Why no information on what is needed to build ships?

I lost a game last night on challenging. By the end, the others had all kinds of nice ships, some even with 12 attack and 6 speed. I had not gained one single ship through all my research. I had the abilty to make a miner, a defender, a colony, a freighter, and that was it. I had researched weapons all the way to Warp drive, defenses all the way to at least titanium armor, had reached 17 logistic points, engines past ion drive, ship hulls to medium. I was able to make my own ship, and the best it could be was about 2 speed, 9 attack.

How come I didn't get any of the advanced design ships? Not even a basic fighter showed up in my building list. This never happned in GC2. This is one thing I don't like about this game. I keep seeing descriptions in research trees saying 'You will get this ship with 3 other techs...etc'. Even if I have the techs already, those boxes still tell me what I need. I spend half my time running back and forth the tech list to see if I have what it says I need. But that's a small point.

Why, in the ship builder page, is there not a list/legend of all the default ships that you can get in the game through research, and it gives you a list of what you STILL need to research to get that ship. The drengin had 5 frigates. I went searching all the boxes in the tech tree with no clue what I needed to also build a frigate. There should be a legend, with pictures of each ship that can eventually be built and it should tell you 'exactly what you need to make that ship' and if you have some of the techs already, it should tell you ONLY what you still need to make it. Why do I have to be running up and down the tech tree looking for information on how to make a frigate, reading a hundred little box descriptions? And even after all that looking, I don't even find it. Is the frigate a ship only the Drengin can build?

I've also noticed a bug in DA. I reloaded a game and tried to move my ships. Every single ship, regardless of how close it was to my home base, said 'Out of range.' They would not move anywhere, even though they all had movement points. I had to reload an older save and then they were able to move again.

And what's the deal with defense? I spent a lot of time researching up to 4 defense against missles. Didn't really make any difference on ships that had it. Seems like def is really useless now. I probably lost that game due to the amount of time wasted researching up the def tree.

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The 'core' ships your are waiting for are simply a trap for the unwary. It's a way of making the game harder and more frustrating for newcomers to the game.

My advice is to forget that core ships even exist. When you need a ship, build one. Your 2 speed, 9-attack ship is better than anything you will get for a *long* time from the core ships.

As to how to build a frigate, that's just what the AI names it's medium ship designs. Since you also have the medium build tech, you too can build a medium ship and call it a Frigate, just like the Drengin do. Also, if you have warp drive, the slowest ship you build (without any engines) will be speed 3 once you put it on the map, because Impulse and Warp drive give one bonus speed each.

If you want your ship designs to be as powerful as the Drengin frigates, put some more research into your most advanced weapons tech. You'll be able to design mediums with 20 or 30 attack in no time.

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This was confusing to me too, but I just gave up and designed my own ships as Entropy Avatar suggested. Works great, and it's more fun than picking from a list.

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The drengin had 5 frigates. I went searching all the boxes in the tech tree with no clue what I needed to also build a frigate. There should be a legend, with pictures of each ship that can eventually be built and it should tell you 'exactly what you need to make that ship' and if you have some of the techs already, it should tell you ONLY what you still need to make it.

The AI doesn't use set design molds. Thier ships are designed based upon what tech they ave, and are given names accordingly.

I had researched weapons all the way to Warp drive

Warp drive isn't a weapon, it is an enigne. I"m guessing you just got confused, so it's not a big deal.

And what's the deal with defense? I spent a lot of time researching up to 4 defense against missles. Didn't really make any difference on ships that had it. Seems like def is really useless now. I probably lost that game due to the amount of time wasted researching up the def tree.

During the early game I don't use defenses much, but by end game they can make your ships almost invincible.

As the others have mentioned, you really want to be building your own ships. Since the AI will react to your military by designing ships specifically to counter yours, you will want to do the same.

As with anything, since this isn't a game based upon twitch speed and reflexes, you'll get better with practice. It ust takes a little time, with a good dose of trial and error.

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everyone else is absolutely right, the built-in ships suck. you're much better off building your own custom ones.

if you want to use the built-in designs (most of which i think aren't all that great looking), just click on the templates tab to use one. you should get all the designs you have the hull size for.

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