Is upgrading buildings worth it?

BOTF Strategy Guide

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WhiteCat
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Is upgrading buildings worth it?

Post by WhiteCat »

I just started playing BotF again (vanilla) after ignoring it for several years, and am struck by how expensive basic building upgrades are compared to their benefits. Take a look at the spreadsheet screenshot I've posted below, using the Romulans as an example. Notice how the cost multiplier (CostX) of each upgrade is always larger than the output multiplier (OutX), and thus the Efficiency decreases at each increased level and the "Turns to Break Even" gets worse every time.

If you upgrade your Industry structures all the way from Level 1 to Level 10, it will be a total of 518 turns before you see any benefit! (Do many games actually last that long?)

I'm curious how more advanced players deal with this. Do you upgrade to a certain level (e.g. Level 4), and then just stop and leave your structures there for the rest of the game? Or is spending all that time or credits to upgrade actually worth it somehow, despite the low payoff?

I'm looking into modding things so the Cost only goes up by the same percentage as the Output (see the "Cost2" & "TBE2" columns), but I have a concern: in UE, I can only see listings for the structures that the major empires use. If I change those, will I see weird effects when upgrading minor race systems, such as their Level 3 structure being more expensive than my Level 4, and when I upgrade it will cost a negative amount? Or are the minors' structures actually just pulled from the majors' list?

Also, can you think of any negative impacts this change might have on the gameplay?
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slickrcbd
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Re: Is upgrading buildings worth it?

Post by slickrcbd »

I try to get it so that I can put out 500 industry a turn on the unmodded game, with the exception of systems that can build experienced ships, namely the home system, the Andorians, and the Zakdorn.
After that I rarely upgrade any more. This is while allowing for some science or intel depending on the system's purpose. Small systems with less than 120-180 population I will do even less.
The three ship building systems I mentioned before I upgrade with as much industry as possible and neglect science and intel on those two minors so I can build regular instead of green ships as quickly as possible.
The home system I might put some science and/or intel beyond what is initially provided depending on the race and what home-system only special structures are available. I rarely have to build science or intel at the home system if I start at anything above tech level 1.

I generally fund that over tech level 5, it often isn't worth it, especially with food. With food, I sometimes go over, but I can't recall ever upgrading to level 9 food structures.
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thunderchero
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Re: Is upgrading buildings worth it?

Post by thunderchero »

WhiteCat wrote: If I change those, will I see weird effects when upgrading minor race systems, such as their Level 3 structure being more expensive than my Level 4, and when I upgrade it will cost a negative amount?
it would really depend on bonus difference between major races.
WhiteCat wrote:Or are the minors' structures actually just pulled from the majors' list?
yes, minors use the major races main structures, when they upgrade they can upgrade to a different races structure. example; a minor has tech 4 fed food but upgrades to tech 5 klingon food. this is just random
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slickrcbd
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Re: Is upgrading buildings worth it?

Post by slickrcbd »

I'm also interested in hearing other people's upgrading strategies. Does anybody do things differently from me?
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Coracle
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Re: Is upgrading buildings worth it?

Post by Coracle »

1st: It depends on whether you play Single or MP
a) In MP you never have time for much upgrades: Home must be upgraded when you have excess money, other than that you will basically only colonize for Dili and for Shipyard range (because one never builds Outposts and Starbases) - see general guide for more on this topic. Thus, in any new systems I will try and upgrade Energy just so much so that I have my Dili or Shipyard running and then maybe some defense structures. Thereafter, I may just try and keep that system satisfied. In the alternative, one or two constructions and then decide for intel or research, if extra is needed.
b) But in Single, upgrading is part of the game. In single, you can win every game by numbers. Just grow and grow and grow. Pops give you money, trade and free ships. The problem with upgrading most of the time is not the upgrading but the slow growth of the population. A Vanilla domination game should last between 100 and 170 rounds, Klings and Fergs are a bit faster because of the faster TTs covering more space, while Feds often take longest because they are slow and because they don't like to be constantly at war.
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