C&C Tiberium Alliances Resource Mechanics Guide

C&C Tiberium Alliances Resource Mechanics Guide by LordVerm

Resource Chart

When I first started off, I found it a bit hard to understand how resources and buildings are connected. I have attached a simple chart that shows how resources and buildings are related. I hope someone will find it useful.

Update:
As of patch 11.04.2012, the resource system has gotten a big overhaul, but the chart is still correct. The most significant changes are:
1) Regular production is now collected in packages while bonuses are a continuous income.
2) A production building (Harvester, Power Plant, Refinery) only benefit from one bonus building (Silo, Accumulator, Power Plant), while a bonus building can benefit from many production buildings. Both buildings in the relationship produces bonuses.

Update:
New chart taking relationships cardinality into consideration:

Read: An accumulator can have many Power Plant connections, while a Power Plant can have one (1) Accumulator connection.

Resources and Bonuses

I decided to write a bit on the more subtle aspects of resources and bonuses.
All resource output in this game has two parts to it, and their workings are roughly as follows:

TYPE               - GAIN                - UPGRADE EFFECTS
regular production - [amount] per hour   - +[amount], +[time]
bonus production   - [amount] per [time] - -[time]  , +[storage]

To improve your output you can improve either type. What type you choose affects what kind of output you get. A focus on regular production increases passive output, but increase bonus time. A focus on bonus production does not affect passive output, but reduces bonus time and increases storage capacity.

By choosing a focus, you can somewhat adjust to your playing capacity. If you don’t want to spend a lot of time watching your base, you should focus on regular production. Otherwise, focus on bonus production.

If you have available Construction Slots, you could build extra bonus buildings and switch between them if you want to change focus. This could be useful before going to sleep/school/work. Note that you lose any bonus build-up when switching, so wait until bonus can be collected first. Edit: Actually this is a load of crap. Ignore it.

Whatever you choose, you should always try to have a bonus building connected to every resource building, even if it’s only level 1. Also note that a bonus building has a maximum effect on resource buildings, so make sure the level difference is not too big (hover over the resource building and notice the percentage value on the package icon).

Resource and Building Relationships

Recently, a new resource system was implemented, and with it some confusion among players. I therefore decided to try to offer some explanations in hopes of making it a bit easier to understand.

Below is a couple of figures and an explanation.

In the first figure, a Silo is adjacent to (directly next to) multiple Harvesters, while in the second, a Harvester is adjacent to multiple Silos. Many such relationships can exist at the same time, but we’re looking at them isolated here to point out how it works.

When a production building, such as a Harvester, and a bonus building, such as Silo, are placed adjacent to each other, both buildings will produce a continuous bonus income of resources. It’s a certain amount per hour that requires no action on your part; it is automatically collected. In the first figure you can see that the Silo is producing two (2) bonuses, and the Harvesters are each producing one (1) bonus.

In the second figure, each Silo produces one (1) bonus, and the Harvester is limited to one (1) bonus, unlike the Silo in the first figure.

Below is an example of how the property window of a Silo could look like. Notice that this Silo is connected to three (3) different Harvesters, and producing one bonus for each of them.

Below is an example of how the property window of a Harvester could look like. Notice that it’s connected to one (1) Silo, and producing one (1) bonus for it.

I hope it was useful. If you have any ideas to improve the guide, give a shout!

Update: Here’s an example of how these relationships are presented visually when you hover over the buildings:

The active building in each case, is highlighted in white.