Solar Panels

[japerson34]

I read a 3 year old post where someone like me had problems with running out of energy as soon as they build factories. I followed the advice they gave but still failed miserably. The discovery of the knowledge took like 50 turns and then another 50 turns to research it. I got so bored just hitting the next turn button that I wasn't paying attention and ran out of food. I don't think I could have saved the game anyway because I need IP to do anything but need energy to run the factories which didn't happen soon enough. This game is so unforgiving. You have to do 25 things perfectly. Mess up one thing or try to skip a step. Dead. Very linear game.

[流れ星]

Before the last patch, you had a default basic energy production of 100. Now you have 30 or so, which makes the start a little harder. Make sure you produce enough energy before you go on a construction spree. That's all. You still have enough excess energy production at start to build one office building. With that building, you can produce enough research points to unlock the solar panels. It's the most efficient way in most cases, but not necessarily the only possible way. If you start in a forest or jungle area, you can also build organic furnaces for energy. On ruins you can burn scavenge points for energy, but scavenge points can also be converted to metals, rare metals and fuel, which may be the better option on maps with resource scarcities.

Food more or less takes care of itself now, the zones you create build unholy amounts of food production assets asap. Normally you can now feed tens of thousands of soldiers with the surplus food production of the private assets.

[AranwenL]

and if that( ^ ) doesn't work you can just cheat a couple of runs and figure out a build order that works for you regardless of what spawns around you.

although it's going to slow down the game a bit and might make it even more boring.

[cranky corvid]

Originally posted by 流れ星:

Before the last patch, you had a default basic energy production of 100. Now you have 30 or so, which makes the start a little harder. Make sure you produce enough energy before you go on a construction spree. That's all. You still have enough excess energy production at start to build one office building. With that building, you can produce enough research points to unlock the solar panels. It's the most efficient way in most cases, but not necessarily the only possible way. If you start in a forest or jungle area, you can also build organic furnaces for energy. On ruins you can burn scavenge points for energy, but scavenge points can also be converted to metals, rare metals and fuel, which may be the better option on maps with resource scarcities.

Food more or less takes care of itself now, the zones you create build unholy amounts of food production assets asap. Normally you can now feed tens of thousands of soldiers with the surplus food production of the private assets.

Furnaces, the reduced starting energy generation, and the mini-farms that allow the private economy to build food production fast are only in the beta patch - though it's due to be released as the live patch in a couple of days. But getting a Bureaucratic Office in order to research things in a reasonable amount of time is the right advice in either build.

[japerson34]

Thank you for your answers. Struggling through a video in hopes of learning something more. 8 minutes and 30 seconds into the video, he finally starts playing the game. He is highly recommended but boy does he ramble.

[Eltoron]

You always can start with higher tech level. Because starts are very different on different planets. Sometimes it's really-really slow and unforgiving with 1st tech level. I'll advise an earth-like planet for a first try with plenty of water and open farms and mild seasons. Just to have less pressure at the start. And maybe 3 or 4 tech level so you have more options from the start. A frozen radioactive waterless moon far from star (so you have no fuel, no forests to burn and your solar panels are completely ineffective) can crash a new player along without any help from aggressive AI.

[japerson34]

Originally posted by Eltoron:

You always can start with higher tech level. Because starts are very different on different planets. Sometimes it's really-really slow and unforgiving with 1st tech level. I'll advise an earth-like planet for a first try with plenty of water and open farms and mild seasons. Just to have less pressure at the start. And maybe 3 or 4 tech level so you have more options from the start. A frozen radioactive waterless moon far from star (so you have no fuel, no forests to burn and your solar panels are completely ineffective) can crash a new player along without any help from aggressive AI.

Thanks. I discovered my problem. In Generation Settings screen, Advancement Setting, I had it set to Slow (epic). In the game I am playing now, I am using spies better and discovering small power supplies in neutral territory which I then claim. So, I am doing better as I learn the settings. Little things here and there are helping.