Fractal Softworks Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

Author Topic: A change to how size 3 and 4 colonies work  (Read 968 times)

SCC

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 4112
    • View Profile
A change to how size 3 and 4 colonies work
« on: August 06, 2022, 08:59:28 AM »

Instead of making planetfall a permanent colony immediately, the player should be allowed to set up a colony in orbit of the planet that's not permament. Stations Temporary colonies should be identical to planetary permanent colonies, except for a few things: they would be incapable of growing larger than size 4, making it easy to create temporary colonies that don't accidentally become permanent, without the hassle of periodically dismantling it. The downside could be +25% hazard, some reduction to income, slower growth or having to get a couple thousand metal while setting up the colony.

And besides better control, the other benefit to making station temporary colonies should be the ability to migrate them to other planets at a cost. Maybe 25% of the value of all the buildings (except for those that can't function on the new planet) and losing all your growth bar, but not the size. Something like this can already be done in the current game (make a new colony, dismantle all buildings in the old colony, take all your stuff from the old colony, abandon it, fly to the new colony, put all your stuff there and build all the buildings), but it's just a massive hassle. Giving the player a convenient, even if not necessarily cheap, way of moving their colonies encourages colonising earlier than after you have explored half (or 3/4, or the entirety) of the map.

Igncom1

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 1496
    • View Profile
Re: A change to how size 3 and 4 colonies work
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2022, 02:00:08 PM »

You know I am not actually too sure how my gas giant colony works if it ISN'T this.
Logged
Sunders are the best ship in the game.

Sandor057

  • Commander
  • ***
  • Posts: 134
    • View Profile
Re: A change to how size 3 and 4 colonies work
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2022, 02:52:24 PM »

You know I am not actually too sure how my gas giant colony works if it ISN'T this.

I have been wondering this since I've colonised my first gas giant.

There's a mod that does sort of these things though. Well, besides the mobile stations part. Although that seems a bit too gamey to me. As in you could build stations in a sub-optimal system, no matter the habitability as stations have 100% no matter what, and once you find the right one, boom, you move them all and have got size 4 colonies around optimal planets without any hassle.
Logged

SafariJohn

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 3010
    • View Profile
Re: A change to how size 3 and 4 colonies work
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2022, 03:11:09 PM »

I implemented building station colonies that controlled their planet for a mod. It was a lot of hassle.
Logged

SCC

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 4112
    • View Profile
Re: A change to how size 3 and 4 colonies work
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2022, 11:36:52 PM »

Perhaps I should have written this in more vague terms. The space station thing provided a lot of distraction from what I actually wanted. It doesn't matter how those colonies are called. What I want is to have some permanent colonies - the ones we have now - and non-permanent colonies, with whatever excuse you find alright (I went with the "they're stations" excuse) to make them a) not accidentally become permanent if you forgot to knock them down, b) not tedious to move all your things from the one marked for deletion to a new one (or to just move those colonies).

Serenitis

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 1458
    • View Profile
Re: A change to how size 3 and 4 colonies work
« Reply #5 on: August 07, 2022, 03:08:10 AM »

Another way to look at this would be instead of changing what's already in place, add something.
When colonising the player is presented with an additional option: Create Outpost.

too much thinking
Outposts are small settlements that have a very limited ability to produce things with thier small populations, but can still be used as a storage depot, waystation, or the seed for a colony.
They are essentially size 2 colonies that cannot grow on thier own, the player must actively decide to develop them.
Outposts are completely ignored by all other parties in the sector as they're too small to be worth bothering with even if anyone knows where they are.
They can not have any administrator/leader (like the smaller core worlds) and so cannot benefit from skills, but they also do not count toward the colony cap.
However, each outpost does contribute -1 to your management ability, so they are still 'soft' capped by player faction stability.

Limited to 1 industry building, and 1 additonal structure.
The low population (lets say 200) is not enough to run many things fully, with the following effects:
  • Any producing industry: -1 output, added items are capped at +1, cannot be upgraded
  • Spaceport: Cannot be upgraded, -50% accessibility
  • Patrol HQ: Cannot be upgraded
  • Defensive Station: Cannot be upgraded
  • Waystation: Does not contribute to accessibility
Commerce could be used to magnify the income from the population, but with only a single other slot to build something the stability loss could be potentially dangerous. Probably not the best choice.
Tech Mining, being a motley assortment of individuals and small groups, is completely unaffected.


The player can decide at any time to either abandon the outpost, or develop it.
Both are done on the colony management screen.

Abandoning is done via a single button press, with confirmation.
It requires that the player be at the outpost, and thier personal stockpile to be empty.
If the player fleet has enough crew capacity, the population (200) is added to the fleet. Any excess beyond the fleet cap will disappear.
Any resources in the colony stockplie are liquidated for some fraction of thier base value.
No trace of the outpost will remain (unless you renamed the planet).

Developing the colony requires that the player bring 1000 crew and add them the the colony stockpile, and have the 'develop' button on the management screen active (can be toggled like free port).
After a month (for building infrastructure etc, and to allow the player to have second thoughts), the colony will become size 3 and start behaving 'normally'.
All outpost restrictions will be removed, and growth will commence. Conditions permitting.
[close]
Logged

SafariJohn

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 3010
    • View Profile
Re: A change to how size 3 and 4 colonies work
« Reply #6 on: August 07, 2022, 06:28:40 AM »

Or you could require colonies to have a certain structure to become permanent. For example, I had the idea of a "Cerametal Port" structure that makes the colony immune to instant destruction from sat bombing, is required to grow the colony past size 3 or 4, and serves as an undisruptable spaceport.
Logged

SCC

  • Admiral
  • *****
  • Posts: 4112
    • View Profile
Re: A change to how size 3 and 4 colonies work
« Reply #7 on: August 07, 2022, 06:34:04 AM »

Or you could require colonies to have a certain structure to become permanent. For example, I had the idea of a "Cerametal Port" structure that makes the colony immune to instant destruction from sat bombing, is required to grow the colony past size 3 or 4, and serves as an undisruptable spaceport.
It could be an upgrade for Population & Infrastructure (or P&I could be the upgrade to something else), to make it slightly simpler.