Translucers, Refiners, Chemists

[Agamemnic]

You're seriously crippling your ability to keep developing your economy if you don't upgrade buildings. One of the reasons that the AI becomes such a pushover beyond the early game is that it doesn't upgrade buildings.

Good observation. I've noticed the AI's economy virtually collapses late game. Gets into a shortage of some resources and just melts down. I find it mentally taxing to balance my resources just right both in terms of timing and amount. Seems the AI just can't keep up

 

[Eled the Worm Tamer]

Yeah that is something my 'rare but awesome' won't fix I grant... Its odd I like the ideas of the economy but the way the various parts intersect and the way they interact with older elements just isnt there yet. Gestalts, acention via assimilation the over all non-plannet resorcesall feel off.

 

[Flame13223]

While I agree that it would be great to have other resources used in more situations (food is only really used for the 20% growth edict and that's it), refining crystals/motes/gasses should have a high mineral cost as those are meant to be rare resources that you use to power your economy.
I mean already you use 1 mote to increase your mineral production on a mining planet by 10% which is significantly more than 5 minerals so a chemistry lab is pretty much free mineral production at that point.


I'd love to see more food/energy based edicts/campaigns and other uses. Even using energy to create other types of rare resources like energy to make nanites could be cool once you open the L-gate. For example 50 energy for 1 nanite, which by proxy means 2-2-2 of gasses,motes&crystals if you want to use up another building slot for the nanite factory thingy could be pretty good. That way you could get an alternative to minerals if you got shafted by RNG...I'd love it if you could refine food into gasses too, through bacteria or something that change the composition of the foods with a mid/late-game technology and a special building.

 

[Kaios26]

I just wish that you could get more Rare Mineral Producers from one building. It would be nice if we could have Crystal Planets or Gas Planets, or whatever, and that was a huge lynchpin of the economy.

 

[AlanC9]

Yeah, Refinery Worlds ain't all that great.

 

[Little Red]

There are two issues. One, refinery buildings do not provide enough jobs period. I think the base building should have 2 jobs and be upgradeable to provide 5 then 8 jobs.

Second, tall empires have no way of getting more minerals once they've run out of mineral districts to build short of the market. I have no idea why the matter replicator was removed, I think we need it back.

 

[wingren013]

Yeah, Refinery Worlds ain't all that great.

Try putting them on Ecumenopoli for the 20% bonus

There are two issues. One, refinery buildings do not provide enough jobs period. I think the base building should have 2 jobs and be upgradeable to provide 5 then 8 jobs.

Second, tall empires have no way of getting more minerals once they've run out of mineral districts to build short of the market. I have no idea why the matter replicator was removed, I think we need it back.

It does the same thing as the market, convert energy to minerals.

 

[nanoboy]

If you have a black hole, you can build the mineral-producing megastructure to fuel much of this.