Homeworld Population Upgrade

from Sins Forums

Well, apparently, someone figured out it takes 26.1 minutes to make up the lost cash.  My question is when should you buy it?  Most people suggest buying a military lab, but I tend to get the pop upgrade instead...  Is one way better than the other?  It may seem like such an irrelevant thing, but in the first 30 seconds of the game, that is a hefty chunk of change...  I'm just curious when other people buy this upgrade.

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Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

A good player will typically scout first (and with normal start, you should definitely scout before deciding how to spend your starting cash). The economy/military spending balance is almost entirely based upon your enemy's proximity.

With quick-start, I've found half-and-half to be very viable, particularly as TEC and Vasari.  This is because with one lab you can have repair bays and population upgrades (as well as several other useful ones, depending on which faction you are).  Thanks to quick-start, you also have enough money to get a reasonable army out the door and you'll definitely last long enough to take advantage of those early economic investments.

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top




Upgrading Your Homeworld: Worth it?


The Big Planet upgrade though that's worth explaining, however, is the first and biggest one you can get, the lvl 4 pop upgrade for your Homeworld at the start of a game (assuming you're not playing one of the few preset maps that starts you with a desert)

If you go in and check, 1 pop generates .03 cred/sec. You can't go by the 11.4 on a homeworld and divide it by 190 b/c the homeworld get's a homeworld credit bonus. So, you have to take into consideration three time periods of the upgrade.

1. The actual upgrade period. There is no credit generation, and the lvl 4 is not teched until 90 seconds have passed.
2. The Population growth period. Population grows at .1pop/s. That means 900 seconds (you get +90 pop with this upgrade) will pass during this period.
3. The Full Bonus Period. This is what you get permanently after 990 seconds (16 min 30 sec). It's an upgrade of 2.7 cred/s to your economy.

So how long does it take to pay itself of?

Well, during the 900 second growth period, you can call the average income 1.35 cred/s, so that means 1215 credits are generated during this time.

The actual cost of this upgrade is about 2775 credits. I say 2775 credits because it costs 750 credits, 225 metal, and 225 crystal (450 resources net). You can sell and buy resources at roughly 4.5 cred per 1 resource. (When you sell you have to get someone else to buy it though)

This means that after 990 seconds, you still have 1560 credits net to make. That means you have an additional 577.7 seconds to wait until this upgrade FINALLY pays itself off. So, how long does it take net?

990+577.7= 1567.7 seconds or roughly 26.1 minutes.

I do not consider the three mines you get to start as part of paying off this upgrade. EVERYONE gets them. The only difference between a player who gets the homeworld upgrade and one who doesn't is just this very expensive upgrade.

So moral of the story, only get this upgrade when you know you won't be seeing an opponent for 26.1 minutes. If you think you're going to rush someone or get rushed, save yourself the resources for this upgrade and spend them elsewhere.

Eventually you should get this upgrade. I don't think anyone would argue against this because for it's price it's about the same as getting a tradeport and it generates a little bit more. I would say if it's a rush map, the ideal time to get this upgrade is AFTER you're pretty much 100% certain you've got your little 1v1 on your portion of the map in the bag, tech it, and then go to help an ally.

No 1 v 1 except Point Blank will be done in 26 minutes, but the battle can be decided within that timeframe. See what I mean?


I figured this out a looooooong time ago. Mind you this is on all fast.

You can either buy it right at the beginning to get the bonus as early as possible, or wait until after you're beaten your first opponent. You shouldn't buy it in the middle of a fight w/ ur opponent.

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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

@Amish: Thank you.  Didn't know that was out and about...  You really ought to put some all encompassing guide up at some point (if you have the time that is) and just throw all your random tidbits of knowledge of the game together...  Idk... random but oh well k1  

 

And I always get it at the beginning.  I never play point blank unless I am looking to slaughter an AI...

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

You really ought to put some all encompassing guide up at some point (if you have the time that is) and just throw all your random tidbits of knowledge of the game together...

That would be one loooooong guide.

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

True...  Perhaps make a word document that you would have to download...  Complete with lots of pictures and random bits of data that make you into an awesome player...  You would need hyperlinks and an index...  That would be a looooong index...

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

I thought I did. It's the Unit Guide. That's not enough? Damn, you ungrateful people. Just Kidding :grin: .

I've definitely got a bunch of posts floating around here. Mainly in the strategy section. Click on my name and click "Raging Amish Posts". You should see all of them. I know there's at least a few dozen of them.

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Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

The upgrade pays off over a slightly longer period

Nobody cn live 26 minutes without upgrading their fleet capacity, can they?
Upkeep anyone?

edit. ofc unless he's in a pocket and an eco player.

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

The only way you're buying this is if you're not playing quick start. In general, with no quick start, the game starts out slower so 26 min isn't unreasonable, though unlikely. Off the top of my head I'd say min 20 or so is when I tech up to the next tier of taxation. Arguing over the little things? You bet. I could also bring up that I used 4.5 cred = 1 resource, or I could have said 5 cred = 1 resource, meaning it would actually take longer to pay this upgraded off.

My point? It's a rough guesstimate showing that it's a long term investment you either need to commit to immediately or skip all together until later in the game.

Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top

Early on you're typically selling one or both resource types (whereas it's usually not until the late game that you're necessarily selling both), so I find a 1:3 ratio is more realistic in these cases.  But anyways, that's a whole other bag of worms and ultimately dependent on the map layout.

Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top

All encompassing guide. Oy vey. I love the game, but I dunno if any amount of coffee could ever make me write anything larger than the unit guide.

Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top

Ehh..  It was worth a try...