Right races for right planets!?!

[Gudea]

What is the best way to encourage races to inhabit planets within their natural preferences. I often have a mixed race empire, but my darlocks get busy populating size 3 "blue" worlds and my alkari give a try for the size 12's. Anyone found a way to keep races colonizing with "some" intelligence?

[James1701]

In terms of migration there really isn't any meaningful way to guide a specific race to a specific planet. There are ways to encourage a race to migrate off a planet by manipulating things like taxes and such but it's still a shotgun effect at best.

In terms of colonization you can at least get a planet started with the best race but it does require quite a bit of micromanagement. The colonization AI just isn't very effective IMO.

What I do is:

1) Create a colony TF using colony ships of a single race. This is usually a 4 ship TF if I have them in sufficient numbers.

2) Name the colony TF after the race on the ships i.e. Darlok Colony 4, 4 being the number of colony ships in the TF.

3) Find a suitable planet using the plant screen, slecting the appropriate race and sorting by terraform ring and gravity. Note: If I have a particular system in mind I'll perform this step first and find the best race for the system in question and then create my colony TF.

4) Send the colony TF to that system.

5) When it arrives I mark the appropriate planet for colonization.

6) The next turn I find the slew of randomly selected colony ships that the AI will automatically activate to colonize that planet. Cancel their orders and disband the lot of them.

7) The next turn your colony TF lands and you have a good sized colony ready to start building.

It's IS a pain in the ass but its really the only area of my empire I mirco to this degree just becuase this is the only area I feel my AI henchman is a dismal failure.

[swilhelm73]

Well James's advice is mostly good, I find it easier myself to just manually land the colony ships. To be specific, here is what I do;

1) Check the planets screen up the terraform tab to see who is best to colonize planets in my sphere of infuence.

2) Build colony ships at worlds of the races I need.

3) When those ships are done building I go to the fleet creations screen were the race of the colony ship is listed.

4) I label the new fleet based on where I am sending it and teh race on board; ie: Xor4-ether or some such.

5) Send the colony ship TF to its destination.

6) When it gets there, go into the system view, and select the forces tab. Click on the fleet and the planet you want, and then click create colony. A little flag will appear on top of the fleet. Do *not* click send fleet.

[James1701]

How is that different from what I do??:bulb:

[Vorlock]

Whats different is you are telling that fleet to land on that planet, immediately. The AI does not send other fleets that you need to disband. I use this method as well.

[James1701]

Hmmm, I'll have to look into that.

[swilhelm73]

It took me quite a while to notice that you could land colony ships manually, as opposed to the 'send colony ship" option. If you are micromanaging which races you are sending to various planets, it is something you should take advantage of though...

[TommyLV]

If you use lots of colonists they will quickly spread to every region and prevent any other race/species from migrating to that planet.