5 Secret projects you can't live without.

1. Weather Paradigm - a 'must have'
2. Virtual World. I get extremely annoyed when I miss it, especially when I play the University, which I do a lot
3. Command Nexus - really, what is the point of a green unit?
4. Cloudbase Academy - turns every base into a powerhouse
5. Cyborg Factory - this is a 'will have' - I either build it or take it

Others that I really want are the Nano Factory, Maritime Control Center and the Empath Guild
 
I just finished a lengthy drawn out game where I actually had the cloning vats for the last 30 turns of the game. Didn't like it one bit! With population expanding so rapidly I felt constrained to keep up with hab complexes&domes and food supply--definitely not worth the trouble.
 
I just finished a lengthy drawn out game where I actually had the cloning vats for the last 30 turns of the game. Didn't like it one bit! With population expanding so rapidly I felt constrained to keep up with hab complexes&domes and food supply--definitely not worth the trouble.

The point of having it is that you can win by votes for supreme leader easily. You will easily outpace the AI population.
 
yeah, I know but that's my least fav victory condition. Plus I didn't need the vats to get there anyway.

It was one of those weird games where Lal got hemmed in early and I quickly outpaced him because of my great starting location.
 
yeah, I know but that's my least fav victory condition. Plus I didn't need the vats to get there anyway.

It was one of those weird games where Lal got hemmed in early and I quickly outpaced him because of my great starting location.

True, it is not always satisfying to win by vote, but the vats are still useful for a military game (or economic or whatever), build some sats and domes and you will have so much research and cash from specialists you won't know what to do with it. Definitely one of the most powerful mid-late game projects. Although many games are all but over by this point.
 
I just finished a lengthy drawn out game where I actually had the cloning vats for the last 30 turns of the game. Didn't like it one bit! With population expanding so rapidly I felt constrained to keep up with hab complexes&domes and food supply--definitely not worth the trouble.

Why bother keeping up? You can just restrict the population growth to whatever you're comfortable with.
 
I just finished a lengthy drawn out game where I actually had the cloning vats for the last 30 turns of the game. Didn't like it one bit! With population expanding so rapidly I felt constrained to keep up with hab complexes&domes and food supply--definitely not worth the trouble.

I always used to love the cloning vats because suddenly you can run specialists everywhere and your research and economy is still growing like crazy. And who cares about food supply, let that last citizen starve until your next sky hydroponics lab is up and running or simply scrap the habitation dome when you don't want any more growth in a base. Another trick I also use after cloning vats is to let fully grown cities build colony pods and increase the popuation further in smaller bases. Especially good for those will-starve-the-next-turn bases, as when you build a colony pod every turn it never grows into starvation and adds to your total population anyway. I seem to recall that you can add citizens beyond the limits of hab domes this way.
 
:mischief:one and only weather




Tis is powa for thoose that haven't understood how res specials work,
one boerhole on a mineral and a condenser on a nut .
Four formars as miriam has the support

Fluke game tough trance as first with miriam never have that happend before.

Weather at all costs! Its really good.

The again im a builder kind of guy.
Merchant.. doesent matter but nice for crawlars ftw.*
Human genome... fixes your normal cityspam.

but overall weather weather just gives and keep on giving.
T:):lol:hen copters wonder. just as important as weather.


*(Spam settlers in cap before hab issues and you will have massive res)
 
In no particular order:

Empath Guild
Hunter-Seeker Algorithm
Maritime Control Center
Weather Paradigm
Xenoempathy Dome - unless playing on a water world

Virtual World - if playing as University
 
My top 5 have been mentioned quite a few times already in this thead, so I don't see any need for further explanation. No specific order:

Hunter-seeker Algorithm
Human Genome Project
Virtual World
Cloud Base Academy
Cyborg Factory

Projects almost making it to top 5:
Weather Paradigm - Really nice to have early on, but in the end it doesn't matter that much.
Cloning Vats - Gotta love the pop-boom.
Xenoempathy Dome - I really hate when I miss this one. Makes dropping so much harder, when the enemy got Aerospace Complexes in almost every city. And in the end when fungus is better than forest it helps alot as well.
 
My top 5:

1. Cloudbase Academy. Except for free Aerospace Complexes, +2 to all air unit movement is too invaluable not to have this.
2. Maritime Control Center. Same for naval units.
3. Virtual World. Saves a LOT of money and trouble in early and mid game.
4. Longevity Vaccine. Big -2 Drones if the Economics are Planned. Very powerful effect, especially combined with VW.
5. Planetary Datalinks. Saves you a lot of Research points, giving you some technologies with secondary importance like all those Optical Computers, Superconductor, etc. for free.

Ofc, there are overpowered projects like The Telepathic Matrix out there, but I didn't mention them cause they are available way too late in the game, when nearly everything is already decided.
 
Isn't the Weather Paradigm actually the best Project in the game bar none? That alone will give you a massive turn advantage. I can't think of anything else that comes anywhere close. Possibly the Virtual World as the University.
 
1. hunter-seeker , 2. network backbone , 3. cloning vats , 4. command nexus - in that order
 
2+ years later and i'm rethinking...
My old picks were Merchant Exchange / Cloning Vats / Cloudbase / Weather / Supercollider
I'd drop ME and Supercollider on further inspection - they're not nearly as useful as I once thought.

CV, Cloudbase, and Weather Paradigm are still tops. I don't automatically forest everything like before, as Env. Econ is pretty far away without a direct beeline, and 2 food/tile is useful for building up stronger cities + running mines and boreholes.
For the rest? It's hard to say, CN can be a real timesaver if I buy new troops in recently captured cities, as is Cyborg Factory (though having both is close to overkill). Usually I will have only a few military cities to pump out units, and building Command Centers is not terribly hard.
Citizen's Defense Force is a good for denial purposes, as AIs and humans with it require a lot more work to consume.
In SMAX, the Planetary Energy Grid is a huge boon for a sprawling empire, and something I like to build in order to convert to rushbuying everything sooner.

Overrated - Virtual World (unless playing as University, in which case it's pretty good for colony spam), HSA since you should be picking off enemy probe teams and using defensive probes regardless of faction, most of the late-game projects since they arrive too late to change the game.
 
Oh yeah, Planetary Energy Grid. Good lord that project is overpowered. It's probably second best after Weather Paradigm.
 
Isn't the Weather Paradigm actually the best Project in the game bar none? That alone will give you a massive turn advantage. I can't think of anything else that comes anywhere close. Possibly the Virtual World as the University.

The Cloning Vats and the Cloudbase Academy in SMAX give comparable advantages. In particular, I never build the Cloning Vats (or pop-boom) because it makes the game Easy Mode, even on Transcend. They do come later, so they provide fewer bonuses over the course of the game, but their advantages are even bigger than the Weather Paradigm bonuses anyway. I would say it's a close three-way contest between those three.

After that, nothing really comes close. The Virtual World is huge for the University but not for anyone else. The Human Genome Project is great for being so early (Clinical Immortality sucks despite being HGP + The Empath Guild since it comes so late), but its effects are slower and more subtle. The Empath Guild is really strong on large maps; not nearly as good on smaller ones (real advantage is the ability to tech broker before the AIs meet each other--the extra Governor votes are just gravy). The Hunter-Seeker Algorithm is also great, even in SMAX, but its strictly defensive posture makes it weaker. SMAX's Planetary Energy Grid is also really strong, especially for Free Market strategies.
 
Manifold harmonics and ownership of the manifold nexus (productbably)

necessary deterrence against fungal warheads that otherwise wipe your production is to have enough planet rating etc to benefit from fungus

edit:

neural amp
cloudbase
weather paradigm
virtual world
human genome
 
I need to increase the difficulty I usually play at, because no Secret Project is completely essential to my play style, save for the obvious Ascent to Transcendence.

Now, I have Secret Projects that I like more than others.

I'm a huge fan of any Secret Project that instantly builds facilities at every base, because you know...instant facilities at every base. I think said facilities are maintenance free too. I'm going to include Virtual World in this group as well. I give special attention to the Cloudbase Academy because I wuv having my marginal bases spam Orbital Satellites. ;D

I like the Xenoempathy Dome....pity that roads/monorails don't require energy maintenance per turn, because then the Xenoempathy Dome would be freaking awesome....it would be even more awesome if the XD was available sooner in the game. ;D
 
I need to increase the difficulty I usually play at, because no Secret Project is completely essential to my play style...

Well, if you're playing really well, then this should be the case anyway. On the higher difficulty levels, it's tough to absolutely sure that you can get any of the projects. Thus you should be prepared to play without most of them.
 
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