Planet building

I have a few rules I try to play by that have worked out so far.
1. Only one starbase per system.
2. No factories on a planet without a starbase (I may change this if someone can point out that factores make a difference without a starbase)
3. Lower quality planets are alway single use without a starbase ... with the inclusion of one square for entertainment.
4. higher quality planets get an equal number of factories and research centers, then one of everything else, then the remaining suares I fill up based on bonuses, planet location, and projected future needs.

This way, it's no HUGE loss to lose a smaller planet, and larger planets can be lost without massive impact to one aspect or another.

With the changes in the beta versions my building strategies stay in a state of flux. When they settle on a final version I will put more thought into it

I play too many smaller map games to ever have much space problem and I diversify a lot of planets. I build econ capital always on my highest PQ planet with at least 5-6 money buildings. Picking my Mfg capital planet used to be easy but the new economy protocols are making it more difficult to choose. I might use a low PQ planet with a couple of production bonus tiles or a large planet with 5-6 factories. I never build it on a planet with the precursor tile since it is the same as a second mfg capital

I build a starbase+factory on any planet over PQ5 because I am usually pushing tech and I need to have fast production to catch up my military when I fall behind. Even a small palnet can often turn out a capital ship in 7-8 turns when military production is maxed.

Here are my rules:

Small planets: Research
Medium Planets: Manufacturing or Mixed
Large Planets: Cash cows + some manufacturing + some influence (both influence and cash are positively affected by higher population, manufacturing needed to fill all those squares up.)

I use the small planets for research, since many small sources of research add up better than many small sources of manufacturing. Unlike manufacturing, you pool all the research together. Its better to have dedicated manufacturing planets so you can get out a new ship design or achievement quickly.

--Brad

Right now I use small planets as population(taxes), moral buildings enough to keep them happy and if any spaces are left over are for research or influence or bc.

Larger planets depending on their bonuses are suited to one specific job with minors in others. If its a larger planet I also try to have 2 farms and 3 loyalty buildings in addition to any other buildings. I like to have most of my planets have some ability in ship production so I can get constructor ships to whereever I need as well as making small defensive fleets all over my influence area, not just one or two planets generating ships. The high production planets are for making ships/fleets used for attack purposes.

Anything below 5 = no factories. Period. Every other planet - 2 factories, minimum.(Even research worlds) There is much upgrading being done, and the factories remain useful and effective as the game goes on.

I tend to put factories on most worlds even those without starports.
Reason: they speed up the build time of upgrades.
Once everything is upgraded, you can always upgrade the factories and I think they give the bonus until upgraded.
Hmm, something to check.

Depending on the amount of planets, set several planets to key specialization but keep some diverisified.
Too lazy to go through all of them to change the setup but with some planets diversified, you can build ships to defend areas.

Also, when specializing worlds for manufacturing... look at the placement of those worlds compared to the galactic map.
You want to keep one manufactoring world per sector or two so that you can bring a force to any location relatively quickly.

I use small planets under 6 that are in two planet systems as Constructor factories at times. 1 Starport, and 2- 3 Factories. I use them to just crank out cheap constructors every 4-6 turns. Set the priority to Military in the Planetary screen and just forget about it. The pop never gets high enough to worry about morale.

I play with a very universalist mentality. I have never colonized a planet below 4 PQ. In a 4 PQ - 10 PQ planet I make 1-2 factories depending on the Quality (always buying the first factory of every planet I colonize. it cuts the total tile build time in half for every job you put down. Definatly worth the 450 bc. I also buy the first starport a turn after the factory for the first 5 planets I colinize), a starport always right after the factories and 1 of each structure prioritizing basics first such as food and research (usualy one of each unless the PQ is over 10) After food and research I build a market then entertainment, If I have 1 more spot I usualy make a embasy. However for high class planets 10-30 PQ I specialize, usualy depending on the tile bonus'. I never go over 6 factories even on a insanely rare 30 PQ planet. If I see that I am going to have at least 3 planets over 20 PQ I specialize one planet for each type. Research capital, Manufactoring Capital and a Economic Capital. Of course with Economic I build lots of farms and markets. Because of this my economic capital doubles as a farm/population capital, where I usualy make the bulk of my transports.

If a planet is under 12 PQ and is alone (meaning a starbase will only affect that one planet within its range) I wont build a starbase just for that planet, unless it has worthy tile bonus'. Any 2+ planets that I can catch with a starbase range I build, almost always focusing on manufactoring first up to Massive Scaling Center then some basic defenses just so it wont be blown away by a scout. Because of constant technological terraforming (soil enchancement) I dont have to worry about saving a slot for galactic wonders and trade goods. Once I research soil enhancement I tell the top 5 manufactoring planets to start building every wonder I can.

two questions:

1. that thing about losing a planet ... when i lose a planet, i lose the game
its quite simple: if i'm attacked i defend my planets, when someone can beat my fleet and get transports in, my military rating has to be close to zero. so i am dead anyway and i will lose many planets - gg
why do you take into account which impact losing a planet would have? either i am on top military, then it doesnt happen, or i am weaker and not able to make peace, then the game is over anyway

2. building all those starbases ... why do you do that? i always build 3-4 factories on every planet and almost no starbases
to be useful, a starbase needs at least 10 constructors
i dont know the cost for a constructor ... i think its over 100 BC each
it takes a LOT of turns till a starbase produces that much bonus production on a normal world, its simply not worth it (imho)
i build starbases only when i have a lot of spare production (rarely ever happens) or when i have a cluster of worlds that all benefit from one base (rarely ever happens without abundant stars/planets)
i simply dont see a reason to waste that much money/build time on a lvl12 planet that gets close to no benefit from those 20% more production ... much more then 20% is wasted in constructors

edit: playing on tough by the way and i win most time
i know starbases can give you 50% but only when all industry techs are researched ...
how any these 50% factored in? lets say i have 20% racial ability, 20% production bonus from techs i researched and a 20% starbase
is the production factor 1.2 * 1.2 * 1.2 or is it 1.4 * 1.2 or simply 1.6 ?
if the first should be true, starbases are maybe worth it

I start my 10+ planets with a starport, couple of factories, farm, entertain, research and bank. Pretty universal. After that I will focus my capital planets as appropriate. I try to have all my planets except 4,5 and 6 pay for themselves so I like banks to the point planet income outweighs it's maitnainance. Note that eventually banks (stock markets) give a morale boost to keep those high pops happy. I've tried to specialize planets but other than my capitals I end up building almost evenly with research and economics.

Econ starbases are definitely worth it. They add to military, social and research production. You also use them to increase your trade revenue. I generally play as a warmonger and have plenty of planets to crank out those constructors. I will not have a planet whose starport is idle. Military starbases I only put up in my beginning core area and then only in an area I feel is the most likely path(s) for an invasion. Ship assist is great when trying to beat off an invader. Nice thing about playing evil is the starbase upgrade fees are waived - only cost is the constructor.

Another thing about econ starbases is that they are cumulative. I have several planets in my current game that are enhanced by 4 bases. Thats a lot of plus, and you only pay 50% of the extra production cost as I recall

i did try that in my last game ... i got 8 econ starbases
with research spending at 80%, my tech capital did produce 1922 (!!!) technology points each turn
i used abundant stars and planets on a small map to have tight clusters, so these 8 bases did affect 6 planets, all got insane production and research
but still, without abundant settings with only 1-2 planets in range of a starbase, the constructor costs are imho just to high

I play small, everything common-abundant, star systems scattered, and tech very fast. My empire is high tax/low pop., so i usually build 2 entertainment centers (or 1 VR center) per planet, no farms. My planets are diversified, except for a few capitals, which are always high PQ planets (15+), unless a small planet has an insane numebr of bonus tiles. My planets usually have 2-4 factories, depending on size, 1-3 labs, 1-2 entertainment centers (or 1 VR center), 0 farms, and a starport on about every other world. I phase out factories and replace 'em with stock markets or labs when the planet has no starport and is out of tiles.

Also, BUY factory first turn on a new planet. Helps speed thigns up SO much.

Once everything is upgraded, you can always upgrade the factories and I think they give the bonus until upgraded. Hmm, something to check.

Yes, you can upgrade a factory slot to something else and will get the bonus production until the upgrade is complete.

I tend to play gigantic maps. I like the larger universes.

I try to find a large world to be my main manufacturing planet - PQ 18+. Lots of factories, and of course the manufacturing capital. Combined with 3 or more Econ starbases, it can still crank out Large or Huge ships in 1-3 turns apiece. I usually stick the Hyperion Shipyard here to, since it will be my main shipyard.

After that, I tend to have a mix. I make a few cash planets (farms, markets) to cover the costs of the manufacturing world. If the planet has a lot of research specials, it becomes a science planet.

Almost every planet gets 2 factories, to speed up production. I make many lesser production worlds (3-5 factories + Starport) for cranking out defenders or constructors. I tend to put at least one starbase in every system - it not only helps with improving research/production, it also serves to improve sight, especially with Eyes of the Universe.

Every planet gets at least one farm. Helps your economy, your influence, and protects against invasions if they sneak a transport in. If you're not at war with the other Empires, you'll find they often have tons of ships roaming your system. I wish there was a way to close the borders.

With a few cash planets, and an econ resource or two, I can usually run a very low (<30%) Tax rate. I can often get up to 17 pop (2 farms) and still be at 90% morale on a planet - depending in part on what trade goods you have. If you don't build them, make sure you get them somehow. There are a lot of morale boosting trade goods.

As for starports, I tend to alternate building military fleets, and building nothing but constructors. Most starbases are econ, but I use military to protect key systems, and influence to ward off or to instigate defections. Often they'll be just enough to push a system over the edge to rebel to you, and after that it's often a steamroller effect, as that planet's influence causes other nearby systems to rebel.

Anyhow, just my two cents. My apologies for the verbosity.