PQ is different now. Before PQ below 15 was not good, below 10 was terrible.

Now, 10 is homeworld class planets. There are better but they are rare. You can also build useful, though small colonies, on class 4 planets. I don't think there is a penalty associated with lower planet quality. The only difference is you are restricted in the number of build tiles for those small colony worlds.

If you can colonize it, it will probably be at least slightly useful.

Thanks for the info!


I re-read the manual and visited the #Galciv channel after seeing your comments. Good thing I have the saved games - time to start a second round of colony rush!

One thing I have noticed is that the AI will even take uncolonized planets deep within your sphere of influence. In several games I have seen the Altarians colonize Mars (because there are too many better planets for me to coolonize) only to run into immediate loyalty problems because Mars is in the middle of my territory. Perhaps the AI should be adjusted so that it realizes colonizing planets that deep into enemy territory is a bad idea.

The way I see it, is that anything habitable is worth the cost of a colony ship and a few people. Worst case scenario you stick a farm and some economy on there are you get a smallish but happy colony that puts your approval rating up, while giving you a small income.

If they were available, I'd even go for a PQ1 planet, even if only to serve as another target for them to hit, and a refuleing depot.

Whats the ratio of size-to-population cap?

You know you can just transport excess people to low class planets right? Even though it's above the PQ cap, the population will not drop.

Link

For example, how many farms should I put on this planet?

For example, how many farms should I put on this planet?

Good heavens, that's one awesome planet.

Okay, a Class 26 planet has a maximum potential population of about 394 billion. That means no matter how many farms you build, the planet will never reach its max. potential population. (Even if you researched the best farm technology, you'd need 33 farms on it to max out its potential population).

However, the REAL question is, how many people can you keep happy? Your approval rating drops off sharply with too many people on a planet. Unless your civilization is REALLY happy, I can't suggest more than 2 or 3 farms, for any planet. There's a very real danger of economic collapse due to unhappiness, otherwise.

I've had this happen... my approval rating plummeted, and I was faced with the unappetizing choice of letting it dip well below 50% (in which case my party will lose the elections, and population growth will slow and then stop in any case), or massively lowering my taxes, in which case I simply won't have the resources to upkeep a decent-sized fleet.