releasing vassals and planet specialization

[BlueDolphin]

I'm curious as to how people have been dealing with administrative sprawl with the new sector system. I have been releasing vassals from my colonized systems to reduce my sprawl, but I realized that is hard to do because of planet specialization.

Because the sector system lumps planets together automatically, it is common that a sector will have at least one specialized world that I want to retain. Even if the other systems in the sector are worthy of releasing, I end up having to keep the whole sector because of that one specialized world.

Even releasing as a tributary only yields minerals and energy taxes. For example, if I have a good agri-world, then that sector cannot be released, even if I don't care for the other planets. Furthermore, specialized worlds often have a deficit in another resource. It might have worked out while they were connected to the rest of my empire, but they would struggle on their own.

It's true that you can arrange diplomatic trades after releasing them, but that's a hassle to do for everyone. The trading screen doesn't show you what their surplus or deficit they have at a glance.

How have you all been dealing with empire sprawl?

 

[Kryndude]

I've been dealing with it by building labs and temples. Works better that way you know.

 

[TheRealRemus]

mostly by playing tall and not even to combat sprawl but instead to have less planetmicro.
I gave myself the rule to never colonize Planets smaler then my biggest Planet (unless it is a gaia World).
In the mid game I usualy dont want to have more than 10 Planets because it gets waaay to tedious to manage everything.

besides you will always have some sprawl, in the endgame I always researche the repeatable +15 admin cap tech.

 

[Dustman]

You can't avoid going over admin cap if you expand to some extent. Even lousy habitat can add up to 10, and fully developed ringworlds are total disaster with 200. And you need resources, alloys and research to stay competitive. Ergo, you need to expand and pay expansion cost.

If I'm playing a conqueror, I go for homeworlds, and turn empires tributaries as soon as they hit Pathetic. As a peaceful tall player, I go for relatively small chunk of space, preferably with a black hole and L-gate, and build habitats for different purposes.