Hello Viento and all...
in response to the ruinious funding mechanism recently implemented few months ago... I am currently "fudging" along... in easy mode, trying to out think the base construction costs.
in old revisions (ver 2.3) that I played, I was able to build 6 bases, using this scheme.
1 or 2 base is "maximum" operations that is, handle 50 scientists, 30 workers, between 8 to 20 soldiers, alien containment, missle defense, hangars, etcetera... all lumped and shared together (in two bases).
the other 4 bases serves as "minimum" operations. each contains one of those building ... storage, command, radar, powerplant, defenses, maybe a single hangar, living quarter (necessary to defend against cleverly !@#$ass aliens). I don't place dropships in minimum operating bases. Of the soldiers, I rotate soldiers and should not contain more than six soldier in one minimum bases.
This schema allows me to establish optimum radar coverage, transporting injured (result of alien attacking) or rotating soldiers to the maximum using transport screen.
So compounding to this is the dev's surprises in their WIP's. Example the laser defenses. The appearance of new base building might restrict choices (based on fundings) between upgrading your bases and deploying new bases trying to cover the globe with radars.
So I feel that in a way dev's are not finished with the surprises and predict balance or mod's to occurr on funding mechanisms.
I had wondered on making a singular building variant; a combined 'half' of command & 'half' of living-quarter mod. For sake of this post, calling this building temporarily "subcommand".
This is at 2/3 cost of total (command and living-quarter) cost. Somehow restrict "subcommand" support capacity to four command-required buildings (I would pick radar, one defense, power unit and one extra). And perhaps make this building researchable after alien computer technology is researched.
Is always easier to fantasize than do the hardwork.
Roy