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[Lakstoties]

I'll probably end up having to make a mod for this, but I had to ask...  Why is "Commerce" and "Military Base" considered "Industry"?  Seriously, "Commercial" and "Industrial" districts have been two different things since early 90's SimCity.  And "Heavy Industry" is doing the production of ships, guns, and supplies, not the "Military Base".  I already find the "Industry" limitation terribly heavy handed, arbitrary limitation that doesn't make sense.

There's better ways to limit development in a manner that just isn't silly.  I mean the maximum spaces you can have on colonies was 12, and one had to be used by the "Population & Infrastructure" and other by the "Spaceport" (for all practical purposes).  So, you were left with 10 to work with total.  Maximum colony size is 10.  So...  How about a colony slot per population size?  Now some would argue that'd technically allow for 3 industries right off the bat...  Which is correct.  Something I think should be allowed as it is risky and limiting already by the game existing mechanics.  Think about it, that means no Ground Defenses, Patrols, or even an Orbital, and it's expensive to setup that many industries at once...  Especially when you are going to leave them wide open.  It think it handles itself.

Also lore wise, this is exponential growth with each population bump.  So, on a planet with billions of people...  They only have 4 industries and that's it?

[kenwth81]

Colonies used to have no restriction on industry.  I am sure the limit on "industry" is intended, because colonies probably earn too much credits especially with AI cores.

[SCC]

I agree that Commerce is underwhelming and undeserving of the industry slot. Military Base is in there because of balance. In 0.9, people just spammed it everywhere for maximum defence.

I already find the "Industry" limitation terribly heavy handed, arbitrary limitation that doesn't make sense.

It does make sense, though more from outside the game, than inside. Structure buildings give you some convenience options or upgrade the defensiveness of this particular colony. Industry buildings make you money or increase the protection of the entire system they are in.
A slot for every colony size is a decent idea, though I don't see much gain over the current system. It would cause a bit of an issue early on, when you may want to have a small colony with just waystation (supplies and fuel), farming/mining (for modest income) and a space station (so that you don't have to care about raids much), but that's going to be possible only at size 5... When you can't abandon the colony anymore.

[Megas]

I still spam Military Base everywhere because who will defend my colony from three deathfleet expeditions if I do not babysit it?  There is a reason why I call Military Base an industry slot tax.

Meanwhile, core worlds, which get none of the expeditions the player gets, eventually decivilize if player does not intervene because they have inadequate defenses to block the zombie pirate horde.  If anything, all core worlds should have military bases to defend against pirates, unless Patrol HQ is buffed enough.  Patrol HQ is useless for anything aside from reclaiming relays.

[bobucles]

Is there an issue where even small colonies need excessive protection to avoid getting nuked off the map? It's no big deal if a low investment with good returns gets shredded, in the end you probably made a profit. But I do see a lot of comments that even modest size colonies need to max out defense at all times. I dunno if the general play style is attracting a lot of enemies, if they're talking about large colonies that SHOULD be defended, or if the enemy threat is just a bit too heavy for someone that shouldn't even register on the radar. If I have a size 4 colony on a class II world, should anyone really care?

[Megas]

For the player, it is too easy to attract expeditions.  Whenever market share for a commodity exceeds 5%, which is easy to do, expeditions come.  At first, they are about mid-game/late-game strong, but will become endgame strong before too long.

Maybe temporary colonies can get by without a base, but they still need orbital station and patrol HQ for defense against the occasional pirate raid (from -1/-10% incomplete bases).  For permanent settlements that are size 5+ or have any significant industry, they need military base or high command, at least they do if you do not want to stop what you are doing and rush back to a colony every time you get an expedition alert.

If I have a size 4 colony on a class II world, should anyone really care?

They (major factions) do if it produces enough.  A colony that small, probably needs babysitting anyway depending what they send at it.

Planet class rating does not mean very much if it provides a single critical resource or even if hazard is low enough and the location is good.  No resources is not much of negative when player can fill slots with Industries that are not farming or mining.  A simple class 1 gas giant with +1 or +2 volatiles and +150% hazard is a very good planet to colonize, especially if it has a better moon planet orbiting it.

[Yunru]

I still spam Military Base everywhere because who will defend my colony from three deathfleet expeditions if I do not babysit it?  There is a reason why I call Military Base an industry slot tax.

A tax it may be, but that doesn't make it not a meaningful choice.
You still have to decide when to pay the tax.

[Megas]

You still have to decide when to pay the tax.

It is usually the second industry built.  Size 3 is too small to matter, and can be abandoned and rebuilt immediately.  For size 4 colonies, if it is meant to be permanent, it is base plus one other.  (If I am willing or plan to abandon size 4, I might not upgrade to base.)  Military base will definitely be online by size 5.

[kenwth81]

You still have to decide when to pay the tax.

It is usually the second industry built.  Size 3 is too small to matter, and can be abandoned and rebuilt immediately.  For size 4 colonies, if it is meant to be permanent, it is base plus one other.  (If I am willing or plan to abandon size 4, I might not upgrade to base.)  Military base will definitely be online by size 5.

I don't need to build a Military Base, I went with a Star fortress.

[intrinsic_parity]

You still have to decide when to pay the tax.

It is usually the second industry built.  Size 3 is too small to matter, and can be abandoned and rebuilt immediately.  For size 4 colonies, if it is meant to be permanent, it is base plus one other.  (If I am willing or plan to abandon size 4, I might not upgrade to base.)  Military base will definitely be online by size 5.

I don't need to build a Military Base, I went with a Star fortress.

Star fortresses are not enough to stop late game expeditions. You need multiple military bases in the same system plus max stations if you want to not be chained to your colony defending raids and expeditions for the entirety of late game.

[Yunru]

Star fortresses are not enough to stop late game expeditions. You need multiple military bases in the same system plus max stations if you want to not be chained to your colony defending raids and expeditions for the entirety of late game.

You can get away with less if you have a nice tight cluster, like a gas giant with an unusually high amount of moons.

[Megas]

Fleets are the first line of defense, then stations, and finally ground defense.  I do not want to rely on Star Fortress alone because if it gets knocked out, that is effectively -3 stability, which will be enough to send stability below 10 if my colony has Free Port (which it will eventually just for population growth).

Also, I tend to wait until my colony is size 6 before upgrading battlestation to star fortress, due to the commodities it demands, at least for my first colony.

[Pokpaul]

Say, the tooltip for military base/high command is not very informative on what it improves over Patrol HQ in terms of system patrols. Neither is the wiki.

The only multiplier I see is for defenses, nothing that affects fleets.

What exactly do military bases and high commands do to improve your fleets?

[Megas]

According to wiki, high command spawns more or better fleets than military base, and that info is not given in the game.  The game would make it seem the only benefit is better ground defense, which is lame.  However, the defense fleets upgrade is worth it, but we are not told that in the game.  (I only found out by reading the wiki.)

[sotanaht]

According to wiki, high command spawns more or better fleets than military base, and that info is not given in the game.  The game would make it seem the only benefit is better ground defense, which is lame.  However, the defense fleets upgrade is worth it, but we are not told that in the game.  (I only found out by reading the wiki.)

I believe the in-game tool-tips do tell you more or less what it does.  The problem is they do so in a way that is easily confused for flavor.  The specific mechanics aren't told until after you build it, and only then by the fleet size number elsewhere.