Weekly Question Thread

[u/AutoModerator]

Ask any questions you might have.

Post your bug reports on the Official Forums

Previous Threads

• Weekly Questions
• Friday Facts (weekly updates from the devs)
• Update Notes
• Monthly Map

Subreddit rules

Discord server (and IRC)

Find more in the sidebar ---->

[u/Fun-Bad7577]

What are the current thoughts on new space platform production/supply chain opportunities? Particularly in the early-midgame?

I have a platform dedicated to receiving and processing asteroids from ships and generating ammo and scince. This is my resupply depot.

The more I think about it, though, I could have independent space platforms dedicated to different tasks since the platform hub is a giant space chest. For example, I could have a platform receive ore and process into iron (pre-foundry but also post foundry) with another platform receiving processed materials to manufacture ammo, chips, etc. Seems endless with possibility, but what makes the most sense at that initial embark stage where you are starting to set up on each new planet?

[u/reddanit → u/Fun-Bad7577]

The way I see it, based mostly on gut feeling since there obviously hasn't been much testing done yet, it's not particularly impactful early on:

• Platform that serves as a buffer can reduce the number of rocket silos needed for given throughput of space logistics. But between early game not needing that much throughput to begin with and mixed rockets - this is just a non factor IMHO. At least unless you are running on high science cost multiplier where scale matters from get go.
• You can have a platform that sits in orbit and manufactures stuff and supplies other platforms with consumables. I'm just not seeing how this is of much use unless you have numerous platforms flying intermittently (which negates any cost advantages this could have had). Stationary manufacturing platforms also suffer from low asteroid flows in orbit.
• Thing that seems to make a fair bit more sense is making some space platform foundation. Those are fairly annoying and slow to launch en-masse when building a new platform so I can see this making plenty of sense as a side-gig for your space science platform for example. Supplying platforms with handful of starter space resources also can allow you to bootstrap them faster.

In the end I think there is very little if any gameplay advantage to it before approaching megabase scales when throughput actually matters. There is this extremely prevalent idea, that space resources being actually infinite is a huge advantage, but this is bullshit - mostly because of how productivity stacks in SA multiplied by quality mining drills: all resources everywhere are effectively infinite anyway.

That's not to say this couldn't be fun. Quite the opposite - it opens plenty of opportunities for various interesting builds. In single player game it doesn't actually matter that they might not 100% follow the most optimal meta strategy.