Posted by: Garfunkel
« on: October 05, 2016, 04:47:57 PM »Installations are not practical for any body where the colonization cost is big and aren't meant to be. Perhaps the values could be juggled some, I don't know. But they are useful in early games for low colony cost bodies like Luna and Mars, because civilian shipping lines will take care of transporting enough colonists and infrastructure to keep them going. Especially if you don't need colonists to work mines on those two. So you don't have to waste resources/time on building OHs or expanding your shipyards. Usually by the time I have the spare industry and SYs to start constructing orbital terraforming bases, Mars and Luna will both have been terraformed already, at which point the installations can be moved to outer system moons or off Sol with shipping lines again. This way I don't have to worry about keeping a fleet of tugs in service and there is an alternative terraforming method always available as necessary.
Maybe it's different for TN starts but I've found this a very workable strategy in conventional starts.
Maybe it's different for TN starts but I've found this a very workable strategy in conventional starts.