Unplanned Expansion
Progressio Opinio
In our last session, we spent a lot of time working on research projects that would enable us to build infrastructure and ones that would strengthen our economy. We started building "Recycling Centers" to alleviate the health crisis in our largest star systems and were nearly finished laying down warp lanes to connect all of our colonies, which will increase our trade route income. We also worked on spreading the value, "Survivalism", to the rest of our empire to promote cultural growth.
You can see in the image to the left, that "New Paris" is the only colony left that our value has not spread to, but we have an advocate en route, now. You'll also notice that our economy is back in the red, although barely, but we have enough cash reserves to keep us afloat for a while. One other thing of note, is that we have yet to put any investment into espionage, so we need to find a way to include it in our budget soon.
You Better Be Worth It
On the first turn, "New Berlin" was founded and I immediately put her to work on a PDS, because there is no telling when the Pirates will show up. I suspect very soon.
On the very next turn, "New Mumbai" was founded and I put her to work on a PDS, as well. Shockingly, our economy took a huge hit with the addition of these two new colonies, more so than I expected. You can see in the image to the left, that we have a 14 credit per turn deficit, which will overwhelm our economy in just 9 turns, so there is no way we can continue with a 70% research rate. We'll have to back off for a while, until our "Banking Systems" are installed and our economy recovers.
Ubiquitous Harmony
On the next turn, "New Tokyo" finished building it's "Survival Dome", so I put her to work on a "Banking System" right away. The same goes for "New Paris", where the advocate we sent had just arrived to spread our value there. We need to build one more advocate for "New Berlin", as it is the last colony that needs it, then we can focus our efforts completely on the rebuilding effort.
You'll notice in the image to the left, that I dropped our research rate down to 60%, which will allow us 16 turns to heal from the economic wounds of this unplanned expansion. In other words, we are losing only 7 credits per turn now, which is much more manageable.
Tug Of War
On the next turn, "New Earth" finished building it's "Recycling Center, which took care of it's health problem, so I put her to work on a "Banking System", to be completed in 3 turns. However, you'll notice in the image to the left, that our capitol will grow on the next turn and we will back to a health crisis again, with an unhappiness problem on top of that!
For The Greater Good
On the next turn, "New London" finished building it's "University", so I put her to work on a "Banking System", which will help us recover economically. I know we really need to have "Recycling Centers" and "Survival Domes" constructed in all of our colonies, but we have enough food to hold out just long enough to get this done. The health crisis in this system is urgent, however, because "New London" will grow again in just 6 turns, thereby, making the problem worse. I may decide that this decision was a mistake in the near future, but for now we must put the economy ahead of our people's health and happiness.
Live Long And Prosper
On the next turn, "New Earth" completed it's construction of a "Banking System", so I put her to work on a "University" to help supplement our research rate, which was dialed back a few turns ago.
You'll notice in the image to the left, that our economy was immediately given a nice boost, with the addition of just one "Banking System". Instead of losing 6 credits per turn, we are now only losing 2 per turn. Yay!
Meanwhile, the warp lane that leads to our gold resource was completed, but our prize is still out of reach, because it does not lie within our borders. Nonetheless, I directed the "Construction Ship" to now build a warp lane to "New Mumbai", which will add an additional trade route to our economy.
As a side note, if at any time during the game we had earned enough credits for a starbase, I would have built one a long time ago, but our accelerated expansion rate never allowed it to happen, hence our current strategy with "New Dubai".
If You're Unhappy And You Know It, Clap Your Hands
Three turns later, "New Tokyo" finished building it's "Banking System" and we were given another boost to our economy. We are now in the green again, earning +1 credit per turn at 60% research. I put the colony to work on a "Recycling Center" to alleviate it's health problem.
On the same turn, "New Paris" also finished the construction of a "Banking System", so I put her to work on a "Survival Dome" that will both alleviate it's health problem and increase it's influence growth rate.
You'll notice in the image to the left, that "New Tokyo" now has an unhappiness problem, as well. Luckily, we are nearing the completion of a research project that allows us to do something about it.
Trifecta
On the next turn, we finished researching "Empowered Citizenry" that allows us to build "Sports Arenas", which increases both happiness and influence growth in the systems that they are built. Also, since we were the first to discover the technology, we became the founder of our third value, "Religion" and "New Mumbai" had the honor of becoming it's holy star system. I have a lot of faith in this colony's potential, even more so now.
I decided that our next research project will be "Streamlined Production", since the technology will allow us to build "Wealth". With this ability, we may be able to start investing in espionage, since we would be able to vastly increase our income, as a result.
On the same turn, "New Dubai" finished building it's "University", so I put her to work on a "Sports Arena", which will add +1 happiness and +1 influence growth with an additional +20 % influence growth on top of that. The later is clearly the most important bonus, because of our goal to reach the gold resource, nearby.
Still on the same turn, "New Mumbai" completed it's construction of a PDS, so I put her to work on a "Banking System", which will take 12 turns to complete. Also, one of our "Construction Ships" completed the warp lane to "New Paris", so I put it to work on another leading to "New Berlin".
<Next up, This Old Powerhouse>