03-20-2014, 09:26 PM
Well, another turn, another couple of disasters!
First, my new in-system colonization attempt failed AGAIN. The error messages suggest that the add-on failed because the distance was too far. My impression was that tactical movements come first, so I moved the ship to the 0,0,0 coordinates of that planet. Then my add-on orders would happen. Then I could execute a "Move" order to move it back to the home colony orbit. THEN, in the post-turn email from Vern, he said that we are still supposed to use the "Setup" order for setting up new colonies, not the "Addon" order like we now have to use for ships.
So, either I got the order format wrong, or I got the turn processing sequence wrong. Either way, my colonizer is back in the home orbit again, with 12m colonists burning away fuel to run life-supports. AAAAARRRGGHGHG!! (This is why I figured I had a 50/50 chance of having it work. "Learning Game")
Second, the hydroponic farms in my orbiting colony have been so productive, their produce has squeezed everything else out! All factory production has stopped due to lack of space! Time to put in a standing order to pump excess food down to the planet...
Third, I am out of consumer goods! My early-game doubling of the consumer goods production line had served me well, but relentlessly training my population for professional work has raised their salaries! I had already swung some factory groups over to help out, and that has mitigated the shortage somewhat, but basically every box of product I make is hungrily devoured on the home world instantly, leaving nothing for me to send to the orbiter, which is now starting to sprout rebels.
There is one more looming problem, though not yet a crisis. The high-yield mineral deposits on my home planet will run dry this turn. That means not only am I restricted to using the lower yield "unlimited" deposits, but I lose the use of 3m mining slots! This is not a disaster yet, because I have a fair stockpile of raw materials, but I can't ignore it for long. Not only do I need to keep making stuff, but I have tons of high tech factories now, which will burn through raw materials that much faster.
Someone posted somewhere that the home-planet "unlimited" deposits form the basis of the economy for a long time, so I could pump up mining tech. 3m mine-7s won't meet my needs, but 3m mine-12s probably would, for a time, anyway. So basically I'd have to keep mine-technology a couple of steps ahead of factory technology.
OR, I could plant mines through all the other planets in the home world -- draining THEIR high-yield deposits. So either I build (and successfully manage) a few more in-system freighters, or I develop Beamers FAST. I'm thinking the latter.
On a positive note, I have another million Lab-8s to assemble, and I started up fat production lines for my swanky new Energy Shield-6, Space Drive-5, and Hyper Engine-3 tech. In a few turns, I will have the means to launch a fully-shielded missile cruiser capable of dominating that alien colony.
I still don't have 10 million ground combat factors to throw against it. Maybe I can do a production run of 5m military robots, which are worth 2 points each at tech-1. I could probably have those running one turn behind, if my raw materials hold out. Brute Force FTW!
First, my new in-system colonization attempt failed AGAIN. The error messages suggest that the add-on failed because the distance was too far. My impression was that tactical movements come first, so I moved the ship to the 0,0,0 coordinates of that planet. Then my add-on orders would happen. Then I could execute a "Move" order to move it back to the home colony orbit. THEN, in the post-turn email from Vern, he said that we are still supposed to use the "Setup" order for setting up new colonies, not the "Addon" order like we now have to use for ships.
So, either I got the order format wrong, or I got the turn processing sequence wrong. Either way, my colonizer is back in the home orbit again, with 12m colonists burning away fuel to run life-supports. AAAAARRRGGHGHG!! (This is why I figured I had a 50/50 chance of having it work. "Learning Game")
Second, the hydroponic farms in my orbiting colony have been so productive, their produce has squeezed everything else out! All factory production has stopped due to lack of space! Time to put in a standing order to pump excess food down to the planet...
Third, I am out of consumer goods! My early-game doubling of the consumer goods production line had served me well, but relentlessly training my population for professional work has raised their salaries! I had already swung some factory groups over to help out, and that has mitigated the shortage somewhat, but basically every box of product I make is hungrily devoured on the home world instantly, leaving nothing for me to send to the orbiter, which is now starting to sprout rebels.
There is one more looming problem, though not yet a crisis. The high-yield mineral deposits on my home planet will run dry this turn. That means not only am I restricted to using the lower yield "unlimited" deposits, but I lose the use of 3m mining slots! This is not a disaster yet, because I have a fair stockpile of raw materials, but I can't ignore it for long. Not only do I need to keep making stuff, but I have tons of high tech factories now, which will burn through raw materials that much faster.
Someone posted somewhere that the home-planet "unlimited" deposits form the basis of the economy for a long time, so I could pump up mining tech. 3m mine-7s won't meet my needs, but 3m mine-12s probably would, for a time, anyway. So basically I'd have to keep mine-technology a couple of steps ahead of factory technology.
OR, I could plant mines through all the other planets in the home world -- draining THEIR high-yield deposits. So either I build (and successfully manage) a few more in-system freighters, or I develop Beamers FAST. I'm thinking the latter.
On a positive note, I have another million Lab-8s to assemble, and I started up fat production lines for my swanky new Energy Shield-6, Space Drive-5, and Hyper Engine-3 tech. In a few turns, I will have the means to launch a fully-shielded missile cruiser capable of dominating that alien colony.
I still don't have 10 million ground combat factors to throw against it. Maybe I can do a production run of 5m military robots, which are worth 2 points each at tech-1. I could probably have those running one turn behind, if my raw materials hold out. Brute Force FTW!