- Slant Drilling: Buildings can access best resource deposit in adjacent tile. How does the game calculate which adjacent deposit is "best"?
Since a building can only mine one specific resource, that'd be the highest yield one.
- Teleportation: All buildings and HQs are considered connected. For the purposes of resource transportation only? Does it apply to sabotage somehow?
It clearly states that resources can teleport, the buildings aren't connected. This saves you fuel, allows for instant T1 resource allocation to your T2 factories, and in terms of sabotation - pirates no longer have transport ships to shoot down and loot.
The Water Engine / Cold Fusion question is something that occurred in a game this afternoon where a player deliberately bought patents at auction to deny them to another player who would benefit more effectively from them
I wouldn't call it trolling, it's more of a business strategy. If you control all carbon on the map, and the carbon patent comes up, you want to win that bid, even though you have zero use for it, the value is in denying it to the other players. I believe the Water Engine one to be one of the worse patents, energy becomes pretty much a free resource as the game progresses, and water becomes scarce, as all the mid/lategame things such as food and fuel need it. The patent is supposed to make your life easier as the game progresses, not harder.
If there is a game where energy costs are way too high, that means you're doing something wrong, and a patent won't save you from your failure. If energy prices are high, you can be sure someone is making good money out of it. Any prolonged period of time that energy prices are above 20 (except for starting period) you are feeding someone free money.
