but what does it DO?

from Sins Forums
I'm absolutely amazed by the depth of this game so far, but there are a few questions the manual didn't really clear up for me.

Several structures in this game are clearly worth building and "good" but I'm still not even sure why or how they work.

Trade hubs- I know these give me more money, but how? how do i know how much im getting? Is it worth building a hub at every world?

Refineries- These gather resources from nearby systems' asteroids according to the manual. what if I already own those systems and have extractors on them? are refineries still useful? what do they do, exactly? How many systems does each one cover?

Culture- what does culture do? I know you can't capture a system with lots of enemy culture, but are there advantages to having culture in an area other than that? How many jumps is ideal between broadcast centers? Do I want one at each world?

I'm having a blast with the game but I wish I had a better idea of what I was doing...
strategy
8,472 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
culture basicially lets u take over hostile planets without having to attack them, it also fortifies your own planets loyalty to u
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
Also, fighters/bombers are awesome... but what are they best at? I had no idea fighters were best against anything other than bombers until I saw they were good at beating siege too. what do you use fighters on other than those two?
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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Summary:

Trade Hubs = Credit revenue based on your total number of trade hubs * the maximum distance between any two of your hubs

Refinery = +% resources for the system and surrounding systems. There is a cap for refineries affecting a single mine that is race dependent.

Culture flows out from the culture buildings, pushes against enemy culture, and raises influence. Having an uncontested culture building will increase all outputs by 10% from the default level, and culture also has race dependent bonuses. Culture affecting enemy territories will lower their influence, decreasing their credit/resource income from that planet.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
Trade hubs- I know these give me more money, but how? how do i know how much im getting? Is it worth building a hub at every world?


They generate credits, the longer the link of systems that have trade hubs the more money it makes. Sectors without any body to colonize don't count, but the pirate base does and you can't build civilian structures from it >:( . You can see the chain of systems by putting your mouse over the credits counter on the top right corner of the screen.


Culture- what does culture do? I know you can't capture a system with lots of enemy culture, but are there advantages to having culture in an area other than that? How many jumps is ideal between broadcast centers? Do I want one at each world?


Culture is visible by a colored line (of the faction that is generating it) spreading across the phase lanes. You produce culture through media hubs, there is also research to increase it's spread and reduce the advance of a enemy's culture. You receive a antimatter recharge boost when fighting in your cultures reach. It's effect on planets is the increase of your own planets allegiance and the decrease of a enemies. You lose tax income with decreased allegiance, when it reaches 0 the planet turns natural, and the enemy/you can not recolonize if hostile culture is too strong. Capital ships also act as a culture producer, it's mere presence will slow a enemy culture spread.

Also, fighters/bombers are awesome... but what are they best at? I had no idea fighters were best against anything other than bombers until I saw they were good at beating siege too. what do you use fighters on other than those two?


Fighters are good Vs Fighters/Bombers/Frigates (not sure about the assault firgate though).
Bombers are good Vs Strucutres/Cruisers/Capitals.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
Refineries- These gather resources from nearby systems' asteroids according to the manual. what if I already own those systems and have extractors on them? are refineries still useful? what do they do, exactly? How many systems does each one cover?


Their reach is 1 system radius. You need to have mines built for it to work. They increase production. A mine can only make use of 3, so place them wisely. They work mainly on metal, but they have a small impact on crystal as well.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
Their reach is 1 system radius. You need to have mines built for it to work. They increase production. A mine can only make use of 3, so place them wisely. They work mainly on metal, but they have a small impact on crystal as well.


I've always found that they work on an equal footing with crystal.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
Also, fighters/bombers are awesome... but what are they best at?


Fighters take out light armor units... which is mostly strike craft, siege frigates, and LRMs. Bombers... I don't remember off the top of my head, but while their ok against frigates, they do better against capitols and (to a much larger degree) structures. (I think... I don't remember the exact multipliers, and its not that huge a difference).
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

Also, fighters/bombers are awesome... but what are they best at? I had no idea fighters were best against anything other than bombers until I saw they were good at beating siege too. what do you use fighters on other than those two?


The way fighters, bombers and carrier warfare is manifested in Sins is better than I've seen anywhere else. Flak is, however, exaggerated, but that's just to prevent Sins from becoming a carrier-centric navy game and maintain the balance.

Anyway, to know what each type is good at, click here.
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
The 1.02 patch now added what everything is good at fighting in the description of the unit when you go build it. There shouldn't be anymore questions about what counters what.
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top


Trade hubs- I know these give me more money, but how? how do i know how much im getting? Is it worth building a hub at every world?

Each Trade platform earns a base amount of credits, plus a bonus for the longest trade route you have.

You can see how much you're earning by mousing over your credit display on the top right of the screen. This will also highlight your longest route on the main map in white.

Every Trade platform earns the same amount (not counting any bonuses from planet specials), so the more you build, the more money you'll earn from them. You can build multiple Trade platforms at each planet for even more cash.

(Note that the 'longest route' is automatically calculated, and is always the longest direct route between two Trade platforms - no detours just to make it longer.)


Refineries- These gather resources from nearby systems' asteroids according to the manual. what if I already own those systems and have extractors on them? are refineries still useful? what do they do, exactly? How many systems does each one cover?

Refineries gather additional resources (Metal and Crystal) from your Extractors at the same planet, and planets up to 1 (I think) phase jump away.

They only work on Extractors you own, and each Extractor can only 'supply' 3 Refineries at most - if you click on an Extractor you can see how many Refineries it's supplying (you'll need to give it some time to update after building a Refinery, as the cargo ships take a little while to 'find' all the Extractors they can reach).

Because of this, it's not always worth building Refineries at every planet (depending on the layout of your planets and the phase lanes).

You can see how much extra Metal and/or Crystal you're earning from Refineries by mousing over you Metal and/or Crystal display in the top-right of the screen.



Culture- what does culture do? I know you can't capture a system with lots of enemy culture, but are there advantages to having culture in an area other than that? How many jumps is ideal between broadcast centers? Do I want one at each world?


Culture changes a planet's Allegiance.

Friendly Culture acting on a planet will increase its Allegiance to its empire (up to a maximum determined by its distance in phase jumps from the empire's Capital planet), reducing the loss of credits and resources due to low Culture.

Enemy Culture acting on a planet will decrease its Allegiance to its empire, increasing the loss of credits and resources due to low Culture. If Culture reaches 0%, the planet will rebel and go 'neutral' and must be recaptured. If the level of enemy culture at a neutral planet is too high, you can't capture it until you reduce the enemy culture.

You can see more information about a planet's Culture by selecting it, then mousing over the Culture display at the bottom of the screen, just to the left of the 'unit picture' window.

How many Broadcast Centres you want, and where you want them, is very much down to your Culture strategy. At the very least, you'll want a few scattered about to maximise your planet's Alliegance ratings, and thus how much you earn from them. If you decide to use Culture aggressively (something the Advent are very good at), you'll need to build more, as close to enemy worlds as you can.
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
Trade hubs- I know these give me more money, but how? how do i know how much im getting? Is it worth building a hub at every world?Each Trade platform earns a base amount of credits, plus a bonus for the longest trade route you have.You can see how much you're earning by mousing over your credit display on the top right of the screen. This will also highlight your longest route on the main map in white.Every Trade platform earns the same amount (not counting any bonuses from planet specials), so the more you build, the more money you'll earn from them. You can build multiple Trade platforms at each planet for even more cash.(Note that the 'longest route' is automatically calculated, and is always the longest direct route between two Trade platforms - no detours just to make it longer.)Refineries- These gather resources from nearby systems' asteroids according to the manual. what if I already own those systems and have extractors on them? are refineries still useful? what do they do, exactly? How many systems does each one cover?Refineries gather additional resources (Metal and Crystal) from your Extractors at the same planet, and planets up to 1 (I think) phase jump away. They only work on Extractors you own, and each Extractor can only 'supply' 3 Refineries at most - if you click on an Extractor you can see how many Refineries it's supplying (you'll need to give it some time to update after building a Refinery, as the cargo ships take a little while to 'find' all the Extractors they can reach). Because of this, it's not always worth building Refineries at every planet (depending on the layout of your planets and the phase lanes).You can see how much extra Metal and/or Crystal you're earning from Refineries by mousing over you Metal and/or Crystal display in the top-right of the screen.Culture- what does culture do? I know you can't capture a system with lots of enemy culture, but are there advantages to having culture in an area other than that? How many jumps is ideal between broadcast centers? Do I want one at each world?Culture changes a planet's Allegiance. Friendly Culture acting on a planet will increase its Allegiance to its empire (up to a maximum determined by its distance in phase jumps from the empire's Capital planet), reducing the loss of credits and resources due to low Culture.Enemy Culture acting on a planet will decrease its Allegiance to its empire, increasing the loss of credits and resources due to low Culture. If Culture reaches 0%, the planet will rebel and go 'neutral' and must be recaptured. If the level of enemy culture at a neutral planet is too high, you can't capture it until you reduce the enemy culture.You can see more information about a planet's Culture by selecting it, then mousing over the Culture display at the bottom of the screen, just to the left of the 'unit picture' window.How many Broadcast Centres you want, and where you want them, is very much down to your Culture strategy. At the very least, you'll want a few scattered about to maximise your planet's Alliegance ratings, and thus how much you earn from them. If you decide to use Culture aggressively (something the Advent are very good at), you'll need to build more, as close to enemy worlds as you can.


Heh...Advent all the way!
Im not quite understanding the Alligence part though.
What is the best stratergy to use with the Advent, so far, first thing I do is get a capital (Radience Battleship) and then spam Harmoney Temples to get Culture first, then trade ports, then rescource income increase (Crystal, Metal)...Then I spam 4 or more frigate factorys on a single planet, and mass produce frigates, takes around 10 minutes to get 150+