Constructor/Starbase Questions/Suggestions

from Stardock Forums
Once again, thanks for the frequent updates, the game is just getting better and better!

Starbase questions:

1. At the moment, constructors try to upgrade any starbases the bump into even if they are on a path that leads to a different starbase--can I assume that this behavior will change to only upgrade the starbase at the end of the path? That one'll drive you nuts after a while!

2. Are the starbase advantages one per sector or will two starbases mean a bigger advantage?

3. Do the starbase attack bonuses apply to mini-freighters as well as other ships? That is, can starbases defend trade routes?

Suggestions:

1. A way to tell what upgrades a starbase has without double-clicking it. I realize that can be complicated as more kinds of upgrades get added--perhaps, since each category of upgrade has a different color in the starbase control panel, you could add an overlay of little colored lights (windows, running lights?) or something to indicate what categories a starbase has upgrades for. I forget the exact colors, but, say, if the little yellow light is on, you can figure it has the trade bonus upgrade, or if the little red light is on, that it has one of the military upgrades, etc. No lights would mean a virgin station. Something that would provide that kind of information at a glance would be great time saver when you reach that point in the game where you have nothing to do but spit out constructors while you research away.

2. Assuming multiple starbases grant cumulative bonuses, it would be useful to (eventually) have some way to consolidate starbases into one square so they don't start filling up sectors. You could use two columns of indicator lights: one would be an "off" light if a starbase can take the upgrade, the second can be an "on" light plus a number to indicate that x number of starbases in that sector already have the upgrade. Either would be empty as appropriate.

-Robert
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Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
One more questions I forgot:

4. Will the docking upgrade eventually allow ships to "go into orbit" around starbases the way to do to planets? Otherwise I'm not clear on what the advantage the docking upgrade provides.

Also, I notice that after upgrading a starbase, sometimes the turn seems to "hang" until something else is clicked on (I usually just click the starbase again).

-Robert
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Hmmm... Most of these are not hard questions--I would be very grateful for at least answers to questions 2 & 3?

Thanks,

-Robert
The Political Machine 2024
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
Question 1 was answered in another thread - it is a failure in the path finding routines and the fix will be on a future build.

As to questions 2 and 3, I suspect many are like me, and just don't know yet, but Brad's post about influence that includes a screen shot of a game shows two star bases in one sector, so can we make an assumption from that? Or would that just lead us astray?

Question 4 - from what discussions I have seen here in the past the docking bay upgrade is to allow accelerated ship repair, but the supporing code does not seem to be implemented on build 2B.

The hang you are seeing could be the subject of the thread "next ship selection fails". Or not. I see this alot and it looks like clicking on any ship not on autopilot works, either immediately, moving any move points it has left, or selecting a ship with 0 move points and hitting the space bar. And I am sure there are other ways to get arround the bug.
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
I would like to add another suggestion for a star base module - an espionage/counter espionage module. When built in a sector containing another race's star it would increase the effectiveness of the money spent for espionage and destabilization of that race by a small amount (all such star bases increases in espionage effectiveness would add up). When built in a sector with a terran star it would decrease the effectiveness of the espionage done by other races against the terrans. If the sector has both terran and other race's stars then both benefits would apply.
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
Another suggestion for the constructor...

In a recent game, one of my fully equipped Starbase was damaged and only had 17 HP left.

Howabout a way to let constructor be used to fix/heal the damage instead of being used for upgrades?
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
I forgot to add that I think the espionage/counter espionage module would have to have a class by itself. I don't think it quite fits into the "culture" class of module, which is the one of the current set of classes that looks closest, but just not right enough.
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
On item 2 (in the original post of this thread), I have tried putting two star bases in the same sector and building the Factory upgrades in them both. Each star base contributes to the production of the planets in the sector, so if one star base can improve your productivity by 20% two can improve it by 40%. I have not yet tested for the other types of add-ons, some of which may be a bit difficult to do, but I think it would be fair to assume they all act the same way.
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
A belated thanks, Jack. You think they're staying mum on this stuff or just overworked? I hope the latter--I'd rather see updates than answers! ;)

-Robert
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
And in the same vein as Vanyel's suggestion, how about using starbases to fix damaged ships (bring them up to their current max hitpoints by sacrificing their own)? And what is supposed to be causing the occasional random damage that occurs to multiple starbases and ships that are out and about at the same time? Gamma ray bursts?

-Robert
Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top
Robert,

I think there may be several reasons why there was no response from SD. 1). They are very busy, 2). They want to see our reactions so they can change a feature if it looks like what we want, 3). They want to see how intuitive each feature is (which is one of Brad's goals for the game), and maybe other reasons.

Could the occasional random damage that you are seeing the result of completing a research that increases the hitpoints of your ships, such as "Reinforced Hulls"?
Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top
I see that it's pretty clear they are addressing bugs for the most part and since everything is bound to change answers to questions now aren't necessarily going to be the same at release time.

I had just got pretty into some games and *needed* some concrete info. I'm better now. :) I just need to calm down and wait for the docs and thank goodness for the updates.

-Robert
Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top
Ideally we hope to have as many visual cues to what the star base is doing as possible. But at the same time, we don't want the star bases to look tacky.

Our plan is to have 4 different "styles" of star bases based on what area it is strongest in. So a military base will look different than a mining base that would look different from a trade center and so on.

Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top
Thanks, Frogboy (that's something you don't type everyday),

My main problem is I lose track of which starbases have the economic upgrade already if I am starting to fill sectors along trade routes with bases without double-clicking all of them, though even determining where to steer the next constructor can be complicated if a group of starbases are at similiar levels of development.

Another thought was since the bases have arms, each arm could represent development along a particular category--economic arm, military arm, etc., but just by how far out the little string of colored lights goes--one for each upgrade in appropriate colors (I'm hooked on lights--I guess because they don't require any artwork).

In a similar vein, trade routes could just be indicated by a minimap overlay that indicates which sectors your mini-freighters pass through and how many freighters pass through a given sector by "lightness" or a number in the corner or something, since that's all you need to really know.

At this point in the late game sometimes building starbases on trade routes is all you have to worry about if you're otherwise reasonably secure militarily.

-Robert