Station build speed

[adeine]

10-15 min per module is fairly pointless. The only reason I can think of for a timer is so stations don't just pop up instantly like in X3.

With a timer the station is visually being built overtime, but you don't need 10 minutes for that. Even with a timer of 5 seconds the modules don't pop up instantly so you don't need these unnecessary long times to simulate/show the building process.

A small 10 modules station takes like 2 hs of real time. That's too long for a small station in a single player game. And yes, you don't have to sit there waiting for it to be finished, but that doesn't change anything about how unnecessary long the building time is.

The build time of individual modules is relevant. It's not "only" for immersion, but when it comes to modules being built in active conflicts for example (such as defence stations) it is important that modules don't just pop into existence within seconds.

I think the time it takes is perfectly fine as it is now for small to medium stations.

[Baddieus]

The build time of individual modules is relevant. It's not "only" for immersion, but when it comes to modules being built in active conflicts for example (such as defense stations) it is important that modules don't just pop into existence within seconds.

I agree with this one, because I have materials on hand, could load up a couple of freighters with some high powered escorts + a builder, and build a defense station near a gate in moments if allowed.

That being said, knocking 20% off of the current module build times would not harm my enjoyment of the game one bit, and might even enhance it a little.

=Baddieus=

[GCU Grey Area]

Even with a timer of 5 seconds the modules don't pop up instantly so you don't need these unnecessary long times to simulate/show the building process.

I'm sure everybody would be absolutely thrilled (& there would certainly be no complaints whatsoever) if Xenon defence platforms took no more than 25 seconds to be built. Even better, imagine the sheer joy of demolishing them them if every module that was destroyed could be completely repaired & shooting again within 5 seconds of blowing each one up...

[chew-ie]

We had that already - it wasn't pretty

[As25]

The resources have to be brought in order to build those defense stations in the first place, and with how dumb the ai is, the xenon would just keep suiciding their s ships if they are trying to build them in places like Hativak.

Regardless of that, you can just give defensive and administrative modules a bigger timer while keeping everything else low.

If I had it my way, all production modules, wharfs, shipyards, docks and piers would be 30 seconds long. Defensive modules 3 minutes. A Xenon defense plataform is 5 modules. 15 minutes to build. If you can't play what essentially is capture/defend the flag for 15 minutes then idk what to tell you.

[GCU Grey Area]

If I had it my way, all production modules, wharfs, shipyards, docks and piers would be 30 seconds long. Defensive modules 3 minutes. A Xenon defense plataform is 5 modules. 15 minutes to build. If you can't play what essentially is capture/defend the flag for 15 minutes then idk what to tell you.

Would completely unbalance warfare. Blow up one station, move onto the next & long before you're even close to demolishing it, a replacement for the first would already be built. Repeat ad infinitum, because with such an extreme station building rate it would become effectively impossible to keep up.

[ballti]

2x build speed is still in "balance" in my opinion: my 2nd run was semi noob & X4, that was a proper gameplay 14 deys total, HQ + 4 major stations some terraforming done. 3th run was focus teraforming ~same station setup like in 2nd run -total ~7 deys playtime. So 4x or more build speed is probably what expirience player asking for build HQ only. OFC building material is not problem on scale like terraforming rdy.

[chew-ie]

If I had it my way, all production modules, wharfs, shipyards, docks and piers would be 30 seconds long. Defensive modules 3 minutes. A Xenon defense plataform is 5 modules. 15 minutes to build. If you can't play what essentially is capture/defend the flag for 15 minutes then idk what to tell you.

Would completely unbalance warfare. Blow up one station, move onto the next & long before you're even close to demolishing it, a replacement for the first would already be built. Repeat ad infinitum, because with such an extreme station building rate it would become effectively impossible to keep up.

We would need Xenons bring their own building ships in order to be able to build in order to counter that.

Or in other words: give me the option to blow up Xenon build ships and they can build as fast as they want. At least that I can task to my ships. The only other option was / is to manually destroy the building storage and shoot all the resources.

[GCU Grey Area]

We would need Xenons bring their own building ships in order to be able to build in order to counter that.

Or in other words: give me the option to blow up Xenon build ships and they can build as fast as they want. At least that I can task to my ships. The only other option was / is to manually destroy the building storage and shoot all the resources.

Wasn't just referring to Xenon. I generally have at least one (frequently several) of the main factions as enemies. Find them more fun to fight; they have longer range guns, use missiles & have a far greater variety of ships & stations to destroy. Non-Xenon factions don't necessarily use their own build ships & replacement stations can be built pretty much anywhere the faction has a presence or in adjacent enemy sectors. Essentially if factions could rebuild lost stations far faster than they can be destroyed there's going to be a problem. Would also impact all warfare between NPC factions too.

[chew-ie]

For non-Xenon this problem wouldn't exist as they already do have to use build ships [which we then can blow up to stall the build process]. The Xenon are a wildcard here if we talk about speeding up the build process.

(and just to repeat that: yeah, there is this workaround with destroying the build storage [content] - but that one can't be automated as build storages are not targetable)

[GCU Grey Area]

For non-Xenon this problem wouldn't exist as they already do have to use build ships [which we then can blow up to stall the build process].

Oh, it does. Even if you blow up enemy build ships every time you spot one (& I do) they can build more. Even if they have none of their own they can use build ships belonging to any faction with which they have neutral or good relations. Then there's the problem of simply spotting new construction, which can be several sectors away from where my fleet is currently operating. Unless you cheese the game by using a literally unstoppable force (which eliminates any sense of fun) it's quite difficult to prevent a faction from rebuilding, even with current build rates. Build timers significantly faster than they are currently would exacerbate the problem exponentially.

[pref]

The Xenon are a wildcard here if we talk about speeding up the build process.

Could be smaller effort to exponentially reduce build times within a build process with increasing number of modules built. Defense could be an exception, but it needs so much preparation that it's not really an undeserved advantage.
Force station build times between a few hours for small ones and a couple game days for the huge constructions.