I would think another solution to AMM spam is simply to limit the spam. As I alluded to earlier, no planet is going to stockpile 8-digits worth of missiles.
Limiting the AI to some figure of planetside or fleet-wide missiles would have solved this issue nicely.
In any event, I got into the close(ish) range battle I wanted, so problem solved. 17 in-game days later, but still, better than nothing. Now it's just time for me to mop up the several hundred STOs ;p
To be fair, a PLANET with a unified government in this scenario would most assuredly store 8-digits worth of missiles. This problem is connected to the old box launchers problem, and it has to do with waves.
Aurora as a game does not handle very well large missile waves, and short beam weapons range compounds the issue.
The box launchers spam (which the AI will never use) can simply trivialize any content because the AI will never be able to handle it. Using it is really no difference than just using SM and give yourself a billion tons of warships. You just win, there is no game.
The size 1 amm missile spam the ai will use is equally annoying, and there is very little that can be done against it except deploying an ungodly amount of PD. Which I normally do since I often go heavy beam wapons, but that does not mean the problem does not exist.
Simply put:
- Beam weapons are underwhelming because they shoot too unfrequently, and have a limited range which means just one shot per wave in most scenarions. We're talking of immensely future tech here, shooting once per 5 seconds interval does not make sense, it's just due to balance concerns. Even dedicated gauss PD is honestly too weak.
- At the same time, amm are too strong because you can use them against ships. It is quite... unbalanced that an AMM is actually carrying a payload capable of doing damage which is relevant against a ship.
No solution is perfect, any change to the current rules would have powerful balance effects and that's up to Steve. Then you'll have missile enthusiasts who are happy to blow up everything with invincible box launchers ships, and beam weapons enthusiasts who would want to see missiles nerfed a lot.
Personally, and that's just me, I'd make beam weapons progressively stronger at missile interception. This WOULD solve the amm spam problem, and the box launchers spam problem. It would however make missiles progressively not viable, so at high tech levels the focus would be on beam weapons. And I would like that, as I personally cannot consider missiles really being used at ultra tech levels.
Think about this for a moment. Max tech level for Aurora are:
Vacuum Energy Power Plant + Photonic Drive
Quantum Singularity Power Plant + Quantum Singularity Drive
You can work with quantum singularities and photonic drives... and you still use missiles? That's the best weapon you can have, really? That's... underwhelming, really doesn't feel like the future to me. It's just very sad.
But as said, that's my personal view and pertains more to flavor rather than anything else. Ultimately it's a balance concerns, and Steve is the one who decides where the balance stands.