Habitats as resource collectors.

[tanny]

Rare resource deposits are often mined with mining stations, but you want More.
On the other side, habitats also need buff. Why build a habitat when you could go conquer some planets or improve existing planets instead? Seems sprawl-isn right?

This will change that by having habitats built on resources such as dark matter deposit, or even a more basic resource like rare crystal. Have special districts that make jobs that produce these rare/ultra-rare resources. This represents a significant investment.

This would boost habitat’s viability and allow for a more interesting choice in the future.

 

[Metallichydra]

When you build a habitat on a rare-resource deposit you still get those resources.
When you build a habitat on a strategic-resource deposit, you no longer gain those resources but instead can build as many extraction buildings as it gave in resources, so you can get more resources from it by building a habitat, compared to a mining station.

 

[NotAYakk]

In short, this is already in game.

If you build a habitat over a 3 gas deposit, the habitat can build 3 gas extractor buildings, each of which produces 3 gas (so 9).

Now, the problem is that a gas miner is 3 gas, while a gas refiner is 3 gas for 10 minerals. So all you are really saving is 10 minerals.

The habitat, at 150 influence and 1500 alloys and 25 empire size, saves you a whole 45 minerals per month. Which isn't nothing, but it isn't great either.

Now, there is no equivalent for dark matter and zro.

 

[GhostDanny]

Now, there is no equivalent for dark matter and zro.

I mean, I always thought matter decompressors should also extract a small amount of dark matter.
Especially if your only blackhole has the only source of dark matter for you.

Zro is a bit more difficult as it apparently is the residual remains of a psionic individual, most of it even the entire population of the Zroni.
Maybe each Psionic pop could generate 0,01 zro when being purged? And maybe half that if kept as livestock?

 

[Abdulijubjub]

In short, this is already in game.

If you build a habitat over a 3 gas deposit, the habitat can build 3 gas extractor buildings, each of which produces 3 gas (so 9).

Now, the problem is that a gas miner is 3 gas, while a gas refiner is 3 gas for 10 minerals. So all you are really saving is 10 minerals.

The habitat, at 150 influence and 1500 alloys and 25 empire size, saves you a whole 45 minerals per month. Which isn't nothing, but it isn't great either.

Now, there is no equivalent for dark matter and zro.

Sorta. A refinery habitat vs. a strategic mining habitat saves 11.5 minerals (+20% upkeep from capital, -5% from Prosperity), saves 2 energy in building upkeep (1 vs 3), and gives another 1 crystal/motes/gas from Mining Subsidies (assuming you're running it) per pop.

Irritatingly, you can't actually use the strategic resource gatherer designation unless you're void dwellers and get lucky with orbital surveying, so you'll miss out on 10% output (or 20%, with the GC resolution), while the refinery habitat is getting 10%. If you've got any worker output modifiers (authoritarian, Extended Shifts, Very Strong, etc.) you can make that up, but if you have specialist modifiers (Prosperity, egalitarian), it will go the other way even more.

So it's around +0.5-1.0 gas, +11.5 minerals, +2 energy per pop for a gatherer hab vs. a refinery hab. And you can use the leisure station designation to get +10% happiness (which might help, a bit, but probably not). But you're also sacrificing the base output of the deposit, plus all the mining station modifiers, which should be +50%. So the baseline is losing 1.5 gas per pop.

All in all: -0.5 to -1.0 gas per pop, in order to save 11.5 minerals and 2 energy. Better to just have a refinery habitat, and get more total gas output.

Don't build habitats over strategic resource deposits unless you have absurd worker output, somehow. Like, Fanatic Authoritarian, chattel slavery, Very Strong, Nerve Stapled, whatever the overtuned "very strong" is, Extended Shifts, etc. all stacked on top of each other. Even then, don't build them unless you were already considering building a refinery habitat just for the extra building slots.

Interestingly, Dark Matter, Zro, and Nanites do actually benefit from having a habitat. The mining stations don't benefit from mining station bonuses, for some reason, when the deposit is on a habitat, they do. So if you really want more Nanites or Zro, you should build a habitat. Then use the habitat for whatever. I'm not sure about living metal; I suspect it's the same, but as it only spawns through anomalies, I can't test it.

 

[Northstar1989]

Now, there is no equivalent for dark matter and zro.

This is, I think, the main issue the OP was trying to address: which many of you choose to ignore (and downvote/disagree to try and suppress his opinion).

 

[Metallichydra]

This is, I think, the main issue the OP was trying to address: which many of you choose to ignore (and downvote/disagree to try and suppress his opinion).

I'm mostly disagreeing with "should use districts" and the fact that he also mentioned rare crystals, which already have an interaction with habitats.
For Dark Matter and Zro, I can see why you would want a way to obtain more of that material by building a habitat.

Obviously there's then the question of whether you should be able to produce more of these (while ignoring the infinite market) or if they should be a more limited resource.

 

[Abdulijubjub]

The only non-blackhole dark matter deposits I can think of are on an asteroid (anomaly), and the mysterious moon colony event chain, neither of can support a habitat. And for the other rare resources, again, you can already build a habitat to increase the amount you get by 50% (assuming the deposit is on a planet, not a moon or asteroid).

It would be a nice feature if you could have a harvesting habitat (ex. if the researchers in science districts over such deposits also gave 0.1 of the rare resources, or something, like Null Void portal researchers ), but the majority of what OP is asking for is already in the game.

 

[Metallichydra]

It would be a nice feature if you could have a harvesting habitat (ex. if the researchers in science districts over such deposits also gave 0.1 of the rare resources, or something, like Null Void portal researchers ), but the majority of what OP is asking for is already in the game.

Not entirely sure, but I don't think rare resource deposits can spawn on the same planets as science deposits.

 

[Abdulijubjub]

Not entirely sure, but I don't think rare resource deposits can spawn on the same planets as science deposits.

The rare resource deposits count as science deposits for the purpose of districts (which is nice). Rare resources make the best research habitats, since you get research districts without giving up any base science from the research station. And you get extra rare resources from the mining station multiplier, on top of that.

(In a similar way: alloy deposits give you mining districts on a habitat, and you get the deposit too, so building a habitat over alloys is better than building it over minerals, but that's only tangentially related)

 

[Metallichydra]

The rare resource deposits count as science deposits for the purpose of districts (which is nice). Rare resources make the best research habitats, since you get research districts without giving up any base science from the research station. And you get extra rare resources from the mining station multiplier, on top of that.

(In a similar way: alloy deposits give you mining districts on a habitat, and you get the deposit too, so building a habitat over alloys is better than building it over minerals, but that's only tangentially related)

I guess it's nice, although it feels like it should have been mining districts. I mean, you mine the crystals, so why not minerals as well? (I think mining designation boosts crystal miners as well, so this would make them slightly better.)

 

[Abdulijubjub]

I guess it's nice, although it feels like it should have been mining districts. I mean, you mine the crystals, so why not minerals as well? (I think mining designation boosts crystal miners as well, so this would make them slightly better.)

Ah, by "rare resources" I meant Zro, Dark Matter, Nanites, and Living Metal. Motes/crystals/gas gives you no extra districts or designation at all, which is extremely irritating. Agreed, it would be much better if you got mining districts and the designation. The designation would make them almost viable (still not viable for non-authoritarians, but closer).

 

[Scyobi_Empire]

Already a thing, the resources become a planetary deposit and allow for the construction of unique buildings (like crystal mines)