Martin Alvito
Real men play SMAC
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2010
- Messages
- 2,332
When you get 
from a Resource Pod, the game gives you an amount equal to 20% of the value of the tech you're currently researching. That's pretty miniscule when you're working on a first-layer tech, but every first-layer tech unlocks a third-layer tech that costs nearly ten times as much.
You may also have noticed that the AIs aren't quite so good at gobbling up all the huts/ruins/pods in this game as they have been in the past. The staggered start keeps them from spamming the map full of Explorers, and often times all the early landings happen a long ways off. It's therefore often in your best interest to send early Explorers into the great unknown to contest with other factions for pods (ignoring what you find nearby), and use an Explorer build timed for around when you unlock the first-layer tech to sweep up the nearby pods. That maximizes the bang for the buck when popping each pod.
There isn't much to remember when taking advantage of this. All you have to do is switch your research over to the expensive third-layer tech before popping each pod, then switch research back to the inexpensive tech you're actually researching before the end of the turn.
If things go unusually well it is possible to end up with results like the attached screenshot (Biowell with PAC on turn 27?), which could get really unpleasant with Koslov and the Battlesuit slingshot.
Enjoy the free until they patch this out!
from a Resource Pod, the game gives you an amount equal to 20% of the value of the tech you're currently researching. That's pretty miniscule when you're working on a first-layer tech, but every first-layer tech unlocks a third-layer tech that costs nearly ten times as much.You may also have noticed that the AIs aren't quite so good at gobbling up all the huts/ruins/pods in this game as they have been in the past. The staggered start keeps them from spamming the map full of Explorers, and often times all the early landings happen a long ways off. It's therefore often in your best interest to send early Explorers into the great unknown to contest with other factions for pods (ignoring what you find nearby), and use an Explorer build timed for around when you unlock the first-layer tech to sweep up the nearby pods. That maximizes the
bang for the buck when popping each pod.There isn't much to remember when taking advantage of this. All you have to do is switch your research over to the expensive third-layer tech before popping each pod, then switch research back to the inexpensive tech you're actually researching before the end of the turn.
If things go unusually well it is possible to end up with results like the attached screenshot (Biowell with PAC on turn 27?), which could get really unpleasant with Koslov and the Battlesuit slingshot.
Enjoy the free
until they patch this out!
