Starbase Capacity Rework

[OrigamiPhoenix]

The way the current starbase cap works is too restrictive.

Start a colony in the backwoods of your empire? One whole slot is gone, even if all you need is the trade collection and Black Site.
Need a shipyard next to the front line? One whole slot, even if it's just a place to dock and upgrade+reinforce your ships out in the field.
Want to protect your border systems? One whole slot each, even if it's just for a listening post.
Need hangar bays to protect your trade routes? One whole slot each, even if you have no use for any of the building slots except for the resource silo.
Want to make use of any of the system-unique buildings like the Nebula Refinery, Black Hole Observatory, or Trader Proxy Office? One. Whole. Slot. Even if you all you want is the one building.

At best it makes even piddly starports worth the same to your cap as a citadel, and at worst you find yourself over-investing in every starbase to get the most out of the slot.

I propose that each starbase upgrade is worth one (1) Starbase Capacity:

• A starbase costs the same cap as its level; Outpost 0, Starport 1, Starhold 2, Star Fortress 3, and Citadel 4.
• Starbase Capacity starts off the same, but you get +1 for every 5 systems (instead of 10 systems) and techs to increase Starbase Cap would be more frequent and graduated.
• Traditions, civics, ascension perks, and the Strategic Coordination Center megastructure have their bonuses to Starbase Cap tripled.

Pros:

• Bases would only cost as many points as you need.
  
• A simple colony that doesn't need any defenses would barely cost you in capacity.
• Protecting your trade routes from piracy just became significantly easier.
• Hyperplane Registrars might actually find a use for express routes and crossroads around your empire.
• Communication Jammers can be put along an essential route to slow down a push by the enemy.

Cons:

• Obviously needed tweaking for unforeseen impacts on balance is obvious.
• FTL Inhibitors suddenly become a lot more plentiful. I don't know how it would actually matter.
• Starbases would involve a little more micro, but mostly only because of the planning involved.
• Piracy just became a thing of the past. For some, this would be a welcome change. For others, it would make what should be a key feature of managing the economy pointless.
  • A simple way to start fixing this would make it so that a starbase no longer excludes piracy from its system, but a starbase still makes it all too easy to defend a system if the pirates actually show up.

Feedback, support, and suggestions, please!

 

[Methone]

Start a colony in the backwoods of your empire? One whole slot is gone, even if all you need is the trade collection and Black Site.

While your inner perfectionist may scream, the fact is the world won't end if you don't soak up every last scrap of trade value. Besides, lategame you can just build a gateway at a system next to your capitol, plop a trade hub there, and run the gateways through the rest of your empire.

Here's the thing - having fewer starbases forces you to make each of them valuable. It makes you decide "What do I value more? The 5% Market discount from building it on top of the traders, or having a shipyard next to my front lines?".

While I agree hyperlane registrars and comms jammers are trash tier right now, your solution would go to 'We can throw around starbases willy nilly'.

 

[Artaios Greybark]

These "even ifs just to" sound a bit ridiculous when the goals are actually important ones that should require sacrifice.

 

[Peter Ebbesen]

The idea of having a starbase cap in the first place is to provide meaningful choices by making the player consider the trade-offs of building in one location rather than another. That you can't always get starbase coverage for local needs as you expand is an important part of the reworked starbase design, not a flaw, as it requires the player to face his priorities.

Apart from the choice of where and when to prioritize starbase building and where not, you get meaningful choices such as when you should go above the cap and pay a stiff penalty and when you should decommission existing starbases of marginal utility compared to new options available to you.

Regarding hyperlane registrars, I'd like to see them reworked rather than introducing outpost upgrading spam.