What happens with unspent BP?

[Krisam]

What happens with unspent BP?

For example, what happens if you prioritize prospecting with your Economic Director but there are no more deposits to be found? or you prioritize research but you have all discovered technologies already researched?

Are this points automatically relocated to give them some use, or are they wasted?

[Destragon]

The "organisations" tab in your report screen tells you exactly how BP were used.
It does sometimes automatically relocated the points. For example the model design council will relocate its "design model" points over to "discover model" when it's currently not told to be designing anything.

[Jdane]

Although I tend to think that the prospecting budget is wasted if all the deposits have already been discovered. I have no hard evidence on this unfortunately.

[springel]

When the report says that they don't expect prospecting to find anything more in your zone's, and you only control part of some zones, can there still be something in the unconquered hexes?

[Jdane]

I believe that when they say there's nothing left to find, there's nothing left to find indeed, at least in my limited experience of having failed to notice the prospecting report while spending several turn's worth of BPs in this domain only to find nothing.

However you do make a point that should you extend the borders of the zone by taking new territory, the report might change since there might be deposits to find in the new hexes now under your control.

[Krisam]

ORIGINAL: springel

When the report says that they don't expect prospecting to find anything more in your zone's, and you only control part of some zones, can there still be something in the unconquered hexes?

Yes, if you conquer more territory, and there are more deposits to be found, this will be shown in your Prospecting Overview.

Returning to my question, I'm asking this because I assumed that the game always relocated automatically and no BP's were wasted, but it seems I wasn't right, for example:

I prioritized discovery with my Model Design Director when no models are available for discovery, yet he doesn't relocate the unspent points to model design, so in fact in this case the points seem to be wasted.

[Jdane]

The reverse is true however (i.e. the Design Model investment is reallocated to the Discover Model budget).

It might be a bug. Are you playing version 1.02? I'm too lazy to check the changelog right now and see if it was a known issue that got fixed.

If you're using the latest version, you would do everybody a favor by reporting the issue to VR Designs. Sending them an e-mail would be easier since your account is new and Matrix's forum software is going to give you grief for daring to try and help.

[Krisam]

ORIGINAL: Jdane

The reverse is true however (i.e. the Design Model investment is reallocated to the Discover Model budget).

It might be a bug. Are you playing version 1.02? I'm too lazy to check the changelog right now and see if it was a known issue that got fixed.

If you're using the latest version, you would do everybody a favor by reporting the issue to VR Designs. Sending them an e-mail would be easier since your account is new and Matrix's forum software is going to give you grief for daring to try and help.

I'm playing the latest version, although I checked this in a save of the release version.

I don't mind reporting this as a bug, as long as no one can confirm how the unspent BP's exactly work, since in my experience this seems to be automatically reallocated in some cases, and wasted in others.

[Saros]

Research/discovery/model design BP if there is no target can be allocated to the other task within the council. That is working as intended for Research to discovery, I am not sure if it is supposed to work the other way around but definintely worth reporting.

[Krisam]

I'm going to start a new game with 1.03 and put auto-reallocation of BP's to test in this cases:

- From prospecting to other deparments when there are no deposits to be found.
- From researching technology to other deparments when there's no posibility of researching a new technology.
- From discovering to designing models when there's no posilibity of discovering a new design.

If someone else knows more about this, please let me know. [&o]

[Soar_Slitherine]

ORIGINAL: Krisam

I prioritized discovery with my Model Design Director when no models are disponible for discovery, yet he doesn't relocate the unspent points to model design, so in fact in this case the points seem to be wasted.

Discovery investment stores up over time, so I assume the budget going into it will help gain a discovery once one becomes available, even if nothing is available to unlock at the moment.

[Krisam]

OK, i already tested prioritizing to 100% prospecting when there are no deposits to be found, and conclusion is that those points are indeed wasted since the game didn't reallocate them to discovery, research or economic policies.

The same happened with prioritizing discovery model when there is no available model to be discovered in that moment, the game didn't reallocate those point to model design and were wasted.

Yet in the other hand, if you put 100% BP's into research when there is nothing to be researched all this points are transfered to discovery(not to prospecting or economic policies).

So guys I think this is a very important thing to know if you don't want to waste your precious BP's, and forces you to micromanage Council priorities much more than I expected.

[Jdane]

The question still standing being: is this working as intended?
At any rate thanks for your effort and time invested in testing this, I for one do appreciate it.

[Krisam]

Afther further study I think I fully understand how the system works, and there are only two cases in wich auto reallocation of BP's happens:

- Transfering unspent points from research to discovery
- Transfering unspent points from model design to model discovery

In all the other cases you are going to waste BP's, so to prevent this you have to micromanage your council directors and make sure you are not investing in something like prospecting or discovery when is not possible to find/discover deposits and technologies.

I think Vic should change this, the system should auto reallocate this points in all cases, this way you are not forced to micromanage your council priorities so much.

[Jdane]

That's good to know, nice work. I tend to agree, and this seems to warrant opening a dedicated thread in the Suggestions sub forum.

[Krisam]

ORIGINAL: Jdane

That's good to know, nice work. I tend to agree, and this seems to warrant opening a dedicated thread in the Suggestions sub forum.

Thanks, I already posted this in suggestions forum. [;)]