What to do with planet production when you don't need any combat oriented stuff?

For Gritty Galaxy mod, I have a range of facilities, from quick & cheap to brutally expensive and more powerful.
In such a case, my players would scrap some of the cheap facilities and replace their dirt cheap geothermal power plants with $10k fission plants or $32k fusion plants.

Same size, more power, but much longer to build (maintenance is negligible for geothermal/fusion, although the fission plant does burn a few hundred minerals each month).

Note: "Radioactives" has been changed to "Energy", so instead of a second type of mining, you have power plants.
Energy weapons like plasma cannons and lasers don't require any supplies or ordnance, but eat Energy resources for maintenance costs.

You can always build lots of orbital spaceyard bases to expand your industrial base for when you DO need to start spamming warships...

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The power of the ancients is now yours to command. You are truly the Master... of the obvious

I build more military items, even if I don't need them.

It's good to be prepared.

I think the limited economics models has always been one of the SE series weak points (which are few).

AI players don't seem to be as economically limited as players either.

SuicideJunkie's mod does a lot to increase the economic depth of the game and I have similar ideas. Unfortunately to properly expand on his mod's ideas, I would need a few functions available for use so you could build buildings that increase facility space based on the size of the planet they're built (or rather, have their cost depend on the planet they're built on), and have their cost based on how many exist already (so if you build too many of them they start making the planet cost resources).

Rather than wait for it, I've been working on modding Civilization 4 instead. The Beyond the Sword expansion comes with a space mod which I'm adding depth to.

Upgrade your troops/fighters, then have the planet replace the old ones with new ones. Scrap the old ones so that maintenance only costs a tiny bit more.

What I can't figure out is how a neutral with 5 planets can support 400 units and 100 ships. The AI players are the same. If there is a built in cheat for the AI this is it.

Easily, because unit maintenance is a pittance and the ships for neutral races are usually rudimentary - level 1 duc/CSM frigs and the like?

All in all, not very expensive, methinks.

I thought they were mothballing but everything appears active when I show up to attack. I also thought their rate of production appeared too fast. They seem to crank out (and maintain) stuff at an incredible pace. Attacking resource planets also don't seem to make stuff go away.

It's simple. They keep building until they simply can't afford to build more. Then they research better production so that they can build more. They repeat this until you blow them up.

I don't see what the big deal is. If there is nothing in the ship yard queue, it's not spending anything (unlike some other games where idle factories still spend production points). Other than maintenance, which you pay for all the time anyway.

---Sig---
Playing Touhou games (Go to this Wiki if interested. No, nobody else is that good/insane as that replay). No rush for SE

Yes, I generally give AI players max bonuses. Didn't think this included a multiplier to maintenance. When I go to war, I also try to attack an opponent's economy. With the AI that appears to have no effect.