Questions regarding planet specialization/random event bonuses

The starship bonus is for that planet only as it was in GalCiv1 I am assuming

I've a question about planet specialization. I've heard from various places that it no longer works in v1.31. Is this true?

I don't agree with this, sure specialization works in v1.31. Maybe big pop planets are harder now. I don't have any numbers to back this up, but some of the Galciv II number-crunchers could probably provide some examples.

I don't really specialize planets much but I'm sure that specialized planets are still a viable strategy in 1.31.
The big change with 1.31 seems to be that it is no longer viable to have 26B+ populations on planets. Previously players could have 26B+ populations and have some benefits from that that they really liked.

As for the 35% research bonus vs 3 more tiles, sort of hard to really know and depends on some other factors also. Besides wouldn't you just be glad to get either?
However say that initially you have an initial colony building, starport and 9 research buildings -- 1 of which is 300% bonus.
That gives the equivilant of 12 basic buildings with research.
Say that you have 50% civ bonus in research.
Add 35% to the civ bonus and multiply by 12 basic buildings to get 22.2 basic buildings of research ( 12 x 1.85 = 22.2 )
Now add 3 more basic buildings to 12 and multiply by 1.5 to get 22.5 basic buildings of research. ( 15 x 1.5 = 22.5 )

Note also that RPs generated by bonus's only cost half as much.
Numbers would be different if say you had the tech capital on the planet.
The planet might have rings that would generate a seperate +10% research bonus on the planet -- a minor impact for this discussion
Your research bonus can vary widely depending on civ bonus picks, political party, economy starbase bonus's ( this can be huge ), and research resources controlled and how developed they are.

The starship bonus's should affect a ships offensive and defensive numbers. Say the base offense of a ship is 20 in the ship designer. Then the ship is built on a planet that generates a 50% starship bonus. The ship will show an offensive value of 30 if you click on it.

Well, the 35% bonus verses PQ bonus was an academic curiousity, I'd definately be pleased as punch to get either. It just occurred to me that I had previously always considered the PQ bonus to be the "definitive" best event, but then wondered if others were better situationally.

In any case, thank you for all the answers I've received so far. I love to learn all about this wonderful game!!

I think planet specialization is as useful in v1.31 as it was in v1.2. However, there are some differences. It's pretty clear that the economy got a bit more dificult in v1.31. The thing with planet specialization (other than specialized economic planets) is that when you concentrate research or military production on a single planet, that planet becomes very expensive to support, so if you follow this strategy you need to have a very solid economy, at least 4K bc's per turn net income. The other problem with specialization is that you're a bit more vulnerable to attack, but this is the same in v1.31 as it was in v1.2.

I use a dedicated research planet most games, but you're thinking way too small considering a 35% RP bonus vs. an extra 3 tiles on a PQ11. I play slow tech with no tech trading. I try to find a PQ26 which will upgrade to a PQ32 on going neutral. I then fill the planet with neutrality learning centers, make it my tech capital (100% research bonus) and add the omega research center (50% research bonus). Just as long as the planet isn't in the dead center of a sector, you can put 4 economic starbases in the same and three adjacent sectors, and fill them with maufacturing modules that give a total 24% SP, MP and RP bonus to your research planet (as well as to all your other planets in the starbase influence area). You can get 16 starbases for a total research bonus of 384%. That plus the 150% from your tech capital plus omega research gives a total bonus of 534%. You also get the global bonuses from hyper computers, nano recorders and any research resource mining you have. I've gotten over 8,000 RP's per turn using this. This makes short work of the tech tree and really maximizes your tech score. This planet costs 2K bc's to operate at the 8K RP's per turn level.

This does take quite a bit of setup, so I don't bother with it every game. It takes 8 * 16 = 128 constructors to set this up. You also need to protect the starbase array in times of war, I usually dedicate a couple of top line fleets to this purpose. Being neutral to get the NLC gives you the best benefit but I'm doing this in my current game where I'm evil. Probably most critical is finding the PQ26.

Generally, there will be nearby planets that get substantial starbase bonus though usually not the entire 384%. I often make the best of these my manufacturing capital and just focus the rest on manufacturing. I've never been able to implement 8K MP's per turn, but having a few planets that can spit out a 2K bc dreadnought every turn comes in real handy. Again, be prepared to spend major bc's supporting this level of production.

One warning is that if you do this and you play at suicidal you'll still be out researched by some of the AI's. But, if you focus on specific tech branches you'll find you can out research the AI's in critical areas.

I didn't come up with this strategy myself, refer to the following thread for additional details.

The Uber-Research Planet

The following is from https://www.galciv.wikia.com/wiki/Planetary_improvement_strategies

I find specialization to be *EXTREMELY* useful. I am playing on "gigantic" sized galaxies, but it applies to medium or better; basically on any setting where you expect to grab several decent planets.

First, consider economics. A good economics planet needs 3 types of improvements: farms for population and tax base, morale boosters to keep them happy, and stock markets to boost revenue. Your high PQ planets are therefore best dedicated to economics.

Now, industrial production and research production is *INDEPENDENT* of population. Therefore, you don't need any farms or entertainment improvements on planets dedicated to industry or research! Now, industry and research being independent of population is counter-intuitive, but that's how GC2's economy works.

Second, consider factories. A good industrial planet needs only 1 type of improvement: factories. It also should have a starport. A medium PQ planet (10-14) makes a good industrial planet. You can't have too many of them or they'll drain your treasury. It doesn't do any good to have a super-high-PQ planet dedicated to industry; after all, you can only produce one ship per planet per turn anyway.

Third, consider research. Unlike economics or industry, there is no benefit to clumping research points on the same planet. Therefore, low-PQ planets should be dedicated to research. However, your technological capital should be a high PQ planet, as you will have the capital boosting all your research centers, and your tech capital will be surrounded by economics starbases.

You will have a problem that your industrial planets will be building nothing and wasting social spending. Your solution to this problem is to set your social spend rate to 0% and set "focus social" on the rest of your planets. This only wastes 1-2 bc per colony, which is clearly better than wasting 200 bc on each of your industrial colonies.

* In v1.1, you can afford to have unused social spending, as it will be rerouted to military or your treasury. Therefore, in v1.1, you can afford to have a nonzero social spend rate and have idle worlds. I don't bother to "set focus" on every planet in v1.1.

I always build well rounded planets, which works really will with an Influence Conquest strategy. I am posting an Influence strategy guide which included a guide to building well rounded planets.