How do you tell how widely an influence bonus helps?

from Stardock Forums
This is probably a silly question but I've only just got the (full) game and I'm still downloading the update so not a lot else for me to do ;)

How do you distinguish between an influence bonus that increases the influence of one planet/starbase/sector as opposed to one that increase the influence of EVERY planet/starbase/sector you control? It doesn't seem very clear to me in the documentation I have read.

In particular it looks to me like building multiple starbases is better for 'culture bombing' than putting your contructors together into one base (though obviously harder to defend) but that depends on how localised the effects of such bonuses are...

~SDC~
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Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Timlagor, this subject received some excellent research by Maxtipherous relating to the effects of starbase culture bombs on surrounding sectors. Basically, the sector the cultural starbase is in gets the biggest boost, and the eight surrounding sectors get a partial boost. The most 'cost-effective' cultural starbase contains seven constructors, allowing you to build a Party Palace and add a Cultural Maximiser for greatest effective influence gain.

The thing you have to remember is you cant drive these babies straight into a sector where an AI has a planet - they dont like it, and at higher levels demand it from you or go to war with you. Thus, you need to park these in sectors ADJACENT to those with enemy planets and rely on the partial influence effect to flip the enemy's planet. You're right - multiple starbases ARE better than one huge starbase; I use 7-constructor packs and build 4-5 of these in a sector adjacent to MANY enemy planets, and end up flipping the lot.

The answer to your first question will become apparent when you've played the game a bit. Wonders and trade goods affect OVERALL cultural influence; planetary improvements generally affect the planet they are ON (doh!) and starbases affect the sector they are IN.

Keep asking if things aren't clear - there are usually plenty of us willing to help. Cheers!
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
*blush*

Au Contrair Timlaqor, your question is significant and its importance cannot be overstated.

Overall cultural influence (sometimes still called prestigue) is a fixed number based on factors like the planets you own. It is modified by wonders, mined influence resources, bonuses, etc. You can get a rough idea of what your influence base is by watching the increase of influence that are available to trade from turn to turn.

A sector's influence takes the cultural base and more-or-less adds the influence of any stars you own in that sector. Then any cultural starbases *cumulatively multiply* the influence. The influence of a given sector also radiates out to the adjoining sectors.

Check out my thread on Palace Magic
Galactic Civilizations III