Purchase Times
ITEM TIME (Hours) TIME (Days)
---- ------------ -----------
All Personnel 72 3
TRITON 72 3
BARRACUDA 96 4
Craft Weapons 48 2
Craft Missiles 48 2
Gas Rounds(×50) 96 4
SWS 96 4
SWS Ammo 48 2
All Weapons 24 1
All Ammunition 24 1
All Equipment 24 1
Non-Manufacturable Prices
ITEM Buy Price Sell Price
---- --------- ----------
Aquanaut $ 40,000 $ 0
Scientist $ 60,000 $ 0
Technician $ 50,000 $ 0
TRITON $ 500,000 $ 0
BARRACUDA $ 600,000 $ 0
Ajax Launcher $ 16,000 $ 12,000
D.U.P. Head Launcher $ 17,000 $ 12,750
Craft Gas Cannon $ 30,000 $ 22,500
Ajax Torpedoes $ 3,000 $ 2,400
D.U.P. Head Torpedoes $ 9,000 $ 7,200
Gas Rounds(×50) $ 1,240 $ 1,012
Coelacanth/G. Cannon $ 420,000 $ 340,000
Solid Harpoon Bolts $ 200 $ 100
Coelacanth/Aqua Jet $ 480,000 $ 360,000
Aqua Jet Missiles $ 3,000 $ 2,250
Dart Gun $ 800 $ 600
Dart Clip $ 70 $ 52
Jet Harpoon $ 3,000 $ 2,250
Harpoon Clip $ 200 $ 150
Gas Cannon $ 6,400 $ 4,800
GC-AP Bolts $ 300 $ 225
GC-HE Bolts $ 500 $ 275
GC-Phosphorous Bolts $ 400 $ 300
Hydro-Jet Cannon $ 13,500 $ 10,125
HJ-AP Ammo $ 500 $ 400
HJ-HE Ammo $ 700 $ 560
HJ-P Ammo $ 650 $ 520
Torpedo Launcher $ 4,000 $ 3,000
Small Torpedo $ 600 $ 480
Large Torpedo $ 900 $ 720
Phosphor Torpedo $ 1,200 $ 960
Magna-Blast Grenade $ 300 $ 240
Dye Grenade $ 150 $ 120
Particle Disturbance Grenade $ 500 $ 400
Magna-Pack Explosive $ 1,500 $ 1,200
Thermal Tazer $ 1,260 $ 945
Chemical-flare $ 60 $ 40
Manufacturable Prices
Table
Tech.
ITEM Start Price Sell Price Hours Profit Payback
---- ----------- ---------- ----- ------ -------
HAMMERHEAD $ 400,000 $ 0 14000 $- 82
MANTA $ 600,000 $ 0 18000 $- 82
LEVIATHAN $ 900,000 $ 0 34000 $- 66
Gauss Pistol $ 8,000 $ 20,000 300 $ 40 15 mon
Gauss Pistol Clip $ 1,000 $ 1,050 20 $ 2.5 (never)
Gauss Rifle $ 20,000 $ 36,900 400 $ 42 10 mon
Gauss Rifle Clip $ 2,000 $ 1,950 45 $- 1
Heavy Gauss $ 32,000 $ 61,000 700 $ 41 11 mon
Heavy Gauss Clip $ 4,000 $ 3,220 70 $- 11
Sonic Pistol $ 56,000 $ 84,000 600 $ 36 16 yrs
Pistol Power Clip $ 2,000 $ 4,440 60 $- 43
Sonic-Blasta Rifle $ 88,000 $ 126,500 820 $ 39 19 mon
Blasta Power Clip $ 3,000 $ 6,290 80 $- 84
Sonic Cannon $ 122,000 $ 171,600 1,000 $ 43 9 mon
Cannon Power Clip $ 6,000 $ 9,590 80 $-143
Sonic Pulser $ 6,700 $ 14,850 200 $- 9
Disruptor Pulse Launcher $ 90,000 $ 144,000 1200 $ 40 16 mon
Disruptor Ammo $ 8,000 $ 17,028 220 $- 27
Thermal Shok Launcher $ 78,000 $ 120,000 900 $ 39 17 mon
Thermal Shok Bomb $ 7,000 $ 15,200 200 $ 16 (never)
Vibro Blade $ 7,000 $ 1,500 150 $- 70
Thermic Lance $ 12,000 $ 1,800 220 $- 92
Heavy Thermic Lance $ 20,000 $ 2,000 300 $- 93
Particle Disturbance Sensor $ 34,000 $ 45,600 220 $ 53 4 mon
Medi-Kit $ 28,000 $ 46,500 420 $ 44 8 mon
M.C. Reader $ 262,000 $ 304,000 1200 $ 25 (never)
M.C. Disruptor $ 160,000 $ 194,700 500 $ 36 6 yrs
Gauss Cannon $ 182,000 $ 211,000 300 $ 97 33 days
Gauss Cannon Ammo $ 200 $ 200 5 $ 0
Sonic Oscillator $ 226,000 $ 267,300 500 $- 67
P.W.T. Cannon $ 242,000 $ 281,100 400 $ 81.5 44 days
P.W.T Ammo (craft) $ 28,000 $ 53,300 600 $ 9 (never)
Coelacanth/Gauss $ 500,000 $ 594,000 1200 $ 78 48 days
Displacer /Sonic $ 850,000 $ 980,000 1200 $- 44
Displacer /P. W. T. $ 900,000 $1,043,000 1400 $- 24
P.W. Torpedo (SWS) $ 15,000 $ 31,500 400 $-151
Ion-Beam Accelerators $ 130,000 $ 250,000 1400 $ 5 (never)
Magnetic Navigation $ 150,000 $ 80,000 1600 $- 56
Aqua Plastics $ 3,000 $ 6,500 100 $ 35 (never)
Plastic Aqua Armor $ 22,000 $ 54,000 800 $ 7.5 (never)
Ion Armor $ 42,000 $ 85,000 1000 $- 15
Mag. Ion Armor $ 58,000 $ 115,000 1400 $- 40
Notes to Table
NOTE: Profit is measured in $ per technician hours. It is calculated
by taking the difference between an item's selling price and its
total build costs (including manufacturing start costs, and any
exotic component costs) and dividing that by the technician hours
required to build it. The profit is simply how much money you make
in one hour with one technician building a particular item just to
sell it. Payback is the time required for profits to repay all
initial costs. So there is no "true profit" until after the
Payback period has passed.
Further Notes
- The profit levels calculated above include the lost resale value of all manufactured/recovered components (Zrbite, Aqua Plastics, Ion-Beam Accelerators, Magnetic Navigation) used in their manufacture. In many cases this reduces the profit considerably.
- Also, keep in mind that that each technician costs $36/hr in salary, Living Quarters maintenance, and Workshop space maintenance. Any "profit" less than $36/hr is not really a true profit, it's just a subsidy to reduce your outgoings on Technician costs and overheads.
- In addition, before a true profit is made, you must recover the initial costs of hiring the Technicians, building their Living Quarters and their Workshop. Recovering these initial outlays will cost the equivalent of $67/hr per Technician for one month (or just over $11/hr for six months, etc). The Payback period shown above is the time taken to repay these costs (assuming multiples of 50 Technicians).
- As in the real world, fixed assets (such as workshops and living quarters) need to be fully utilised in order to be the most profitable. Whenever you use and hire Technicians in less than multiples of 50, the overhead costs are proportionally even higher, and the payback period on initial costs is longer.
Analysis
- The most profitable item to produce is the Gauss Cannon. The (craft) PWT Launcher and the Coelecanth/Gauss SWS are similar, but the Gauss Cannon must be researched before the SWS, and is most likely to be researched before the PWT Launcher. Researching the Gauss weapon sequence toward the Gauss Cannon also brings considerable tactical benefits which translate into significant financial benefits.
- The next most profitable item is the Particle Disturbance Sensor, which has the advantage that that can be successfully researched very early in the game, and also requires no Zrbite or Aqua Plastics.
- Almost all of the profitable manufacturing activities would be considered very good commercial investments. A Gauss Cannon factory, with an annual Return on Investment of nearly 1100%, would be considered an economic miracle. Even the Particle Disturbance Sensor (RoI just over 300%) would have investors beating down the doors. The only tricky part would be insuring the factory site against Alien attack...
USO Recoverable Prices
ITEM Sell Price
---- ----------
Zrbite $ 5,000*
Alien Corpses $ 20,000
Alien Sub Construction $ 20,000
Alien Cryogenics $ 5,000
Alien Cloning $ 40,000
Alien Learning Arrays $ 20,000
Alien Implanter $ 38,000
Examination Room $ 9,000
Alien Re-animation Zone $ 100
- Zrbite can only be aquired through salvaging from UFOs and Alien Colonies. As such, you are strongly advised NOT to sell it.