Well, ive tried almost everything i can think of to make the minor races colonize in a normal game, and using the scenerio's as well.

Minor Coloniize =1
Minor Invade=1

both seem to do nothing. (along with the reverse, setting it to 0)

nor does removing or adding the Tech Root Tech line in the race config which appears in each minor race's listing.

nor does giving the minors any of the following tech's in fact via the raceconfig file

hyperdrive, planetary invasion, xeno anything etc

note that giving the minor's planetary invasion at the start of a game will have them create transports immidieatly (which oddly all have 1/1/1 attack - seems like they have a "stock" ship design that takes into account the UP event that forces transports into having at least x amount of weaponry, however i have yet to see them use the ships created!.- is there a colony ship per ship type that i am missing that the minor races would use?

Ive even GIVEN the minor's in game each a colony ship that i created on my homeworld planet, these ships just sit there, never moving, even with open adjacent planets. (again oddly, thier move is always 0/whatever it should be, even though they do not move-possibly the ai putting them on guard, but that doesnt make sense either.)

IF i understand correctly, the AI's for the main races + the dreadlords are acctually based upon the order that they appear in the RaceConfig.xml - would it be possible to change this at this stage of the game? something to the point of "use xx ai" where xx= a number based on the various races, or would this automatically make them "major" races?

The whole idea behind my obsession... er idea is that having the minor races being able to colonize, but not in the UP would be very similar to real world polotics - when it comes to the best equivalant real world organization, the UP can be considered the UN security council, where the minor races would be non-voting (hence thier lack of acctual influence) or "rogue" states. Since the Minor races already start out at a significant disadvantage (1b starting pop, no survey, no innitial colony ship, less starting cash) they would start out colonizing slower then the rest anyhow, as befits thier minor status, but left unchecked, or in a sector without a nearby major race, they could indeed become thorns in the major races sides. Compare this to thier current status as either trading partners or just planet place holders waiting to be invaded, and i believe that the change would open up alot of variety to the game - if even just as a selectable scenerio.

So! in conclusion, what am i missing to enable the minor races' ability to colonize?