I mostly agree with SpaceOwl that missile bases are quite expnsive in the early game. If your missile and shield techs are not competitive with what your rivals are likely to send, it is often better to spend your BCs on something else. I do usually try to get at least one base on each planet once that world has enough industry to do so quickly (2-3 turns at most). This helps prevent needing a base later and not being able to build one quickly because you have gotten a planetary shield tech which has to be built first.
On factories, I tend to build lots of industry as soon as my tech permits. Unless there is a critical need for tech first (range to reach habitable worlds, mostly) or for colony ships to settle reachable worlds, I prioritize factories. This may delay research or fleet building, but production is power. And having more of it will make everything go faster once it is built. I will usually accept the 'delay now for more capacity later' trade off.
As RefSteel noted, these are personal preferences and play style decisions and different players see things differently. And you always need to be ready to change your approach to fit circumstances. Part of the fun of OSGs is seeing how other players deal with various situations. I have learned a lot from playing OSGs. And a team with varied styles often performs better as a group than the individual players would, due to discussion and a wider set of ideas.
According to their histories, the early 2370s were a period of great industrial unrest for the Meklar - for a given value of "unrest". The union members (all Meklar are, by definition, members of their single union) were marching back to their workplaces in their "time off", demanding more factories, more work, more production. The emotional wave rolled despite the fact that every planet that could build more was doing so, that their civilization's reserves were dedicated to helping speed the process and their research into technology that would allow every world to handle even more plants was well on its way. There was an impatience pulsing through Meklar society. That element of thought that pointed out that even Meklar needed some degree of care of their environment was countered by the imminent discovery of more efficient, less wasteful means of manufacture. The extended voluntary working hours probably added nothing to an economy going flat out, but nonetheless the Meklar workers marched.
From "2300 and all that: aren't aliens wierd?", by the Emeritus Professor of Xenopsychology, University of Orion (Texas).
T2370
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Looking OK. If the reserve builds up we can (events allowing ...) spend it fast when IRC3 comes in.
T2371
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Controlled Tundra is in - and we have Controlled Inferno, which opens up several more worlds. Going to be a little while before we can use it, but ...
LR colship heads out for Poor world.
T2372
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Just micro-pumping our planets.
T2373
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There are Sakkra "Goblins" sniffing around south of the nebula. With that name they are likely to be armed; is there a risk the Sakkra have Inferno? I dump some leftover ship money into some fighters to compete with them, just in case.
T2374
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IRC3 is in, I pick BCIV to advance. I start more factories at most worlds, leaving Canopy to research for now.
T2375
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Voting time. We have no contact, so our fate is not in our manipulators.
Alkari: 7 votes for themselves
Darloks: 3 votes abstain
Klackons: 4 votes abstain
Bulrathis: 5 votes abstain
Sakkra: 3 votes for the Birds
Us: 6 votes abstain
Looks like the Alkari aren't super-popular, which is good.
T2376
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NPG is in: we have the choice of Mercs, Ion Rifle or Scatter V (sadly, no screenshot). I would normally be tempted by the more flexible Merculites, but with the Alkari as dominant neighbours I go for the Scatter Packs. They are at least cheap. The Sakkra get 700BC from a merchant.
T2377
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Meklon maxes out. We're getting there on factories ...
It turns out the Sakkra were heading past our space, perhaps to an Alkari world? If they are wandering all the way to the poor world that could be awkward, although they have no colship unless one magically appears ... which is a possibility IIRC.
T2378
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RIW80 is in, giving us a nice boost. I pick ARS, because that can be a battle-winner. We now have spare RP to start on Controlled Inferno for real.
T2380
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Still no contact! It's spooky out there.
Quiet, constructive (literally) turns. I'd suggest pushing Planetology and keeping up with expansion; I just hope my weapons choice doesn't turn out to be wrong. As a side note about bases, all our front-line planets are quite mature, and the most exposed - Shieldless - is capable of getting a base up in 1t. I guess there is a technical risk of a fast Alkari fighter turning up without a turn of visibility, but they don't yet have range. There's a (very small) chance that their allies (Sakkra, I'm guessing) have better range than the birds and could thus theoretically reach us? I'm not actually sure how extended range from an alliance works ... but they are even further away (probably).
It may have looked easy, but that is because it was done correctly - Brian Moore
Sounds like good turns, shallow_thought. I like more factories everywhere. BC4 looks good to me, along with Inferno for some more worlds. Weapons is a tougher choice, but with the Alkari as our neighbors and main rivals the scatter packs should be helpful.
I am a little worried about the Bulrathi. A strong bear empire could be nasty to deal with once we meet them. (Of course, we have to meet anyone first!)
I guess I am tentatively up, unless someone else would like to join the team and jump in. I can probably play sometime tomorrow, but if someone wants to play a turnset feel free to post a got it.
The lack of contact is definitely unusual. We have a pair of no planet systems between us and our nearest neighbor (the Alkari), and most of the other AIs have fewer planets and apparently lack range techs beyond the initial tier.
(August 17th, 2023, 07:06)SpaceOWL Wrote: Seriously? 2380 and no contacts AT ALL?
I would say to stop all other investments and put every BC in Propulsion to rush for range 7 :-P
If it weren't for the fact that we can still hope to pick up several more worlds with one more planetology tech I'd agree. Oh, except we still need better engines too.
But seriously, if it had been the Humans out there in front instead of the Alkari that vote could have been nasty with no levers to pull.
It may have looked easy, but that is because it was done correctly - Brian Moore
Looks great, shallow_thought! (And it looks like I was correct to trust that my successor knows the value of factories - or, excuse me, to trust the Meklar union members to do so in protest against having fewer than they wanted!)
(August 16th, 2023, 06:29)rgp151 Wrote: True, but what if a single laser fighter were to get in orbit on a world, triggering a planetary invasion? I see early missile basses as just a way to prevent getting orbited. Like I said, usually just 1 will do for this purpose. I figure missiles bases are better than building fighter fleets that will soon be obsolete.
So the problem here is the same one I mentioned earlier: Rules of thumb are nice, but you have to know when they don't apply. There is zero threat of an AI somehow getting a laser fighter above one of our worlds. We're completely isolated, with Deep Space Scanner and Rich front worlds in 2380. There is a big threat intrinsic to our isolation, as others have pointed out, but it has nothing to do with attack fleets: A random configuration of alliances could lead to a Council loss when we have no contact with anyone and therefore no way to influence anyone's votes! Every BC we spend on missile bases we might someday need is a BC not being used to expand toward a veto or the range necessary to conduct diplomacy.
(I agree with shallow_thought on techs here, by the way: Controlled Inferno has to be our top research priority, and if I'm remembering correctly, there's a forward rich Inferno world that will give us contact too. And better engines will be critical for everything.)
I have begun the turn set, but will not finish playing until tomorrow sometime. Initial notes:
- Colonized the poor steppe planet.
- Got contact with the Klackons, who must have gotten some range tech.
- The bugs are aggressive militarists who are allied with the Alkari. They have 5 planets in a vertical line west of the nebula.
I choose faster drives rather than range tech. It would be nice to have contact with some AIs, but we need to be able to move faster.
LR Col ship arrives at the poor steppe planet in the SE, which I name Poverty.
Growth sends seep pop for Poverty, but it will take 6 turns to get there. We need better engines.
Send some scouts out to check planets to the south.
2382
Sakkra fleet of 4 smalls (Goblin class) chase our scout away from Paranor, one of the asteroid systems
Klackons must have gotten range tech, as we now have our first AI contact
The Klackons are aggressive militarists and are allied with the Alkari.
I sign the bugs to a big (500 BC) tradae deal to boost relations (started at neutral). Hopefully they will not attack, as we are not really ready for that.
Also start spy spending to learn what the bugs have in tech.
I start some ship spending on Toolboxes to prepare for Inferno col ships in a few turns.
And a team with varied styles often performs better as a group than the individual players would, due to discussion and a wider set of ideas.
I like more factories everywhere. 
They have 5 planets in a vertical line west of the nebula.
![[Image: 2381-propulsion.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/nrGJYhqy/2381-propulsion.png)
![[Image: 2382-map.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/WpGTPXx5/2382-map.png)
![[Image: 2382-status.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/4NXZ4pgs/2382-status.png)