I think a strength of 8 should be sufficient. 6 might also work OK.
At 8 it is stronger than a regular destroyer and with a 25% fortification bonus, effectively pushing it up to an 10, it is a little stronger than a delta destroyer (with no upgrades) or the same as a regular cruiser, and if it is located on an asteroid, the defensive bonus makes it even tougher. Unlike the starbase, it doesn't start with any free repair upgrades so it won't heal at the very high rate that a starbase does. It could get a ranged strike like a starbase, although if it does get one then limiting it to a range of 1 or 2 might be good since they are not supposed to be a strong military presence. It might also be a good idea to allow one, or maybe two, squadrons to be based on them although that might make them too useful for their cost.
I'm against giving them range strikes. They're
not supposed to have military presence, unlike starbases. I suppose the Omega version could have it though (see somewhere below).
I also think that giving them squadrons is a bad idea for the same reason.
Maybe the Omega could have a single squadron slot.
Don't forget that there are two additional sensor promotions. Those are the two that are currently only used for the Avower's Recon Ship UUs. They might allow the sensor range to be tailored more, especially if delta and omega versions are added.
I did forget that- thanks for reminding me. Those would definitely be used for the other versions.
I'm not sure if three versions are necessary, but a second one at some fairly late technology like Long-Range Weapons could be nice. Say +50% strength, +1 sensor range, +1 ranged attack range, and maybe allow basing a squadron (even if one can't be based on the regular version). If desired, an omega version could be added at some even later tech like Galactic Domination or Quantum power.
I'm thinking we should have an Omega version just because everything else does. The game has three levels of units for almost everything (except Colony Ships, Construction Ships, and the missionary ships, which only have one, and the Q units you added for squadrons and missiles) and three eras that
roughly match.
Here are some possibilities that I like for versions with low attack (none for the regular version) but fairly good defenses:
Regular (@ Orbital Engineering, like it already is) = Strength 8, no ranged attack, the first 2 sensor upgrades.
Delta (@ Long-Range Weapons) = Strength 12, attack range of 2, all 3 sensor upgrades
and maybe
Omega (@ Quantum Power) = Strength 18, attack range of 3, all 3 regular sensor upgrades + 1st additional sensor upgrade, can have 1 squadron.
I'm thinking instead the Delta has no range strikes, whereas the Omega might have an attack range of 2 instead.
For a little more combat ability the regular version could get a ranged strike with a range of 1 (not incredibly useful but better than none), and the delta could be able to have a squadron based on it.
As I said, I think the role of the Sensor Station should not be combat, so I'd prefer not to do this.
I just don't think squadrons fit the Sensor Station's role. But maybe we could add
another station, a Fighter Base station (or something) that would have low combat but could support a lot of squadrons.
I feel that if you give it strength, it becomes a weaker version of the starbase. Personaly, I would keep them the way they are now (no strength) but make Starbases have a per-turn upkeep cost. That way Starbases are only really used for defensive areas while sensor stations are your generic fogbusting unit.
I would say it only becomes a weaker version of the starbase if you give it
range attacks, which I'm against.
But I do like the upkeep idea- starbases should cost money to support (like they are in other games, e.g. Gal Civ 2).
Yeah giving the sensor attack power shouldn't really be needed, since it should be nothing but a stealth detector/fog buster. To make up for its lack of power, maybe you could stealth the sensor station so that only recons and stealth ships can target it, therefore stopping annoying pirates from attacking it since they never spawn scouts or stealth ships.
I don't really think giving it stealth is a good idea.
Although, maybe the Omega version could have stealth instead of range strikes, or maybe a civ could have a unique version of it with stealth (maybe one of the alien civs talked about in the other thread).
I agree with you that it shouldn't have range strikes (except,
possibly the Omega version, available late in the game), but I think it should have some defensive weapons.
Because of the stealth, the sensor station being a squadron base would be to imbalanced, so that idea should be scrapped.
I agree with this (see my idea for actually adding a squadron base).
And yeah, there shouldn't be an upkeep, or at least an upkeep much less that that of a starbase since its just basically a small piece of detecting satellite requiring less maintenance and manning than a battleship or starbase.
Yes, if the starbase got an upkeep, the sensor station would not get one.
Also the sprite or what the sensor station looks like should be way smaller, the size drastically reduced because right now, it looks to big and bulky, putting it on the same size as a starbase or battleship. Maybe I'm being too biased towards the Protoss's Observer unit but that would be a good start.
I agree, but I don't know about "drastically" (it shouldn't be
too small). I'll halve the fScale and see what that does.
