Findings:
- -The pre-established T1, T2, and T3 Mass Extractor adjacency bonuses (7.5%, 10%, and 12.5% respectively) are very accurate at T2 and T3. T1 may have larger variation, but it is most likely due to rounding error.
-Reclaim on a unit is the same no matter the adjacency bonus. So regardless of whether the unit was cheaper or more expensive when it was made, you still get same amount on reclaim.
-Reclaim of a standard unit with net back approximately 81% of the units value. The more discounted the unit, the higher that number is (because the unit costs less at higher tech Mass Extractor adjacency).
-Adjacency bonuses are given regardless if the Mass Extractor is active or not.
***FOR THOSE WHO WANT THE METHODOLOGY, PLEASE READ THE REST***
OVERVIEW
Recently, I have been doing some analysis on the adjacency bonuses in FA, mainly because I wanted see why different players do different strategies regarding build placement with/without adjacency. I looked at the wiki for my initial guidance on the subject. While it was helpful and laid the initial foundation of my analysis, I wasn't satisfied with what was presented, mainly because I didn't have access to some hard numbers. I performed an experiment to visual those hard numbers, and in doing so, found some interesting results (although some of this is already common and circulated knowledge). Regardless, I thought it would be worthwhile to share my results with the community. Please bear with me, as this post may be long.
SETUP
Here are some preliminary action I did in the lobby. I wanted to include this section for replicability purposes and to cover any variables in the setting that might change the result:
- -Game mode set to Sandbox
-Map: 4v4 Confrontation (I just picked one with open space).
-Infinite Timeouts
-Adjustable game speed
-No mods (besides GAZ UI) were active.
Upon entering the map, there were some other procedures I did that are important:
- -CTRL KO'd commander, mainly to stop his power and mass production (see Methodolgy).
-Used Cheat menu to build mass extractors, engineers, ect.
-Used Resource Cheat [CTRL+ALT+B] to raise Mass and Energy storage.
METHODOLOGY
The idea was to create each land unit from a faction (in this case UEF) under different build capacities and adjacencies to see if there were any patterns. The build capacity for this analysis were factories at different tech levels (no engineers assisting). The adjacency bonus to be tested was Mass Extractors at T1, T2, and T3. The control group was with no adjacency bonus.
So, if you want to visualize it, I developed four different groups:
- 1. Land Factory with No adjacency bonus (Control)
2. T1 Factory with T1 MEX adjacency
3. T1 Factory with T2 MEX adjacency
4. T1 Factory with T3 MEX adjacency
I also set some variables constant so I could measure any variations in resource cost of each group. For example:
- -Mass storage is kept at 10,500. This number is reset after every unit is built. I used the Production button on the Mass Extractors to stop and start Mass production to fill storage for next trial (e.i. next unit to be built).
-Energy storage is at 10,000. This number is reset after every unit built. I built 1 T1 Pgen to fill storage after every trial. Once it was full, Pgen was CTRL K'd.
After setting everything up, I went through each unit, recording how much mass was spent from each factory. After each unit was completed and the information collected, I reclaimed the unit and reset Mass and Energy to their starting levels. I proceeded to do this for every UEF land unit, all the way up to T3.
EXAMPLE
In order to help alleviate any confusion, I made this section to provide and example of a trial, complete with pictures. For this trial, we will use the UEF T1 Tank, AKA the Striker. Lets get started!
1. Reset all variables
At the beginning of every trial, Mass and Energy is reset back to their maximum storage potential which in this case, is Mass 10,500; Energy 10,000. Once storage is filled, all production facilities are either stalled (Production button on Mass Extractors), or CTRL K'd (Pgens). Mass and Energy production should be +0.
2. Create unit
Create the unit. Only produce at one factory. Remember, the point is to record how much that 1 unit costs.
3. Measure change in Mass/Energy
See the number up top in storage? The difference between the starting value and the current value is how much the unit cost overall in mass. In a math equation:
(Starting Mass)-(Current Mass)=Cost of unit in Mass
So, in this instance, we are trying to figure out the cost of this T1 tank. The Starting Mass was 10,500. The Current Mass is 10,449. Plug it into the formula:
10,500 - 10,444= 56 Mass
This can be done for energy as well. Do the math and catalog the end value.
4. Reclaim unit and reset Mass/Energy Storage
I chose to reclaim the units as I also wanted to collect data on reclaim values. You can determine the reclaim amount by reclaiming the unit, and subtracting the current mass storage compared to the starting amount. You then take that variable and subtract it from the unit cost.
(Cost of unit in Mass) - (Starting Mass-Reclaim Mass)=Reclaim Value of Unit
5. Begin another trial with a different Factory group.
From there, you start the whole process over, but this time with a different factory group. In this case, the T1 factory with T1 Mass Extractor adjacency.
RESULTS
Here is the basis of my findings:
- -The pre-established T1, T2, and T3 Mass Extractor adjacency bonuses (7.5%, 10%, and 12.5% respectively) are very accurate at T2 and T3. T1 may have larger variation, but it is most likely due to rounding error.
-Reclaim on a unit is the same no matter the adjacency bonus. So regardless of whether the unit was cheaper or more expensive when it was made, you still get same amount on reclaim.
-Reclaim of a standard unit with net back approximately 80% of the units value. The more discounted the unit, the higher that number is (because the unit costs less at higher tech Mass Extractor adjacency).
-Adjacency bonuses are given regardless if the Mass Extractor is active or not.
Here is the link to a Google Docs that has all of the raw data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing
FUTURE RESEARCH
I am hoping to do similar projects on adjacency, using this same method for the other faction's land factories, air factory adjacency, Mass Fabricator Adjacency effects, the best Adjacency setups in terms of discount yield, and a look at unit production with adjacency and engineers together. Any future research ideas, criticisms, suggestions, and comments would be appreciated!
EDIT: 81% reclaim. Not sure why I put 80%, as my own data supports 81%
. There was two reasons why I did this project:
