whats the deal with the refineries?!

They basically generate extra resources....a refinery pulls from all extractors at the planet it's built at as well as all planets within one jump...it's a fixed rate of income per extractor...

The whole 1/3 or 3/3 is related to quota...a single extractor can only contribute to 3 refineries, regardless of where those refineries are...

Generally speaking, refineries aren't worth building unless you are playing a mod that balances them...it usually takes a lot of extractors (on the order of 12 or so) to make them even competitive with trade port income...if you have a large trade chain, refineries will basically never outperform trade ports....then consider that even if you do have places good for refineries, there won't be very many of those places and thus the up front cost of researching the required tech makes them less economical than trade ports (which will be great everywhere)...

FYI, refinery income (like trade income) is not affected by allegiance...

Also, IIRC the TEC cargo technologies enhance both trade and refinery income, but the Vasari trade technologies only enhance trade...

that would have been my next question

how does the tradechain affect my income? if there is a chain, do the ports do a little more income or is it just a bonus thats not earned in the hubs but simply there as long as the chain remains? and final question: do i only get money when the tradeships dock at a port or are they just eyecandy that lowers my income rate when popped?

thx for fast help sor far!

You get an increase per trade port for each node added to the chain.

playerTradeNetworkDef
incomeRateBonusPerLongestNodeDistanceNode .075

Hover over the income in the upper right and a line will appear showing your current trade line. You may want to avoid trade ports on planets that break the trade line.

This is a great thread on the topic. 

or what?

im confused, ill just lay down...

The formula is as follows:

N = number of trade ports

B = Base trade port income

C = Length of Trade Chain

O = Bonuses from other factors (research, etc.)

Trade income = N * (B * (1 + (0.075 * C) + O))

A real case scenario

N = 4 (four trade ports

B = 1 credit/second

C = 3

O = 0.15 (two trade income techs researched)

Trade income = 4 * (1 * (1 + (0.075 * 3) + 0.15))

Trade income = 4 * (1 * (1 + (0.225) + 0.15))

Trade income = 4 * (1 * (1 + 0.375))

Trade income = 4 * (1 * (1.375))

Trade income = 4 * 1.375 (1.375 is your credits per tradeport with modifiers)

Trade income = 5.5 credits/second

AH! so when i have 4 ports in a row it counts as chainlenght 3 because X-X-X-X i have 3 times - ??? i thought the chain with 4 ports would be a 4. okay. but anyways, i guessed right thanks!

So there is another question. is it really profitable to use chains instead of 1port/planet on medium or small maps? i mean,... with 9-20 planets per map its really hard to get a good chain working right? do chains work interstellar? i just read in the post that you can trade from sun to sun, but it didnt say if the chain is calced interstellar too. man thats a lot of math for a game! TOTALLY LOVE IT!

greets from germany

EDIT:

Goa you said: Trade income = 4 * 1.375 (1.375 is your credits per tradeport with modifiers)

Do EVERY port have 1.375 now or just the ones in the chain???

THX!

sorry for bugging

Chain is better but after a while you must break it in order to build more trade ports.. they work interstellar if you have a starbase on both suns with trade upgardes, and you have no gap (planet with no trade port of yours). It's not that complicated, longer chain, bigger income generated from each trade port placed. Good thing the income is increased when you put the trade port down, so it is not necessary to be built, the increase will be there.. like it is a functioning trade port..

doesnt answer my question i think. does a tradeport wich is not connected to the chain still get the bonus?

Yes it does. 

To see the chain legs zoom out to see planets and hover mouse over credits. White line is your trade chain.... 

All trade ports have the same income unless it is on a starbase or there is a planetary modifier. If the latter 2 is true, then trade chain increase is a bit higher (planet bonuses can be positive or negative, so the chain increase can be higher or smaller), starbases always get more trade income than a normal trade port (seems like they have an extra trade ship).

No, that is chain link 4. In my example you would have to have two trade ports on one planet, or one trade port not connected to the trade chain. If you make out a desert planet with trade ports you can in theory have 9 trade ports with a trade length of zero because they are all on one planet.

Well, its pretty hard not to get a trade chain at all. But I always try and calculate the best way to set up a trade chain given the planets I have and am likely to conquer.   As shown here, simply having 3 planets in a row with a trade port gives 22.5% extra trade income compared to having 3 trade ports on one planet. And you can set up a 3 planet trade chain even with a small empire. With really large chains, it gets even more ridiculous.

And while it has been a long time since I've done it, I do believe if you have a starbase with a trade port at your star which connects to your trade chain, and you build another starbase with a trade port at a different star, the trade lane will go interstellar. I could be wrong on this one though.

Yes. The trade chain bonus is applied to all trade income sources regardless of if it is in the chain or not. That's why it is such a powerful mechanic.