What to do when everything is making a loss?

from Offworld Forums

Hi all

I had three really enjoyable games and two complete stinkers in last Saturday's newcomers tournament.  In the second crash 'n' burn game, IIRC I'd built some electronics plants and also had some steel mills.  When mousing over these active buildings, it became apparent that both types were making a net loss.  Not ideal.  However, when checking the reactor, farm, glass and chemical building icons, all of those also seemed to be loss-making.  I was at something of a loss as to what to do (AKA not having the foggiest idea).  What would you suggest under those circumstances?  Maybe produce/sell raw materials instead for a while?

TIA :-)

22,926 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from Offworld Forums Top

The tooltip claiming it will be a loss does not mean it will actually be a loss due to adjacency bonuses. There are often times when food is said to be making a $2 loss but after they're built the adjacency bonuses kick in and the building tooltip gives you a $30 profit. If nearly everything is making a loss however then yeah, you just have to turn off your buildings, produce raw resources and power and just wait for a while. A lot of transitions that don't make you money is a terrible idea.

Reply #2 from Offworld Forums Top

There's a few ways to handle it when you go into a stall and NOTHING is making money. When you're a low level and stall you need to avoid black market because you REALLY need the money to upgrade and open up new markets. Always black market attacking is a good rule of thumb, but you really need to know when $3k is worth more than 90 seconds of your opponent's time. Aside from that you kind of have to grin and bare it.

 

Beyond level 1 and 2 you some better options. When onworld prices are low cash becomes deflated. You can effectively buy more resources with a give amount of cash which means cash is effectively more valuable. This makes pleasure domes stronger when prices are low across the board and there's nothing else to move into. It's a bit of an investment, but it definitely helps when you have nowhere else to turn.

 

After level 4 you have options. A lot of people make the mistake of always reaching level 5 before making offworlds. This is a straight up mistake when onworld prices are low across the board. What good is 5 or 6 claims when every building you can make with those claims is unprofitable? Before you reach level 5 you should always ask "Is there any money to be made with those extra 5 claims that I'm not making already?". If the answer is no, then go straight to offworlds. While your opponent upgrades and stalls you'll be making bank off the low resource price, and driving up the value of your own resources with the increased demand.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #3 from Offworld Forums Top

Cheers guys, good food for thought.