Starbase Interface Pane

Starbases provide planetary defense platforms and have the ability to construct, repair, and manipulate ships.

There are four information tabs on the starbase interface: Defense, Status, Space Dock, and Orders. In addition, there is a graphical window which shows icons for the starbase, its planet, and any ships in orbit. At the top of this part of the starmap will appear buttons used for cycling through your planets in sequence, including a checkbox. This checkbox is used for marking ships as either Not Finished, Finished, or Ignore.

Defense

You may use the Defense button to build Defense Posts on the starbase. The more Defense Posts on a starbase, the better able the base is to defend against attacks from enemy ships. Below is a display containing the present defense statistics of the starbase proper. For more detailed information on this subject, please see the Starbase Defense and Fighters information page.

There is also a button marked Friendly Code , which can be used to manually change the Friendly Code (which is shared with the base's planet). Below, there is a display containing the present Friendly Code which, if clicked, will generate a new random Friendly Code. It should be noted that this random Friendly Code could be the same as one of the special Friendly Codes.

Status

On the Status bar is a "Notes" button (allows you to record a personal note regarding this starbase) and a "Tech Levels" button (opens the Tech Levels interface). The Tech Levels interface allows you to upgrade your tech levels in four independent areas. These four areas of technology are hull , engine , beam weapons and torpedoes.

Unlike the Notes on a planet or starship, the Notes on a starbase aren't displayed when the cursor is over the planet/starbase.

Space Dock

The Build Torpedoes button opens the torpedo construction interface. Only torpedoes that fit tubes for which the starbase has the tech level to construct can be built here. When you build torpedoes, remember to build only the torpedo types that match the launcher types that you are using on your ships; otherwise, the torpedoes will remain in storage.

The Build Ship command button switches to the Space Dock interface, which allows you to construct starships from components in storage or built on the spot. In the build screen you may select the hull and engine type and add weapons if possible/desired.

From the Space Dock interface you can select subscreens that allow you to construct new starship components such as hulls, engines and weapons. Excess components, but not hulls, may be converted back into minerals if you use the DMP planetary Friendly Code.

Orders

The Fix button allows you to repair damaged starships in orbit around this starbase's planet.

The Recycle button will have all the ship's parts taken off the ship and put into storage. The hull is then broken up and converted into minerals (all minerals used to build the ship are returned), and one Priority Build Point or Priority Point is generated. Please note that in the basic version there is no "cancel" button; instead, simply command the starbase to Fix a ship and the Recycle order will be countermanded, since a starbase can only perform one of these two functions each turn.

If control of the planet changes due to Ground Combat , the Primary Orders will be reset to None .

In addition to Fix/Recycle, the Orders command bar instructs the starbase to take one of the following automatic actions:

• None: The starbase will have no Primary Orders.
• Refuel: The starbase will load neutronium onto any starship at the starbase's location. The starships must be yours or have the same Friendly Code as the planet/starbase. The starships are filled with fuel in starship ID order, from lowest to highest, until either the planet runs out of fuel or all the starships have been fueled.
• Max Defense!: The base will automatically build Defense Posts to maximum. This does not cause fighters to be built.
• Load Torpedoes: The starbase will automatically load torpedoes of the proper type onto all starships at the starbase's location that have torpedo launchers. The starships must be yours or have the same Friendly Code as the planet/starbase. The starships are loaded in starship ID order, from lowest to highest, until either the starbase runs out of torpedoes or all the starships have been loaded with as many torpedoes of the correct type as they can carry.
• Unload Freighters: The starbase will automatically unload all money, clans, supplies and minerals (Duranium, Tritanium and Molybdenum) from any starship at the starbase's location. The starships must belong to the same player who controls the planet/starbase, or have the same Friendly Code as the planet/starbase. Note that certain specialized codes may confuse the starbase crew; if the Friendly Code of the starbase is DMP or PBx, the crew of the starbase will be too busy to automatically unload the starships, and it will have to be done manually. Additionally, if the Friendly Code of the starbase is BUM, the crew of the starbase will have received potentially conflicting orders and will await clarification.
• Repair Base: The starbase will repair damage previously done to it by enemy starships at a rate of 5% per turn. If not repaired, damage will accumulate through successive combats, and if the total ever exceeds 100%, the base will explode immediately even if the planet is not captured.
• Force A Surrender: The starbase will force all starships with the same Friendly Code as the planet to surrender to the starbase. Starships without fuel will surrender no matter what the Friendly Codes are. Any starships that surrender in this fashion will have their orders reset to Exploration and waypoint set to their current location, but it's important to note that their Primary Enemy will remain unchanged. For more details, see Giving Ships Away.
• Send Fighters: When this Primary Order is selected, a pane will appear to allow the player to select a specific target for the fighters being sent, or to select all receiving targets within the 200 light-year range. The starbase will send all the fighters it has to the selected target. For a single receiving target, the target doesn't need to set any Mission or Primary Order to receive the fighters. If there are multiple receiving targets, they will need to set their Mission or Primary Orders to Receive Fighters , and the fighters will be evenly distributed among them. NOTE: This Primary Order is only available to the Evil Empire, and only when the Starbase Fighter Transfer advantage is enabled.
• Receive Fighters: When this Primary Order is selected, the starbase will receive any fighters that are sent with the Send Fighters Primary Order to all targets. A starbase will always be able to receive fighters sent directly to it. NOTE: This Primary Order is only available to the Evil Empire, and only when the Starbase Fighter Transfer advantage is enabled.

For more information on things that can be done at starbases, you'll want to be very familiar with all of the Starbase and Planetary Friendly Codes.

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