I really hope we get Kure machine works soon. That seems like something we would want for more advanced projects.
I see what you mean. It's unattractive in that it's got high dice progress requirements for limited capital goods return on investment... But the option text strongly suggests that this is a project that unlocks other better projects.
The problem I suppose is that Boston is the most efficient use of dice and resources so long as you ignore energy.
In terms of "options that actually promise real progress to resolving our needs instead of just chipping away at them," it's by far the most efficient one even if you
don't ignore Energy. We have a bunch of options that collectively are worth +4 Capital Goods and cost no Energy (
Enterprise Phase 3, Bulk Plastics Facilities, and Superconductor Foundries, and that last one is even a net Energy
gain)... But past that, what more will there be? We have no reasonable assurance that there will be an endless supply of such options, with the possible exception of more
Enterprise phases and those are
fucking expensive.
And once we're resigning ourselves to spending Energy to get Capital Goods, which realistically we must... Well, North Boston gives 4 Capital Goods per point of Energy consumed. Nothing else can match that.
The more I think about it the more Boston looks like a very practical option - perhaps not attempting to shock it in 2 turns, although that in itself is surprisingly not a completely awful idea.
I'd rather not commit to rushing it because we do have other needs and other things that are worth spending free dice on. There's nothing inherently wrong with finishing it in 3-4 turns.
The problem with Boston Phase 4, I feel, is mostly the dice cost.
It will take at least two quarters, more likely three or four to rush Boston with 10 dice. This also precludes any other HI projects for at least that first quarter.
Yes, but my point is, that's not "our whole budget," or even a majority of our budget. It would not be difficult for Dr. Granger, in character, to justify the investment as long as there weren't any obvious adverse immediate consequences like "massive blackouts in Blue Zones the world over."
It's a big project with big costs and maybe we should take it slow... but we should probably
do it anyway, sooner or later, trying to finish some time in the remaining 11 turns of this Four Year Plan. Because we still need to produce a great deal more Capital Goods for a wide variety of projects, and North Boston is
by far the most attractive option for doing so.
All the alternatives are worse on important metrics. The only one that can even compete with North Boston is
Blue Zone Heavy Industrial Sectors, which would be
very slightly more efficient on the "dice rolled per Capital Goods unit produced" metric, at the price of not producing any Consumer Goods byproducts, costing 25 Resources/die instead of 15, and consuming twice as much Labor and Energy when we're inevitably going to be hard up for Energy for the duration of this Plan.
While I'm not saying North Boston is something we should be trying to beeline before the election what with everything else going on, I don't think there's a good alternative to building it in the medium term (that is, the rest of this Plan).
What is with this Carter stuff? Coffee crisis? Wut? I dont' see that option in the turn.
A Nod saboteur destroyed our entire space program's precious and nigh-irreplaceable coffee reserves.
