Explore GameReplays...

Tiberium Alliances

1197 users online in the past 15 minutes
1191 guests and 6 members
LATEST VIDEOS ON DEMAND
PLAY TIBERIUM ALLIANCES
IPB Image
HOT FORUM TOPICS
TEAMSPEAK 3 SERVER

Tip of the Week #1 - Power Management

By foofightersrule - 3rd May 2012 - 03:20 AM

Date: May 5, 2012
Game: Tiberium Alliances, patch April 19, 2012
Author: foofightersrule
Tiberium Alliances has three major resources for building and upgrading your base and units, tiberium, crystals and power. The vast majority of tiberium and crystals are obtained by attacking Forgotten camps, outposts and bases. However, power can not be obtained by raiding. This is why it is important to squeeze as much power out of your base as possible. In this guide we'll explore the nuances of the relationship between Power Plants, crystals and Accumulators and how to best arrange your base to achieve maximum power output!


IPB Image

Power plant


Power Plants generate power in both bonus packages that you must collect, and in continuous production. The bonus packages are not affected by anything other than the Power Plant's level. The continuous resources are affected by three things: Power Plant level, nearby Accumulator(s) and nearby crystals. Unlike before the recent patch, there is no "stacking" effect for Accumulators. A Power Plant with eight attached Accumulators will produce the same amount as a Power Plant which has only one Accumulator attached. Also unlike the previous patch, Accumulator level does not matter, a level one Accumulator will assist the Power Plant the same as a level twenty Accumulator. A popular rumor is that crystal harvester level will also affect power generation but that is false, only the crystal patch matters, your Power Plant will produce the same amount of power whether there is a Harvester there or not.

An attached Accumulator provides more power than a single nearby crystal, but three nearby crystals will boost power production even more than an Accumulator. So moral of the story is as follows. If you're looking to place a new Power Plant, place it where it will have the most adjacent crystal patches, but if you can't get three or more adjacent crystal patches, then it is better off not touching any crystals, if it can touch an Accumulator instead. Of course, if you can touch both an Accumulator and crystals you get the best results.


IPB Image

Accumulator


Accumulators provide you with continuous power production and increase your power storage capacity. The amount of power it produces is affected by two things: Accumulator level, and number of Power Plants touching it. The level of the power plants does not matter one bit. Accumulators are much more straightforward than Power Plants, just try to get as many Power Plants touching the Accumulator as possible.


Upgrades


Now that we know how all the components work together and how to make the most efficient layout, we need to figure out the upgrade priorities. Power Plants and Accumulators cost the same amount of power, but Power Plants are much more demanding on your tiberium. The one question you want to ask is, which upgrade will give me the quickest return on my power spending as that's the upgrade that will pay for itself the quickest and give you the biggest possible increase in power production.

There's a simple formula for calculating this:
Power cost/increase in hourly income = hours it will take for upgrade to pay for itself.
Let's do an example. Here's a level 22 Power Plant that's touching 2 crystals and 1 Accumulator:

IPB Image

By clicking on the Power Plant you can determine the cost to upgrade it, 254386 Power, the current production, 23075/h, and the production after the upgrade, 26971 per hour. Using the formula you get:
IPB Image

So, it will take about 65 hours for the upgrade to "pay for itself" (generate the power it cost to purchase it). Here's a level 22 Accumulator that's touching 6 Power Plants:

IPB Image


By clicking on the Accumulator and hovering the mouse of the Power Plant icon you can determine the cost to upgrade it, 254386 Power, the current production, 17980 per hour, and the production after the upgrade, 21576 per hour. Using the formula you get:
IPB Image


So, it will take about 71 hours for the upgrade to pay for itself. In this case, clearly the Power Plant will provide more power, so if you have the tiberium you should choose the Power Plant.

There's no need to calculate this for every Power Plant and Accumulator in your base, just be mindful of the following general guidelines, and use the formula if it's too close to call.


Upgrade priority, from highest to lowest

  1. Power Plant touching three or more crystals and an Accumulator.
  2. Accumulator touching seven or more Power Plants.
  3. Power Plant touching two crystals and an Accumulator.
  4. Accumulator touching six power plants.
  5. Power Plant touching one crystal patch and an Accumulator.
One last guideline, upgrades are less cost effective as you level up, so a lower level Power Plant will pay for itself faster than a higher level Power Plant assuming they are equal in the priority list (number of crystal touches and Accumulator attached or not).

If your situation isn't listed above or you have two differently leveled buildings and it's not clear which is the better upgrade, then you should use the formula. Also, take into account your down time. If your Power Plant upgrade will pay for itself in 65 hours and your Accumulator will pay for itself in 70 hours; yet you don't have all the tiberium for the Power Plant upgrade, and you're about to sleep for 8 hours, then you should upgrade the Accumulator. Finally, take into account your tiberium levels, if you think it will take longer than 5 hours to get the extra tiberium that the Power Plant will cost, then it would be wiser to upgrade the Accumulator.

This brief guide should give you the knowledge to properly organize your Power Plants and Accumulators and hopefully make it quicker and easier to figure out what to upgrade and when. See if you can increase your power income, but don't go crazy! As you can see, with levels only around the lower twenties it takes almost three days for your upgrade to pay for itself. Keep that in mind and try to predict when you will need more power so you can begin upgrading a few days before.

Good luck and happy hunting commanders!