Research Laboratory => +1/Scientist, +5/Colony, 1 BC/Turn Planetary Supercomputer => +2/Scientist, +10/Colony, 2 BC/Turn Galactic Cybernet => +3/Scientist, +15/Colony, 3 BC/Turn Autolab => +30/Colony, 3 BC/Turn Heightened Intelligence => +1/Scientist, effective immediately Scout Lab => +1,2,4,8,16,32 Research Points per Ship depending on size Increases beam accuracy against Space Monsters, Antarians, and the Guardian of Orion
Automated Factories => +1/Worker, +5/Colony, 1 BC/Turn Robo Mining Plant => +2/Worker, +10/Colony, 2 BC/Turn Deep Core Mine => +3/Worker, +15/Colony, 3 BC/Turn Microlite Construction => +1/Worker, immediate effect Recyclotron => +1/Unit of Population, No extra pollution, 3 BC/Turn Robotic Factory => +5,8,10,15,20 depending on planet type, 3 BC/TurnIt is a good idea to buy Factories and Robo Mining Plants in new Colonies toget production off to a flying start, if you can afford them.
Pollution Processor => -50%, 1 BC/Turn Atmospheric Renewer => -75%, 3 BC/Turn, -87.5% with Pollution Processor Core Waste Dumps => -100%, 8 BC/Turn Nano Disassemblers => Doubles planets tolerance to Pollution, immediate effectEach unit of Pollution requires one unit of Production to clean it up, so the less Pollution you have, the more Production you get.
Hydroponic Farm => +2 Food, 2 BC/Turn Subterranean Farms => +4 Food, 4 BC/Turn (don't bother, terraform instead) Food Replicators => 1 Food/2 Minerals, 10 BC/Turn (definitely don't bother!) Soil Enrichment => +1 Food/Farmer on non-hostile worlds Weather Controller => +2 Food/Farmer on non-hostile worlds Biomorphic Fungi => +1 Food/Farmer on ANY world Planetary Radiation Shield => -5 Points Damage, 1 BC/Turn from orbital attack Planetary Flux Shield => -10 Points Damage, 3 BC Turn Planetary Barrier Shield => -20 Points Damage, 5 BC Turn Stops ground troops and biological weapons All Convert Radiated Worlds to Barren, and remove Radiation Maintenance Penalty (+25%) Terraforming => +1 Food/Farmer, More living space, may need up to 3 applications, each more expensive than the last Gaia Transformation => +1 Food/Farmer, More living space, can only be applied on Terran Worlds Artificial Planet Construction => Asteroid Belts and Gas Giants in the same system become Barren, Normal G, Mineral Abundant Worlds - Large and Huge respectivelyIt is a good idea to buy Hydroponic Farms in new Colonies to allow workers to concentrate on Industrial Production (instead of Farming), prevent possible starvation, and free up freighters (also note you have to pay to transport food anyway, surplus food is sold for ½ BC, or 1 BC for a few races).
It my opinion Terraforming is the best Technology in the entire game, get it as soon as you can, and then build it on every world. As enemies usually destroy everything on a world, Terraforming is the only thing that remains, making it easier to re-establish colonies once the war is over. Note Worlds are one level more habitable for Aquatic Races e.g. Terran acts like Gaia, Subterranean Races get more living space.
The Planet types are in order of improvement: Toxic => Can NEVER be Terraformed Radiated => Can be improved using a Radiation Shield Barren => Can be created using Artificial Planet Construction Desert, Tundra Arid, Swamp, Ocean Terran => Can be improved using Gaia Transformation Gaia => Most food/farmer and living spaceBuild Soil Enrichments and Weather Controllers on Worlds before Terraforming when possible, so less workers move to farming, leaving more for industry.
Cloning Centre => +0.1 Unit of Population/Turn, 2 BC/Turn Biospheres => +2 Living space, 1 BC/Turn Advanced City Planning => +5 Living space, effective immediately Microbiotics => +25% Growth Rate, -50% Death Spores, Bio Terminators Universal Antidote -> +50% Growth rate, -75% Death Spores, Bio Terminators Both effective immediately It is a good idea to buy Cloning Centres in new Colonies which mean you get an extra new Worker every 10 Turns, thus increasing production
Space Port => +50% BC, 1 BC/Turn Planetary Stock Exchange => +100% BC, 2 BC/Turn Galactic Currency Exchange => +50 BC, effective immediately
Astro University => +1 for all workers, 4 BC/Turn Planetary Gravity Generator => Eliminates any negative effects of Low and High-G planets, thus increasing production Android Farmers => +3 Food, 1 Mineral/Turn Android Workers => +3 Mineral, 1 Mineral/Turn Android Scientists => +3 Science, 1 Mineral/Turn Imperium => +50% Command Rating, 4 Turns/Unit Alien Assimilation, +15 defensive spys Confederation => No automatic assimilation if your planets are conquered, Ship building 1/3 normal cost Federation => +75% BC/Research, 2 Turns/Unit Alien Assimilation Galactic Unification => +100 Food/Industrial Production, 15 Turns/Unit Alien Assimilation Evolutionary Mutation => +4 Racial Characteristics (Choose Warlord!) Alien Management Centre => 2 Turns/Unit Alien Assimilation, modified by Charismatic/Repulsive racial attributes. Remove 20% Morale Penalty for multi-racial Colonies. -50% unrest, decreasing chance of revoltNote when you conquer a Colony all citizens are unassimilated, and onlywork half as much as they normally would.
Holo Simulator => +20%, 1 BC/Turn Pleasure Dome => +30%, 3 BC/Turn Virtual Reality Network => +20%, effective immediately Psionics* => +10% for Dictatorship, Imperium, Feudalism, ConfederationMorale either increases or decreases ALL production, by it's current level. Note Feudal and Dictatorship Governments suffer -20% Morale until either a Marine or Armour Barracks is built, this also applies to their advanced forms. Unification Governments are not effected by Morale.
Xeno Psychology => +30 diplomatic points, making for less chance of war, and it more likely for aliens to trade technologies