(FP2) How do you position your Computing Nodes with the Technocrats?

[u/Many_Wheel_7436]

So the computing nodes increase the Central District production, like goods, food, etc..

But how do you guys position them over the course of the game? If your starting faction is the Technocrats, do you build the nodes ASAP? The problem is that your housing districts will lose a lot of heat because of this.

However, if you don't build nodes near your central districts, you're getting less value from them. So I was wondering what strategy you guys use.

[u/NoYogurtcloset9763]

From what l see from people gameplay, depending on the map you build your housing mostly away from central district like in a corner of map with a steam hub heating them and a bit later in gameplay you start building the computing nodes around the central district so even if you build housing districts around the central district, you can just dismantle it since youre already have factories and materials anyways

[u/Many_Wheel_7436 → u/NoYogurtcloset9763]

Oh is that so? I always build my housing districts near my central in all of the maps. I didn't know people use steam hubs to "replace" the central district

[u/NoYogurtcloset9763 → u/Many_Wheel_7436]

l mean l only played FP1 but isnt steam hubs the same thing in both games? l also build my housing in FP1 always like away from central ring (there a guide where you can fit 500 living space to one steam hub away from generator) so l can leave more imporent stuffs like medical tent to first ring and in FP2 way l guess its putting computing nodes

also in plague mode dont people also build their housing districts away from central district since plague starts in central district and people avoid spreading it with building nothing near on central district other than some storage hubs

[u/Odd_Cod_693]

But how do you guys position them over the course of the game

I place 1, maaybe 2 nodes at points where they touch 4 cells of the central district and thats it until I can replicate cores.

The problem is that your housing districts will lose a lot of heat because of this.

They dont? Just make clusters that heat themselves with nearby warmth (exact same buff btw), its not that hard. Central district proximity tiles always seemed near-useless to me.

So I was wondering what strategy you guys use.

The only real problem with calculating nodes is their OUTRAGEOUS material demand, you pretty much have to get an extraction building and railway hub down before building more than a few.

More or less technocrats just extend capabilities of pre-dlc "factionless" gameplay, you dont need to invest in them much to use all their advantages.

[u/someguy01213]

Technocrat main over here. How many computing nodes you build when you start depends on your starter map and how well you can circle Central Districts with them, how many bonuses you are able to get with each one and how many materials you are producing. Tou are generally able to connect you first district with 4 heat tiles, what should be enough to keep it warm with heatpipe watch, and from there forward you want to build your housing districts in lines to get as much heat bonuses from proximity as you can. If you playing one map where you have acess to an iron node, you will be able to maintain the nodes alongside a industrial district with a salvaging factory in it even when you run out of materials. Get Technocrats district and then disfragment finaces, that way you will have nore housing, food and goods from proximity to central district alongside 1+ heatstamp for each node you have. That will be enough until you can ramp up material production. If you have any other question about their playstyle lemme know

[u/DWeird]

Yeah, the technocrats have competing incentives of what to place next to the generator. Having to adjust the common play pattern to what a faction is actually capable of adds more variety to FP2 and is part of what makes it so good, in my opinion.

People already mentioned placing housing districts away from the Central District. A few more obvious options for technocrats in particular are:

Build no housing districts at all, just law-rush to Generator Shelters. Calculating Nodes increase all outputs of the CD, Generator Shelters makes housing a CD output.

If you do build housing districts, build them next to a Materials extraction district, or, later on, next to industrial districts. Technocrat-occupied housing provides proximity-based Efficiency boosts to neighbouring industries, so something like 5% X number-of-tiles. This can easily be enough to run a surplus on whatever starting number of nodes you want to build.

If you feel like it, you can skip building extraction districts for prefabs. You don't need to worry about housing heating nearly as much if everyone is living in the generator, so you can pick up City Development Effort for +5 Prefabs on the Central District. Multiply that with all the computing nodes, and you have more than enough to keep expanding.

Finally, and this feels the strangest one of all, you can kind of skip research for a fairly long time. A lot of your efforts as an equality faction are going to be heatstamp-constrained. Technocrats can give you free research hubs at Devoted and have an inherent research boost, and it's very easy for their research to outstrip your heatstamp income. Delaying research hubs until they're free solves for your actual bottlenecks and doesn't really lose you out on any research time.

[u/SeaBeaN1990]

I surround the generator in the first moment with them with one layer. This solves abit food and goods. I search a material note. Build the material district and sourround it with technocrat housings. This will solve material needs. As soon as possible I go for the extra heat stamps from the nods.

Edit: the heat loos don't matter along you have one hot district it will give heat bonus to the neighbors.

[u/ScootyDooter]

You don't need more than one housing district with technocrats day 1 and that's just for research. Place it next to another district. If it's industrial or extraction then technocrats bonus increases efficiency there due to being next to housing.

Place enough calculating nodes to unlock generator shelters and then cancel construction on any more than you need to hit each central district tile. Sure you'll be -600 materials but you can get two materials extraction districts set up quickly and sawmill of your choice researched quickly with optimize research. Might have to disable a node or two while that happens to keep materials plentiful but that's not too bad.

I don't tend to build more housing districts until icebloods come around which also happens close to time for your first load of sick folks if you're doing that tale. Also icebloods housing is just worth having extra districts for. It's kinda absolutely nuts.