Does anyone else find ship upgrade costs excessive?

from GalCiv2 Forums
I'm not sure what else I can add beyond what the title says. It seems to be VERY expensive to upgrade ships, to the point where it's just better to build brand new ones instead. Is this how it was intended to work? Is the main purpose of upgrading to keep experienced ships (that have leveled up) up-to-date, or was general fleet upgrading the intention?

Maybe I'm missing something. I'd like to hear other peoples' opinions on this topic.
12,782 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Well if that's the case, then only the real veteran ships would be worth hanging onto and if theres no experience your better off scrapping and building new ??
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Cost does seem high. I think tweaking of the calculations are needed. Upgrades are an excellent idea both in terms of efficiency and strategy.

Sorry, I have to indulge myself here This is how I would have calculated cost and time (God I'm vain!):

- Distance to nearest colony increases both time and cost. Time = pc to colony / ship speed. Cost = difference to current configuration * some percentage of Time.
- Ships not orbiting a planet with construction facility (starport) permanently sacrifice hit points (as hull is modified / scavanged for extra parts / modifications). Hit points lost = difference to current configuration * some nifty calculation that wont take tooooo many hitpoints away.
- With the end result that ships in orbit around a colony with starport may be upgraded quickly and cheaply (time being effected by colony military production value). All other upgrade attempts are both time consuming and costly.
- Current rules regarding movement restriction and temporary lowering of hitpoints stand.

Eeeeeeek.
Star Control: Origins
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Seems okay to me, but it be likely tweaked.

The cost of upgrading older ships costs is expensive today to the point that it is often cheaper to scrap old ships and build new ones.

Should be the same in a space strategy game, upgrading should not be cheap.

Allow players to upgrade at small fraction of the cost of new ship is not realistic and led into exploits.
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

There are some important factors that will severely multiply the cost of an upgrade.

1.) Are you adding a new type of weapon to the ship (ex. didn't have MassDrivers before, now has +5 MD Attack Points)

2.)Are you significantly raising the attack of a ship (ex. Before had 5 MassDriver Pts, now has 25)

3.)Are you adding the ability to Colonize, Transport, Trade, or Construct (big cost on that last one)

4.) Are you upgrading to a larger hull size?

In the end, we use the disatnce from your empire to determine how long it takes to build.  Most of the pinch comes in the cost.

Remember, the upgrading is more of a convenience than a game mechanic. If we make it too easy to upgrade, major cheese gets introduced and the feature can ruin the gameplay balance

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
I don't think so.. not that I've been able to play a lot of games on the new build. The only ship that seemed excessively expensive to upgrade was when, out of curiousity, I tried to upgrade my flagship to a medium-hull, heavily armed fighter. And that seemed appropriate.

I might sing a different tune after playing more though.
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
4.) Are you upgrading to a larger hull size?


I don't think you can do that.

What you mentioned sounds reasonable. If minor changes to an existing design translate into a low upgrade cost (and vice-versa) then I completely agree.
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
If anything, that's quite a bit better than upgrading in some other games, where major ship repurposing wasn't any more expensive than swapping out for the next generation of missiles/beam weapons/whatever.
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
Yes, it's a little expensive as things go.
And I'd really appreciate the ability to upgrade using manufacturing power rather than money (for ships in orbit).
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
There are some important factors that will severely multiply the cost of an upgrade.
1.) Are you adding a new type of weapon to the ship (ex. didn't have MassDrivers before, now has +5 MD Attack Points)
2.)Are you significantly raising the attack of a ship (ex. Before had 5 MassDriver Pts, now has 25)
3.)Are you adding the ability to Colonize, Transport, Trade, or Construct (big cost on that last one)
4.) Are you upgrading to a larger hull size?
In the end, we use the disatnce from your empire to determine how long it takes to build. Most of the pinch comes in the cost.
Remember, the upgrading is more of a convenience than a game mechanic. If we make it too easy to upgrade, major cheese gets introduced and the feature can ruin the gameplay balance

Well this doesn't explain why when in turn one, trying to upgrade your starting colony ship to its type cost money (I have reported in the bug thread)