Starbase Modules

The different colors are the different types of modules that you can install.

Module effects, unless they are mining a resource, affect only the planets in that sector. If you have no planets in that sector, the bonuses will have no effect.

Thanks for the reply. I would like to propose that you not be allowed to build modules that will have no effect, unless I'm overlooking a reason that you might wish to do so. Also, by "mining a resource", this only applies to the initial creation of the starbase? If I'm upgrading a starbase and there are no planets in a sector, I still have module options under the Mining tab. Does this mean that I should or should not build those modules?

~SDC~

You can put models that wont do you any good on any base :/ But some mining moduels help resource extractions. So in such a sector make sure you dont pick the ones from mining menu that say + military and civ production :/

~SDC~

I see what you're saying. It would just be easier, though, if such modules weren't available for building since they have no effect. It'd be less confusing, at least.

~SDC~

How can you tell that they have no effect though? The only ones that could theoretically never have any effect are the bonuses to planetary construction. Military: you can always move ships into the sector later. Trade: you might eventually form a trade route through that sector. Culture: _always_ usefull even in empty sectors. Is there anything i'm missing?

Actually, there is. I think the resource mining modules do in fact exhibit the behavior your're talking about, but i'm not sure.

Even just limiting the production modules you run into some issues:

What if there are uncolonized planets in the sector? Should you allow production modules then? Or not until those planets have been colonized?

Same question but with enemy planets. Personally i sometimes will build a starbase in the sector of my ally's, and give it some good modules like production and military. Would suck if i couldn't do that cause i didn't have a colony there.

What about when you turn it into a Terror Star? Can you install production modules only when it's in an inhabited sector?

Well the key thing being you will never build a colony in that system so the moduels that affect production would be irrelevant.

However do consider that you can build terror star and move the base to another system!!! So such a restiction wouldn't do any good, it might even harm you when later you want to move a beefed up starbase you built right outside enemy borders into a system you conquered and you want the production benefits right away. Although im not all together sure you can turn a base thats mining resources into a terror star, that could be an exception. But not all resources are in sector without any systems.

~SDC~

I meant you will never build a colony in that sector since there are no systems there

~SDC~

Jeff:

To summarize the above and answer all your inital questions:

1. Like the tech tree, the different SB module "paths" are color-coded. They are linked to the tech tree...if you research a Comm tech that allows new SB modules, those SB improvements will appear in the yellow section marked "Economy". Over time, you will learn which fields to research based on which color of module you wish to improve your SB's with.

2. The game does allow you to build modules that have no current effect, either in your present game (no planets in sector), or the current build of GalCiv (a rumored expansion capability is that you will be able to research star/planet creation techs to make your own inhabitable systems).

When the description states a module will help production on nearby planets, it means that any colonized star in that Sector will benefit by the increase specified. (You can read the cumulative production bonus for any planet on its "Details" screen after double-clicking on it in the Star menu.) If there are no colonized planets in that sector, the bonus is ineffectual. This is true even if a colony is 1 parsec away, over the sector "border" (line) - the bonus is sector by sector, with only influence extending into adjacent sectors.

Ships bonuses are calculated accrding to the sector they first start their turn in. These bonuses stay throughout the turn and will apply even if the ship leaves the sector. However, on the next turn, bonuses will be re-calculated based on the new sector the ship is in. For this reason, it is sometimes worthwhile to build a SB in an unoccupied Sector which is strategically important to your Fleet, putting Stellar Wakes and Defensive modules on it.

3. The arrow next to the module is a drop-down menu which list subordinate modules you have completed (much like the collapsing file structure in Windows Explorer). In this way, you can see which modules are prerequisites of other, higher-level ones.

4. When mining a resource, your inital SB build gives you a 5% bonus Empire-wide in that resource. Subsequent Mining modules will increase this bonus by the % stated. The lesser-amount % modules are frequently prerequisites of higher-level modules (which means there is always a reason to build a 3% module, even if there are 5% & 8% ones available at the same time...eventually you will research a tech that gives an even greater bonus, or a brand-new capability, and it will require one of the 3% modules to construct).

5. This is all derived from experience. None of the above is documented in the manual.





~SDC~

JD Walter,

Thank you for a very clear explanation. I'm still a bit confused about the "Mining" modules however, as to me, that refers to mining the resource that the Starbase resides upon, yet it is under Mining modules that I see the originally confusing "nearby planet affecting" modules. I will just go on the basis that anything stating "nearby planets (or whatever it is)" ONLY affects the current sector and has no other effect.

~SDC~

That last bit is true, in fact it's true for everything except the resource mining modules. (Cultural modules are a quasi-exception, they affect the culture in that sector, which then in turn affects the culture in neighboring sectors)

The resource mining modules will only show up if the starbase is on top of a resource that can be mined. They wouldn't do you any good otherwise.

The production modules under the mining tab, and the production modules under the economy tab, are only worth producing if there are planets in the sector that you have colonized or plan to colonize, or you plan on turning the starbase into a Terror Star later and moving it to an inhabited sector.

Or of course if there are allied planets in the sector and you plan to hand the starbase over to them later

Jeff,

I agree..."mining" is confusing, because it is used in two (subtly) different senses when building SB modules. In its initial sense, should there be a resource present, the popup refers to the bonus you will get for building a SB there with your first constructor. This bonus is Empire-wide (as are any subsequent increases to the % through the building of additional modules specifically harvesting the resource).

For this reason, I think of resources in GalCiv the same way I think of them in Civ3 - like iron & horses, they apply to every planet ("city") in my Empire.

The second sense in which the term "mining" is used is, as you have noted, in regards to planetary production bonuses. These bonuses are limited, applying only to those inhabited worlds within that specific sector.

For this reason, I think of SB production modules in GalCiv the same way I think of libraries, marketplaces, etc. in Civ3 - they are sector-by-sector bonuses ("city by city") I get for having them on an SB in the same sector as they are.

This is also why I will build SB's in strategic sectors, even if there are no resources present. The SB extends my range (allowing me to research other tech paths than engines, like military to get a better Fleet started), and each production module I add to it raises the Mil, Soc or Sci output on each one of my worlds in that sector. If I have a sector with 3+ colonized planets, I always build a SB there for the bonuses.

~SDC~

Oops!

Jeff, on my 4th sentence in post #11, I should have said:

"For this reason, I think of SB production modules in GalCiv the same way I think of libraries, marketplaces, etc. in Civ3 - they are planet-by-planet bonuses ("city by city") I get for having them on an SB in the same sector as they are."

~SDC~

#8:
Correction for the third paragraph in point 2:

The ship bonuses are calculated based on the current position, and are not related to which sector they start in. The reason it appears otherwise is that the ship stats are not redrawn properly when the ship changes sectors.

I've had reinforcing corvettes entering the sector and nailing a battleship within the same turn. This activity would not be possible if it was based on initial position.

#13:
Correction to your correction.
Movement bonuses, at least, are calculated at the start of the turn. Hence you can slingshot ships half-way across the galaxy by putting them in a sector with a LOT of +2 movement space stations.

re building a TS on a minig starbase i did it and the TS drags the little resource along with it when it moves looks silly but when my TS got killed it dropped the resource where it died so it wasnt lost... maybe if im really bored bored ill make TS on all my resources and drag em into 1 sector just to be l337 or something...

oh and can anyone tell me what the file i need for the modules they arent showing up when i try to upgrade it its just a blank menu... i have bonusmodules.sbmodule and coremodules.sbmodule