[ ] U-Series Alloy Foundries (Phase 6) (Updated)
Shifting goals from bulk alloys to more specialist systems, tib resistant cutting blades will be a relatively minor but significant shift in GDI's ability to harvest tiberium. While it will be expensive for what GDI gets out of the program, it is also an investment in the core technologies and competencies of working with STU based alloys.
(Progress 68/455: 40 resources per die) (-4 Energy, -1 STUs) (-10 progress requirement on tib mining projects)
I was thinking about what exactly this meant. While obviously it's a stepping stone project we need to do to unlock better, more powerful projects while only getting a marginal gain from this one, I went back and read some of the past Alloy results.
While there has been no shortage of attempts to turn the knowledge gained into weapons (and especially melee weapons), this is proving to be a difficult task. This is because there are substantial differences between what makes a good structural component, and a good blade. One key element is how well it takes differential heat treatment. On a blade, some parts, especially the cutting edge, need to be quite hard, while other parts, most notably the core, actually need a far higher level of elasticity in order to prevent the blade from acquiring a bend or even breaking. Metal structural components, in contrast, generally need high levels of elasticity and tensile strength all over to resist shear stresses, while the compressive stresses where hardness is most beneficial is often handled by the 'concrete' component of reinforced concrete.
So working out blades would let GDI figure out how to alloy STUs in a ways that, when different alloys are layered,make up for short comings one alloy has another mix doesn't.
For the uses of STU based alloys, one of the key things slowing adoption is the differences between static loads and dynamic loads. While buildings, for the most part, deal with static loads, aircraft, ships, and the like are primarily dynamically loaded. The wings on a V-35 or C-35 transport, undergo a wide variety of stressors, ones that have made simple one for
one replacements nonviable, and significant redesign work a requirement. While CAD and the work of EVA systems has made it a relatively simple matter, actually changing over the tool settings has taken longer.
There has also been testing and in a large number of areas, the material qualities of the alloys are not actually an advantage, with one of the most common being crumple zones. While they do have to be strong enough to support their own weight, the idea of a crumple zone is simple. Make a crash or impact more survivable by slowing the impact with sacrificial parts of a vehicle or installation. Most of the U series alloys are simply too resilient, producing either effectively sharp pieces at impact velocities, or refusing to crumple properly at all, instead remaining resolutely intact.
Taken with this, makes me think that this would be how we can start working on high end vehicles frames and the like.
 
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Fools! So afraid of losing even the tiniest bit of control that you refuse to accept that there will always be missed opportunities! So insistent on proving you're right! It holds you back, and one day you'll see! You'll all--
There are plenty of opportunities I'm willing to miss, but this ain't one of them.

Besides, I was already planning to do this project this turn anyway even before the whole passive-aggressive "guess we'll just forget about that" thing happened. :p

the only issues I find with your plan are the tib spikes...
The theory behind researching the tiberium spikes changed when we learned that our first-generation "crudely plug a Scrin tiberium accelerator in backwards" inhibitors were actually pushing tiberium underground because tiberium is slightly motile. The accelerator is designed draw it towards a Scrin mining rig while accelerating its rate of overall mass increase, so the inhibitors were pushing it away. The science teams apparently fixed the problem off-screen, but the lesson learned is "maybe these tiberium accelerator/inhibitor devices with their alien xenotech operating principles are more complicated than we thought," so doing some controlled experiments with them seems like a good idea. I very much doubt we'll implement them on a larger scale for obvious reasons, but we need all the tiberium knowledge we can get.

and not doing the last phase of Alloys since that one gives a 10% increase to tib income
It does not seem to do that according to the list. Instead, it seems to give us a -10 Progress cost to tiberium mining projects. So for example, a glacier mining project that cost 250 Progress would now cost 240 Progress. This isn't that great, as it effectively means we save 1/9 of a Tiberium die on every project we do. Which means we spend like 4-5 Heavy Industry dice (at a high Resource price) and to recoup that many Tiberium dice we have to build about 36-45 phases of tiberium mining actions, which is a huge number- more than we could conceivably do in the current Four Year Plan, and something that probably wouldn't pay for itself for several years.

It may have other benefits, but they're not quantified, and we have a TON of other stuff to do, much of it Plan-critical. So if that's the only foreseeable direct benefit, putting it off starts seeming like a better idea.

I was thinking about what exactly this meant. While obviously it's a stepping stone project we need to do to unlock better, more powerful projects while only getting a marginal gain from this one, I went back and read some of the past Alloy results.

So working out blades would let GDI figure out how to alloy STUs in a ways when different alloys are layered, and make up for short comings one alloy has in areas another doesn't.

Taken with this, makes me think that this would be how we can start working on high end vehicles frames and the like.
Hm. Interesting speculation. With that said, we've done a huge amount of investment into alien alloys, and it's probably time to take a break from that for a year or so, let what we already know and have learned since early 2062 "cook," and then get back into it.

At least that's my feeling.
 
Makes sense, and Alloys are (for now, at least) the biggest material science project Treasury has. Finishing Alloys will have benefits.
Yeah. On the other hand we just invested a huge amount of resources into them, and at some point you hit diminishing returns. I'd honestly rather just take them off the table for a few turns while we get North Boston at least seriously underway and finish the repulsorplate factories. I'm tired. I've got alloy fatigue.
 
With our labor problems we probably need to start considering Nuuk as well. After Boston of course.

I'm willing to bet a lot of the robotics projects we would have gotten with our unfortunately killed specialist are gated behind it now. And we don't really have many things available to boost labor.
 
Just letting everyone know that I've moved the admin die from Shala to the University Program so that I can put a die on Cosmetic Biosculpting.
 
Nuuk is definitely after Boston, but should we start it in the current 4YP?
We will have 1-2 Qs free in HI after Boston (I think).
I'd finish repulsorplates first to get those moving and available. Then Boston. Then Aberdeen for synergy with Boston.

Edit: Then micro fusion because alien tech batteries.

After that see if anything incredibly interesting or useful has shown up as a project but probably biting the bullet and committing to Nuuk.
 
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Hm. Interesting speculation. With that said, we've done a huge amount of investment into alien alloys, and it's probably time to take a break from that for a year or so, let what we already know and have learned since early 2062 "cook," and then get back into it.

At least that's my feeling.
Find a budget for the MFC labs sometime this plan, and I'll not say a word until Boston is done.
 
[X] Plan Levitating Up To Boston
[X] Plan Repulsorplates Tiberium Spikes and Islands oh my
[X] Plan Attempting to Have Both Industrial Projects
[X] Plan Name Here
[X] Plan Portals and Processors and Island Life:
[X] Plan With More Space Dice
Edit: +plan
 
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[X] Plan Levitating Up To Boston
[X] Plan: Clear Your Plate

Of the four leading plans, I disagree with these two the least.

[X] Plan Name Here
[X] Plan Portals, Repulsors and Projects
[X] Plan Portals and Processors and Island Life:
[X] Plan Portals and Processors and Mad Science:
 
With our labor problems we probably need to start considering Nuuk as well. After Boston of course.

I'm willing to bet a lot of the robotics projects we would have gotten with our unfortunately killed specialist are gated behind it now. And we don't really have many things available to boost labor.
We will still get the automation/mechanisation projects even with her being dead. We just don't keep her bonuses
 
Really? After we got told last turn some people prefer the negative rents the leading plan not only continues with arcologies which is fair enough. But also refits those cheaper housing options?
 
Finally I can make my reaction post on the new turn post:

Food: +24 +4 = +28 (+24 backed reserve, +5 unbacked reserve) (Perennials: +1 on Q1 2063, +1 on Q4 2063)

Food: +29 (+24 backed reserve, +5 unbacked reserve) (Perennials: +1 on Q4 2063)

Uh...I seem to have misplaced a gain of +1 Food from previous turn somewhere.

[ ] Tiberium Vein Mines (Stage 1010)


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilzhb0aLH70

-[ ] Yellow Zone 10 (Progress 0/100: 30 resources per die) (+2 Yellow Zone Abatement)
-[ ] Yellow Zone 11 (Progress 0/100: 30 resources per die) (+2 Yellow Zone Abatement)

:wtf: Wait the YZ-10 Hub is in the Blue Zone now. Does that mean the YZ-10 Inhibitor replaces the BZ-2 Inhibitor? Also is YZ-11 still under mostly NOD control?

[ ] GDSS Shala (Phase 5)
As Shala has been rapidly expanded, the station is still somewhat skeletal, especially in the core and the periphery, but at the same time it has bulked out, with new residencies, new agricultural platforms, workshops and docking ports. Continuing expansion will see significant work done to expand food production and see additional farmland made available for transport across the solar system. (Station)

(Progress 367/975: 20 resources per die) (.4k permanent residents) (+8 Food, +4 Consumer Goods) (20 Political Support) (+3 available Bays)

[ ] GDSS Shala Bays (2 available)

Either we now have 3 Bays available or we will be getting +4 available Bays with Phase 5 of Shala because of the the NAT 100 last turn.

OK next is my own plan post with approval votes for plans I like since I'm more than a day late.
 
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