of immediate help), but, as I said, generally...



I also have a few favorite planetary types (Lava, Desert, Tundra, Jungle; going by tier), and I've found that I tend to get my terraforming started faster with each game I play.



It's really not that far up the tech tree to Tundra (see sig), and Jungle can wait. I try to terraform my Barrens into Deserts and Arctics into Tundras as soon as I can, though I tend to leave other types alone for a fair while.



I also tend to focus almost exclusively on Food, then Industry, all but ignoring Dust and Science as far as planetary exploitation goes. Food until planets are almost max pop, then switch to Industry. Once in a while, I'll drop a Dust or Science exploit here or there, but it's quite rare.



And don't underestimate the importance of Approval! Those + buildings make a huge difference. I tend to spend my early game sorely strapped for cash, as I keep taxes as low as possible, but it's a balancing act. I adjust the tax slider practically every other turn for quite a while. Find the sweet spot between income, turns until production end, and next tech.



A major benchmark, for me--when I feel I'm really entering a different phase of the game--is the point where all my systems (minus the newest or newly conquered) are Ecstatic and I'm still managing a decent influx of Dust. That's when I can finally breathe, and know I've pretty much won.

Alright supersoaker, thanks for the great starting build; I'll try that start soon. Though I see what you mean on taking advantage of a few good tier one planets rather than mucking about with the tier threes at least some of the time it won't be avoidable. The last game I was in, for instance, had only four planets in my home system: my Terran homeworld, a (Large, I believe) Tundra, a Tiny Asteroid Belt, and a Small Barren world. What's it going to do with its population but crank out colony pods? Of course it had Public-Private Partnerships and Magnetic Field Generators, but it also built all but three of my colony ships (and I must have built twenty).

Most planets have + per opulation:. Do the math for terran or ocean type both with food exploits and see the results compared to trying to run onto desert or arctic and having much less pop growth.



I will give you and example. Basic research start sequence as follows:

1. Food: Soil Xenobiology

2. N-way; has Tit close? less need to scout far.

3. Tundra or Arid, dealer's choice depending on whats around you and at proper choke points

4. Xenology, especially, if you see hydromiel around

5. Nonbaryonic Particles; and build them!

>5a. also do Isotope fabrication. good for dealing with em pirates arrrg.

6. Core mining; see if close; probably takes 1 turn by now.

7. Particle Scanning and Botanical Scanning; make sure to build supermarkets soon

8. Arctic for speed, then Destroyer if you need to aggro super fast.

9. Improve fleet management

10. Rudimentary Telepathics, if has Actic by now.

11. Planetary landscaping and Optimized Logistics; build colonial rights fast.

12. High-energy magnetics and Extreme metallurgy.

12a. Dark Matter Condensation, Advanced Simulation, Atomic Substrates



You should be able to squeeze these all well before turn 100. I will have to check again.



For 12a, only research Atomic Substrates if you have or plan to build some ind exploits.



After this you probably want to fill to S6 after getting the 4 N3 techs.



For north tree, you can skip much of the guts by doing the following:

1. researching 4x N3,

2. get to Radiation Proofing and Advanced Countermeasures.

3. get mobile gauss platforms and hypermagnetics

4. up to positionic containment and branch left and right

5. do both above Stasis field and both above Plasma Ablative (4 additional to named techs; total 6)



You don't have to do all at once; pause at 1, 3, and 5. You will get all of the biggies without wasting time on the pointless items in the military tree. Try splicing in these groups of steps into the main research sequence if the tactical situation calls for it.



@Davea: I hope I am using the terminology correctly. N3 is north tree, 3rd level? As in Integrated Structures, Specialized Isotopes, etc?

Try to get Proto-Orchid and Virtual Artifact monopolies. Those give a huge boost to Industry.

There's no agreeing to disagree: I simply cannot research the techs I think I need that quickly, even on Normal. It may be possible to do better, but then I'm doing something wrong.



Like, I don't understand how expanding slowly will get me research faster than getting people down in every possible system first. It's not that I can't rapidly expand safely, so why go slower?

stevenmc409 wrote:
Also don't forget to have at least one administrator/corporate (administrator/whatever also works in a pinch) you can boost production by ridiculous amounts with the % bonus the heroes can add.

Absolutely. Though admin hero is not absolutely necessary, it is definitely a pain to not have one.

davea wrote:
Some people play on normal speed, and some on fast speed.

I play on the default speed. I just normally play Sophon.

Sequence: Get hero fast; pop up; expand; prevent pirate; expand; consolidate; pop up; expand; consolidate.



Also, I don't start terraform to jungle until like turn 200. I might do lava to tundra for systems that are dominated by lava.



By turn 200, I am usually thinking about scrapping some sci-gen improvements because I have nothing more I want to research. Breaks my heart having to reduce sci production.

GC13 wrote:
Well I thank you for the table..

You are welcome.

GC13 wrote:
... I rapidly sprawled out to half of the galaxy with a rapid expansion start ...

Um, no. Expand strategically. Usually, by turn 150+, I have stablized with ~20 systems. At least 5 of those systems are near max pop with the first 2 +pop techs.

> Remember that most of your new systems without heroes are more useful at ind-to-dust than trying to upgrade for some hundred turns.

>> If most of your new systems are doing ind-to-dust, you should have enought dust income at 5-20% tax rate have positive dust.

>>Also, frees your better systems and systems with heros to do rapid upgrades, etc.

GC13 wrote:
Even though I play Sophon my research doesn't move that quickly.

Then I agree to disagree. Please play at default setting, "normal", and not "slow". Slow is a pain. Remember to research all of the sci gen buildings and build them at your earliest convenience, and all of the ind boosts, and most if not all the food boosts.



By turn 200, I am usually MP uber 1st, 4th/5th of 6 on military--not great, I know.



1. Do you play on "spiral8" maps? If not please do, you can optimise your build strategy.

2. Make a turn0 save. After playing 100 turns or so, go back to the beginning and see if you can do better.

3. Get Lux and Strat res quickly. Research Xenology quickly, especially when you have lux around you. Research N-Way Fusion Plants quickly, to find out how quickly you need to expand for res.

4. Remember its FOOD, ind, sci. Maximize pop quickly before your next expansion cycle.

Also don't forget to have at least one administrator/corporate (administrator/whatever also works in a pinch) you can boost production by ridiculous amounts with the % bonus the heroes can add.

Some people play on normal speed, and some on fast speed. That certainly makes a difference. I don't *think* that game difficulty matters for your own expansion, I think it only affects AI bonuses. But if supersoaker9 is playing on fast while GC13 is playing on normal, that will explain a lot.

Well I thank you for the table. Still, I don't know how you get such a quick start. I rapidly sprawled out to half of the galaxy with a rapid expansion start, and while I could have the technology to terraform a planet to jungle by turn 100, there's no way I could have that and the strategic resource that you need to terraform to tundra. Even though I play Sophon my research doesn't move that quickly.

When I play Sophon, by 100+ turns, I usually have my main production worlds at around 800 to 1000 .



Check out the research items on the right, bottom, and left trees. I believe they have an orange tab on the corner.



NOTE: build all of them!



Key points:

1. Maximize max pop in each system

2. Terraform all planets to Jungle

3. Use all exploits and improvements

4. Get all improvements

5. once reaching max pop in a system, build 100% food-to-ind.



EDIT: List of research names...

For the BEST Industy and food EXPLOITS:

* Atomic Substrates >> 3D Replication Plants

* Accelerated Yields >> Hyper-scale farms < once yet get all Jungle planets and max pop, change to 3D replication plants.



If you don't like my chart below, check out ES Wiki





[TABLE="width:725,class:grid"] Type (tree) Research Tech Notes Industry N-Way Fusion Plants Heavy Isotope Refinery (right) High-Energy Magnetics Interplanetary Transport Network Infinite Variable Computing Predictive Logistics Persistent Construction AI Labor Reduces cost for improvements Blackhole mining Self-Organising Cities Reduces cost for ships DUST Virtualization Adaptive Industrial Systems After reaching max pop in system All FIDS Graviton Manipulation Planetary Institute (bottom) Low-Temp Hydration Hydrosequencing Dark Energy Effects Non-Baryonic Shell Improved Thermodynamics Endothermic Structures Tiny and small worlds only Non-Baryonic Shielding Psychological Insolation Personal Fields Living Habitats Special bodies only Sustainable SuperCities Self-Replicating Habitats Food Soil Xenobiology Sustainable Farms (left) Botanical Scanning Epigenetic Crop Seeding For special bodies only Planetary Landscaping Intensive Cultivation Logistics For systems with moons Nanoscale Thermodynamics Compact Refrigerator Systems Advanced Biologics Wasteless Supply Chain Infrastructure Accelerated Evolution Permanent Perennials

[/TABLE]