How to build your first mine ? (space strategy ?)

[EstebanT]

Hello,

We have just researshed the needed technology to make base on the moon.

I managed to probe the moon as soon as we got mission to moon and then with another tech I build a base on moon.

I read it is important to grab the good ones before the other faction goes too.

Now space mining has been researshed + the private tech for outpost.


And there I'm a bit lost...

Until I have functionnal mines, I must build everything from earth and use boost to send it in space ?
Building a earth habitat with space dock will not help until I harvest material from space ?

My problem is that I read many guides giving timeline for expension and they mention mines in plural by 2024. The boost cost for one mine module is what I earn in a year. So I guess I did something wrong or did not understand ?

I grabed Kazakstan for early boost, france / germany and russia. And I have one site in USA. (I can't get more for now). Noone has USA or china at the moment.
Germany has space program now and invest into boost.

I thought it was a nice start ?


So what should I do ?
- Build earth orbital to build there and send to moon ? (does it lower boost cost ?)
- Wait one year for first mine and build from space from then ?
- Grab different countries ?


Also : how can I know how much energy a base has ?
I need solar pane on moon base before mining I guess, adding to boost cost ?

And too finish : it seems the tech for better boost are already researshed except for the last (solid fuel, etc..). So I guess I can't easily improve my boost through tech ?


Thanks a lot for help in going to space successfully :)

[Mistfox]

Skip the Earth habs and the Moon, the Moon really isn't that rich in resources. Save for either Mars or Ceres/Vesta. Go for the tech "Advanced Chemical Rockets" to get bonuses for boost and cost cutting for your new bases. Get Nuclear Freighters too. Anything that cuts boost cost, get it.

Your first base/mine should be a general purpose one that gives all resources. It might be slower than a specialized mine but you won't run out of something that you really need like radioactives for fission piles. Remember that if you are short of one material, you've to send all the way back to Earth for it which costs time and a lot of boost.

[EstebanT]

As I was on this road, I built my first mines on moon. Now I realize they don't event cover their cost... Or maybe water and volatile is cheap compared to the three other materials ?

I hope there is a way to improve their output or decrease their cost because at the moment going to space does not look that good :)

[Badger BrownCoat]

Originally posted by Mistfox:

Skip the Earth habs and the Moon, the Moon really isn't that rich in resources. Save for either Mars or Ceres/Vesta. Go for the tech "Advanced Chemical Rockets" to get bonuses for boost and cost cutting for your new bases. Get Nuclear Freighters too. Anything that cuts boost cost, get it.

Your first base/mine should be a general purpose one that gives all resources. It might be slower than a specialized mine but you won't run out of something that you really need like radioactives for fission piles. Remember that if you are short of one material, you've to send all the way back to Earth for it which costs time and a lot of boost.

that one said everything I think I could say without spoilers and so +1.
your approach of course will vary by your own approach but for *most* factions your approach is pretty much dictated by the choice you made when you picked one ( mostly, add caveat etc etc )
the interface bonuses are nice, but - there's alot of --- warnings about relyining too much on earth-luna.
don't underestimate lagrange points - alhough they provide no obvious bonus- and look inwards ( system wise ) is my own advice-
but mostly FogHat up there covered it imo
nothing wrong with early moon/earth stuff- just - think of that as no more than steppings stones. imo

Originally posted by ps/edit:

also this is much of the same discussion]
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1176470/discussions/0/3467235293753178522/

[fortydayweekend]

Originally posted by EstebanT:

As I was on this road, I built my first mines on moon. Now I realize they don't event cover their cost... Or maybe water and volatile is cheap compared to the three other materials ?

I hope there is a way to improve their output or decrease their cost because at the moment going to space does not look that good :)

A lot of sites don't cover their costs unless you are desperately short of something.

First moon mine really only needs W/V/metals and it's just to get you to better sites more quickly. You can abandon the moon later on if it isn't that good.

After that you want to prioritize high fissiles and noble metals to start building stockpiles. I feel like the other resources basically come naturally from those mines too but later you might add a couple of high W/V/M sites.

Yep you can boost the output, with orgs, tech, and upgrades. But the upgrades aren't always worth it either.

Getting to good sites first isn't actually important, a single ship stripped down ships with just marines can take over any human mine you want a little bit later on.

[流れ星]

You can just exploit the diplomacy system and buy the first mine from another faction.
Even without that, there's no need to rush. The inner asteroids have everything you could ever need in abundance and you will have more boost points than you can put to use rather sooner than later anyway. The target date for being ready to build spaceships is somewhere around 2030. On normal difficulty. There's plenty of time to get your space industry going. Even if you take until 2035, it's still fine. Just keep your threat level low. Once you have a small stockpile of space resources, you can build new colonies quickly with ease.

[Space Viking]

I am not sure if asteroids are randomized from game-to-game but there are some good ones to go for. Look at the ones inside the orbit of Mars and there is one in particular that is good. 1951 Lick I believe? It is pretty close to Earth (depends on orbital locations of course) which is a bonus. There are a few other ones in the asteroid belt that are pretty good. As the game goes on I send out probes to all the asteroids, moons, and etc. eventually.

Otherwise, yeah, go for Ceres. Try to get the good spots there but watch your mission control! If you exceed it your habs may defect.

Once Mercury is available that is the jackpot planet. Because it is close to the sun solar arrays provide tons of power.

Note that later the aliens will start attacking your habs. If you are spread out too much (like on 20 different asteroids) you will find it impossible to defend. That's why Ceres is nice with its multiple spots.

Do not bother to go for Jupiter or Saturn early on. The aliens will destroy any habs you set up there almost immediately. Plus it takes years to get there.

[gimmethegepgun]

Originally posted by Space Viking:

I am not sure if asteroids are randomized from game-to-game

All prospecting sites are randomized each game, within expected parameters.

[BrowneHawk]

I disagree on skipping the moon. To set down your habs you will need base metal and waters. The moon has both of these. Gaining these even though it will cost upkeep for a few others, its not enough to hurt your boost that bad. You will get your influence and small research bonus for getting there first, which early game is good.

If you're doing well on boost mixed with having your space econ started from the moon, you will 100% get to mars first, and even have time to grab the lions share of the sites, sometimes even all of them. Once your mars mines are going, just use the basic moon base as trade bait to one of the other faction.

Before moving on with ground habs, you will want one station in mars orbit also, you will need it later.

Moon to mars to Merc moves pretty fast so keep in mind. Its a good idea to have the construction mod research. This comes in handy for Merc because soon as you're able to probe it, you can build an orbital. Build a solar collector. construction module and bam, once that builds you can speed colonize merc.