VOICE OF PLANET

• Begins the Ascent to Transcendence sequence. Any faction can now begin the Acent to Transcendence.
• Any alien lifeforms you breed gain a +1 lifecycle bonus

   You must build the Voice of Planet before you can build the Temple of Planet (something not covered in the datalinks). If your bases continue to have ecological after building Centauri Preserves, Tree Farms and Hybrid Forests, the ability to build temples can be essential. (The mind worm lifecycle bonus is like a sprig of parsley on a steak - it's nice and all, but you're probably not going to do anything with it.)

    There's not really a compelling reason why you, personally, have to build this project to win by Transcendence, but it's a good place to start. Building the Voice allows you some control over the timing of the win (which can be important) and adds one more project to your final score...but basically once anybody builds the Voice, you're free to start your sprint towards the Ascent. (Of course, if nobody else is this high on the tech tree, building the Voice falls to you.) Finishing the Voice does pretty much commit you to Transcendence, since finishing it allows all the other factions to start work on the Ascent.

    Time-saving tip. Start your second best mineral-producing base working on the Voice. Then a few turns later, have your best mineral-producing base join in. Make sure that the second-best base will be the first to complete the project. When the Voice is complete, immediately switch your other base over to the Ascent. This should put you not-quite-600 points ahead of any other faction that wants to try to go for victory by Ascent.