If you could, then everyone would wipe out every base on the server, and there would only be a few planets here and there to dock with.

"I don't want to end up a corspe before my time because YOU were daydreaming... AAAAAHHH[!"

You can mod the game to make anything you like destructable. There are certainly a few 'off the shelf' mods kicking around to make dockable battleships dockable.

However the problem is that this would still have no effect on the game. Using the Hessians as an example, you could quite happily wipe out all their bases and stations. Trouble is they'd still have an infinite armada of ships which would appear as if from nowhere around the wrecks of their ex-bases. Its back to the subspace ship/clone factories again....

Like Spiro says tho, this is a very hard issue to address. If you allow it in MP it would quickly lead to the depopulation of the whole universe - check out the clan armageddon going on on ELITE at the mo, imagine those guys could blow up bases. There would be nothing left within about a day. That leaves you with having it in SP - which could have worked but to make it have any significance the news/other factions would really have to notice your genocide which would have presented a major programming chore.

So back to the mods

I guess that's the disappointing thing; that these NPC factions have an infinite supply of ships and resources. I'm not saying that ALL bases should be able to be destroyed. I'm simply surprised that smaller bases like Mactan etc can't be even vaguely damaged. It wouldn't take much AI for the NPCs to offer a truce withe a PC who was wiping out huge numbers of their ranks. But then, I think the NPCs should be a bit smarter about running away when they are utterly outmatched.

If I attacked something the size of Shinjuku I would fully expect to be pounced on by the entire Kusari fleet. But having bases utterly impervious to any damage detracts from the realism a bit.

Your point about multiplayer factions makes me wonder if it's worth bothering trying to join MP servers which have been around a while. Certainly in my case it's not, because I don't have a high speed net connection.

Back to the subject of bases - it looks like the only bases which can be destroyed are those which appear in missions. Correct?

Rob

PS Speaking of realism, I don't follow why it's more profitable to mine for fresh materials than to recover the wreckage in space. Yes, I know the junkers exist but that's small cheese compared to the mining operations. Is there a more detailed description of the "space elevator" concept used in connection with the planetary docking rings?


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