For example basic factories produce 6 and cost 50; enhanced produce 8 and cost 75. A 1/3 increase in production and 1/2 increase in cost. Same for other increases.

The difference is that the cost is a one-time deal, but that production matters every turn. So unless the second one has higher maintenance costs, the advantage piles up pretty quickly.

I've never really understood concern about the cost of Industrial Sectors. While they are clearly expensive and take a long time to build, the production bonus, as Kryo said, is continuous.

If you can't afford the extra cost and you need factories quickly, then I'd stick with the manufacturing center and then replace them as time goes by.

In DA (where you're allowed to build basic factories even after you've researched industrial sector), I build the high-end factories on my manufacturing planets where I really care about what they're putting out, but I stick with factories on my unimportant planets that are just kind of there. I say "factories" and not "basic factories" because that first bump, from basic factory to factory, is worth it. You're going from 4ip to 6ip for 1 maintenance: that's a +50% increase. But the next bump from 6ip to 8ip for 1 more maintenance, that I won't do just anywhere.

To put it another way: on my fluff planets, maybe PQ 6-8, no extra tiles, i will put factories on those (and maybe a starport). But on my manufacturing capital, any +100% manufacturing tiles, or planets influenced by an economic starbase, those will most definitely get industrial sectors. And then there's the high-PQ planets which don't have any special tiles: those I first populate with basic factories, and then I upgrade as I start running out of tiles. They'll be upgrading throughout the whole game. Those planets make nice homes for the lesser Super Projects (such as Galactic Privateer, Micro Repair Bots, Spin Control, etc.).

Even if it takes a long time to win, the short-term advantage of sticking to low-tech factories is worth considering. Instead of spending time and money building or upgrading advanced factories, you could be doing something else. For example, build warships and go conquer some new planets. That's another way to increase your production capacity, and you'll probably capture some nice advanced factories without having to build them.

You've got a point there. I saw similar behavior with the morale structures. We'll see if this new DA release addresses that.

There's a Research Consolidation Center in DA, so your question of how it stacks with the Tech Capital still holds.

Yes. Capitals cannot be dismantled in any case, so unless you use a destructive invasion tactic you can't get rid of them.

Well, try the Thalans. They are amazing for building factories

The solution to your economy going in the dumper is to just not build anything on that planet. Then you only pay maintenance. I always just focus on research and not build anything--I _always_ need research.

The solution in DA for the upgraded factories is to select the "All" tab on the buildings screen, then you can build Basic Factories on up.


What *IS* a problem, though, is a long-standing bug when upgrading factories (or any building, for that matter). You can click on one basic factory and it'll cost one price to upgrade it to a factory, and then you click on another basic factory and it costs a different price to upgrade it to the exact same thing. Sometimes the upgrade price is more than the price just to build it outright!