alpha centarui terraforming

[Enforcer Talen]

so, Ive conquered my entire continent, many cities, many formers.

what do I do now?

[Terr Fangbite]

auto-terraform

[Enforcer Talen]

I do that normally, but Im told there are better ideas.

my goal, essentially, is to take one continent, not expand any further, and just bring my cities into godly levels. population 30 or 40, 300%+ on the final rating.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I like playing with the sea level. If every city has a Pressure Dome, it can be fun!

[White Haven]

Even if your enemies survive, if you have a load of Sea Formers on hand before it raises, you can get a /huge/ jump on your resource base...having improvements up all over the place before your opponents even get their sea formers built.

[Archaic`]

Terraforming goes hand in hand with your base placing paradigm. Do you use an ultra-dense Infinite City Sprawl style (2 on the diagonal or 2 on the compass), a no base overlap style, or something else?

In any case, never, *never*, auto-terraform. Saves a lot of time when you've got a huge empire to manage, especially when you've got between 2-4 formers a base, but it's honestly not worth it with all the poor choices the AI makes. Nothing worse than watching your lovely Boreholes being uprooted for Solar Collectors because the AI dislikes your levels of eco damage.

[White Haven]

Yeah, always give your 'formers narrower automation orders, it keeps them in line and out of the way...or that's my experience, at least. Oh, and give your cities some decent defenses (and have needlejets scattered here and there), because once you start shafting Gaia, she's going to want to return the favor. And boreholes are too much fun to give up.

[Xon]

Yeah, always give your 'formers narrower automation orders, it keeps them in line and out of the way...or that's my experience, at least. Oh, and give your cities some decent defenses (and have needlejets scattered here and there), because once you start shafting Gaia, she's going to want to return the favor. And boreholes are too much fun to give up.

If you wipe out every patch of the native plant life (what ever its called), its fairly trivial to keep it under control.

[Enforcer Talen]

Terraforming goes hand in hand with your base placing paradigm. Do you use an ultra-dense Infinite City Sprawl style (2 on the diagonal or 2 on the compass), a no base overlap style, or something else?

In any case, never, *never*, auto-terraform. Saves a lot of time when you've got a huge empire to manage, especially when you've got between 2-4 formers a base, but it's honestly not worth it with all the poor choices the AI makes. Nothing worse than watching your lovely Boreholes being uprooted for Solar Collectors because the AI dislikes your levels of eco damage.

I keep the cities as close as possible. I like seeing 15 cities on one screen. usually 2-4 tiles overlap in any given city.

so whats reccomended outside of auto terraforming?

[Stormbringer]

Build the best level of argiculture you can in non-rocky squares, shift wind and rain patterns to your advantage with condensors and raise/lower terrain.

Also add Solar collectors grouped around an Echelon mirror in all the non-rocky squares.

Eradicate fungus when ever possible and build boreholes on rocky squares you can and mine where you can't build a borehole.

Drill to aquifers at the tops of hills, preferably where you can divert it down a valley to a base.

That's a pretty good guide to developing a continent.

Oh, and if you can build sensors on every other square just outside your base radius, it helps to up the defense. Then just plant a lot of forest outside, it gives a small defensive bonus and helps prevent eco-damage.

[RedImperator]

Yeah, always give your 'formers narrower automation orders, it keeps them in line and out of the way...or that's my experience, at least. Oh, and give your cities some decent defenses (and have needlejets scattered here and there), because once you start shafting Gaia, she's going to want to return the favor. And boreholes are too much fun to give up.

If you wipe out every patch of the native plant life (what ever its called), its fairly trivial to keep it under control.

That's an exercise in futility. I've had gigantic spontaneous blooms show up on continents which had been totally cleared. The worse the overall environmental situation, the more often it happens and the bigger the blooms.

[Enforcer Talen]

Build the best level of argiculture you can in non-rocky squares, shift wind and rain patterns to your advantage with condensors and raise/lower terrain.

Also add Solar collectors grouped around an Echelon mirror in all the non-rocky squares.

Eradicate fungus when ever possible and build boreholes on rocky squares you can and mine where you can't build a borehole.

Drill to aquifers at the tops of hills, preferably where you can divert it down a valley to a base.

That's a pretty good guide to developing a continent.

Oh, and if you can build sensors on every other square just outside your base radius, it helps to up the defense. Then just plant a lot of forest outside, it gives a small defensive bonus and helps prevent eco-damage.

ye gods. I was thinking I was doing pretty good with forests spreading naturally, me planting farms/condensors, the occasional mine or borehole, and maglines everywhere.

[Archaic`]

Terraforming goes hand in hand with your base placing paradigm. Do you use an ultra-dense Infinite City Sprawl style (2 on the diagonal or 2 on the compass), a no base overlap style, or something else?

In any case, never, *never*, auto-terraform. Saves a lot of time when you've got a huge empire to manage, especially when you've got between 2-4 formers a base, but it's honestly not worth it with all the poor choices the AI makes. Nothing worse than watching your lovely Boreholes being uprooted for Solar Collectors because the AI dislikes your levels of eco damage.

I keep the cities as close as possible. I like seeing 15 cities on one screen. usually 2-4 tiles overlap in any given city.

so whats reccomended outside of auto terraforming?

Well, I could probably give better advice if I could see a screenshot, but generally, you want to maximise the number of boreholes each base has available. Most strats end up with between 4 and 6 boreholes in each base radius, though each base will only be working two of these itself. Former teams are important for those, as is the WP SP. As for the rest, mine rocky/min tiles, and forest (or fungus, if you've got the right projects and Green becomes more profitable than Free Market) the rest. Farm/Enricher/Condensor is alright to put on the Nut bonuses as well, but really, you'll be wanting to get most of your Nuts from Sats. If you Farm/Enricher/Condensor every tile for Nuts, you're only getting one more than you would by having Forests in the late game anyway (And identical to how much you could potentially get from Fungus), in return for a much reduced energy rate, that won't be compensated for my a few more specialists.

[StarshipTitanic]

If you decide to drill to aquifers, make sure you remember to start a bunch at the same time next to each other. You can't drill one next to a tile already containing a river but if you have a line of formers drilling, you can spawn a ton of rivers in the same place.

[Enforcer Talen]

whats the bonus for aquifiers?

whats the best method for raising lowering terrian? Ive only used it to land conquest enemy territories.

6 boreholes, mines on rocky areas, and forests everywhere else? where do farms/condensors/solar collectors/echelon mirrors fit in?

[Archaic`]

They don't really. Farm/Enricher/Condensor can be used on the occasional Nut bonus (Though you'll probably Forest it initially anyway), and rows of Solars and Echelons are only really needed for an "Energy Park", which you won't have room to construct if you're filling the continent with bases anyway.

[Enforcer Talen]

so, just boreholes, mines, and forests?

are radar stations and bunkers worth while?

[Enforcer Talen]

heh, my new game was an isolated island that held maybe ten cities, centered on the uranium flats.

boreholes there are funnnn. . . I was building secret projects like no tomorrow.

[StarshipTitanic]

whats the bonus for aquifiers?

Bonus energy from hydroelectricity.

[SWPIGWANG]

I believe the most powerful combo is to ICS, use crawers for food and drill boreholes everywhere that doesn't produce food effectively.

Forests everywhere are fine if you are too lazy to terraform everything.

The worse the overall environmental situation, the more often it happens and the bigger the blooms.

Just build lots of centari perseves whatever for clean minerals, and sell them and rebuild them for more clean minerals.... I think....

[Archaic`]

so, just boreholes, mines, and forests?

Yeah, for the most part

are radar stations and bunkers worth while?

Not really. Sensors certainly have a purpose in multiplayer, and even in SP if you're being attacked by lots of worms (Speaking of which...have those sensors up and running around the bases that are producing the majority of your industrial output. You'll need them.), but other than the aforementioned worm defense, you don't need them in SP.

I believe the most powerful combo is to ICS, use crawers for food and drill boreholes everywhere that doesn't produce food effectively.

Only food? Up to a point maybe, but crawling minerals in the early game from spare forest, switching to crawling energy in the mid game, would give a bigger payoff.

[LordShaithis]

*reminisces about the first time he had the University drop a volley of quantum planet-busters on the Believers*

[Stofsk]

are radar stations and bunkers worth while?

Not really. Sensors certainly have a purpose in multiplayer, and even in SP if you're being attacked by lots of worms (Speaking of which...have those sensors up and running around the bases that are producing the majority of your industrial output. You'll need them.), but other than the aforementioned worm defense, you don't need them in SP.

Why not? what if you're bored and feel like putting in cool infrastructure like bunkers?

Also what about airfields?

And lastly, about bases: how many do you have and how do you organise them? Having dozens upon dozens of bases makes your empire extraordinarily hard to maintain - at least that's what I've found. And what do you build at each base? What are the 'essential' facilities, and what are the 'extras' that get used for specialisation?

[Archaic`]

Why not? what if you're bored and feel like putting in cool infrastructure like bunkers?

I'd rather put in something more worthwhile myself, like raising more land for more bases, or building a energy park.

Also what about airfields?

Build a base. It'll serve the same purpose, and actually provide you with something decent back. Has the advantage of being easily destroyed if you need to prevent an opponent from using it against you too.

And lastly, about bases: how many do you have and how do you organise them? Having dozens upon dozens of bases makes your empire extraordinarily hard to maintain - at least that's what I've found. And what do you build at each base? What are the 'essential' facilities, and what are the 'extras' that get used for specialisation?

Depends on the map size, and the availability of terrain. I use a modified version of 'Sikander' spacing, which is bases as tight as possible (2 tiles), at N/S/E/W compass points to each other, so with a decent enough room to expand, it's not uncommon for me to have at least 3 dozen or so bases in SP on a Huge map, more if it's not too difficult to send out Drop Colony Pods. Sure, there's a hell of a lot more micromanagement, but that's just a part of the playstyle. In SP, I skip pretty much anything with only a military purpose (Aerospace Complexes are an obvious exception, for the Sats), going to the point of not even building any garrisons unless actually coming under attack or expecting worms, and simply build every other facility that becomes available, along with 2-4 formers per base. I don't specialise many bases in something (SSC's, Mineral Producers in areas of Rocky/Min tiles, that kind of thing), due to diminishing returns, and instead just focus on bringing each base up to around the same level of development as those nearby.

[Stormbringer]

so, just boreholes, mines, and forests?

are radar stations and bunkers worth while?

I build a lot of farms. The agriculutural improvement give you a bonus to food production which can really help.

And yes, radar stations out side your base are good. They add 100% defense bonus two squares out. They definitely help.

Bunkers are only worthwhile at strategic chokepoints.