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Author Topic:   Keeping people happy(I need help)

brother copes posted 04-26-99 03:16 PM ET
I can' keep my citizens happy in AC. I don't know why. In CivII, my cities were always in a constant state of "We Love the President" but now in AC I find I am constantly building the punishment sphere to keep my peeps in line. What am I doing wrong? Is there some city improvement I am overlooking or is my 10%-20% psych rate too low. What is it that you great AC players do to keep the people happy?
sandworm posted 04-26-99 03:28 PM ET
Rec commons first, later I build Holo theatres, or network nodes instead if I have the Virtual World. The rec commons help -lots- in the early stages and they're fairly cheap to speed buy (like the temples in CIV2). 10% luxury/psych can help -if- you're producing lots of energy, which small (1-4 size) cities don't normally do (energy from boreholes, farmed by supply crawlers can bring it up enough to help in small cities).
enjoy the game!
Earwicker posted 04-26-99 04:06 PM ET
If your social engineering model allows for police to stem unhappiness, use the workshop to design yourself some police garrison (non-lethal methods). During peacetime, a 1-1-1 police is reeeeel cheap and takes care of 2 drones. A 1-1t-1 is almost as cheap and can defend against a frisky planet, too.
Morganstern posted 04-26-99 05:17 PM ET
In the mid-to-late game, there's a Secret Project which precludes your drones from rioting. That's a nice wonder to have at that stage, because it reduces the micro- management you are typically saddled with, particularly when you're ahead. While unhappiness is still something of a factor, at least you're not dealing with Drone Riots every turn.
I can't remember the name of the Project, but I'm sure it's identified on the Technology Page.
JT 3 posted 04-26-99 05:24 PM ET
Telepathic Matrix.
Ghost posted 04-26-99 06:14 PM ET
First of all; Telepathic Matrix is nice... but it definitely comes in what I would consider the late game, and drones really need to be dealt with earlier, or there will be no late game.
2 "psych" facilities which were not mentioned earlier are the Hybrid Forest and the Tree Farm; each increases psych expenditure at that base by 50%, along with lots of other great effects (-50% eco damage from terraforming each, +50% econ each, +1 nutrient and energy for forest squares apiece). I tend to play a lot with Forests/Rivers and then either boreholes or high elevation solar collectors, so both tree farm and hybrid forest are high priorities. You rarely find base enhancements that help that many different things, so take full advantage of them.
Whatever your psych percentage should be depends on what your growth and econ values are at the time, what you are trying to do, and a whole load of other things. If you can get either +4 growth or +1 econ, then you might want to consider pumping even more energy into psych in order to grab a golden age (golden ages +2 growth and +1 econ really making a difference in these cases... although you never really scoff at those bonuses). This is not all that difficult when you have the hybrid/farm combo doubling your psych and increasing your energy pull...
Holo theatre is nice too but it doesn't do anywhere near as that much for its maintenance cost... although it is 1/4 as expensive as hybrid farm, 1/2 as expensive as tree farm, its maintenance is 3 vs hybrid farms 4 and tree farms 3.
Another good option is the research hospital, which is a 1/2 hologram theatre (-1 drone, +25% psych) which also adds 50% research, making it a generally better deal as it has the same maintenance, and you pick it up on the way to tree farm. The Nanohospital is the complement to the research hospital, but comes pretty late.
I generally use the research hospital, both forest facilities, and rec commons for simple drone control with huge collateral benefits; with energy bank, childrens creche and recycling tanks (pressure domes if I'm thinking of being nasty), these comprise the entire list of "must haves" for every base in my games (the orbitals are pretty nice once you get the whole space thing going, too, but that's really quite a bit later in the game). I tend to prefer expanding into new bases to perfecting old ones (at least until I run out of room), and so I tend to not use too many base enhancements regularly. There are certainly other enhancements which I use a lot, mostly those that enhance energy or research (as they tend to pay for their own maintenance very well), but those 7 have pretty much the best cost to efficiency ratio of any in the game.
--Ghost
WyldKarde posted 04-26-99 07:38 PM ET
One option that hasn't been mentioned yet.
Nerve Staple the ungrateful rioting masses. I dunno, you work your fingers to the bone, sweat blood providing them with a safe and fulfilling environment, and the buggers turn red and start running through the streets, so why not give 'em a scifi lobotomy?
Sure, it's an atrocity if the UN charter isn't repealed, and the effects diminish over time, and it's only a stop-gap solution 'cos it wears off after ten turns, but it shuts the whining little sods up and gives you time to put in a more long-term solution.
Don't forget, the nerve staple is your friend.. the only one you'll have after you use it.
JT 3 posted 04-26-99 08:09 PM ET
Ummmm..... Holo theatres are -2 drones, not -1.
trippin daily posted 04-27-99 01:21 PM ET
Ok, look at my screen name, then think. Hmmm? What makes people trip daily? How much of that will I need? Will it be expensive? Give them that, and in abundance, and your cities will be having a "golden age." Although production, research, and everything else would stop, cause everything's so "golden." It would solve your problem though.
Trippin Daily
-trippin, just trippin-
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Author	Topic: Keeping people happy(I need help)
brother copes	posted 04-26-99 03:16 PM ET I can' keep my citizens happy in AC. I don't know why. In CivII, my cities were always in a constant state of "We Love the President" but now in AC I find I am constantly building the punishment sphere to keep my peeps in line. What am I doing wrong? Is there some city improvement I am overlooking or is my 10%-20% psych rate too low. What is it that you great AC players do to keep the people happy?
sandworm	posted 04-26-99 03:28 PM ET Rec commons first, later I build Holo theatres, or network nodes instead if I have the Virtual World. The rec commons help -lots- in the early stages and they're fairly cheap to speed buy (like the temples in CIV2). 10% luxury/psych can help -if- you're producing lots of energy, which small (1-4 size) cities don't normally do (energy from boreholes, farmed by supply crawlers can bring it up enough to help in small cities). enjoy the game!
Earwicker	posted 04-26-99 04:06 PM ET If your social engineering model allows for police to stem unhappiness, use the workshop to design yourself some police garrison (non-lethal methods). During peacetime, a 1-1-1 police is reeeeel cheap and takes care of 2 drones. A 1-1t-1 is almost as cheap and can defend against a frisky planet, too.
Morganstern	posted 04-26-99 05:17 PM ET In the mid-to-late game, there's a Secret Project which precludes your drones from rioting. That's a nice wonder to have at that stage, because it reduces the micro- management you are typically saddled with, particularly when you're ahead. While unhappiness is still something of a factor, at least you're not dealing with Drone Riots every turn. I can't remember the name of the Project, but I'm sure it's identified on the Technology Page.
JT 3	posted 04-26-99 05:24 PM ET Telepathic Matrix.
Ghost	posted 04-26-99 06:14 PM ET First of all; Telepathic Matrix is nice... but it definitely comes in what I would consider the late game, and drones really need to be dealt with earlier, or there will be no late game. 2 "psych" facilities which were not mentioned earlier are the Hybrid Forest and the Tree Farm; each increases psych expenditure at that base by 50%, along with lots of other great effects (-50% eco damage from terraforming each, +50% econ each, +1 nutrient and energy for forest squares apiece). I tend to play a lot with Forests/Rivers and then either boreholes or high elevation solar collectors, so both tree farm and hybrid forest are high priorities. You rarely find base enhancements that help that many different things, so take full advantage of them. Whatever your psych percentage should be depends on what your growth and econ values are at the time, what you are trying to do, and a whole load of other things. If you can get either +4 growth or +1 econ, then you might want to consider pumping even more energy into psych in order to grab a golden age (golden ages +2 growth and +1 econ really making a difference in these cases... although you never really scoff at those bonuses). This is not all that difficult when you have the hybrid/farm combo doubling your psych and increasing your energy pull... Holo theatre is nice too but it doesn't do anywhere near as that much for its maintenance cost... although it is 1/4 as expensive as hybrid farm, 1/2 as expensive as tree farm, its maintenance is 3 vs hybrid farms 4 and tree farms 3. Another good option is the research hospital, which is a 1/2 hologram theatre (-1 drone, +25% psych) which also adds 50% research, making it a generally better deal as it has the same maintenance, and you pick it up on the way to tree farm. The Nanohospital is the complement to the research hospital, but comes pretty late. I generally use the research hospital, both forest facilities, and rec commons for simple drone control with huge collateral benefits; with energy bank, childrens creche and recycling tanks (pressure domes if I'm thinking of being nasty), these comprise the entire list of "must haves" for every base in my games (the orbitals are pretty nice once you get the whole space thing going, too, but that's really quite a bit later in the game). I tend to prefer expanding into new bases to perfecting old ones (at least until I run out of room), and so I tend to not use too many base enhancements regularly. There are certainly other enhancements which I use a lot, mostly those that enhance energy or research (as they tend to pay for their own maintenance very well), but those 7 have pretty much the best cost to efficiency ratio of any in the game. --Ghost
WyldKarde	posted 04-26-99 07:38 PM ET One option that hasn't been mentioned yet. Nerve Staple the ungrateful rioting masses. I dunno, you work your fingers to the bone, sweat blood providing them with a safe and fulfilling environment, and the buggers turn red and start running through the streets, so why not give 'em a scifi lobotomy? Sure, it's an atrocity if the UN charter isn't repealed, and the effects diminish over time, and it's only a stop-gap solution 'cos it wears off after ten turns, but it shuts the whining little sods up and gives you time to put in a more long-term solution. Don't forget, the nerve staple is your friend.. the only one you'll have after you use it.
JT 3	posted 04-26-99 08:09 PM ET Ummmm..... Holo theatres are -2 drones, not -1.
trippin daily	posted 04-27-99 01:21 PM ET Ok, look at my screen name, then think. Hmmm? What makes people trip daily? How much of that will I need? Will it be expensive? Give them that, and in abundance, and your cities will be having a "golden age." Although production, research, and everything else would stop, cause everything's so "golden." It would solve your problem though. Trippin Daily -trippin, just trippin-