Wow she's almost old enough to play the game

It's already like that.  The XML can specify any labyrinthine prerequisites (as a flat text list of any combo of prerequisite tech levels and buildables).  The tree-based UI just doesn't draw what's in the XML.

To be more precise, we have two tiers of tree.

• The technology tree (of tech levels) is a simple tree, with no loops or bugs (that we've seen).  What you see are all the tech-to-tech arcs.
• It is not clear whether you can script a tech level to require 2+ parent tech levels ...
• ... or if the UI would display such a "tree" as a true graph.  Somebody test that with Wordpad in 5 minutes!
• The buildable trees (of improvements / components / starbase modules) are implied, not shown anywhere.  Think of them as floating alongside the tech tree.
• Some nodes of the tech tree intersect some nodes of the buildables trees.  These are all the techs that grant you new buildables.
• Each buildable tree has its own prerequisites, which wind (mostly) leftward through buildables of the same type.  These are explicitly scripted using the <Prereq> tags.

So we have a rich tree with epiphytes hanging down, forming a 3D pyramid.  This is complex.  In [0.40] - [0.42], the buildable trees exhibit some bugs (which make them non-tree-like, i.e. they're really DAGs (directed acyclic graphs)):

• Tangled loops in starbase modules:
• Cm5 Interstellar Collector has prereq Cm6 Orbital Replicator (Cm = Colonization, manufacturing)
• Cr5 Orbital Institute has prereq Cr8(!!) Orbital Research Center (Cr = Colonization, research)
• On the plus side, these are not upgrades.  So when you finally get them, you get them both, for a huuuge gain.
• Cross-branch prereqs in starbase modules:
  
• Gb5 (Governance, banking) Interstellar Embassy has prereq Gu5 (culture) Interstellar Exchange
• dunno if this is an upgrade ... or they just coexist (oh plz) for insane +50% => +175% in one big step

Note that buildable-prereqs seem to be local-scope only, i.e. limited to buildables of the same type, on the host container.  So modules can depend on modules on that starbase, ship components to components on that ship, improvements to other improvements on that planet, etc.  I don't think the XML script is expressive enough to have cross-type prereqs, e.g. from an improvement to a ship component, or from a { resource && Ideology award && combat result } to a commander-type.  (I'll unlock new commander rpg-class of magic-user ... which activates the FE sub-game.  Pause to d/l the plug-in ...)

Now that colony ships auto-launch, there doesn't seem to be an option to load fewer than max population and the number of pods does not matter. Will there be any options for smaller colonies in the future? 

That's great, exactly the information I was curious about.  I've played and kept up fairly sparingly. 

Thanks so much!

-tid242

Selective pop-filling is already in the dev queue.  For the rest of [0.42], just suffer a bit longer.

The [0.30 - 0.42] rule is:

• The shipyard's primary sponsor (which is the topmost one in the shipyard's hover list, but not in its own Manage screen) fills half(?) of the module:
• 2.5 bp for 1 colony or transport module (max 5.0 bp)
• [_] ... or for each module?  (I never got that far)
• You can completely control which planet sends the pop.  Just `Remove` all N-1 other sponsors, then add them back (which appends them to the end of the shipyard's sponsors-list).
• You may dock a colony ship or transport at any friendly planet (as if garrisoning it).  This immediately disembarks all of the ship's pop onto that planet.  They promptly find civilian jobs , and will produce if you end turn while they're still there.
• You may re-launch a colony/transport at any time (if it has movement points left).
• You can "Eject Ship", which always goes to the upper-left hex unless it's blocked, then the right hex.
• Or, you can select the ship in the planet's garrison, and simply give a normal movement order, i.e. right-click a space hex.  It'll exit through the nearest hex side.
• On re-launching, you get a pop-filling slider window, which lets you slide from minimum (0.5 pop/module) to maximum (5.0 pop/module).

So:

• You can already use either type of ship to simply move population around.
• To get fully-loaded colony ships, you must do it manually.  Park shipyard so that its exit hex is adjacent to your pop-feeder planet.  As ships pop out, immediately land them on the planet, then leave, and fill up on your way out the door.
• Whenever either ship type is moving past a friendly planet, and would end turn just beyond it, you might want to detour it for a fraction-of-a-move just to get a shipload's worth of free production for 1 turn.  What happens on the planet, stays on the planet ...
  

In Beta 2 (or sooner), every completed colony/transport ship will immediately show the pop-filling slider window, or something like that, before it launches.  This will let you choose how much to draw from which planets.  And no more teleporting civs from 30 hexes away ...

Can we get a list of the questions in a clear list in the first posting so Adam can see them all at a glance without having to scroll through the thread postings When the stream goes live? Perhaps categorized/outlined by subject matter?

i think this thread is a good idea. Lets hope it works well. Thank you  peregrine23 for setting this up!!!

Quoting AuraBoy, reply 31

Can we get a list of the questions in a clear list in the first posting so Adam can see them all at a glance without having to scroll through the thread postings When the stream goes live? Perhaps categorized/outlined by subject matter?

i think this thread is a good idea. Lets hope it works well. Thank you  peregrine23 for setting this up!!!

In the original post of this thread: I will repost them into the dev stream thread on Friday.

Yes, thanks for doing this.

thanks Gilmoy, that's great info

Here are the questions I'm planning on posting. There were a few questions that were answered by other players so I left them off. Let me know if I missed anything.