[dogscoff]

QUOTE:
tricky to find out what tech an ally has
/QUOTE

Research long rang scanners. They're fairly cheap and can get you loads of ship designs, especially from your allies. Either that or just trade ships at random to to find out what tech he has.

If you trade 2 or 3 cheap, useless ships for a larger ship then you won't feel ripped off even if the components gained aren't too special. This is especially true if you build "hollow" ships specifically for trade purposes. You can always scrap the ship you just got if it has no research value.

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"Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
"I think so Brain but, if you replace the P with an O, my name would be Oinky, wouldn't it?"