Lots of other space games have this feature.
True, but thinking of three other major space games with base building, they all go about it in completely different ways.
1) No Mans Sky:
- functionality: other than some early game use as environmental protection and as a place to store your spare stuff, they don't actually do all that much - you can set up mining/farming bases but by the time you've got far enough down the tech tree to do that you've probably already bought anything you'd need to pay cash for anyway. A few of the story missions use them a little.
- operation: bases need power but a simple battery+solar farm will handle that easily; some production components need periodic visits to collect the output
- construction: Bases are put together from individual small components giving lots of scope for personalisation of design; making them aesthetically pleasing has about as many tech tree entries as making them functional. If you have the materials on hand you can build a new base in minutes, and once you've got a basic box up you don't need to worry about environmental hazards or attack when building the rest. Components don't need to be physically supported.
- destruction: bases are invulnerable
2) X4:
- functionality: base building is the key to the economic side of the game - sure, you can make a bit of money from flying trading ships yourself, but owning the factories is where the real money is. You can go from a few small installations getting a bit of spare cash to massive empires larger than the NPC factions (and a bunch of big gun emplacements to keep the Xenon off your lawn). With everything depending on the constant supply of raw materials, just having credits isn't enough. Certain missions need at least a moderately-large base to complete.
- operation: a constant supply of input materials is needed for production (and food, if the station is crewed), though generally this is automated and left to the NPCs (either your own fleet or someone else's) so provided it's set up profitably you'll just get dividend payouts every so often.
- construction: put together from pre-fab parts, with limited artistic choice (though making sure the docking bays and weapon mounts aren't obstructed can matter). Construction requires bringing the raw materials to the construction site - far more than will fit in a single ship's inventory - and then building the base itself can take hours (especially challenging in hostile territory). Especially in the early game even obtaining some of the raw materials can be a challenge because the NPCs want them too.
- destruction: bases are an obvious target for an enemy military and the attack and defence of bases is a key part of the game
3) Kerbal Space Program:
- functionality: the distinction between a space ship, a space station and a planetary base is somewhat arbitrary anyway, but establishing at least semi-permanent installations in orbit as refuelling depots, science facilities, places to keep crew, etc. can make achieving other goals much easier, and you can also get missions specifically to establish them.
- operation: as with everything in Kerbal, fuel reserves are important for moving a base around. Powering the base through a long night can require careful consideration (or a
lot of batteries). At least you don't need to worry about food and oxygen for the crew.
- construction: relatively large list of components to choose from though the need to get it off Kerbal in the first place does encourage "cylinders" as a design aesthetic. Anything sizable probably needs to be launched in segments and then reassembled once in orbit (or on the ground of a new world) with carefully-planned docking manouevres. Gravitational and aerodynamic considerations mean that the ultimate centre of mass of the object needs to be considered carefully for surface bases. Construction might take weeks to years (time-accelerated!) to get everything into place at the destination, though KSC can produce new modules instantly.
- destruction: messing up a docking or landing will leave you with a bunch of scattered fragments if you're lucky, but other than that they're pretty safe.
... none of those approaches are really compatible with each other, and none of them seem in themselves a great fit for Elite Dangerous. How (and if) base building might do something useful in Elite Dangerous isn't obvious.
