Income?

[msp]

Hi!

where do you people get money from in-game? Airstrike or ground missions is peanuts (~20k-60k), manufacturing stuff and selling like in the original doesn't work either. Why is it that manufacturing a Laser rifle is more expensive than selling it?? Surely the world hasn't seen a weapon like this and should be willing to pay a lot of money.

After 3 bases (2 of which are more or less only airports), end of month funding is barley enough to survive.

So where does your income come from?

regards,

[HammerHead]

Well, there are a few tips:

1. Keep shooting down as many UFOs as possible, as fast as possible.

2. Always clear the crash site, it gives much more money than simply airstriking the thing.

3. Raid alien bases as soon as possible, they drain funding and relations like crazy.

That's all I do, and even though I had negative funding changes in first and second month, I had a +300k change on third. I did some mistakes, though.

[KevinHann]

Ground missions give sizable amount of cash over the airstrikes and it will improve as UFOs get bigger. Other than that your monthly income will grow if you establish air dominance and don't let alien ships trigger events.

Other than that you need to control your expenses. Sometimes it's more rational to postpone building your third base until you can sustain it financially.

[ViniJones]

Well, there are a few tips:

1. Keep shooting down as many UFOs as possible, as fast as possible.

2. Always clear the crash site, it gives much more money than simply airstriking the thing.

3. Raid alien bases as soon as possible, they drain funding and relations like crazy.

That's all I do, and even though I had negative funding changes in first and second month, I had a +300k change on third. I did some mistakes, though.

Yes, exactly. -70k first month +10k second month Im in November having +412k increase and still 2 waves to go.

As for controlling expenses, scientists and interceptors eat the most... one lab costs 400k per month, a single condor or foxtrot cost 100k each or so? Cut those if youre hurting for money.

Oh and also, you should ask the countries to pay you in dollars, not barley.

Edited June 25, 2014 by ViniJones

[KevinHann]

You can easily make-do with one lab and one workshop over a very long period if you are truly struggling financially, if not even the entire game. Also make sure all your interceptor resources are actually needed - if you don't employ that fourth Condor very often maybe you don't really need it?

It is also possible to cut entire regions from your protective grid and sacrifice them for the sake of building extensive cover over those you are certain you can save. Depending on difficulty levels you could avoid building an American base altogether.

[ViniJones]

You can easily make-do with one lab and one workshop over a very long period if you are truly struggling financially, if not even the entire game. Also make sure all your interceptor resources are actually needed - if you don't employ that fourth Condor very often maybe you don't really need it?

It is also possible to cut entire regions from your protective grid and sacrifice them for the sake of building extensive cover over those you are certain you can save. Depending on difficulty levels you could avoid building an American base altogether.

Ive been experimenting with this a long time, so far the best way for me to play I/I is precisely the opposite. Build a second lab asap, cover all the states asap. Ground combat suffers a lot at start, but then the money comes.

Edit: Up until recently this was not an option because of the "If 3 quit, its game over on Insane" If I remember correctly.

[KevinHann]

Second base is a must asap for me, too, but perhaps a third one might not be needed? I don't think it's universal tbh, you'd need to factor in how different players approach the geoscape and what would make the game "flow" better for them.

But I'll agree I haven't messed with it a lot as my initial approach worked just fine and I never felt the need to adapt.

[Dranak]

Not being able to manufacture for profit was a design decision the devs made fairly early on since laser cannon factories in the original game made you able to mostly ignore the actual funding nations.

I like to stabilize on two bases before taking a third. To borrow a bit from RTS games, taking an early third base is a greedy economic play. You have to sacrifice tech (some) and army power (manufacturing gear) to do it, so it leaves you weak for a while. But if you can pull it off, it sets you up for a better financial state down the road.

Funding comes from shooting down all the UFOs, preferably before they can trigger many events. I mostly run airstrike everything before Corvettes, and then run one ground mission per wave.

[KevinHann]

The airstriking strategy Dranak suggests is completely viable, although you might want to consider skipping those early fights has an additional negative to the small financial boost you sacrifice. They are generally easier than the latter GC and thus a relatively unpunishing way to let your troops get some experience under the belts.

[Dranak]

The airstriking strategy Dranak suggests is completely viable, although you might want to consider skipping those early fights has an additional negative to the small financial boost you sacrifice. They are generally easier than the latter GC and thus a relatively unpunishing way to let your troops get some experience under the belts.

Yeah, that's the main downside to it since the financial gains are so small. Scouts and Light Scouts just get so boring to me though. And rocket launchers are great equalizers.

[KevinHann]

Also use rocker launchers and explosive grenades with caution, they tend to blow up the target thus destroying equipment, which reduces your income at the end (as you get that from selling whatever alien equipment the game can salvage when you've cleared the map).

Rocket launchers worked okay for me early game but quickly became pretty much useless - too low damage, problematic ammo and very unreliable to produce a clean shot.

Edited June 25, 2014 by KevinHann