Starbases...other benefits??

I would add

3. Ability of starbases to increase the defense value of all ships passing through sector (including freighters).

4. Ability of Starbases to block enemy ships from passing through sector (maybe reduce their range?)

5. Ability of starbases to control a wormhole (to another defined location in the glaxy)

paul.

Starbases add a nice extra bit of complexity to the game but they are obviously still a work in progress.
I finished a Beta 2 game with a technology win and I couldn't get my Starbase to become a Terror Star.

Yeah, we still have a lot of modules and stuff to add.

1. Ability of SB to help repair damaged ship?
>Yes. Question is, should this be an extention of the shipdocking ability (only ships docked at the base are repaired) or a sectorwide bonus (all allied ships in the sector repair faster). Or both?

2. Ability of SB to help with Sci. Research?
>Yes.

3. Ability of starbases to increase the defense value of all ships passing through sector (including freighters).
>Yes

4. Ability of Starbases to block enemy ships from passing through sector (maybe reduce their range?)
>Maybe. It really depends on implementation. Blocking off an entire sector (as of right now) is impossible becasue of the extra path-finding code the AI would have to do. The game would drag to a crawl. We could reduce the moves of enemy ships. Or, if a ship get too close, tractor beams snag the ship and keep it in it's shipdock until a ship comes and attacks the starbase.


5. Ability of starbases to control a wormhole (to another defined location in the glaxy)
>This is a very interesting idea. We've always wanted conroled stargates in the game, and this would be a straightforward way of doing them. I'll bring it up at todays meeting.

Keep the module ideas coming!

6. Ability to use upgraded economic starbases as destinations for freighters. An upgraded economic starbase could contain the economic might of ALL planets in the sector making it a hub of trade.

7. Ability to use starbases beside a system / 'in orbit' to increase the planets quality. It could be a recreational / domestile starbase. This would increase the quality of every planet in the system by 1 (or 10%) per upgrade.

Paul.

"1. Ability of SB to help repair damaged ship?
>Yes. Question is, should this be an extention of the shipdocking ability (only ships docked at the base are repaired)
or a sectorwide bonus (all allied ships in the sector repair faster). Or both? "

Certainly docking should provide a hugely enhanced repair rate that would make sense for badly damaged ships. Ships in the same sector could get an accellerated repair rate if you considered them within reach of maintenance shuttles from the star base. Perhaps maintenance shuttles could be another star base upgrade? Then enhanced repair rates for ships not docked but in the same sector could become another dynamic of the game.

Again on item 1. How about "repair rate upgrades" for the star base?

I certainly like the idea of 7. Boost nearby planets habitability factor.

Also how about a casino upgrade or Recreation park to boost morale over the poor citizens living on the planet surface below?

On 7 and other upgrades to improve morale, planet class, and maybe other planet statistics, what happens when you move the star base away? If you have a casino star base that improves the morale of a star's planets by, say, 25% and you find you need the star base in another sector, does the morale of the planet then drop by 25%? (I would think it would have to.) That could be dissasterous.

What I would like to see is the ability to put a starbase next to a system and it would prevent transports from entering the system and invading the planets, even if there were no ships present in the system. The starbase would have to be destroyed first before the invasion could begin.

A warp accelerator module. If two starbases had the module then the selected ship could travel between them at 2x or 3x their normal speed. This would be a precursor to star-gates I suppose. You could actually take it a step further and require the construction of starlanes(roads in space) to facilitate warp acceleration.

Mine laying module. The starbase would be the mine layer and would lay them in a radius determined by the number of upgrades to the starship. There could be a negative value for trade if they use this option.

Listening post/Spying module. to receive information on nearby planets and find out the orders to various ships. The starbases could notify you if an attack was imminent.

Warp Interdictor module. Perhaps a module to slow down all other empire ships by a certain percentage.

Mine laying? I would think a certain amount of mobility would be required. I think this has to be a capability that belongs to capital ships. Perhaps if it had an upgrade for shuttles I could see this.

The Warp Accelerator, Spy Module, and Interdictor sound great to me.

I'd have to agree that mine laying would be for a specialised ship.

An observation/listening post would be a wonderful enhancement. Add a couple around and you can get a good sensor sweep (further than the sensor drones)

The "Starlanes" would be an interesting feature, allow the trade ships to travel using them to reduce the time taken.. if of course there is a starbase (player or computer owned) nearby that has the Warp Accelerator module.. but throw an interdiction starbase in the middle of it and watch the ships hit a brick wall LOL

Negative bonus?

Are there plans for all upgrades to be positive or woul some upgrades have one positive effect but other negative effects?

For example, if you upgrade a starbase to be an offensive planform would this destroy any economic / moral upgrades and ban any such future upgrades? (people refuse to visit an offensive platform)

It sounds like there needs to be some balance to stop people putting every possible upgrade on a starbase and having bases which do everything well instead of being specialised.

Paul.

There's already (supposedly) a limit to how many modules can be constructed.

I can't say what that limit is, or even if there are enough modules existing yet to reach it, as I've yet to get more than one or two upgrades in any of my starbases yet.

I've upgraded starbases with every upgrade so far without reaching a limit. Lots more modules to be added in later betas though so maybe just not enough yet.

If there is a limit then will adding a new module not be allowed or replace an old one?

Can we remove / destroy a module to allow for a different upgrade? I could see you starting off with a military base and slowly converting it to an economic base as a sector becomes more secure.

Paul.