Why shouldn't Starbases attack enemy ships in their areas?

Hey those drugs from the boils of people isnt so bad, Dont knock it till you try it

It's not their fault, the support modules you installed on them is only capable of assisting friendly ships a hojillion miles away, they can't send the same things a parsec or two out beside them! It'd be ludacris, ludacris I tell you!

Its not boils, its has to do with the range of the weapons and the lack of engines on a starbase. When ships battle, they do so in the same square, more or less. Distance is a bit warped in the game, but each square inside a solar system is light days across, and outside a solar system, light years across. Unless the base can close the gap, which is the no engine problem, it couldn't reasonably bring weapons to bear vs. ships that didn't choose to engage.

Now, how can military starbases impact fleet battles light years away with lasers, missiles, shields, etc? Makes no real world sense, but its a gameplay rule.

Really, sensors and strategy in this game disregard the speed of light as an unbreakable rule. There is some method or kind of warp drive sensors, radios, influence transmitters, etc. that allows realtime sensing, reporting and response across light years. I have no issue with this problem because the game would be unplayable as is if it was restricted by physics as we know it.

So in my circuitous and maybe irrelevant logic, I have said that they don't do it because it doesn't make realistic sense, but the rest of the game doesn't necessarily make realistic sense either, so back to your original question, why not? No idea. Good question but I like the mechanics as they are.

Not sure I helped any here, but I can't resist posting this mess anyways.

1 square = parsec = 3.26 Light Years

Starbase size < Parsec

Is it 'realistic' to be able to shoot at ships 3.26 light years away?

Is it 'realistic' to be able to shoot at ships 3.26 light years away?

perhaps if you have ships right up next to the target, to act as "spotters"?

that explains the game mechanics well enough for me to sleep at night, at least...

It's fine that Starbases do not actively engage passing enemy ship (annoying but whatever). But they should at least impede movement of enemey ships by exerting "zones of control" like classic wargame units do. For example, an enemy ship should not be permitted to move from consecutive space to another while adjacent to an enemy Starbase.

For example, an enemy ship should not be permitted to move from consecutive space to another while adjacent to an enemy Starbase

Why not? To do it that way removes any benifit from making faster ships. If that starbase can come chase my 20 movement ships, then it can attack them.

Perhaps another offensive radius would be a good idea abowt 2 thirds of the size of the regular asistance radius.There is nowt worse than ur uber star base just sat there while the nice yor fleet merrily passes rite bye using its im laughing at ur starbase technology that cant hit me.Oh ps mr starbase we r going straight to ur homeworld thanks for not interfeering.
GRRRR its annoying

actualy 1 square doesnt = a parsec.
1 parsec is one of the squares on the mini map.
Ya one of those big squares, those are the parsecs.
Thats why a ship with a range of 5 parsecs cant go 5 more squares but practiacly the entire 'large' map size
i also believe that a starship should be able to attack a ship that is directly next to it, but the ship should be able to escape on a role based on the upgrade of the starbase and the engines of the ship.

The main problems I have with starbases is that for the investment that you dump into them, they are too easily destroyed. I know, it was that way with Babylon 5, Deep Space Nine, and that gigantic, floating musroom-shaped space dock that orbits Earth (again in Star Trek.)

While the bonuses starbases provide can be indispensible, I think that a lot of their functionality is still tuned to the original GalCiv game and needs to be undergo a change in how they operate in GalCiv2. Does that make sense to anyone? I get this feeling that Starbases could be so much more and have a lot of untapped potential for gameplay.

Which brings me to another point: can we have interplanetary teleporters?

As far as impeding ships, didn't Gal Civ I do this with like a tractor beam module you could add to your star base??

** clears cobwebs from between ears **

The range thing is a bit silly isn't it, I mean if you are talking physics and I fire a nano ripper, its going to go till its hits something.

I mean I am not a rocket surgeon, but that is how physics in space works.

It also doesn't make any sense that the starbase can't fire it's ship-support weapons in it's own defense. I always just pretend the "military" modules are command, control, communications and intellienge facilities; it makes much more sense than the starbase firing lasers at ships five lightyears away, and would probabally have more an effect on space battles than a few extra weapons, anyway.

I agree with most posts in here. Starbases are DEFINITELY to weak late game. I am just playing a challenging game in a huge galaxy and nearly researched all techs. This means that mine (and my enemy's) ships are very powerful... Now, all the starbases that i have build over the course of this game have been upgraded with the lastest defense research, the last step of Starbase defense strategy, they should have a chance against strong fleets... Sadly, they don't. This can be very very frustrating, since i spend 20 or so constructors building this Starbase up over the duration of my game. And it's almost impossible to have fleets guarding the 'front-line' planets AND the starbases (for economical reasons). Its just to damn expensive to have that many ships around.

my two cents.

The range thing is a bit silly isn't it, I mean if you are talking physics and I fire a nano ripper, its going to go till its hits something. I mean I am not a rocket surgeon, but that is how physics in space works.

Physics also dictates it'll take the shot at least 1.7 years or so at maximum velocity to get out of the same square the starbase is in. Space is BIG people.

**EDIT Feature give me Server Error**

I also totally missed the topic in my post ! I wouldn't have a problem with starbases being able to attack ships which are in a square adjacent to them. 'Touching'

Agree with everyone.... Starbases are VERY important early in the game, but thier difference wanes as time does on. i am wondering if you can get by without them at all?? I would say maybe only build them to boost production on your non-border worlds. Also the influence ones can be helpful at getting another civ to defect. That is about all i can come up with.

- their ship assisting modules should help assist them
- Always get initiative to attack first even though they are offically defending
- more hit points

Nothing crazy here. But think these tweaks would help.

also just thought about-
- Ships helping defend at a starbase get a slightly higher bonus from the ship assisting modules
- ships on the starbase square get reduced maintence costs

It is not that farfetched that a Starbase cannot initiate a battle, but indeed it seems like a realistic concept that it has a zone of control (park your limping spaceships for safe harbor etc.) and that an enemy ship in fact has to make some detour if it does not want to enage in battle.

So how can it help in battles - far away? Well, I can live wit it as a concept that having support near in fact helps with quickly all sorts of things, as in getting supplies and developments more quickly. Knowledge of the enemy etcetera, helping morale. It is stretching it a bit of course but hey - to me it should be somewhat realistic but in aprticular enhance gameplay. What would be the fun of having a game that would be extremely realistic?

And on that note, what about these resources? And some of the bonuses of anomalies?? Not so realistic at all but it makes exploration quite a bit more exiting, as well as planning a strategy on these resources.

They are overpowered enough...why add to it?

park 10 constructors near their home world, declare war, build a starbase and max it out, destroy everything they can get near you, take the planet, rinse, repeat.

On anything less than a huge map there would be no reason to build ships. You could spam the entire map with starbases.

actualy 1 square doesnt = a parsec. 1 parsec is one of the squares on the mini map.

From the manual:

The galaxy is composed of a number of sectors determined by
the size you chose on the Galaxy Setup screen. Each sector is
divided into a 15x15 grid of parsecs. A parsec may contain a sun,
a planet, an anomaly, a resource, a Starbase and/or ships.

Learn to read...it saves you from looking stooooopid.

I think influence and economy bases should be completely left alone. Although for military bases i think that its range of influence should scale up (or down) with the galaxy size. In smaller galaxy's they are much more effective and usefull. Where as in huge or gigantic galaxies they are a non factor most of the time. And as for starbases 'shooting' passing ships thats just silly.

Or atleast have modules that cost A LOT that will increase its spear of influence (maybe just for military and possibly econ, i dont think influence starbases should get this rather they should be toned WAY down)

I would like a new military starbase type that you can build in orbit around a planet for defense. Perhaps a reduced size, say 50% of the modules of a normal starbase, or perhaps at a higher cost.

Re: Starbases effecting/attacking ships in local area.

I totally disagree that Starbases should initiate attacks on ships in its relm of influence (including those squares that are directly adjacent).

However, I do agree that Military SB's should have some more effect on enemy ships. True, there is the 'Interdiction Beam' (Enemy Ship Speed: -1), but it is a little too far up the Tech Tree (HyperWarp) to be effective. Ideally, I'd like to see a 2nd Component (perhaps available at 'Warp Drive') that would effect enemy ship speed, but I'd be happy if they moved IB down a Tech level or two.

Whatever they decide to do, I hope they follow the cardinal rule: Make sure the AI knows how to use it properly! (God knows, the human player will).

actualy 1 square doesnt = a parsec. 1 parsec is one of the squares on the mini map. Ya one of those big squares, those are the parsecs. Thats why a ship with a range of 5 parsecs cant go 5 more squares but practiacly the entire 'large' map size i also believe that a starship should be able to attack a ship that is directly next to it, but the ship should be able to escape on a role based on the upgrade of the starbase and the engines of the ship.

The big square is actually a sector. The little square is a parsec.