Do resources/energy get more scarce at higher difficulty levels?

[Harry]

I've read the various wiki entries on the effects of choosing higher AI opponents, but I remain unclear on one thing.  Does the player get fewer resources  -- or less energy -- on 7/7 than, say, on 5/4?  Or, conversely, do units take more resources to build, or more energy to maintain?

I ask because in my current 7/7 game, I am having more trouble maintaining any resource stockpile, and I also have energy problems I didn't have at all in my 5/4 game.  Could it just be that I'm more panicky in my new game and I'm building more stuff more frantically?  LoL.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this.

[chemical_art]

The amount of resources you get is constant, but the demand for said resources goes up dramatically with difficulty.

In other words...

The AI throws more stuff at you, causing you to spend more resources dealing with said stuff.

[Wanderer]

Short answer: No.  Longer Answer: Yes.

The problem comes in two forms (CPA + Wave), but similar in issue... Attacks on your defenses.  The higher the diff the more turretry/defensive units you need to expect to lose on a constant basis.  The hard values don't change, but the soft values due to expectation of losses definately reduce your expected per second M+C.  Energy is a different beast, it's an AIP balance point.

Add to that the SF/Strategic Reserve will increase in cap and when your main fleet assaults an SF defended point you're dealing with larger numbers, and you end up with another soft reduction in your M+C by Diff.

So, no, the numbers don't actually change.  What you can reasonably expect to do with said values is a different story.

[LaughingThesaurus]

Economics Class answer: No. They're always scarce because they come in limited quantities.

[KDR_11k]

Add to that the SF/Strategic Reserve will increase in cap and when your main fleet assaults an SF defended point you're dealing with larger numbers, and you end up with another soft reduction in your M+C by Diff.

I'm not sure an SF intervention is survivable even on diff 7, usually the SF is more of a soft time limit.

[Wanderer]

Add to that the SF/Strategic Reserve will increase in cap and when your main fleet assaults an SF defended point you're dealing with larger numbers, and you end up with another soft reduction in your M+C by Diff.

I'm not sure an SF intervention is survivable even on diff 7, usually the SF is more of a soft time limit.

I guess it depends on AIP but I've stuffed the SF on Diff 9 repeatedly recently.  The trick is to never let 'em get THAT large, and hit 'em often.

[Harry]

Thanks for your replies.  So my supplies of metal/crystal are lower because I'm building more stuff (like turrets) earlier.  That makes sense to me.

How about energy?  The wiki entry on energy says energy collectors always collect 150,000 energy.  I gather that does not change from one difficulty to another.  Also, one person posted this above:

Energy is a different beast, it's an AIP balance point.

I understand this to mean that if I want more energy, I'm going to have to conquer more systems, which means my AIP will go up, and my AIP headroom is lower at higher difficulty levels.  Right?

[Mánagarmr]

You are absolutely correct in your assumptions. But, also keep in mind that on higher difficulties, the AIs will hit you harder (bigger waves) which means you will also be rebuilding said turrets and more of said turrets, so that's also an added drain on your economy. It's quite possible to end up in a "no win" situation due to not having enough resources to rebuild your defenses before the AI hits you again, leading to a perpetual degrade of your defenses until the AI simply kills you.

[Harry]

Heh, confession time: the AI already killed me once.  I'm playing my first Fallen Spire campaign, on 7/7, and one of the early events took me by surprise.  To say the least, lol.  It was like trying to fight off jets and tanks with spears and swords. 

I've savescummed and am now trying to accumulate more toys, not to mention more resources/energy, before I trigger that particular alarm again. 

[Mánagarmr]

Yeah, those Shard Waves are quite nasty unless you are properly prepared

[Draco18s]

Short answer: no, the number of resources and the efficiency of the extractors is constant.

Long answer: yes, because you take fewer planets and exploit a smaller fraction of those resources, due to the exponential response due to AIP.