Sand Slugs @ Spice Planets?

[Noble713]

I always play with space monsters turned off.

In my current Shadows game, I've got a colony on a planet with Korabbian Spice. Every time I turn around it seems my space port is gone (presumably destroyed) and a sand slug is sitting over the world. Is this a new "feature" in Shadows? Is this sort of monster spawning unique to spice planets? This doesn't seem to afflict my planet with Zentabian Fluid. I've not got a cruiser patrolling the planet and hopefully that is a sufficient solution...

[ASHBERY76]

Worms technically are not space monsters.[:D]

[Chris21wen]

ORIGINAL: Noble713

I always play with space monsters turned off.

In my current Shadows game, I've got a colony on a planet with Korabbian Spice. Every time I turn around it seems my space port is gone (presumably destroyed) and a sand slug is sitting over the world. Is this a new "feature" in Shadows? Is this sort of monster spawning unique to spice planets? This doesn't seem to afflict my planet with Zentabian Fluid. I've not got a cruiser patrolling the planet and hopefully that is a sufficient solution...

We need a way of controlling them as in Dune[:)]

[Shark7]

The spice must flow... [;)]

[Speeder]

Noble713 probably this is a homage to Dune (where the planet Arrakis has spice and giant sand slugs...)

[Bebop Cola]

Not that this really addresses your concerns directly, but as I recall from one of the updates a while back, all unique resource planets had their default docking bay slots increased to 6. As such, a spaceport(to provide more docking bays) is not terribly necessary and could, in fact, lead to an over-abundance of outflow of the resource, upsetting the economy balance. The sand slug, then, could be to upset the apple-cart a bit there.

That said, the spaceport is important for planetary defense and ship resupply. Additionally, without it one does not have a commerce center for the planet so any shipments of the spice are not getting you your full income, and the sand slug drives away any freighters looking to dock at the planet directly anyway. Moreover, the other unique resource planets do not have a similar respawning monster, so I doubt it has much to do with controlling access and availability of unique resources.

Personally, I believe the respawning sand slug is an aesthetic choice made for its connection to Dune. Unfortunately, the consequences of it destroying the spaceport regularly makes it more of an annoyance than an amusing reminder of the thematic analogy. I kind of like it, but it does make korabbian spice planets somewhat impractical. Maybe if the benefits of korabbian spice were a bit more potent than just an extra 30% planetary development rating it would be worth the extra expense and attention to guard the planet, but as much as it hearkens to The Spice, it isn't.

It does give the Teekan somewhere to go to meet one of their victory objectives, however.

[Plant]

I never notice that happening before in Legends. Is this a new feature in Shadows? In Shadows, I am forever finding and controlling ships on worlds I control, sometimes construction ships, other times military ships.

[Darkspire]

ORIGINAL: Noble713

I always play with space monsters turned off.

In my current Shadows game, I've got a colony on a planet with Korabbian Spice. Every time I turn around it seems my space port is gone (presumably destroyed) and a sand slug is sitting over the world. Is this a new "feature" in Shadows? Is this sort of monster spawning unique to spice planets? This doesn't seem to afflict my planet with Zentabian Fluid. I've not got a cruiser patrolling the planet and hopefully that is a sufficient solution...

The undead sand slug problem [:D] The first time this happened to me I thought I had lost the plot as I killed it 3-4 times went off and got busy elsewhere and then went back to see why the spice shipments had stopped and there it was, again. The only way I found to deal with it was I put a cruiser with 8xphasor lances on patrol around the planet, built a SP and every time it regenerated the cruiser just wiped it out, phasors were the fastest weapons I could find to deal with it before it smegged the SP.

Darkspire

[Shark7]

ORIGINAL: Speeder

Noble713 probably this is a homage to Dune (where the planet Arrakis has spice and giant sand slugs...)

IE "The worm is the spice, the spice is the worm." [;)]

I've seen that movie entirely too many times. [8|]

[Larsenex]

It would not be so bad if the planet was colonized and it did not occur any more.

[elanaagain]

Actually, even when you colonize that planet, the worm keeps resurrecting... so a solid base with fast weapons and two robotic repair comps will let you leave it on autopilot

[Mansen]

I've always found it odd that the worms go into space, instead of wreaking havoc on the surface instead through events. Like eating up the populace and troops or causing infrastructure damage.

[Strat_84]

ORIGINAL: Bebop Cola
Personally, I believe the respawning sand slug is an aesthetic choice made for its connection to Dune. Unfortunately, the consequences of it destroying the spaceport regularly makes it more of an annoyance than an amusing reminder of the thematic analogy. I kind of like it, but it does make korabbian spice planets somewhat impractical. Maybe if the benefits of korabbian spice were a bit more potent than just an extra 30% planetary development rating it would be worth the extra expense and attention to guard the planet, but as much as it hearkens to The Spice, it isn't.

It's even worse than that. A human player can babysit the mine/spaceport construction and build a special mine design that adresses the worm problem.
But I do not expect the AI to be able to do that, in practice this worm must make Korabbian spice unreachable to AI empires.