Right now, each HQ level gets us one additional base - but what if the connection was not that straight-forward. My idea is to use “HQ Points” instead. All the numerical values below are for example:
When you start the game you start with 50 HQ Points, and you get 10 more each time you upgrade your HQ. (HQ costs are the same, so 10 points counts more and more as you go on). So, how are the HQ points used?
Your initial base (on a starter planet by default) costs 30 HQ Points. Additional bases have varying costs - they vary based on the habitability of the planet, and on its distance from the ‘core’. So say a habitable planet (no need for INS/etc) costs 10 HQ points, while for each type of special stuff it needs (1-3) you take 2 points off, so a planet needing INS would be 8 HQ points, a planet needing INS and HSE would be 6 HQ points, and if you need all three then 4 HQ points. If you are “halfway” to the rim, that is a point discount (9/7/5/4) and in the outer rim, two point discount (8/6/4/2).
You can shift the discount for hostile environments to 1 per version for less steep discount. But this does reward older players to both settle the outer rim and also leave the starter planets because those bases are expensive in HQ points.
Also, because HQ points are now a different measure, you can reward players for being a governor (1 HQ point?) or building large projects, or whatever else the Devs can think of.
Anyway, just an idea I had, at least partially, someone else came up with the “variable cost” in the last DevLog (maybe it was FireFreak) but I fleshed out the HQ point idea to split it from the HQ level.