In my last game I came on a neutron star and eventually built an outpost for it to obtain the resource Neutronium. The tool tip for the star also indicated there were bonuses for science and tourism, but if I read the tip correctly, I think you had to build a "tourism outpost" and a "science outpost." Is that correct, and if so, how do you build or assign such an outpost? I'm guessing that comes through research somewhere. but I didn't get that far in my research. About resources, the game shows four: Helium3, Antimater, Neutronium and Dark Matter. In this last game I found 2 of the 4 but won the game without ever finding a source for the other 2. Yet I finished the game without them and was able to build everything I needed to win. I assume therefore that some or all of these are (maybe) unnecessary until mid or late game. And also that finding/using them comes at least partially through research. Is that correct? And, just for future reference, where or how are these resources found? I wonder if an addition to the tool tip for each of them could include that information? But if that's asking too much, please disregard this suggestion.
These four resources are the "Strategic Resources". They are not required to win the game. They do offer very nice bonuses though, and having more of each is typically better. They are found generally on gas giants or in special systems such as neutron stars and black holes. Initially, you will not know what quantity, if any, of the resource they contain. You must discover this by performing enough remote exploration (initial level is not enough), or by using a survey ship (another handy ship type to have!). When you have discovered a source and done enough surveying to discover the quantity of that source, a new option is unlocked. You are allowed to select one of two possible paths to exploit the resource. Once a path has been selected, it is locked for your game. You will never unlock the other path for that resource. The selected path will add new research options to your research screen. These appear with a small symbol next to them to indicate they have been unlocked by, and are reliant upon, that resource. Adding a tooltip about where to potentially find these is not a bad idea. What they unlock though, that is designed to be a surprise the first time I believe. I outlined the research unlocked by strategic resources with a red outline below. Shown here are Helium-3 and Antimatter unlocked research options. The bonuses obtained from strategic resources are obtained automatically once you build an outpost with an outpost ship. You don't need to specialize it or build another tourism or science outpost. That only applies to asteroid belts. Research obtained from accretion disks containing strategic resources is added to your research total as "Interstellar Research" as shown in this screenshot. Income from "Interstellar Tourism" is the income gained from accretion disks and appears similarly on the empire treasury (top left of screen) tooltip. Note that this is not a flat value like research, but is a per-pop bonus for your empire and even other empires. The more people/aliens in the world, the more tourism profit you reap from having the outpost out there!
Ah, OK, that explains a lot. Thanks! I had already come across that one-time choice with fusion, so that was no surprise. The other interesting bit was that it's not necessary to have all the strategic resources to win. That was a pleasant surprise. And I'm happy to know about the (shall we say) multifunctional capacity of outposts. I was thinking of the different kinds of outposts in Distant Worlds. Again, thank you for the information and samples.
No problem at all, I'm happy to help out. I also like to see where tooltips or information may be lacking, so having you bring these things up is enlightening.
