I need to digest Ikkir's points over time. I like the idea that a large planet with a station could put up a reasonable fight against a player's "personal squadron" of 6-7 ships. The 5.7x number (solution 2) for big planets would suit that, together with a station. You could get the feeling of a real fleet battle with only half the ships in play.
Moons/rocks being more about automation, having a special set of mechanism for that, sounds fun. Both bonuses and penalties to different areas. Maybe further down the line, though.
The general advantage to the defender suggested by these approaches is welcome. At least it may give people a bit longer to respond to threats. With solution 2, spaceships are still superior to most cities since most cities devote much volume to things other than combat. But well prepared systems will present a challenge. Not an I superable one, as in last update, but a real one. Next up: pirate bases!
To Ikkir's last point: while you can have fewer, more powerful planets, you can also store vast amounts of popsicle people and resources both in ships and hidden worlds. Cities can also be built faster, since you no longer have to find hundreds of nodes and you can get away with a small number of buildings. Coming back from the brink is probably less scary, not more, than before, even if recapture may be harder.
Moons/rocks being more about automation, having a special set of mechanism for that, sounds fun. Both bonuses and penalties to different areas. Maybe further down the line, though.
The general advantage to the defender suggested by these approaches is welcome. At least it may give people a bit longer to respond to threats. With solution 2, spaceships are still superior to most cities since most cities devote much volume to things other than combat. But well prepared systems will present a challenge. Not an I superable one, as in last update, but a real one. Next up: pirate bases!
To Ikkir's last point: while you can have fewer, more powerful planets, you can also store vast amounts of popsicle people and resources both in ships and hidden worlds. Cities can also be built faster, since you no longer have to find hundreds of nodes and you can get away with a small number of buildings. Coming back from the brink is probably less scary, not more, than before, even if recapture may be harder.