Game design issue: Excessively high retrofit costs of space ports.
Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:14 am
This pertains to all versions of Distant Worlds (including 1.0.4.9).
When I upgrade a space port at a planet to a design that has a none-trivial portion of its components replaced (but none added or removed) the upgrade cost reported in the retrofit context menu will often significantly exceed the construction cost of the port I am retrofitting to when built from scratch. It would often be cheaper to just scrap the outdated space port, then build the newer version.
Typical numbers from my latest game are: A medium space port costs ~13K. An upgrade to a version with new weapons, armor, shields, command center, medical/recreational support facilities, computer components, habitation/life support modules, energy collectors costs ~16 to 18K. That is a lot of components replaced, of course. The only ones that stayed were cargo modules, factories, space yards, reactors, docking stations, scanners. (To explain: this was just after a discovery that gave me lots and lots of tech advances in most fields).
I think there should be either some discount for just upgrading, or we should only be billed for the components that get replaced in the retrofit. My guess is that there is a discount in construction costs for space ports that doesn't get factored in when retrofit costs are calculated.
Edit: This might still be by design. If a space port is retrofitted instead of scrapped/rebuilt, the out-time of the construction yards is avoided. Also, by scrapping a space port typically there would also be some ships under construction lost.
When I upgrade a space port at a planet to a design that has a none-trivial portion of its components replaced (but none added or removed) the upgrade cost reported in the retrofit context menu will often significantly exceed the construction cost of the port I am retrofitting to when built from scratch. It would often be cheaper to just scrap the outdated space port, then build the newer version.
Typical numbers from my latest game are: A medium space port costs ~13K. An upgrade to a version with new weapons, armor, shields, command center, medical/recreational support facilities, computer components, habitation/life support modules, energy collectors costs ~16 to 18K. That is a lot of components replaced, of course. The only ones that stayed were cargo modules, factories, space yards, reactors, docking stations, scanners. (To explain: this was just after a discovery that gave me lots and lots of tech advances in most fields).
I think there should be either some discount for just upgrading, or we should only be billed for the components that get replaced in the retrofit. My guess is that there is a discount in construction costs for space ports that doesn't get factored in when retrofit costs are calculated.
Edit: This might still be by design. If a space port is retrofitted instead of scrapped/rebuilt, the out-time of the construction yards is avoided. Also, by scrapping a space port typically there would also be some ships under construction lost.