How to speed up build times?

[Linamints]

I took quite a long break from Alpha Centauri awhile back and I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things, but one thing I haven't been able to quite get a handle on are the build times of my individual bases. I'm finding that even when I'm dominating in some areas, my build speeds just seem to lag far behind where I feel like they should be. By mid game I'm still finding some of my bases with relatively useless production times.

So my question to the community is, how do you get good production times out of your bases? And what tips do you have for making the most productive bases?

[Mart]

In short answer:
- There is Vel's strategy guide, that talks about many issues. Stuff in SMACX is interconnected. It is typical for this kind of games. So startegies are complex.
- It is said, that early game is time of minerals and later it becomes game of energy. Often after you accumulate first penalty limit of 10 minerals, for buildings there is flat cost of 2 ec/mineral. So you can pay for minerals.
- Bases grow also due to population boom (pop boom). A player needs +6 growth, which can be due to combination of:
1) natural faction bonus
2) democracy +2
3) planned +2
4) children creche +2
5) golden age +2
6) Later in game Cloning Vats give pop boom when nutrients are sufficient.
So you can quickly bring a base to large population and have workers to work tiles for bringing minerals.
- Production multiplication facilities. Genejack Factory, etc.
- Weather Paradigm helps in a general way, faster terraforming. But also possibility to build enhancements that come otherwise later. So you may have for example more energy for mineral purchase, formers build forests, mines faster, etc.
- Note, that bonus do not have limits, so mine on a rocky mineral bonus (with road) gives you 7 minerals. Place crawler there after you have Industrial Automation. Or having WP, one can build borehole on mineral bonus (or energy)

This list is not complete, just some ideas.

[thedarkestcolors]

Either the low production bases just don't produce enough minerals (a)
or its using up all of its minerals for unit upkeep (b)

a)
terrain:
there is flat, rolling and rocky terrain --> flat = 0 min, rolling 1 min (with or without farms) --> I try to farm rolling squares, and forest the flat ones. Rocky squares I ignore at first, if I have nothing better to terraform I add mines or boreholes to them.. or I level them so I can farm them.

also sea tiles give no minerals (or very few with sea mines) -> cities with lots of sea will not produce as much as an inland city

pop:
more workers = more goods
(also make sure they are working the best tiles, esp. when you just added a new improvement it will not automatically be worked)

crawlers (a much better answer then 42):
mines on rocky terrain only produce mins --> save the worker and just crawl the minerals
farms on flat only produce Nuts (unless you add a mine to them which I would never do)  --> crawl the nuts and use the worker on a forest or something else

facilities:
early on a recycling tank can make quite a difference, later all the factory type buildings (give +% to production)  and satelites will make a huge difference

b)
only a certain # of units is free from upkeep per Base. How many depends on your Support value. Every additional unit eats 1 Mineral.
When you use some bases to churn out military or formers like mad, they will have to pay more and more upkeep --> losing lots and lots of minerals
a) increase your support value (e.g. switch to police state when you are Yang)
b) rehome the units to another Base (move to other Base and Strg + H or right click "support from here") -> try to spread your units equally
c) build clean units (though best is to only build units that are meant to last clean -> police infantery, formers.. no need to make shiny aircraft, when its going to crash in a few turns anyways (crawlers and probe teams are always born clean -> no need for the ability there))

[Linamints]

Thank you both very much for such detailed responses! Both of them were very helpful and have given me some good ideas of at least part of what I'm doing wrong. Thanks for helping me get back into the swing of this game!