Starbase upgrades
 

You probably already do this, but since it has been working so well for me, I figured I'll post it here.

Starbases are expensive, and take a long time to build, so I did it incrementally:

SB0 - minimum life support plus a shipyard.
SB1 - repair bays, cargo holds, mine layers
SB2 - shields and armor, other tech that's already at max
SB3+ weapons, as they reach tech max

Each level of upgrade increases price by 50%, and doesn't replace any parts, only adds new parts. It shortens the construction time and the resources aren't wasted buying replacement parts for outdated technology, and the starbase is partially operational along the way.

Re: Starbase upgrades
 

This is a common technique referred to as "retroseries" building. It's more costly overall, but does save time.

Re: Starbase upgrades
 

I never thought of applying it to starbases, though.

Idea - If you have repair bays on there from the start, the construction ship doesn't have to hang around past the retrofit.

Re: Starbase upgrades
 

The Space Yard handles that nicely, as it repairs as well. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Another thing you can do with retroseries builds towards very expensive ships (such as stellar manipulation ships or RW bases) is to pad early designs with components that have high cost per kiloton, such as plague bombs and null space projectors. Plague bombs work especially well because they cost mostly organics. They help to get the most total overall cost with the lowest cost in any particular resource. NSPs have a high radioactives cost, which helps with this as well. Master Computers are possibly the most expensive (non-SM) component per kiloton.

Re: Starbase upgrades
 

Been trying to figure out the price difference. I can minimize the cost difference by having little or no parts that need replacement -- the ship just grows bigger through the series. It does make the series a bit longer, having to retrofit several times.

Is there a charge for the hull?

Re: Starbase upgrades
 

The cost of the hull is included in each ship design. When you make a new ship design and select the hull, there is an intial cost. This is the cost of the hull itself.

Re: Starbase upgrades
 

Nice suggestion with the Plague Bombs, Fyron. Really good !

Re: Starbase upgrades
 

As far as I remind, the shields générator are the most expensive per kT. I use them to retrofit sphereworld's components. (about 9-10 retrofits)

Re: Starbase upgrades
 

I tried to do something like this with a ship once..... placed only B/CQ/LS on it, built it then tried to retrofit it into a warship to achieve SEIII type construction..... my first encounter with the G*DDARNED 150% cost barrier. I'll up the barrier significantly for Capship.

Re: Starbase upgrades
 

If a ship can retrofit itself, you could have self assembling starbases and ships! Just stick a shipyard on it, and it builds itself! If the last design doesn't have a shipyard on it, however, then you gotta have a repair bay in the sector.