Factories

[JocaRamiro]

What are they good for?

Yes, I know that if you have 4, you can build a shipyard. Is there anything else? It would seem reasonable that having these would speed production of ships, and of other facilities. Does it? If so, by how much?

[Ufnv]

What are they good for?

Yes, I know that if you have 4, you can build a shipyard. Is there anything else? It would seem reasonable that having these would speed production of ships, and of other facilities. Does it? If so, by how much?

No, nothing else. This means that to have a really good production facility, you need to dedicate an Earthlike (or even Gaia) planet to the production.

[JocaRamiro]

Hi Ufnv,

Now I am confused. You say, to have a good production facility, you must devote an entire planet to factories. But you also say a factory adds nothing to productivity. How does having a dedicated planet provide benefit?

Also, why, when I build a ship, does construction time vary widely from planet to planet. A more indepth discussion of the production process would be very welcome.

[Ufnv]

Hi Ufnv,

Now I am confused. You say, to have a good production facility, you must devote an entire planet to factories. But you also say a factory adds nothing to productivity. How does having a dedicated planet provide benefit?

Also, why, when I build a ship, does construction time vary widely from planet to planet. A more indepth discussion of the production process would be very welcome.

I mean, the dedicated planet (especially some Earthlike one) can build a lot of factories and this linearly increases the productivity. More factories means more production points. And the ships are built much faster on a planet with more production points.

There are just no more special buildings that generate production points, only factories and orbital shipyards.

[JocaRamiro]

OK,

More factories improve ship production. This makes sense.

What about production of new mining and other resource extraction facilities? Does having a factory make these get created more quickly? Ditto for farms and research centers?

[Ufnv]

OK,

More factories improve ship production. This makes sense.

What about production of new mining and other resource extraction facilities? Does having a factory make these get created more quickly? Ditto for farms and research centers?

Yes, factories make them build quicker, but also can occupy the space that otherwise could be used by some facility.

You can check the bars on the bottom left corner - when you queue a new factory you can see some space for factories/research becomes blocked.

[JocaRamiro]

Dear Ufnv,

Yes, it is clear, and understood, that factories take up more space, and now I know they are helpful in production.

Imagine two planets:

1) I build organics mines one after another.
2) I build a factory, and then build organics mines, one after another.

The two planets are equal in every respect. After how many years does planet 2's cumulative output, exceed that of planet 1? What is the trajectory over time?

Hmm, what if I build two factories first? Three?

Joca Ramiro

[Ufnv]

1) I build organics mines one after another.
2) I build a factory, and then build organics mines, one after another.

The two planets are equal in every respect. After how many years does planet 2's cumulative output, exceed that of planet 1? What is the trajectory over time?

When you start from building a factory first, you give the boost to the construction capabilities of the planet, so next you have organic mines building quicker, thus after some time the planet #2 will be extracting more organics. However, as time passes, the second planet will reach the limit of the mines that is lower than one of the first planet because of the factory built. So, in the long run #1 will be producing more organics.
The best approach is to combine. Build the factory first, then, when the limit is reached, destroy the factory and build more farms that were blocked by your factory. Thus you will optimise both output and construction time. The auto-build AI does exactly this when you set some economics policy.

[JocaRamiro]

Hello Ufnv,

This is helpful - as always.

However, you have opened the door to a followup question. It is clear there are limits to the facilities on planets. However, it is not so clear which types are in competition for a given slot.

You say that if i destroy a factory, that would allow another mine or another farm. I feel that substitution does not always hold. If I destroy a mine, can I then build more farms? What about research facilities. There seem to be some slots that can take a range of facility types, but others that are not dedicated. NOTE, I can already see that some kinds of planet do not allow some facility types.

[Ufnv]

Hello Ufnv,

This is helpful - as always.

However, you have opened the door to a followup question. It is clear there are limits to the facilities on planets. However, it is not so clear which types are in competition for a given slot.

You say that if i destroy a factory, that would allow another mine or another farm. I feel that substitution does not always hold. If I destroy a mine, can I then build more farms? What about research facilities. There seem to be some slots that can take a range of facility types, but others that are not dedicated. NOTE, I can already see that some kinds of planet do not allow some facility types.

You can mouse-over the bars at the bottom left - they say what blocks what kind of construction.