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ASCENDANCY!
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PLANETARY BUILDING FAQ
V 1.0 Completed 2/15/05
Written and maintained by James Friel
Copyright @2005 James Friel (
[email protected]) This FAQ is solely
intended for use on Gamefaq.com forum site, and may not be reproduced or
duplicated without permission of myself. If you want to use or duplicate
the FAQ, feel free on other sites, I really am not a greedy person, just
make sure to credit the FAQ and myself when doing it.
ASCENDANCY is a PC game published by Logic Factory 1995
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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I. Revision History
II. Introduction
III. Planetary Building list
IV. Last Words
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I. REVISION HISTORY
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2/15/05 v1.0
- FAQ started
- Added Introduction
- Added Alien Race section
- Added Last Words section
[NOTE: My revision history starts at version 1.0 and each change will be noted
as a .1 addition, so the 3rd revision, if it ever gets to that, will be the
version 1.3]
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II. INTRODUCTION
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This FAQ is to give you a general outline of the planetary structures you
can build and what they do. Each structure has a specific purpose, and some
have multiple purposes. I have found that certain structures are pretty much
worthless to build, since they either duplicate abilites of other structures
or you receive the structures too late in the game for them to make any
difference.
Overall when building a colony, you have 3 general areas you can concentrate
on. Industry, Research, and Productivity. Industry structures add into your
industry total, which is used for building other structures and ships. This
is your major general area you should concentrate on. Research structures add
into your technological area, and speed up the rate in which you learn new
technology. This is important for you to get the good items in the game, and
is your 2nd most important area. Productivity determines how fast your
colonists replenish, which allow you to use them to habitat buildings and your
ships. While this is important, you will find that productivity is very
important early in the game, and pretty much worthless later in the game as
you find new ways to grow. Thus productivity is the last area you should be
worrying about.
[NOTE: Since different planets have different areas of expertise, you have
to base your development on what the planet has to offer. While in
general colonization works the same way, you can adjust how fast
certain areas go depending on what type of planet you are on. An
example, mineral planets usually have a lot more industry red nodes
thus you will find that industry structures are more worthwhile to
build there. ]
[NOTE: Industry buildings are used for that planet only. A high industry
planet in no way contributes to the industry of another planet. One
of the drawbacks of the game. You cannot transfer resources between
planets. Every new planet you colonize has to be built from the
ground up.
Research points ARE transferred across planets. All research points
from all planets you control are put into a research "pool" in which
your tech learning is figured out.
Productivity, like Industry, is limited to that planet only.
PLANETARY NODES.
Planets in Ascendancy are made up of colored "nodes" or squares. Each node
is a certain color, and you build your planetary facilities on each node.
A small planet might only have a small number of nodes, thus no matter how
technological you get, you won't be able to build a lot on them.
BLACK SQUARES: Black squares are inhabitable areas, you cannot build any
worthwhile buildings on them. You can build connecting tunnels to bypass
black squares in order to reach squares you can use. Later in the game
you can learn the technology "terraforming" which allows you to change
the useless black squares into general white squares, on which you can
build. One race you can play in the game allows you to build on black
squares as their special ability.
WHITE SQUARES: White squares are your general building squares. You can
build any structure on them, but they do not give any benefits to any
structure.
GREEN SQUARES: Green squares give a benefit to any productivity structure
built on them, such as Agriplots and Habitats.
RED SQUARES: Red squares give benefits to industry structures such as
factories and megafacilities.
BLUE SQUARES: Blue squares give benefits to, yep, you guessed it, research
structures like Laborities and Research parks.
You will notice certain types of planets have a greater chance to have a
certain type of planet square. Eden planets tend to have a lot of green
squares for productivity, while mineral planets have a higher red square
count. Take this with a grain of salt. If you develop your planets to a
high degree, most of them will become industry powerhouses no matter what
type of squares they have.
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III. PLANETARY BUILDING LIST
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* PLANETARY STRUCTURES *
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The following list gives the buildings, their general stats, and my notes
on them. Different types of planets will penalize or boost certain types
of building types. I do not have the overall factors in it, but in general
you can figure out that mineral planets are good for industry buildings,
eden planets good for productivity planets, etc.
FACTORY. Industry 1
The Factory is a common structure on most colonized planets.
Factories increase a colony's industry, which helps speed the
completion of planetary projects.
[NOTES: The factory is going to be your main primary industry
building. Once your colony starts to develop, you will begin
turning your factories into industrial megafacilities.]
LABORATORY. Research 1
The Laboratory is a center for research and development. Your
Laboratories provide research, which allows a species to make
technological discoveries.
[NOTES: Your laboratory is going to be your main primary
research building. Once you start to develop you will begin
turning your laboratories into research campus's.]
AGRIPLOT. Prosperity 1
The Agriplot is a high-productivity farming area. Agriplots
increase a colony's prosperity, which causes its population to
grow more quickly.
[NOTES: Your agriplot will be your main primary prosperity
building. Unlike industry and research, often you will not have
to upgrade your agriplots because there will become numerous
ways to speed up your population growth such as cloning, maybe
automation, or just running out of room.]
INDUSTRIAL MEGAFACILITY. Industry 3
The Industrial Megafacility is a huge, self-reliant production
plant. Its industrial output is greater than that of a Factory.
[NOTES: This will be your main industry building in the game.
Once your industry rating becomes high enough to wean yourself
off your basic factories, then Megafacilities will become the
major structure on all your planets. More industry is better.]
RESEARCH CAMPUS. Research 3
The Research Campus is a well-equipped experimental center. It
is of more research value than a Laboratory.
[NOTES: Once you have a decent industry rating, you can start
switching out your laboratories into Research Campus's. Only
upgrade on blue squares, its better for your colony to have
industry buildings on white, red or green squares. Only build
Research campus's on blue squares.
ARTIFICIAL HYDROPONIFER. Prosperity 3
The Artificial Hydroponifer is a super-efficient nourishment
production facility. Its prosperity output is greater than that
of an Agriplot.
[NOTES: Once you have decent industry ratings, you can start to
change your Agriplots into Hydroponifers. You probably will not
change many Agriplots. Once your colony grows better, there are
other ways to gain more population instead of having more
prosperity. Only put Hydroponifers on green squares. There is
no need for high prosperity if your population is close to being
maxxed out.]
OUTPOST. Prosperity 1 population +1
The Outpost is an important structure for colonies on small or
minimally habitable planets. It provides living facilities for
additional population.
[NOTES: The Outpost will be your basic population building. You
should only build them if you reach close to your population
max. Your main population building should be Metroplex's. Only
use Outposts or Habitats if you can't build Metroplex's. Once
you develop Metroplex's you should be switching out all your
Outposts and Habitats. ]
HABITAT. Population +3
The Habitat is a high-density living and working complex with a
precisely controlled internal climate. Habitats provide a colony
with additional population.
[NOTES: Habitats are a step up from Outposts, but Metroplex's
should be your major building for more population. Only build
Habitats if you do not have Metroplex's, and only if you need
extra living areas. Most of my colonies never see a Habitat.]
METROPLEX. Industry 1 research 1 prosperity 1 population +1
The Metroplex is an urban center with industrial, technological,
and residential capacities.
[NOTES: The Metroplex will be your main building for population
increase. Good colonies will have 2 main buildings, your
Industrial Megafacilities will be your main buildings, and you
will have just enough Metroplex's to keep your population going
up. If you ever develop Automation you can just keep building
Megafacilities instead, and automate them.]
LOGIC FACTORY. Research 1 prosperity 1
The Logic Factory is a research complex that specializes in the
entertainment and happiness of sentient beings. It provides both
research and prosperity.
[NOTES: This is a worthless building. Do not ever build one. If
its a blue square, should be a Research Campus, if white should
be a Industry Megafacility. You won't need prosperity that much.]
ENGINEERING RETREAT. Industry 1 research 1
The Engineering Retreat is an academized production plant where
engineers devise improvement in logistics and production methods
and provides a colony with industry as well as research.
[NOTES: This is a worthless building. Do not ever build one.
Should be using Industrial Megafacilities or Research Campus's.]
SURFACE CLOAKER. Battle building
The Surface Cloaker uses high-frequency diffaction generators to
make a planet surface practically invisible to alien ships.
[NOTES: This device keeps your planet layout hidden. This is a
worthless device. It does not stop invasion or provide defense.
if you want to protect against invasion, build either stronger
orbital defenses to keep away ships (1st choice) or surface
shields to repel invasion modules (2nd choice).]
OBSERVATION INSTALLATION. Battle building
The Observation Installation scans nearby alien ships. There is
no need to build more than one Observation Installation on any
planet.
[NOTES: Another building you probably will never need. This
building gives you a outline of what enemy ships have in terms
of weapons, power, etc. It does nothing to protect you or enhance
your colony. Who cares what enemy ships have, blow them up no
matter what. Knowing what they have doesn't stop them from taking
over your planet. Build a Megafacility.]
TRACTOR BEAM ELEMENT. Battle building
The Tractor Beam generates a powerful statis field bla bla bla.
[NOTES: Ignore this worthless device. It draws a ship near your
planet, which is only good if you have extremely strong planet
defenses to blow it up. Trouble is, you can't shoot and use this
device at the same time. So you draw a ship in, it flies away,
you draw it in, it flies away, etc. just build something else.]
SURFACE SHIELD. Battle building
The Surface shield houses defense armaments that protect a colony
against alien invasion. Several surface shields may be necessary
to defend against large invasion forces.
[NOTES: Your basic defense against invasion forces. The better
way to go is to strengthen instead your planetary orbital
defenses instead, better to destroy a ship before it gets into
your orbit. If you have a strong orbit defense, nothing will
invade you. only build these shields if you are getting over
welmed by invaders a lot. Save those surface spots for Industrial
Megafacilities. One shield will repel one invader module.]
Surface Mega Shield. Battle building
The Surface Mega Shield is a powerful defense against alien
invasion. It uses protective ion fields to augment the endurance
of its defense armaments. It is more powerful than the normal
surface shield.
[NOTES: A better form of invasion shielding, but again, if you
have a good orbital defense you won't need this device. I have
NEVER had to build one in many games played. The device will
repel either 2 or 3 invader modules compared to the normal shield
of 1. Only build one if your colony is in danger of invasion.]
HYPERPOWER PLANT. Special building
The Hyperpower plant is a marvel of high technology. By it
generating power for all of a colony's industry structures, it
significantly increases the colony's entire industrial output.
There is no need to build more than 1 per planet.
[NOTES: Boosts your industry, so once you can build it, always
have 1 per planet. Most of your planets will be industry
oriented, so this always helps.]
FERTILIZATION PLANT. Special building
The Fertilization plant produces vast quantities of agricultural
and hydroponic supplies. It boosts the prosperity of an entire
colony. There is no need for more than 1 per planet.
[NOTES: A worthless building. Prosperity is the last area you
will worry about in the later game, plus at population max it is
worthless. There are better ways to raise prosperity.]
INTERNET. Special building
The Internet provides a colony with a high-speed information and
data transfer system. It greatly improves the progress of
research centers. There is no need to build more than 1 on a
planet.
[NOTES: A great building to put on planets that have a lot of
research areas. I say if you have more than 3 or 4 blue research
areas, make sure you have a Internet building on the planet.
CLONING PLANT. Special building
The Cloning Plant organically duplicates new members of a planets
population. There is no need to build more than 1 per planet.
[NOTES: While the cloning plant doubles your population growth
you usually get it so late its worthless, because you are at
your population max anyway. Pretty much a worthless building
at the stage you receive it.]
TRANSPORT TUBES. Special building
Basically tubes are used on black squares in order to reach
areas you can build on. The provide no benefit to your planet
other than reaching far away building squares. Once you research
terraforming, make sure to change your tubes into useable white
squares.
XENO ARCHEOLOGICAL DIG. Special building
This building is used on special tech Archeological ruins. It is
useless on all other areas. Once you use this Dig on a dig site,
after a period of research the dig site will reveal ancient
technology.
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* ORIBTAL STRUCTURES *
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SHIPYARD. The shipyard is an enormous orbital center for the production
of space ships. It is a necessary first step towards space
exploration. You need a Shipyard to build ships.
[NOTES: Yep, you need one to build ships. You only need a
shipyard on a colony that is large enough to have a industry
that can build ships with any efficiency.]
ORBITAL DOCKS. Orbital docks provide a maintenance platform to repair and
refit ships. When a ship is refitted, its contents may be
changed and its hull repaired.
[NOTES: A decent sized planet needs one so that a ship can use
it to repair and refit. While many planets cannot house a ship
yard, smaller planets can house a orbital dock for basic repair.]
ORBITAL CLOAKER. The Orbital Cloaker uses modified diffraction generators
to disguise structures in orbit, rendering them invisible.
[NOTES: A nice structure, if you were in multiplayer. Not really
useful against computer opponents. Best to just blow up anything
that comes close to your planet. Stick to shields/weapons.]
ORBITAL SHIELDS. Shields are a colony's primary defense against alien
invasion. As long as a colony is protected by a Shield, alien
ships may not enter orbit.
[NOTES: Shields and weapons are good. Always have at least 1
orbital shield per planet, even just to stop an invasion ship.]
ORBITAL MEGA SHIELDS. Same as orbital shields, but much harder to destroy.
[NOTES: At the point you get mega shields, you probably will be
doing fine anyway. Drop your regular shields and put up mega
shields. no brainer.]
ORBITAL MISSILE BASE, SHORT RANGE ORBITAL WHOPPER , LONG RANGE ORBITAL
WHOPPER. These 3 weapon systems will be your defense to shoot
down enemy ships. Missile bases are your basic defenses. Short
range whoppers have the same range as missiles ,but can fire
3/day compared to the missiles 1 per day. Long range Whoppers
are your best weapons, able to fire at long ranges. Make sure to
have a minimum of 1 weapon per planet, and more weapons for
planets at hub areas, strong points, and planets near enemy
activity.
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* SPECIAL OCCURANCES *
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The following aren't exactly buildings, but are special techniques you can
learn through technological development.
ALIEN HOSPITALITY. While a colony dedicates its industry to this Alien
Hospitality, it helps improve diplomatic relations with alien races.
[NOTES: When used, it will turn all your industry off and focus a
part of that industry rating to your "alien diplomacy" rating. Used
only during peacetime, during hostile games diplomacy usually has no
effect. The better industry on a planet, the more is put into the
Alien Hospitality.]
ENDLESS PARTY. While a colony dedicates its industry to Endless party, it
increases the colonies prosperity rating.
[NOTES: At the stage of the game you get this ability, you will
probably be at or close to your max population rating anyway, so it
will be rarely used. What is good is that once you get this ability,
you can totally get rid of any prosperity buildings on the planet like
Habitats and build Industrial Megafacilities instead. Should you ever
need any extra population if you have space, you can just switch on
Endless Party and once filled up, switch back to normal game play.]
SCIENTIST TAKEOVER. While a colony dedicates its industry to Scientist
Takeover, it increases the colonies research rating.
[NOTES: A great ability, since research means more and faster tech
improvement. Activating this ability turns off your industry and
donates a percentage to your research rating for the planet. I suggest
that you only use this ability once you have totally maxxed out a
planets growth and colonization. Of course this happens quicker on
smaller planets. Nothing else to do on a small planet? Switch it over
to Scientist Takeover and let it help add to the research pool.]
AUTOMATION. Automation is a process by which the personnel maintaining a
structure are replaced by robotic equipment. When a structure has been
fully automated, its personnel are freed for use elsewhere on the
colony.
[NOTES: Automation is a nice ability. As long as you have 1 free
citizen, you can automate a building so that it frees up other
citizens for work. Once you develop Automation you can ignore any
population enhancing buildings such as Habitats, Metroplex's, etc.
Just build Industrial Megafacilities, automate them, and build more.
This way, one citizen can build an entire world.
TERRAFORMING. Terraforming is a project for colonies to transform black
surface squares into white squares, and then the colony can build
structures on it.
[NOTES: A must have ability later in the game, so you can maximize
production on planets, especially low habitat ones. Every race will
use this ability to increase their planets abilities. Only 1 race,
which can colonize on black squares, will never need terraforming.]
LUSH GROWTH BOMB. The Lush Growth Bomb combines technology with organic
synthesis equipment to make a planet surface more habitable. Only
1 lush growth bomb will work on any one planet. Multiple uses will not
increase growth any more.
[NOTES: A great effect, it provides a bonus to habit size, adding
in a greater maximum population rating. Sadly, most games you will
never see this ability, I have only seen it once. More population
means less buildings needed for habitat only, and more you can use for
industry and research.]
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IV. FINAL WORDS
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This will give you a basic understanding on how to build and what to build
on your colonies. Really you need to play the game to get a much better
understanding on how it works, but once you get the hang of it, its pretty
easy.
When starting your first planet, you want to build 1 agriplot, 1 factory,
and 1 laboratory first. That is only needed on the first planet.
On any colony, you want to make sure that your productivity is high enough
so that early on, you arent' wasting time "waiting" for colonists to appear
so you can use them. Your main building on new colonies should be Agriplots.
Best to have a 2 to 1 ratio of Agriplots to other structures. Once your
production of colonists is working at a decent rate, then up your industry
some.
Later in the game when you have more advanced buildings, you still have to
build new colonies from the ground up, the advanced buildings still won't be
usuable until your industry is high enough. Early on have plenty of agriplots,
put plenty of factories about, and once you approach your max population,
start switching your factories over to Industrial Megafacilities. When you
need to expand your population, go with Megaplex's first, then Habitats, then
Outposts last.
In general, I have some agriplots for early productivity, One Hydroplant and
many Industrial Megafacilities. Metroplex's for population. If you have alot
of blue squares, then one Internet building and many Research Campus's. I
personally never use Cloning, Surface shields or Cloakers, or Advanced farms.
