Orkulus starbase cannot be built

I have had multiple games in which I was unable to construct the Orkulus starbase.  This has happened in two different situations.

1) I heard a message saying that the gravity well was too small or something to that effect.  This has occurred in the case of a gravity well containing a central asteroid with some surrounding dead asteroids in the same well.  This has also occurred in what appeared to be a normal gravity well with a volcanic planet. 

2) I heard a message saying that there was another structure in the way, when in fact there were no structures at all on that side of the planet.  I think my planet in that case may have been an asteroid.  

This problem of being unable to construct a starbase, especially at a key choke point, can create a major disadvantage and swing the tide of a game.  As an aside, the above situations all arose when attempting to build a starbase the normal way using the planetary menu.  I don't think I tested to see whether I might be able to use the starbase ship item to get around the problem.  Even if that would work though, the extra constraints involved in doing that would still put the affected player at a disadvantage.

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Reply #1 Top

Hello! May I ask if this has proven to be an issue when using auto placement of units via ctrl click from the factory?

Reply #2 Top

Thanks for the reply. If you are asking whether this happens when using auto-place for structures, I still get the error that the structure is too large for the gravity well if I hold control.  However, your post specifically says "units" and refers to a factory.  If you are in fact asking about units from the factory rather than about the starbase, then I am not sure what you mean and must ask for clarification please.  On a side note, I decided to test to see what happens when I use the starbase ship item for a capital ship and interestingly that worked.  I was able to construct an Orkulus that way, even though I could not construct it from the volcanic planet in that gravity well.  Very strange.  The overall issue is still a problem though, since creating the starbase ship item is more expensive and may not always be as feasible as building a starbase directly from the planet's menu.