Ships/Units Window Question
 

Using the Ships/Units Status window, there doesn't seem to be a way to show all ships NOT in a fleet along with their remaining movement points. Yes, I can click on the "Fleet" button to see it which ships are in a Fleet but I can't see remaining movement points. If I click on the "general" button I see remaining movement points but can't see if the ship is in a fleet. Wouldn't it be nice to see a display that shows only ships that are NOT in a fleet and remaining movement? Or at a minimum display the remaining movement points and fleet assignment for all ships together on one screen? I am interested in hearing how other people manage their ship movement in a game when you start to get large numbers of fleets and independent units.

Re: Ships/Units Window Question
 

I pretty much rely on the "Next Ship" and "Next Fleet" windows. It can still get tedious, since there's no way to tell the game you're "done" with a particular ship or fleet if it still has movement points left. It also leads to situations where I sometimes lose track of a particular ship or fleet because it's using all its movement points every turn for a while (usually happens when a ship or fleet runs out of supply partway to a resupply depot, and starts moving only 1 space per turn).

Re: Ships/Units Window Question
 

I name all my transports starting with a small 'a' so I remember to move population around. When I build Stellar Manipulation ships, I name them starting with 'z' so I can find them easily. Other than that, I typically go system by system looking for ships that I haven't moved. The best thing to do, it seems, is just to keep them all in fleets since this cuts down considerably on the ships you have to manage.

Did you know that you can click on the column title above size to sort by size? Then, you can click back on name to sort by size. That helps a little. But it would still be much better if you could sort by all ships with movement remaining. Or, sort by transports, or by colony ships, or ships low on supplies or...

Re: Ships/Units Window Question
 

You can click on the ship type column heading to sort by type. That way, you can make sure you have moved all your colony ships, transport ships, etc.

For that reason, I always create a ship type called "Recon", so I can make sure I move all them as well. Actually, I'm surprised that the game does not come with a stock recon type, as it just makes sense to forego weaponry for extra supplies and/or solar panels on your scouts.

You can also click on the Movement Ponts heading to sort by it. I sometimes use it to find ships with remaining points (usually early in the game, when I don't have many ships).

To manage all my Attack Ships, I have gotten in the habit of grouping all Carriers and Attack ships (and some other types) into fleets, even if it is a fleet of one. And I give all my fleets meaningful names, like "Attack Fleet 1" or "Sirius Guard". Then I show only fleets, not individual ships, and manage everything that way. It makes for a lot of renaming fleets as their roles change, but it does help with the micromanagement.

I use an approach similar to raynor's to manage planets. I prefix a "+" to each planet that has a ship yard, and a "z" to each planet when it can contain no more facilities. Then I sort my colony list by what is currently under construction, and scroll to the middle of the list where the "None"'s are. I can see at a glance what shipyards are idle, and what planets can handle additional facilities.

I would appreciate hearing anyone else's ideas for effectively managing ships and planets.

[This message has been edited by taterbill (edited 26 February 2001).]

Re: Ships/Units Window Question
 

Two words: "Space Bar"

Use the space bar button to go from ship to ship that has movement left. It is the shortcut key for the 'next ship' button. It is also the fastest way to go through all of your ships without worrying that you have forgotten any of them.

Re: Ships/Units Window Question
 

Thanks for the tips everyone - it has made my ship managment task much easier!