Where/why/how many bases do you build?

[homunculus]

i start in asia (the greatest money source) and build the second base somewhere near central america (well, unless i want a perfect base without interceptors and firebird, that is. in this case first base at the island near antarctica and the second base in asia).

as for nation happiness it is enough to build just two bases, one in asia and the second in central america, and most nations will be exuberant.
this would let you save money from not having to pay upkeep for too many bases.
assuming you start using energy weapons (PB  , laser) on your interceptors as soon as possible, you also don't need to pay a lot for sparrowhawk missiles.
and when you have gathered about 2 billion cash then you can build the rest of the bases at once and get radar coverage sooner that way.

btw the question about multiple radars in same base having higher detection rate (or not) is still without any answer or hint about it, i wonder which should be the right forum to ask it, tech support or what? or should i start a separate thread about it in tactics?

[ShipIt]

For multiple radars in a base the percentaces do not add up. But each radar has its own chances of detecting the UFO.

[krilain]

For multiple radars in a base the percentaces do not add up. But each radar has its own chances of detecting the UFO.

Is it written in the tips of the day that a radar left on its own has only a probability inferior to 1 to detect an UFO? I dont remember, but if not, it is to be added I think.

Edit : I checked the wiki page and found only this one related to radars :

"_You can increase a base's radar range by building an advanced radar facility. Remember that you have to research it first!"

[geever]

But each radar has its own chances of detecting the UFO.

This isn't true! If we are speaking about radar buildings in a base. 2 radar buildings are the same as 1. Only the max building level (normal/advanced) matters and only in detection/tracking range.

-geever

[krilain]

This isn't true! If we are speaking about radar buildings in a base. 2 radar buildings are the same as 1. Only the max building level (normal/advanced) matters and only in detection/tracking range.

-geever

So the tip of the day should be : Don't waste your money in building many radars in a single base, for you would pay for not any advantage.

(Of course in a better english)

[geever]

So the tip of the day should be : Don't waste your money in building many radars in a single base, for you would pay for not any advantage.

(Of course in a better english)

We will not add anything like that.

Building an advanced radar beside the normal one is good for the time it finishes, after that point it is wise to remove the old one to reduce upkeep cost. This system can change in the future, I just described how it works currently.

-geever

[homunculus]

thanks for the clarification about the multiple radars, it has been years that i have been puzzled about it (not that i have been playing actively all that time).

i was thinking like: in an average base i want 2 saracens, 1 dragon, 1 firebird, 2 workshops for dismantling (to fuel the dragon that is used against harvesters).
so i would have free space for, say, more radars.
with more radars having better detection, the game would become more or less impossible to win (because ufo-s cannot land and create a base).

[Sarin]

2 saracens, isn't that kinda too much? They're good only against fighters, supply ships and scouts, on anything bigger you need either mob them or AM powered fighter. Hell, even if you have stiletto+saracen, you need a good SAM fire to get Harvester down.

[homunculus]

as i wrote, i use dragon against harvester.

i use 2 saracens against fighter because i don't want my saracens to take much damage.
because the next fighter might appear soon.
maybe this habit is a remnant from the time the ufo-s were more abundant.

[geever]

thanks for the clarification about the multiple radars, it has been years that i have been puzzled about it (not that i have been playing actively all that time).

Hehe, I had to look it up in the code either.

-geever

[Quizer]

First base I build in midwest Turkey, which gets me all of Europe (except Iceland, Svalbard and the part of Greenland that belongs to Europe), damn near all of the Middle East, and parts of Russia and Africa as well. That lets me keep four of eight sponsors happy right off the bat. This base gets 2 workshops, 4 labs and 2 interceptors to begin with. Later on, I may take down some of the labs for more interceptors, since two interceptors have trouble bringing down harvesters.

The second base is in northern Thailand, getting me almost all of Asia (except Japan, unfortunately) and part of Oceania, including India. This base gets no research, but 4 workshops (maybe 5, but 4 would be neater as far as use of living quarters is concerned).

I plan for all of my bases to have garrisons and interceptors. I don't plan to use SAM bases much (unless I later find out I need to) and I don't plan to spend any base slots on base defense weapons. Having soldiers in every base spreads the precious EXP rather thin, though, so maybe I'll limit myself to 16-24 soldiers total which I hire to whichever base I currently need them at. But I'm pretty far from having to worry about that - it's only May and I just got the second base's radar operational.

For all of you who like to play around with base layouts, check out my Easy Radar Rangefinding mod in the mods section. It makes trying out base locations a lot more convenient. I used it to work out the layout in the attached screenshot, which I plan to use. It's designed to maximize detection coverage on all the landmasses, not just population hotspots. I may still shift the order of base building around, and I'll probably move the russia base a little more northeast if I build it that late, to get less redundant landmass and cover more ocean instead. Hmm... maybe I should also drop a radar tower on Hawaii... that's bound to be in the Cities list, right?

(About Dragons: How difficult are they to keep fed? Does each unit of fuel they have in their status screen require one unit of antimatter?)
(About starting aircraft: which do you prefer, Stilettos or Saracens, and why?)
(About aircraft parameters: Is the 'damage' parameter in the script files the hitpoint value? Does the 'range' parameter determine weapon range? I thought the weapon alone determines the range...)

[H-Hour]

(About Dragons: How difficult are they to keep fed? Does each unit of fuel they have in their status screen require one unit of antimatter?)

I think each unit of fuel is one antimatter. Not sure though. By the time I got Dragons I found it pretty easy to keep them supplied, but I run a pretty heavy production line. Was around 40 workers when I built my first dragon, now at 80 (Nov 1).

(About starting aircraft: which do you prefer, Stilettos or Saracens, and why?)

Personally, stilettos. They're better fighters early on and I usually can't take advantage of a Saracen's long distance coverage anyway. By the time they get to the other side of the planet, the UFO I saw will be gone. If you use interceptors to patrol, though, then it's probably the best craft because it can stay in the air longer.

(About aircraft parameters: Is the 'damage' parameter in the script files the hitpoint value? Does the 'range' parameter determine weapon range? I thought the weapon alone determines the range...)

Yes, damage = hitpoints. Range determines how far it gets on a single tank of fuel, I believe. Check out the commented section at the top of aircraftmanagent.ufo. It describes all or most of the parameters.

[Quizer]

I think each unit of fuel is one antimatter. Not sure though. By the time I got Dragons I found it pretty easy to keep them supplied, but I run a pretty heavy production line. Was around 40 workers when I built my first dragon, now at 80 (Nov 1).

I see. Then I guess I probably won't have too much trouble if I keep dismantling those harvesters. Can you transfer antimatter from base to base once you have antimatter storage in multiple bases?

Personally, stilettos. They're better fighters early on and I usually can't take advantage of a Saracen's long distance coverage anyway. By the time they get to the other side of the planet, the UFO I saw will be gone. If you use interceptors to patrol, though, then it's probably the best craft because it can stay in the air longer.

Unfortunately, patrolling works for UFOs in the air only, at least for now, so it's of limited use. I've been using Stilettos so far because they can carry more weapons. As far as air-to-air combat in this game is concerned, the best policy seems to be "do unto others before they do unto you"...


Thanks for answering my questions!

[H-Hour]

Can you transfer antimatter from base to base once you have antimatter storage in multiple bases?

Yes.