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Can we talk about Aluminum generators in offline play?
If any of this is different in online play, that's not my problem. Aluminum generators in offline mode are the single worst investment I've ever seen in any game. Period.
Adding up the base price for all the mats needed to build an aluminum generator leaves us with a price tag of $333,500,000. "But I have fifty and I haven't spent billions making them". Good for you. We're using base prices to avoid talking about specific colonies. Anyways, the generators make about 4.8 aluminum (1k ea.) a minute. Minus the cost of the steel (350 ea.) used, you end up making an average of $4,380/min. on average at full production capacity. At this rate it would take 76141.55 minutes (1269 hours) of continuous, capacity production just to cover the cost of making the generator in the first place.
But that's not what happens, is it? Because this game handles work like none other I've seen: the workers take breaks for sleep and recreation. At any given time, only about a third of the colony is working at any given time. So really, those 1269 hours and multiply by three. The time it'll actually take to pay itself off will be closer to 3807 hours. Over five months of idling. Consider the alternative: Sell all the mats you were about to waste and just get 300,000 aluminum right now.
Compare this to the Ancient Condenser. With a base cost of 135,900,000, it's almost 2.5 times cheaper than the generator right off the bat. On top of this, it makes a constant 4114 water ($20 ea.) for $82,285/min. without workers. At this rate, it would pay for itself in 1651.56 minutes (27 hours).
So not only does the generator cost 2.5x as much as the condenser, it produces 20-60x less while also consuming useful materials and taking up four times the space. Add in any possible considerations for housing and entertaining extra workers, and you start to wonder why this is even in the game in the first place. For these to even be equivalent, you'd need to improve the value proposition the generator provides by at least a factor of 50, up to a factor of 150.
Tl;dr: Aluminum generator is at least 50x worse than an ancient condenser at making aluminum.
Adding up the base price for all the mats needed to build an aluminum generator leaves us with a price tag of $333,500,000. "But I have fifty and I haven't spent billions making them". Good for you. We're using base prices to avoid talking about specific colonies. Anyways, the generators make about 4.8 aluminum (1k ea.) a minute. Minus the cost of the steel (350 ea.) used, you end up making an average of $4,380/min. on average at full production capacity. At this rate it would take 76141.55 minutes (1269 hours) of continuous, capacity production just to cover the cost of making the generator in the first place.
But that's not what happens, is it? Because this game handles work like none other I've seen: the workers take breaks for sleep and recreation. At any given time, only about a third of the colony is working at any given time. So really, those 1269 hours and multiply by three. The time it'll actually take to pay itself off will be closer to 3807 hours. Over five months of idling. Consider the alternative: Sell all the mats you were about to waste and just get 300,000 aluminum right now.
Compare this to the Ancient Condenser. With a base cost of 135,900,000, it's almost 2.5 times cheaper than the generator right off the bat. On top of this, it makes a constant 4114 water ($20 ea.) for $82,285/min. without workers. At this rate, it would pay for itself in 1651.56 minutes (27 hours).
So not only does the generator cost 2.5x as much as the condenser, it produces 20-60x less while also consuming useful materials and taking up four times the space. Add in any possible considerations for housing and entertaining extra workers, and you start to wonder why this is even in the game in the first place. For these to even be equivalent, you'd need to improve the value proposition the generator provides by at least a factor of 50, up to a factor of 150.
Tl;dr: Aluminum generator is at least 50x worse than an ancient condenser at making aluminum.
This is.. correct, theoretically.
Aluminum generator was some time ago the only way to produce aluminium for several map (in human colony), or using the Med. Recycling Center.. But the production in this case was very very low. Lis was a little easier because they have the Black market. For online game, the only "fast" solution was to make a Insect map and heavy farm aluminium, uranium (because don't was not very cheap either), gold, clay, diamond.. or even wood.
Today aluminum generator are old school, now we have Center for Relic Studies, a relative cheap way to produce Aluminum. But they consume Alien Relic, and without the Research converter, the only way to produce the resource in offline game is by the Auntie Belles Cupcake Factory...
Aluminum generator was some time ago the only way to produce aluminium for several map (in human colony), or using the Med. Recycling Center.. But the production in this case was very very low. Lis was a little easier because they have the Black market. For online game, the only "fast" solution was to make a Insect map and heavy farm aluminium, uranium (because don't was not very cheap either), gold, clay, diamond.. or even wood.
Today aluminum generator are old school, now we have Center for Relic Studies, a relative cheap way to produce Aluminum. But they consume Alien Relic, and without the Research converter, the only way to produce the resource in offline game is by the Auntie Belles Cupcake Factory...
Sigh, now i remember :D
You have analyzed only one part of the problem, the in/out resources, and the resources need for the construction just in money term.
In the old day, alien artifact was a pretty ugly resource to farm, only from Deep Dig Site, or Lis colony from black market (not 5-10.. for a decent production they were need it hundreds of them..). Even the microchip, without Alien factory (should be the first priority), was hard to farm.
And of course the power.. 850. Seems stupid now, if you can plant Diamond Crystal Reactor like mushrooms, but in the old day.. 850 power for every Aluminum Generator was a lot of power.
In the old day, the aluminum was one of the primary problem, without aluminum you can't have adv. robot factory, pretty much indispensable for maintain the Center for artificial learning..
Without aluminum you can't build most of the end game building..
You have analyzed only one part of the problem, the in/out resources, and the resources need for the construction just in money term.
In the old day, alien artifact was a pretty ugly resource to farm, only from Deep Dig Site, or Lis colony from black market (not 5-10.. for a decent production they were need it hundreds of them..). Even the microchip, without Alien factory (should be the first priority), was hard to farm.
And of course the power.. 850. Seems stupid now, if you can plant Diamond Crystal Reactor like mushrooms, but in the old day.. 850 power for every Aluminum Generator was a lot of power.
In the old day, the aluminum was one of the primary problem, without aluminum you can't have adv. robot factory, pretty much indispensable for maintain the Center for artificial learning..
Without aluminum you can't build most of the end game building..
It turned into a question of money the moment they let me buy and sell materials with the freight and space elevator.
You can't compare the modern game, against the old game.
The aluminum generator is old school, build 100-200 building today for farm aluminum make no sense, like make no sense to build 100 Dig Site for Alien artifact.
We have already better solution, even for offline game.
Even the money.. now is very easy to become a billionaire (lol, is very easy to become a trillionaire..), in the old game, buy the artifact and aluminium for build generator and power supplies, was out question (at least for me, online game).
The aluminum generator is old school, build 100-200 building today for farm aluminum make no sense, like make no sense to build 100 Dig Site for Alien artifact.
We have already better solution, even for offline game.
Even the money.. now is very easy to become a billionaire (lol, is very easy to become a trillionaire..), in the old game, buy the artifact and aluminium for build generator and power supplies, was out question (at least for me, online game).
None of the cost vers resource income has ever been very good ,
Heck even now the research gen brings in 70 UR (( 4 tiles space ))wile the alien UR plant brings in 72 UR at 20 tiles space . As for the cupcake factory one can run at most two of the research centers and eat instructions so fast so two aI buildings needed .
The converter is the only way to make al - UR - alien arts and relics that can keep up with demand .
Honestly bast did make the game into a buy your way trough early game is 5 times faster to just import al AND ur and Chips and even alien arts .
It really goes against game play the end tek should not be a money using research converter .
end tek = alien for most things ( for plastic and steel and gold its works )
But for UR its bad .
end game cup cake factory is and has always been useless Only solution before the converter was a sub bug world .
But that did solve the al and alien arts issues as the end game research center takes care of al and arts .
Conclusion is the alien UR plant could be 5 times as good to match the converter rates .
and the cup cake factory could be well 5 times as good but The converter would still out do it .
That would just mean you could run them and alest gain relics fast enough to build more research centers .
But to match the converter the cup cake factory would need a boost of 10 to 15 times better .
I really dont get Bast programming style one one hand a well designed base building game on the other income that is ether very small or very large with little balance in ether direction .
The game would have been up better if buildings could be upgraded ( lv 1 steel plant first one lv 2 steel plant 2nd lv 3 more income so less buildings needed all the way up to alien which could be say a lv 10 building .
Do this with all buildings that produce any resources EXCEPT money .
Then NIX the converter
Bast maybe a new my colony REMIX take what you learned from this game and make a upgraded version
My colony Universe - My colony Galaxy's
Heck watch every one rush to buy it lol
Heck even now the research gen brings in 70 UR (( 4 tiles space ))wile the alien UR plant brings in 72 UR at 20 tiles space . As for the cupcake factory one can run at most two of the research centers and eat instructions so fast so two aI buildings needed .
The converter is the only way to make al - UR - alien arts and relics that can keep up with demand .
Honestly bast did make the game into a buy your way trough early game is 5 times faster to just import al AND ur and Chips and even alien arts .
It really goes against game play the end tek should not be a money using research converter .
end tek = alien for most things ( for plastic and steel and gold its works )
But for UR its bad .
end game cup cake factory is and has always been useless Only solution before the converter was a sub bug world .
But that did solve the al and alien arts issues as the end game research center takes care of al and arts .
Conclusion is the alien UR plant could be 5 times as good to match the converter rates .
and the cup cake factory could be well 5 times as good but The converter would still out do it .
That would just mean you could run them and alest gain relics fast enough to build more research centers .
But to match the converter the cup cake factory would need a boost of 10 to 15 times better .
I really dont get Bast programming style one one hand a well designed base building game on the other income that is ether very small or very large with little balance in ether direction .
The game would have been up better if buildings could be upgraded ( lv 1 steel plant first one lv 2 steel plant 2nd lv 3 more income so less buildings needed all the way up to alien which could be say a lv 10 building .
Do this with all buildings that produce any resources EXCEPT money .
Then NIX the converter
Bast maybe a new my colony REMIX take what you learned from this game and make a upgraded version
My colony Universe - My colony Galaxy's
Heck watch every one rush to buy it lol
