Hi all,
Something I've been trying to figure out is how one would play the game as a merchant empire which refuses to get their hands dirty with things like actually building stuff. However, as far as I can tell, at least in the early game, this seems impossible, or at least highly impractical as it seems much cheaper to simply put the production into manufacturing and build stuff than it is to buy things. It doesn't help that I cant figure out how or why certain things are priced as they are. Is there a set conversion between manufacturing and credits when looking at the cost of an item (module, hull, planetary improvement)? Are there things that affect that conversion rate such as approval, or base production of a planet?
All I can find on the topic is in the gamepedia where it claims that "With money being so important to your economy" but it fails to explain exactly how it is important. Obviously you need it for upkeep but you can't really just buy things can you? It's not so much a separate method of galactic domination as it is more of a staple in the pantry or maybe your taxes. If that's the case then that's fine, but not very exciting.
I could just be doing things wrong and missing out on how to make mad lootz, if anyone has any strategy tips feel free to let me know.
Thanks.
Yes, money can buy stuff. Essentially you can use credits to rush production. Its really useful early on to rush colony ships or rush factories to get your economy going really fast early on. The ways to make money real fast are exploring anamolies with your survey ship and if you have tech trading on, go between the races trading/selling them techs.
Well, that was not what I was getting at. Maybe i wasn't clear. I'm aware of what you can DO with money, what I'm NOT sure of is how much money is WORTH. That is, HOW MUCH can you do with money, not WHAT can you do with money.
This makes sense right? I'm not crazy?
What I'm looking for is a formula or some sort of understanding of the equation Money(x) = Manufaturing(y).
One trick I use, if I need a ship fast but am low on money. Is put everything to full production for one or two turns then buy it out at a discount. It still costs credits but the one or two turns can be a few hundred credits saving.
Last time I checked, it was 15 bc to buy 1 mp (on planet or shipyard).
I think it is too expensive, an 8 to 1 ratio would be more interesting.
It is hard to figure out. While some things like manufacturing, and tech can be converted to a formula, BCs to the AI fluctuate in value depending on how much they have at the time and other factors.
For instance, in the early betas you could buy ships from the AI for a song. Now it is all over the board, and it still makes little sense in many cases. In most cases it takes 2-3 middlin tech and 1000-1500 BCs to buy their only surveyor, (they will never build another). That's a lot, but a surveyor is worth at least 5-10 thousand BCs in found money over the life of a long game and that's 5-10 the AI won't find. Add that to the research and ship bonuses and the value of a surveyor goes through the roof, imo.
Throughout the betas, on normal difficulty, if I stayed in a game for 300 turns, I could usually just about buy everything I wanted. It has gotten harder since they changed the projects, but for the better players, (and hopefully me on normal)... I guess becoming a Merchant Empire requires that you transition from a Manufacturing Empire where you are constantly short of cash, to cash cow colonies that are matching the Mfg and tech that you have been producing all along.
Easy for some, hard for others. I can see that for some it is like baking a cake, just follow the recipe. For me it is more like spit-shining shoes. Sometimes I've got the mojo, sometimes not.
Don't know (yet) if GC3 is the same as GC2. But in GC2 the start of the game it was better to concentrate on manufacturing because that give you more bang for your buck so to speak. But by they endgame the majority of your planets you turn into cash cows generating tons of credits each turn, which like Franco fx says, pretty much allows you to buy everything. So manufacturing becomes unimportant really.
Its 15 credits for a manufacture point, and it is in the game xml files. Not sure which one but i remember seeing it. I assume it is then easily changeable to the 8 someone here suggested
SD really needs to post a huge manual explaining the intricacies of all game mechanics. They posted a tiny 'galciv3 economy 101' article, but now it's time for a huge one. If game mechanics change, it can be updated.
Using wealth to rush improvement and ships is an important tool but you need to look at the pros and cons. You essentially shift production capital from one planet to another at a price of 15:1 ratio.
In the early to mid game this is generally a waste, but as you start earning trade and tourist income it become more viable as a substitute for on site planetary production.
For most empires it is better to rely on industrial production as the main source of manufacture capital and wealth for maintenance and diplomatic deals.
On the contrary, I would say that how you use your 5000 in the beginning can make or break your game. It allows me to set production to 50 0 50 in manu econ and research, buy the starting factories and maybe a colony ship which give a huge boost to colony rush (THE most important part)
What I said have no relevance to the starting cash, that is wealth you get for free and is completely sepparate from generate new wealth to rush manufacture capital.
Sorry I misunderstood what you meant by 'early game'
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