- Endgame Base Setup Sector Layout -
This is a short video with no dialog with a minute for each sector and a glance at my endgame technology research screen. This is by no means the most optimal layout and simply what I wound up with on first playthrough.
- Build Strategy -
For the most part, I setup each sector with a distinct specialization with exception to sector 6 which was basically "excess". I only opened new sectors when absolutely needed and had a large surplus of workers.
- Achievements -
This base setup will not get you the tier2 achievements and there are way more complex layouts out there, for example - t2 food and recycling all in one sector. I generally treat achievements as short term goals and only get them where convenient rather than long term goals but to each their own!
- Auto-Save vs Manual Save -
I created a few end game saves for building achievements that were easy to attain and didn't really need (like the observatory in my case). Other than this I played this first run 'rogue like"' with a few "scum saves" sprinkled throughout to see some of the alternate science research exploration outcomes. I didn't need to use auto-save but there are a few story surprises where I was tempted to load. If you're extra curious or want to preempt stressful situations you may want more saves.
- Medium to Hard Game Difficulty -
If you've played resource management/4X before the game is not too difficult but there is a general theme of scarcity which is well suited to space! Build area is limited, which makes layout and food/population planning especially critical and future research planning is also important. I'm not a big save scummer and chapter 2 had a surprising twist that almost ended my playthrough. I treated research like any other resource and stockpiled it, only applying it when I thought was absolutely necessary. Due to this I was able to redirect the stockpile towards research I needed to get out of a sticky situation.
- Replay Value -
The final missions branch out a bit and required some changes but you don't need multiple playthroughs if you keep a few endgame saves. I still maintained the same general setup and just removed a couple extra factories since I didn't need high resource production at endgame. I always aim to complete a game in first playthrough if possible and essentially the layout you see in this video was developed organically from chapter 1 onward with little adjustment. Since I personally didn't need to see all research exploration outcomes, the replay value is a bit lower on this one for me as there are only a few continuous exploration missions and I personally enjoy the social aspect of hearing/seeing those other outcomes from others playthroughs.
- End Game (no major spoilers) -
For all endings you will need 1k squares of batteries requirement, so either reserve some chunks of space for this early on or anticipate some sectors having many more batteries. To meet the requirement, the sectors don't need to be balanced, just need to have 1k squares total which is not too bad.
-- General Notes --
- Fire Stations; Keep some space aside for these, they are very useful later once you open all sectors.
- Mining and Cargo; 4 upgraded miners generally kept ahead of 6 upgraded cargo but I added another miner and some more cargo mainly because I had the extra docking bays and it made less micro effort on my part despite more idle time.
- Working Conditions; I kept 1 infirmary per sector and never needed more than that so long as everyone stays happy and optimal working conditions.
- Storage; Medium early on was especially useful. If you place two side by side that's an easy upgrade to large later (if your surplus isn't too high to dismantle)
- Housing; I used domotic quarters for the +3 bonus and 1 cell housing per sector for some extra efficiency
- Stability; There was a valuable dog rescue mission global +1 bonus I was lucky enough to get. I used DLS and stability buildings in mid game and swapped some for train+batteries later.
- Food; Once I unlocked algae farm, I made a couple in a sector for excess food then replaced all previous insect farms and kept the original two so I never risked running out of food
- Population; I kept approx +20 more workers per sector to account for injuries and powered off buildings holding surplus. I kept each sector to around 1k total pop which made distribution simpler and only needed 1 upgraded mess hall per.
- Science; 5 science per 3 cycle early on was more useful for me than science vessel bonus but if you are more efficient with time/pause alot you might have the opposite experience.
- Batteries; At early game I replaced sector 1 insect farms with batteries and the third steel and electronics factories with batteries, other than that didn't need to do any other restructuring or dismantling for battery space since I kept excess space in each sector as I went along in anticipation of future unknowns/new buildings from research.