Created a new colony ship but cannot colonize…please help

from GalCiv2 Forums
Hello all,

I am very new to the game and I am still trying to wrap my hands around the basics of the game, and shipbuilding has been an exercise in frustration to this point.

I am playing the GC2 gold edition, and I am running the current patch.

I was using these instructions from a FAQ by Jason Bodine:

Build a better Colony Ship. (Optional)

Before leaving the colony management screen, you might want to build a faster,
longer range Colony Ship. Go to the Ship Yard (click the button that looks
like a ship on the lower button bar) and click "NEW". Select the topmost
"CARGO HULL". Click the "MODULES" tab and add one "COLONY" module. While still
under this tab, add two "BASIC SUPPORT" modules, which will increase your
range. Now click the "ENGINES" tab and add two "HYPERDRIVES" to your ship,
which will increase your speed. Click on the "EXTRAS" tab and add whatever
eye-candy you want to. Once you're finished pimping out your new ship, click
"SAVE" and name your new ship and type a little description if you so desire.

I followed those instructions point by point, and launched my ship. (Thinking back, when the ship launched it did not ask me how many people to load into the ship…). I then trekked to a nearby habitable class 10 planet, and then tried to colonize the planet. But no! The game said that I did not have a colony module on the ship…even though I did.

Comparing my new ship to the "stock" colony ship, my ship does not have "colonize" in the special abilities portion of the build screen. Do I have the option of adding special abilities somewhere?

Any idea what I am doing wrong?

I am really looking forward to loving this game, and would appreciate a nudge in the right direction. Thanks in advance!   

Dave
4,483 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
(Thinking back, when the ship launched it did not ask me how many people to load into the ship…)


That right there tells you that you must not have actually put a colony module on. Do bear in mind that if you made your ship by upgrading the 'core' colony ship, it has 'fake' colony modules on it for aesthetics. So it may look like it has a colony module on it, but it really doesn't.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
He said that he followed the above instructions point by point, so it shouldn't be an issue of upgrading a core ship.

Which brings me to question, I've never had a problem such as you mentioned with upgrading a core colony ship...did that only happen to a few builds?

Launching w/o a message about people to place on the ship doesn't exist if you had right-clicked on the blue "ship complete" notification the week it showed up as it'll launch with the default amount.

Mind you, default doesn't mean full amount when we talk about transports, there some sort of % of total population comes into play (try quick-launching a transport w/ 3 advanced troop mods on it from a 6bil planet and you'll see what I mean. you can force 3bil on board, but it'll only quick-launch with 1.5bil). Sorry for this ramble, it wouldn't have affected your problem with colonization.
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Which brings me to question, I've never had a problem such as you mentioned with upgrading a core colony ship...did that only happen to a few builds?


The 'remove functional components on upgrade' option is on by default, so it will happen to anyone that hasn't turned it off.

In any case, the lack of a colonize ability listed in the ship's stats does indicate that there's no colony module.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I've had those fake modules trip me up before too, so it's easy to make the mistake if you're not paying attention. Once took a newly built 'colony' ship to a planet halfway across the map only to find out it was a fake module.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The 'remove functional components on upgrade' option is on by default, so it will happen to anyone that hasn't turned it off.

In any case, the lack of a colonize ability listed in the ship's stats does indicate that there's no colony module.


There we go, that's why I haven't seen it...

Is that dummy colony the way those blasted Terran ship designers can get two colony modules on their stock ships!!! Bloody brilliant...a fake colony. No wonder they don't bother returning fire when I'm shooting at their starboard colony.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Is that dummy colony the way those blasted Terran ship designers can get two colony modules on their stock ships!!! Bloody brilliant...a fake colony.


Yep.


Basically, the design of the core ships is not actually linked with the components they carry. So they can look nothing like the actual loadout would suggest they should.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Thanks for the replies, everyone. I was able to get an "official" colony module by double clicking on the proper module. I guess the build values changed between the time the FAQ was written and the newest patch, as I was not able to place two hyperdrive modules on the new ship.

Thanks again. Now it is time to get back to losing my first game.

Dave