[geoschmo]

Does this order send the closest colony ship or does it choose the colonizer a different way?
It sends the closest available colonizer to the planet you have selected. That isn't always a ship actually close to the planet though. Just the closest one you have available, even if it's on the other side of the quadrant. What I'd like is an order to give to the ship to head for the nearest available planet that doesn't already have a colony ship enroute. That would be very useful.


Does the game check that the chosen colony ship has the right colony component for the target planet, or could it accidentally send the wrong type of colonizer?
No. If you pick an ice planet and only have rock colonizers it won't send any ship to that planet.

Does the command still work if a colonizer ship (by class) is not built on a Light Cruiser or other "non-colonizer" hull?
Yes, it works independantly of the hull type. If you have a colony class hull and the colony comp has been destroyed or is being retrofitted it wont respond to the send colony ship function

Do people use this or colonize manually?

I use both, depending on the size of the empire and the situation. The send colony ship function is more convenient, but doesn't always result in the most efficent use of resources. You can have colony ships going very long distances if you aren't careful. They can run out of supply if you don't plan your routes accordingly.

[ February 28, 2004, 00:53: Message edited by: geoschmo ]