1. General information about colonising
The first step to colonise a new planet is to get a colony ship. To see what you need to build it, click the colony ship (located in the shipyard), and then the techtree button. For details, click the question mark under the picture of the colony ship. Same goes for every other ship/defence/building you're viewing.
Once you have a colony ship (and the needed astro technology level), click on the GALAXY button on the left side menul. You are in the galaxy view now. Do you notice the numbers at the top of the screen? Galaxy and system?
Galaxy goes from 1 - 9 and
System goes from 1 - 499
You can click the left and right buttons next to each one to change these numbers. Note that moving to another galaxy/system will cost you 10 units of deut. The only free system you can view is the system of the planet you're watching it from.
Now, do you see the numbers 1 - 15 on the left side of the planets? These are planet slots. Ones with no planet on it are available to be colonised.
Note: You can't "conquer" planets in Ogame. The only way to get a new colony is via colonising. You also can't destroy anyone else's mines, researches and buildings. You can only destroy the defence, fleet and steal max 50% of the resources per a raid.
Example: I want Galxy 3, System 330 and planet 4, since there's no planet there yet.
Click on FLEET on the left bar. Select a colony ship and click "next".
Now you will see the "CHOOSE TARGET" screen. In the target boxes we will put a 3, then a 330 then a 4, since we wanted to colonize planet 3:330:4. Make sure you click to the planet icon above the coorinates. Hit "next".
Help! I can't send a colony ship!
1. Make sure you're sending your colony ship to the unpopulated planet slot.
2. Make sure you have enough deuterium for the flight.
3. Make sure you have enough cargo space for the flight - if you don't, send the ship on a slower speed and/or add a cargo to it.
4. Make sure you have the needed Astrophysics research level. You can't colonize all planet slots with only few levels of Astro tech.
Positions 3 and 13 can be populated from level 4 onwards.
Positions 2 and 14 can be populated from level 6 onwards.
Positions 1 and 15 can be populated from level 8 onwards.
Now you will see a selection for COLONISATION on the left. Select it. You may also add some resources to the fleet. All resources will be left on the new colony, while the ships will return to the panet they were sent from.
Hit next and there ya go! You just sent your first colony ship!
Note: Colony ship is destroyed in the proces of colonisation - this means you will lose points in the value of a colony ship when you colonise. That only applies if the colonisation process is successful.
If you have commander go to the slot you want to colonise click the link in galaxy view, and continue from step 2, however you won't need to enter the co-ords, just click continue.
With the redesign, there is no hard limit of how many planets you can have. The only obstacle is the astro cost and time it takes to research it.
2. Deleting a colony
If you want to get rid of one of your planets (not your main, as you cannot ever delete it), click on overview, slect the planet hitting his icon on the right. Now, click on the little gear next to the planet name or the same icon under the planet data (it says: give up/rename).
Under functions, click ABANDON COLONY. Verify the planet coordinates are correct where it says "Please confirm deletion of planet [X:XXX:X] by typing your password", then click the "Confirm" button. DO NOT HIT ENTER, it is not guaranted it will be deleted.
3. Charts and details
3.1. Planet size
Homeworld will always have 163 fields and can't be deleted.
See the chart under planet temperature in new unis.
Maximum colony size in new unis is about 250 fields. Best chance of finding a big planet is on slots 7, 8 and 9.
Minimum colony size in new unis is around 65 fields.
3.2. Planet temperature
Slots closer to position 1 will give a higher temperature, but lower deuterium production and vice versa for positions closer to 15, higher deuterium production, but lower energy.
The temperature distribution is a lot wider than in old unis; it varies with the differece of 40° from minimum and maximum temperature. Every position has it's own range of temperature. It takes 41 attempts to colonize the coldest planet at one position.
Note: All temperatures in the chart are the variations of the maximum possible temperature. The minimal temperature is the lowest you can get in the range of maximum temperatures.
Note: A research was made on ogame.org, but the results vary a bit. You can see details in this threads:
Planet size: board.ogame.org/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=554315
Planet temperature: board.ogame.org/index.php?page=Thread&postID=8157685&
3.3. Astrophysics
This chart will tell you how many planets you can have, planet slots you can colonize and expeditions you can send at a time depending on the level of Astrophysics technology. It also tell you the cost of each level.
LeveL of Astrophysics Tech Metal Crystal Deuterium Planets Expedition Slot Positions
1 4.000 8.000 4.000 2 1 4 - 12
2 7.000 14.000 7.000 2 1 -
3 12.300 24.500 12.300 3 1 -
4 21.400 42.900 21.400 3 2 3 - 13
5 37.500 75.000 37.500 4 2 -
6 65.700 131.300 65.700 4 2 2 - 14
7 114.900 229.800 114.900 5 2 -
8 201.100 402.100 201.100 5 2 1 - 15
9 351.900 703.700 351.900 6 3 -
10 615.700 1.231.500 615.700 6 3 -
11 1.077.600 2.155.100 1.077.600 7 3 -
12 1.885.700 3.771.500 1.885.700 7 3 -
13 3.300.000 6.600.000 3.300.000 8 3 -
14 5.775.000 11.550.100 5.775.000 8 3 -
15 10.106.300 20.212.600 10.106.300 9 3 -
16 17.686.000 35.372.100 17.686.000 9 4 -
17 30.950.600 61.901.200 30.950.600 10 4 -
18 54.163.500 108.327.000 54.163.500 10 4 -
19 94.786.100 189.572.300 94.786.100 11 4 -
20 165.875.800 331.751.500 165.875.800 11 4 -
21 290.282.600 580.565.100 290.282.600 12 4 -
22 507.994.500 1.015.989.000 507.994.500 12 4 -
4. Relocation
Relocation is a new feature that came to Ogame in September 2010. For 240k dark matter you may now move any one of your planets along with a moon to a new position. Read more about it here: board.ogame.org/board1-news/board…64-version-1-3/
5. Tips for colonizing
4.1. Planet placement
It's recommended to place your first colony close to your homeworld. This will assure you to reach it more quickly and be be able to develop it faster. As colony ships are expensive at the beginning, you will probably not keep this colony in later stages as it's not likeley to get a big enough colony on the first try.
4.1.1. Placing colonies across the galaxies
In normal unis it takes quite some deut and time to travel from low to high galaxies meaning players will prefer to stay in lower galaxies close to their homeworlds. Galaxies 1-3 will stay more populated even once a uni gets older, so it's a good idea to place most of your colonies there as it is to have one or two planets in higher galaxies though, so you can catch players who will hide there.
Spread colonies equally so you can reach the most systems from both sides of your planet. Don't keep planets close together.
In speed unis it takes a lot less time to travel across the galaxies, thus it's a good idea to place your colonies in the middle of every galaxy.
Advantages
- optimal selection of targets
- you can cover the most players via phalanx once you have a moon
- a single player will farm all of your colonies harder as they won't be able to reach all of them
Disdvantages
- in later stages it costs some deut to transport/deploy cargos from planet to another planet - jumpgate can make this easier
- transport/deployment times between planets are longer
4.1.2. Placing colonies in one system/close together
This method is mainly used by miners/turtles/noobs or less active players. If you're ever planning to use your fleet, don't place colonies this way.
Advantages
- short transport/deployment times between colonies
- low deut cost
Disadvantages
- you can get farmed/IPMed by a single person easily
- extremely limited farming area
4.1.3. Spreading your colonies, but keeping one colony in same system with another one of your colonies
Advantages
- safest FS there is (deployment between moons)
Disadvantages
- losing one farming area
4.1.4. Colonising the edges of the galaxy/unpopulated parts of a galaxy
Advantages
- there's less active fleeters, so you arent probed/attacked this much
Disadvantages
- less players to attack/farm
4.2. Important notes
Planets with 200+ fields and over are generally recommended. You can use terraformer to create more fields if needed, but it gets expensive at high levels. (Every building/facility you upgrade will take one field, terraformer adds 5 more fields to the planet.)
Planets closer to sun will make your solar sats produce more energy. Those are planets closer to slot 1. It's recommended to have at least one planet closer to sun (slot 4 in old and slot 6 in new unis are both warm and can give you a 200+ fielded planet). You need it for graviton tech. Dissadvantages are lower deut production and smaller planets.
Planets at the edge of the system; closer to slot 15 will make your deuterium mines produce more deuterium. The temperature there is lower, so you will need more solar sats to power your mines. It is also harder to find a big planet there.
Generally the best slots to colonize in old unis are 4-6 and 7-9 in new unis.
The first step to colonise a new planet is to get a colony ship. To see what you need to build it, click the colony ship (located in the shipyard), and then the techtree button. For details, click the question mark under the picture of the colony ship. Same goes for every other ship/defence/building you're viewing.
Once you have a colony ship (and the needed astro technology level), click on the GALAXY button on the left side menul. You are in the galaxy view now. Do you notice the numbers at the top of the screen? Galaxy and system?
Galaxy goes from 1 - 9 and
System goes from 1 - 499
You can click the left and right buttons next to each one to change these numbers. Note that moving to another galaxy/system will cost you 10 units of deut. The only free system you can view is the system of the planet you're watching it from.
Now, do you see the numbers 1 - 15 on the left side of the planets? These are planet slots. Ones with no planet on it are available to be colonised.
Note: You can't "conquer" planets in Ogame. The only way to get a new colony is via colonising. You also can't destroy anyone else's mines, researches and buildings. You can only destroy the defence, fleet and steal max 50% of the resources per a raid.
Example: I want Galxy 3, System 330 and planet 4, since there's no planet there yet.
Click on FLEET on the left bar. Select a colony ship and click "next".
Now you will see the "CHOOSE TARGET" screen. In the target boxes we will put a 3, then a 330 then a 4, since we wanted to colonize planet 3:330:4. Make sure you click to the planet icon above the coorinates. Hit "next".
Help! I can't send a colony ship!
1. Make sure you're sending your colony ship to the unpopulated planet slot.
2. Make sure you have enough deuterium for the flight.
3. Make sure you have enough cargo space for the flight - if you don't, send the ship on a slower speed and/or add a cargo to it.
4. Make sure you have the needed Astrophysics research level. You can't colonize all planet slots with only few levels of Astro tech.
Positions 3 and 13 can be populated from level 4 onwards.
Positions 2 and 14 can be populated from level 6 onwards.
Positions 1 and 15 can be populated from level 8 onwards.
Now you will see a selection for COLONISATION on the left. Select it. You may also add some resources to the fleet. All resources will be left on the new colony, while the ships will return to the panet they were sent from.
Hit next and there ya go! You just sent your first colony ship!
Note: Colony ship is destroyed in the proces of colonisation - this means you will lose points in the value of a colony ship when you colonise. That only applies if the colonisation process is successful.
If you have commander go to the slot you want to colonise click the link in galaxy view, and continue from step 2, however you won't need to enter the co-ords, just click continue.
With the redesign, there is no hard limit of how many planets you can have. The only obstacle is the astro cost and time it takes to research it.
2. Deleting a colony
If you want to get rid of one of your planets (not your main, as you cannot ever delete it), click on overview, slect the planet hitting his icon on the right. Now, click on the little gear next to the planet name or the same icon under the planet data (it says: give up/rename).
Under functions, click ABANDON COLONY. Verify the planet coordinates are correct where it says "Please confirm deletion of planet [X:XXX:X] by typing your password", then click the "Confirm" button. DO NOT HIT ENTER, it is not guaranted it will be deleted.
3. Charts and details
3.1. Planet size
Homeworld will always have 163 fields and can't be deleted.
See the chart under planet temperature in new unis.
Maximum colony size in new unis is about 250 fields. Best chance of finding a big planet is on slots 7, 8 and 9.
Minimum colony size in new unis is around 65 fields.
3.2. Planet temperature
Slots closer to position 1 will give a higher temperature, but lower deuterium production and vice versa for positions closer to 15, higher deuterium production, but lower energy.
The temperature distribution is a lot wider than in old unis; it varies with the differece of 40° from minimum and maximum temperature. Every position has it's own range of temperature. It takes 41 attempts to colonize the coldest planet at one position.
Note: All temperatures in the chart are the variations of the maximum possible temperature. The minimal temperature is the lowest you can get in the range of maximum temperatures.
Note: A research was made on ogame.org, but the results vary a bit. You can see details in this threads:
Planet size: board.ogame.org/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=554315
Planet temperature: board.ogame.org/index.php?page=Thread&postID=8157685&
3.3. Astrophysics
This chart will tell you how many planets you can have, planet slots you can colonize and expeditions you can send at a time depending on the level of Astrophysics technology. It also tell you the cost of each level.
LeveL of Astrophysics Tech Metal Crystal Deuterium Planets Expedition Slot Positions
1 4.000 8.000 4.000 2 1 4 - 12
2 7.000 14.000 7.000 2 1 -
3 12.300 24.500 12.300 3 1 -
4 21.400 42.900 21.400 3 2 3 - 13
5 37.500 75.000 37.500 4 2 -
6 65.700 131.300 65.700 4 2 2 - 14
7 114.900 229.800 114.900 5 2 -
8 201.100 402.100 201.100 5 2 1 - 15
9 351.900 703.700 351.900 6 3 -
10 615.700 1.231.500 615.700 6 3 -
11 1.077.600 2.155.100 1.077.600 7 3 -
12 1.885.700 3.771.500 1.885.700 7 3 -
13 3.300.000 6.600.000 3.300.000 8 3 -
14 5.775.000 11.550.100 5.775.000 8 3 -
15 10.106.300 20.212.600 10.106.300 9 3 -
16 17.686.000 35.372.100 17.686.000 9 4 -
17 30.950.600 61.901.200 30.950.600 10 4 -
18 54.163.500 108.327.000 54.163.500 10 4 -
19 94.786.100 189.572.300 94.786.100 11 4 -
20 165.875.800 331.751.500 165.875.800 11 4 -
21 290.282.600 580.565.100 290.282.600 12 4 -
22 507.994.500 1.015.989.000 507.994.500 12 4 -
4. Relocation
Relocation is a new feature that came to Ogame in September 2010. For 240k dark matter you may now move any one of your planets along with a moon to a new position. Read more about it here: board.ogame.org/board1-news/board…64-version-1-3/
5. Tips for colonizing
4.1. Planet placement
It's recommended to place your first colony close to your homeworld. This will assure you to reach it more quickly and be be able to develop it faster. As colony ships are expensive at the beginning, you will probably not keep this colony in later stages as it's not likeley to get a big enough colony on the first try.
4.1.1. Placing colonies across the galaxies
In normal unis it takes quite some deut and time to travel from low to high galaxies meaning players will prefer to stay in lower galaxies close to their homeworlds. Galaxies 1-3 will stay more populated even once a uni gets older, so it's a good idea to place most of your colonies there as it is to have one or two planets in higher galaxies though, so you can catch players who will hide there.
Spread colonies equally so you can reach the most systems from both sides of your planet. Don't keep planets close together.
In speed unis it takes a lot less time to travel across the galaxies, thus it's a good idea to place your colonies in the middle of every galaxy.
Advantages
- optimal selection of targets
- you can cover the most players via phalanx once you have a moon
- a single player will farm all of your colonies harder as they won't be able to reach all of them
Disdvantages
- in later stages it costs some deut to transport/deploy cargos from planet to another planet - jumpgate can make this easier
- transport/deployment times between planets are longer
4.1.2. Placing colonies in one system/close together
This method is mainly used by miners/turtles/noobs or less active players. If you're ever planning to use your fleet, don't place colonies this way.
Advantages
- short transport/deployment times between colonies
- low deut cost
Disadvantages
- you can get farmed/IPMed by a single person easily
- extremely limited farming area
4.1.3. Spreading your colonies, but keeping one colony in same system with another one of your colonies
Advantages
- safest FS there is (deployment between moons)
Disadvantages
- losing one farming area
4.1.4. Colonising the edges of the galaxy/unpopulated parts of a galaxy
Advantages
- there's less active fleeters, so you arent probed/attacked this much
Disadvantages
- less players to attack/farm
4.2. Important notes
Planets with 200+ fields and over are generally recommended. You can use terraformer to create more fields if needed, but it gets expensive at high levels. (Every building/facility you upgrade will take one field, terraformer adds 5 more fields to the planet.)
Planets closer to sun will make your solar sats produce more energy. Those are planets closer to slot 1. It's recommended to have at least one planet closer to sun (slot 4 in old and slot 6 in new unis are both warm and can give you a 200+ fielded planet). You need it for graviton tech. Dissadvantages are lower deut production and smaller planets.
Planets at the edge of the system; closer to slot 15 will make your deuterium mines produce more deuterium. The temperature there is lower, so you will need more solar sats to power your mines. It is also harder to find a big planet there.
Generally the best slots to colonize in old unis are 4-6 and 7-9 in new unis.