Felsusguy
Bojo's School of the Trades
124
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Posted - 2013.05.06 00:55:00 -
[1] - Quote
No, this is not a suggestion, petition or otherwise to implement modular starbases, because we all know it is going to happen eventually. This suggestion is about how the defensive aspect of them could work.
Shields and Forcefields Shielding is a very important aspect for starbases. Forcefields stay, but only as a specialized module that can be activated or deactivated at will. The more damaged the shield is, the smaller the forcefield becomes, up until the point that it becomes smaller than the actual starbase (the forcefield dissipates after that, with the shield collapsing back into its normal shape).
Armor After the shields are disabled, the individual starbase components become vulnerable. Fortunately, reinforcement mode is also enabled. If you do not choose to target an individual component, a component will be chosen at random. Capital weapons cannot individually target components.
Structure As structure decreases, so does the module's performance. Factories will manufacture more slowly, sentry guns will have reduced accuracy and rate of fire, and harvesting arrays will extract moon materials at a reduced rate. When the structure is reduced to 0, the module is destroyed, but an internal conduit that connects the starbase remains intact. The conduit must be repaired within 24 hours, or it will sever, potentially breaking the starbase into pieces.
Reinforcement Mode Before reinforcement mode, you can allocate Strontium Clathrates as well as the consumption rate to each component. Allocating more reserve strontium will keep that specific module reinforced for longer. The consumption rate is also important. You can either choose to set the consumption rate to the maximum, which fully protects the component, or minimum, which allows reinforcement mode to last longer but reduces the actual amount of protection. Small starbases can afford to fully reinforce all the components, but larger ones are forced to either protect only the most important core systems, protect all the systems at the cost of reinforcement time, or not protect the starbase at full capacity.
Control Unit Be it a node, tower or center, the Control Unit is the most important part of the starbase. If it goes out of reinforcement mode, the rest of the starbase does, and thus you cannot allocate more time to other components. The control unit gains resistance for every attached structure, so destroying other components first is generally a good idea.
Sentry Guns Sentry Guns have a greatly increased rate of fire, which means they use a large amount of ammunition. This makes logistics (no, not that kind) more important for starbase defense. How droll. |