I don't believe that's possible, but that's a great idea. It would be awesome to be able to look at any bonuses before colonization.

2 thumbs right,

yep I believe this should be possible by any race within a set distance of a planet, i.e. 2 sqs.

J

they sort of are scanning the planets when they come in sensor range about the class of the planet.

i thought about this too, but looking closer this would probably hinder your game. except on abundantly habitable planets you can't wait with citizens in colonizers to find the best planets.

example: you check the class 11 planet find no bonuses, move to the next planet still no bonuses, move to the class 6 and find one small research bonus. so colonize it while the AI gets the class 11.

this scanning device would also take valuable room on a ship. the colonizing phase is relatively short, after that a planet can only be taken through war. with the competion for planets i don't think we have the luxury to pick and choose. you inevitably will pass on a planet, and loose it; result is less population, less income. i am in a game right now on challenging. i have only a few bonus tiles, but i am far superior to any of my opponents because of better colony management. if i had been scanning for better planets i would have passed on everything and surely the AI would have the advantage. great idea in theory, but i doubt it would prove much benefit in the game.

population is the number one variable for success. settle the best planet you can as quickly as you can, and start supporting your new colony. everything else is just a lovely unexpected bonus. i could never afford to pass on anything over class 7. with each step below abundantly habitable planets, colonizing ANY planet becomes more vital!

i admit this feature could be effective if given to your flagship. deciding the direction to go between similar planets would be helpful, but not as a way to leisurely skip around the galaxy looking for the best planets. if used wisely, this could be a great benefit, but i wouldn't want to become too dependant on it.

It's something that's bugged me a bit too. Right now, I'm using the combo of colony ship + reload to scan the planets.

I think only when a ship is in orbit should it be able to scan a planet, maybe with the exception of a survey ship being able to do so at a short distance. Or only a survey ship when it is in orbit can scan a planet.

I was thinking about this too, and I was thinking that I would love to see this as a research option. Perhaps, on the Xeno Research path after Stellar Cartography, probably at the same level of Sensors, but on a different branch. Researching that would allow you to see the actual planetary map of any unowned planet when double clicking on it from the main galaxy map (which means you'd have to uncover the planet from the fog of war, first). There could even be a logical progression to THIS, which could let you see the details of an uncolonized planet from the MINIMAP, meaning that you could eventually see the untouched surface of every unconquered planet in the galaxy, given enough time to research these techs.

AGEE; Scanning shouild be allowed before landing.

A good feature.. But I would add one more.. How making all other non-homeworld planets 0 and then having to scan them before it reveals what planet rating they really are. or atleast an option for this type of gameplay

Well, if I remember correctly, during the beta, all planets did have a unique texture, even the PQ 0 planets. But it was a nightmare for savegames on gigantic settings, and very graphic intensive for no real gameplay advance. There were also CTD when clicking on a non colinzed planets to get the display.

Scanning shouild be allowed before landing

Well, if you dig in old dev journals https://www.galciv2.com/Forums.aspx?ForumID=164&AID=35553 , you will find that this idea was considered at one time. But it has been ruled out. I guess they have though it wasn't adding fun to the game.