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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2015 5:45:31 GMT -5
Cory Trese, fallen, a quick question about upgrading colony upgrades. I have a relatively new colony that generates 1cp per turn. A 'hab unit 1' costs 10cp, 100 credits, and takes 10 turns to build. A 'hab unit 2' costs 20cp, 200 credits, and takes 20 turns to build. If I upgrade a 'hab unit 1' to a 'hab unit 2' it costs me 20cp, a discounted 100 credits, and still 20 turns to build. This is practically the same costs as not upgrading it, but building 'hab unit 2' and then demolishing the original 'hab unit 1'. Shouldn't upgrading an existing 'structure' cost the diffetence between the two? Because you're not starting from scratch, just putting an addition on the house, so to speak. So in this case, the difference between 'hab 1' and 'hab 2' would be 10cp, 100 credits, and only 10 turns to build. Anyway, thanks.
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Post by tenbsmith on Jul 9, 2015 9:44:46 GMT -5
The current approach works for me on two levels:
1) In the real world, upgrading existing structures is generally expensive and labor intensive, sometimes it is less expensive to just tear down the old and build the new. This happens all the time. From that perspective, it is reasonable to provide no CP credit when upgrading structure (though it'd also be reasonable to provide some sort of partial credit).
2)From a game play perspective, the lack of CP refund makes decisions a bit more difficult. If you got a full CP and $ refund, then you'd always start with hab 1 and upgrade as needed. The current situation things a bit more complex, adding some additional tension in game play, which I ultimately think improves game play.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2015 10:47:21 GMT -5
I understand what your saying tenbsmith, but here's whats got me puzzled. For about the same resources (cp, credits and time) I can build one hab unit 2 or 2 hab unit 1's. So, if I I'm upgrading from hab 1 to hab 2, I've already spent half the cost of hab 2 (in the previously built hab 1). When I upgrade a hab 1 at the equivalent cost of a new hab 2, I will have allocated the resources for 3 hab unit 1's and only gotten a hab unit 2. I doubled my space for 3 times the cost. |
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Post by tenbsmith on Jul 9, 2015 11:53:31 GMT -5
I got you Chance. Building a Hab1 and upgrading to Hab2 costs 30cp total, while building a Hab2 from the start only costs 20cp. This encourages you to skip Hab1's and go straight to Hab2's. BUT, building a Hab2 from the start leaves you with extra maintenance costs until you fill it with population growth. Neither approach is a clear winner. Building a Hab2 to start is better if the second spot fills soon. Alternately, if the second spot takes years to fill, starting with a Hab1 and upgrading later is better. Very logical, but since population growth is unpredictable, not helpful. I can't think of a good decision rule for this, so I make this decisions based on conditions on the ground: Profit, Treasury, Quality of the Colony, CP of the Colony, other productions needs. For low Quality, low CP colonies I'll try to go straight for Hab2 or even Hab3. This is a bit devilish. I end up flying by the seat of my pants instead of sticking with a robotic decision rule. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2015 12:08:40 GMT -5
I got you Chance. Building a Hab1 and upgrading to Hab2 costs 30cp total, while building a Hab2 from the start only costs 20cp. This encourages you to skip Hab1's and go straight to Hab2's. BUT, building a Hab2 from the start leaves you with extra maintenance costs until you fill it with population growth. Neither approach is a clear winner. Building a Hab2 to start is better if the second spot fills soon. Alternately, if the second spot takes years to fill, starting with a Hab1 and upgrading later is better. Very logical, but since population growth is unpredictable, not helpful. I can't think of a good decision rule for this, so I make this decisions based on conditions on the ground: Profit, Treasury, Quality of the Colony, CP of the Colony, other productions needs. For low Quality, low CP colonies I'll try to go straight for Hab2 or even Hab3. This is a bit devilish. I end up flying by the seat of my pants instead of sticking with a robotic decision rule. I get into a jam with sudden population growths. Do I wait to build and hope the colony doesn't lose morale, or build and hope the hab units aren't vacant too long? Im finding that well established colonies that have good cp are worth trying to upgrade. Anything less, and the time to build is too long, costing morale loss from overcrowding. At that point, Its better to subsidize a hab 2 with a reduced build time. |
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Post by fallen on Jul 9, 2015 12:30:57 GMT -5
Also, need to remember to toss the ability to Subsidize new projects into the discussion.
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Post by Cory Trese on Jul 9, 2015 12:35:38 GMT -5
Neither approach is a clear winner -- if you discount subsidize, Quality and Population growth. If you start considering those factors, then one or the other approach usually emerges and the best strategy at that time, for that Colonly.
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