Tall vs Wide?

[Nintz]

I know nothing about Beyond Earth. Aside from the fact that it is pretty much Alpha Centauri 2/Civ in space. At least from what I've heard. What I want to know however is how does the game handle the aspect of tall empires vs wide empires? Civ 4 handled this via maintenence, Civ 5 via happiness. Generally, Civ 4 made it worthwhile to expand, but not necessarily imperative in all circumstances. Civ 5 seemed more like the default and necessary way to grow in power, thought this was helped by the expansions from my limited time playing them.

As someone that generally drastically prefers tall nations, is my playstyle supported in this game in a logical and competitive manner? Does choosing to build tall rather than wide actively gimp your nation? I am mostly referring to a moderate level of difficulty here. I recognize that Diety-level strategies normally require much heavier expansion.

 

[Camikaze]

In Beyond Earth, this is no longer a dichotomy. The key is to build wide empires that are also tall. Because trade routes are capped per city rather than per empire, a tall & wide empire is entirely viable (and the best way to play).

The key with your playstyle is to not think of going wide as being at the expense of going tall. Just maintain sufficient internal trade routes and you can have both.