Disappearing Ships

Orbit Oblivion

Recently, I have discovered that a ship/vessel in the orbit of an alien planet will vanish for no apparent reason. Initially, it occurred very infrequently, but it is becoming more prevalent as the game progresses. The first few times it occurred, I searched the star map in vain to find them, but then noticed that race's Military rating decreases each time. Lately, however, an orbiting ship will vanish at a planet that is in view when I click the Turn button but I never see it leave even when my picket ships are in range of the planet. I also checked any of that race's nearby planets to verify that the missing ship didn't just change locations. Does anybody know why orbiting ships disappear? Are they being mothballed/destroyed for cash?

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That would have to be it. Only thing that makes sense. Did you check the diplo screen to see if they have any credits?

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There is no change in their Diplomatic Timeline. There may be a change in their Economy Timeline, but it jumps up and down so often on a normal basis that it is hard to tell if a vessel disappearance results in an Economic increase. Also, when one of these ships vanishes from a planet's orbit, it is usually replaced a few turns later by what I assume is a new vessel. One of the alien races in my game has begun replacing its disappearing ships with battleships lately -- which makes sense -- but the other races and that race earlier would replace a fighter with another fighter. Do you think they are replacing an older vessel with a newer, more capable one? It is nearly impossible to tell since I never know which alien vessel will vanish next and cannot compare its characteristics with its replacement. This issue is also brings up my concern that I won't notice when an alien vessel sorties for real, will assume that it is just another vanishing ship, and won't bother to search the galaxy for them -- especially if it left the orbit of a planet that I didn't focus on when I clicked the Turn button.

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By check the diplo screen, I meant look at the They Have X BC in the trade window every turn. If it jumps when a ship vanishes, and is generally low all the time, then they are probably mothballing ships for cash. Also, it is likely that they are simply upgrading ships to higher levels: there is no real way to check this outside of constantly monitoring a planet until its ships vanish, but it is probably the cause. In any event, if they get near you, I think you will know it in enough time to prepare defences.

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