Upgrading/Retrofitting Ships

Good idea, I like the sound of this one.

The solution was in MOO2 - you had to park your ship to some planet and the ship was moved to the build queue of the planet. It would be nice, but I like the way in Galciv too.

... just to clarify, I think it would be nice to have both approaches as options.

You have the option of decommissioning the old ship and building a new one - slow, inexpensive and you lose the experience bonuses. Buying the upgrades is fast, expensive and you keep your experience bonuses. Both options are useful tools when developing your strategy. Upgrading isn't that bad once you have your economic engine running smoothly - your treasury will recover very quickly if you keep it below 20,000BC. I just wish there was an "upgrade as many as I can afford" option so I didn't have to chase the ships down individually when I don't have enough cash in the bank to upgrade the entire class.

Personally; I would likely pay cash for my attack fleets even when/if this option was available. The benefits of upgrading them in place (whether a genuine upgrade, or just weapons re-tooling) are well worth the money when I'm in an offensive situation (and hence potentially a long way away from my planets).

I would mostly find it useful for all the planetary defenders that (in my games) often end up being generations behind my technology levels (although it can be amusing having those 2 Att. defenders sitting around when the new ones are rolling off the line on 75). It's just a little more convenient than having to launch the ship, upgrade it, wait a bit, and then land it again. When dealing with large empires this can take a significant amount of time.

I have another question, once I upgrade a ship design in the Ship Managment section (and I have this ship already in use on the map) why does the upgrade screen that comes not show the ship that you want to upgrade. It shows all others of the same class(ship size.) now maybe I'm doing something wrong and if so please educate me

When you upgrade a ship class, give it a new name - i.e. Fighter Mk1, Fighter Mk2, etc... otherwise you'll end up with a mess! Some people use complex naming conventions that include attack/defense/speed ratings for the class.

Ok I'll try that thanks.

I know it doesn't seem very logical that a ship could be upgraded "in place," without returning to a starport or starbase. Maybe there is a network of invisible support/repair ships roaming around that perform the actual upgrade, and that's what you're paying for. At any rate, on a strategic and gameplay level I think it works fine.

I'm not a big fan of micromanagement, unless it actually adds some challenge to the game. A system where we had to move ships back to planet orbits for an upgrade, and then back to where you want them on the map, just seems like busywork to me. At least the upgrade isn't instantaneous, and there are some strategic concerns like not letting a ship sit defenseless in enemy territory during the upgrade cycle.

Upgrading in-place also means the map is a less cluttered when you're tracking ship movements (your own, and those of other races). All ships are performing their primary role. You don't have to wonder if the AI is moving a ship somewhere just to get an upgrade, or if it's doing something strategically more important. All movements right now are strategically important.

It wouldn't necessarily be much extra micromanagement. For example, you could have the option to either upgrade in place or autoroute the ships to the nearest available planet, where it would be upgraded. Basically, you only really need to add a single additional choice, which would leave it more as a strategic choice than a micromanagement one. In other words, you would just have to decide whether you want to spend the extra time involved returning to the planets or the extra money to upgrade in place.

Well, normally I'm in favor of more options, and I do see the argument for a choice between expensive "in place" upgrades vs. returning to a starport for cheaper ones.

I still think my last point is relevant though, assuming the AI can also choose which option to use (and is good enough to make the right choice). I don't want to guess whether the AI is moving a ship for reasons that don't immediately threaten me, or for strategic reasons that might be a more immediate threat. This is especially true for areas of the map where I don't have full sensor coverage, and it may not be clear where the ship is headed.

@Zenicetus
Then maybe you should get some espionage on that AI, hmm?

Valid point, though.

I DO like the idea of upgrading my chips for cheaper, however...even if I have to take them back to a planet to do so.

I was thinking about this earlier. The costs of upgrading a class of ships is madly expensive. Unless you're well into the game (some four to six years, depending... at least in my case :LOL: ) it is really hard to upgrade ships. My solution is I don't make a new class of ship until I have maxed out a tier of defense or offense. So let's say I'm researching plasma weapons. The next class won't be built until I have the top end of Plasma, and so on with everything else. To expensive otherwise. I also replace in terms of fleets, rather than individual ships. But that's me.

On some level, upgarading ships in a starport wouldn't make sense. Technically, starports are planetside facilities where ship parts are made. Once made, they get launched and stay launched for the remainder of their life cycles. You upgrade them by paying for crew to go into orbit and make the necessary upgrades spaceside. It makes more sense, actually, to have them repaired and upgraded at a military starbase.

Did you know?

Ships get upgraded faster if they're near a planet or starbase. You can use farpoint starbases for upgrade points if your fleet is too far from a friendly planet.