[rdouglass]

On the subject of Cargo Facilities, IMO, they should be changed. They should be like the Cargo Holds on ships. When troops / sats/ fighters are in the cargo space of a ship, they are not useable in space combat unless launched / dropped on planet. To me, that should be the same way on a planet.

For instance, to launch fighters from a planet, you should have a ship yard (or possibly a new facility - Launch Pad or something) in order to use them. If you don't have the facility, all you could do with them is transfer them like cargo. Of course, this would not hold true for ground troops, they're right where they need to be.

This would probably be a bear to program - I would not have a clue as to how to do this. However, I don't think its right for a planet with no space facilities (SY, SP, or otherwise) to be able to launch mines or sats. They possibly should be able to launch fighters, but with a very limited capacity.

I think this would add to gameplay and realism, not take away from them. OTOH, many other improvements / bug fixes should take priority IMO.