Hi Naselus,
I've already mentioned this but would it be possible to re-add maintenance costs for buildings into a future version of the mod? Post production wheel, I think that the best way to balance the in-game economy with the modding tools we're given would be to set a moderate fixed maintenance cost for manufacturing buildings; in addition, for every 1% increase in manufacturing that the manufacturing plant gives, there should be a 1% increase in Maintenance costs (reflecting the cost of production) and a 0.5% rise to Wealth creation. All manufacturing buildings ought to be much less powerful than they are now, however, producing 10%, 8%, 6%, 4%, and 2% improvement at each level (for a total of 10%, 18%, 24%, 28%, 30% rise to manufacturing for each building).
Wealth-building improvements, representing improved ability to market manufactured goods, will be needed in order to bridge the gap between manufacturing's revenues and its maintenance costs. By default, the population should produce zero Gross Income (which is merely an accounting system for how many goods have been bought or sold); Wealth buildings should provide this. As with manufacturing, Wealth buildings should produce a 10%, 8%, 6%, 4% and 2% increase in wealth produced at each level. Wealth-producing buildings should have a low fixed maintenance cost and a variable maintenance cost of 0.25% for every 1% of Wealth increase.
Research buildings ought to have a high fixed maintenance cost and no variable maintenance cost. As with other buildings, Research buildings should follow the 10%, 8%, 6%, 4%, 2% pattern in order to minimize excess production.
The Interstellar Governance techs ought to provide modest bonuses to Total Production of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% passively. The buildings they unlock should have high fixed maintenance costs on the planets on which they are located, but should negate the Large Empire Penalty financial cost by 1%, 1.5%, 1.75%, and 2% (yes, this is sqrt(1), sqrt(2), sqrt(3) and sqrt(4) approximately) for each building constructed. Upgraded colony capitals should be viable only on a few worlds.
In the end, this will bring back many of the advantages of the GCII economy for game balance (linear expansion rate, less ability to field gigantic fleets). The vast majority of a player's spending should be on colonies, not on fleets.
