Stagnant Economy

[F.O.D.]

My problem is as follows: I have managed to reach August with great success on Beginner but I started having a serious problem, my expenses are such that force me to begin the month with minimal cash (~200k$). So, I started considering this save as a patient in a coma since I'm actually forced to build Lascannons to get some profit but it's so small that my economy never recovers and the UFO's don't give much profit. Atm I have 3 bases, my HQ and 2 interception ones. Possible solution could be to dismantle one of said bases?

[Scrogdog]

My problem is as follows: I have managed to reach August with great success on Beginner but I started having a serious problem, my expenses are such that force me to begin the month with minimal cash (~200k$). So, I started considering this save as a patient in a coma since I'm actually forced to build Lascannons to get some profit but it's so small that my economy never recovers and the UFO's don't give much profit. Atm I have 3 bases, my HQ and 2 interception ones. Possible solution could be to dismantle one of said bases?

 

Well, consider that X-Com in Geoscape is a business. And like any business, sometimes you need to make tough choices.

 

Generally speaking, it's easy to get a handle on expenses. The thing is, again like in real life, it is best to know what you can afford BEFORE you buy it.

 

What you need to do is figure out how much you need to end the month with so you don't go in the red. So, from the base screen use the "monthly cost" button and in the Geoscape screen use the "funding" button to see what your balance sheet looks like. If your expenses are two million greater than your budget, then you'll need to end the month with greater than two million in cash. The more the better so you don't begin the month with low cash like what is happening now.

 

Since you are recovering UFOs and selling the spoils, starting the month in a better way next time may not necessarily involve dismantling stuff. Instead it may just mean you need to cut rampant spending for a while. Keep an eye on maintenence costs when you buy something. For example, you rent interceptors and they can be a fairly big hit for a while. So, I usually only have one per base. I even transfer one of the two from the starting base in to one of my new bases. If you have sufficient Elerium, it's a good thing to get plasma beams for them asap. That will cut your missle expense and it will make single interceptors far more effective. They only thing they can't shoot down with ease is extra large (battleships).

 

Be creative, there is usually more than one way to skin a cat. Maybe you want to create an entire production facility just to make laser cannons to sell. Hit a few small ships that have landed on the ground (not shot down) or even mediums or larges if your squad can handle it. More loot and Elerium!

 

If you must, dismantle something, but I'd say that's a last resort if you have truly overspent. Always think ahead with your budget and consider ALL the implications of your purchase before making it. Have a solid plan to grow whether that means weapons deveolpment to better handle missions and larger ships, or production facilities or even better a combo of the two.

 

Try to save on your ammo bill with your squad too. Sure, it's nice to have heavy plasma but if your budget is tight, the very versatile laser rifle will serve you well. Unlimited ammo. Plus then you can sell the heavies for good cash. Heavy plasma is abundent. Don't worry about restocking, they are all over the place.

 

Tanks are great scouts but if you keep losing them that can be quite a budget drain also. Use just agents for a while until you get back on your feet.

 

Even if you are totally wiped out, you haven't lost yet as long as you can get one base going again. An interceptor, a radar and a few soldiers and you are in business.

 

Lastly, UFOs *should* be giving you a great profit. I made 2.5 million off of a single medium last night.

Edited March 13, 2009 by Scrogdog

[[stewart]]

Overall profit from laser cannons is based on how many engineers are building them. Not many engineers not much overall profit. UFOs should be a good source of income but of course there are risks involved with missions.

 

A small UFO should give you as much a million bucks worth of stuff. Mediums 2 - 4 million. Large 4+ million.

 

You can use that money to the stuff you need to do plus build more workshops and hire more engineers.

 

Through it all you can keep visiting UFOs too.

 

In terms of spending too much, typically thats on building too many base modules too soon.

 

With XCOM if you havent actually lost then you're winning.

[F.O.D.]

Thank you guys, reminded me stuff I already knew but have set them on the side Learned new stuff too. Btw, how do you make so much money from a small UFO? Do u sell eveything? That is, including Alloys and Elerium?

[Zombie]

Unless you are manufacturing advanced ships or armor, it's common practice to sell almost everything from a UFO (especially early in the game). Some of the Plasma weapons (Pistols and Rifles mainly) are sold because the Heavy Plasma is used more often. You don't need any more than one corpse of each type of alien so selling the excess nets you some money too. I usually keep a Power Source and a couple navigations around and sell the rest. These are some big-ticket items which net you a lot on the black market. Mind Probes are another item which sells for tons, so if you don't use them much it's safe to get rid of them (I keep at least 1 to research and to use later on). Try not to sell Elerium though. Stockpile it because it's necessary for advanced craft fuel, armor production, HWP production etc.

 

- Zombie

[[NKF]]

If you are really tight on money, you can even start the research on the corpses, but don't allocate any scientists to them. They'll extract everything they need once the project is initiated, so you can safely sell off all the corpses. Same goes for their equipment too.

 

If you don't use some types of recoverable alien equipment like plasma rifles or probes, you can choose to not research them so that you can continue to earn more recovery points from them. They are worth a few more points when they haven't been researched.

 

If you're just into the early part of the game, try not to expand your bases too quickly. Work up slowly as funds allow. Over expanding by buildings lot of facilities right away is an easy way to drain your money into a hole by maintenance costs alone. You can get by with fairly minimal bases with good management of your available resources.

 

Now for the obligatory mention of alien base milking: Alien bases have supply ships that dock there regularly. If you can get a base near it with a Skyranger, you can have a team jump in and capture the ship every time one appears, then sell off everything you recover from it (bar the elerium). With repeated successes, you'll have no trouble keeping the bank balance at a safe level, and will often have more than enough exotic materials on hand to build any consumables you need. You can also attack the alien base, but not destroy it. Go in, do some damage, bring some loot back to the lifts and then dust off. High risk but with high returns.

 

- NKF

[F.O.D.]

The recovery points thing was a great tip I got another one now, thanks to the advice here, I'm getting my economy under control now but I'm on a crashed big UFO and I can't seem to find the last sectoid. Must be a grunt since I am not getting attacked psionically. Any ideas where they hide when everyone else around is dead? (off topic?) Edited March 14, 2009 by F.O.D.

[nonam]

Try not to let your engineers idle. If you ever research plasma rifle, then manufacture it so you do not pay for idle engineers. It costs only 1 alien alloy.

[Scrogdog]

The recovery points thing was a great tip I got another one now, thanks to the advice here, I'm getting my economy under control now but I'm on a crashed big UFO and I can't seem to find the last sectoid. Must be a grunt since I am not getting attacked psionically. Any ideas where they hide when everyone else around is dead? (off topic?)

 

No, but you can't be sure you have a "camper" on your hands until after turn 20. To further what Zombie said earlier, not only do the aliens know your stats and position at the start, they also get an update at turn 20 (it is useful to them because aliens have a hidden stat: intelligence - which varies thier ability to remember things about your agents).

 

Usually the aliens will rush you after that update, but not always.

 

I'm assuming you checked the bridge of the ship and any doors attached to it that do not lead to where you entered.

 

A motion scanner or two will be of some help in this situation. Also, high explosives do a number on buildings, so I usually keep a few on hand to demo buildings that I don't feel like searching. Especially in this situation.

 

EDIT: Zombie actually said that in another topic.

 

http://www.xcomufo.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=242029051

Edited March 14, 2009 by Scrogdog

[[NKF]]

When that happens, do a sweep of the map. Revisit areas you've gone through and thoroughly investigate any structures that you come across. There's the possibility that an alien may have only been stunned and woken up or you might have missed one on the first glance. The upper level of barns and farm houses should be examined - or blown up if you've got some unused high explosives. In wilderness maps, check around the vegetation (if any) and scan the far end of slopes. Also visit the Skyranger - it's rare but one could've ended up inside.

 

Finally go over the UFO (again - if you already have). Be mindful that some furniture like the chairs in the medium scout may block your view. Check around them if you can't see anything, and remember to check to your sides when you enter a room.

 

Bases are a bit longer, but since they're divided up into distinct modules, you can seal off the area from the tunnels and work through each of the map blocks. They're a heck of a lot easier to look through than TFTDs, which can sometimes spawn enemies inside a wall.

 

The large scout camper doesn't always appear, but if it does, it'll be in the bridge, in a position that can cover both doors. Firing rockets at the walls along the bridge edge of the UFO can safely take it out. The camper in the Abducter is a common problem and it faces the bridge door. Easiest way to deal with it is to cut a hole through the rear with a heavy plasma, or hit it from underneath with area effect weaponry. From experience, the aliens in other UFOs always ambulate out towards the nearest X-COM unit over time.

 

As you play the game, learn to recognize the spots you see aliens the most in some of the more prominent map features, such as buildings (upper level of barns for example) or the locations inside the UFO itself. There are only so many spawn nodes, so you'll eventually recognize a few of them.

 

- NKF

Edited March 15, 2009 by NKF

[Scrogdog]

There's the possibility that an alien may have only been stunned and woken up or you might have missed one on the first glance.

 

Yes and you can tell if the alien is knocked out if you don't hear a death scream when it goes down. That can happen even when you are not using stun weapons. So, knowing that means you can watch over them so they don't become a pain later. You can even pick them up and carry them back to the ship if there is more than one, then just assign a guard.

 

If you have a valuable one that you need to make sure isn't killed, you can put it in front of Skyranger and then block its exit path with a tank or two soldiers. Or just dust off when you get to the ship. You don't automatically get all the loot laying around if you dust off, so you may want to collect it if there is time. Make sure everyone is on board as well or they'll be left behind.

Edited March 15, 2009 by Scrogdog

[F.O.D.]

Many thanks guys, was very informative. I finally found the guy, he was somewhere inside the UFO. Btw, nice to see the forum is alive

[[NKF]]

Lots of us regulars are still active - it's just that there aren't as many players (new-ish, or old players revisiting the game) that are asking very many questions anymore.

 

- NKF