The first step to colonize 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. To build the colony ship you need Shipyard lv 4 and Impulse Drive lv 3. For details, click the question mark under the picture of the colony ship. Same goes for every other ship/defense/building you're viewing.
You also need astrophysics (astro) technology. The number of colonies you can have is calculated by formula: (Astrophysics + 1) / 2
Once you have a colony ship (and the needed astrophysics technology level), click on the GALAXY button on the left side menu. You are in the galaxy view now. Do you notice the numbers at the top of the screen? Galaxy and system?
In a normal universe the Galaxy goes from 1 - 9 and System goes from 1 - 499.
With the patch 5.8.5, all universes are circular. So the system and galaxy is a circle and not a line (1 is closer to 9 than to 3).
Numbers 1 - 15 on the left side of the planets are planet slots. The ones with no planet on it are available to be colonized.
Note:
You can't "conquer" planets in OGame. The only way to get a new colony is via colonizing. You also can't destroy anyone else's mines, researches and buildings. You can only destroy the defense, fleet and steal max 50%, 75% or 100% of the resources per a raid. You can also destroy someone's moon.
==How to colonize?==
Click on fleet on the left bar. Select a colony ship and click "next". On the next screen, choose target coordinates in format [x:xxx:x] (Galaxy:System:PlanetSlot). If you have commander go to the slot you want to colonize click the link in galaxy view, and continue from step 2, however you won't need to enter the coordinates, just click continue. You can also take some ships and resources with you, but note that resources will be left on the new planet. If you decide to abandon and try again, you will lose ships/resources unless you return them back, which will take some time. Remember: There is also a little trick about planet size which will be explained later.
Colony ship is destroyed in the process of colonization - this means you will lose points in the value of a colony ship when you colonize. That only applies if the colonization process is successful.
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.
=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 technology.
5. Make sure you have a slot to fly the colony ship.
Positions 3 and 13 can be populated from level 4 astrophysics.
Positions 2 and 14 can be populated from level 6 astrophysics.
Positions 1 and 15 can be populated from level 8 astrophysics.
=Deleting a colony=
If you want to get rid of one of your planets, click on overview, select the planet hitting its 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 guaranteed it will be deleted. Also, you cannot have your planet back if you press on delete.
=Planet size=
Homeworld will always have 163 fields and can be deleted. It is advised to abandon new colonies if they are smaller than 200 fields and find bigger planets for long term.
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.
You can buy planet field premium feature in the shop.
=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 difference 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.
==Astrophysics==
Planets numbers, planet slots you can colonize and expeditions you can send at a time depending on the level of Astrophysics technology. It also tells you the cost of each level.
Astrophysics : 4 000 M, 8 000 C, 4 000 D.
cost by level : level = (cost level 1) * 1,75^(n-1)
==Tips for colonizing==
=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 able to develop it faster. As colony ships are expensive at the beginning, you probably won’t keep this colony in later stages as it's not likely to get a big enough colony on the first try. The cost to build a new colony ship is really high, so you need to find a good spot early and have bigger planet.
=Placing colonies across the galaxies=
In normal unis it takes quite some deuterium 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=
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
Disadvantages
- in later stages it costs some deuterium to transport/deploy cargos from planet to another planet - Jump Gate can make this easier
- transport/deployment times between planets are longer
=Placing colonies in one system/close together=
Advantages
- short transport/deployment times between colonies
- low deuterium cost
Disadvantages
- you can get farmed/IPMed by a single person easily
- extremely limited farming area
=Spreading your colonies, but keeping one colony in same system with another one of your colonies=
Advantages
- safest Fleet Save there is (deployment between moons)
Disadvantages
- losing one farming area
=Colonizing the edges of the galaxy/unpopulated parts of a galaxy=
Advantages
- there's less active fleeters, so you aren't probed/attacked this much
Disadvantages
- less players to attack/farm
==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 the sun will make your solar satellites produce more energy. Those are planets closer to slot 1. It's recommended to have at least one planet closer to the 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. Disadvantages are lower deuterium 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 satellites 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.
- You need to wait the 2nd reset when you see a Destroyed planets before a new colonization. The reset is at 3 am german time.
==Relocation==
Relocation is a new feature that enable you to move any one of your planets along with a moon to a new position. Read more about it <<Relocation>>.
You also need astrophysics (astro) technology. The number of colonies you can have is calculated by formula: (Astrophysics + 1) / 2
Once you have a colony ship (and the needed astrophysics technology level), click on the GALAXY button on the left side menu. You are in the galaxy view now. Do you notice the numbers at the top of the screen? Galaxy and system?
In a normal universe the Galaxy goes from 1 - 9 and System goes from 1 - 499.
With the patch 5.8.5, all universes are circular. So the system and galaxy is a circle and not a line (1 is closer to 9 than to 3).
Numbers 1 - 15 on the left side of the planets are planet slots. The ones with no planet on it are available to be colonized.
Note:
You can't "conquer" planets in OGame. The only way to get a new colony is via colonizing. You also can't destroy anyone else's mines, researches and buildings. You can only destroy the defense, fleet and steal max 50%, 75% or 100% of the resources per a raid. You can also destroy someone's moon.
==How to colonize?==
Click on fleet on the left bar. Select a colony ship and click "next". On the next screen, choose target coordinates in format [x:xxx:x] (Galaxy:System:PlanetSlot). If you have commander go to the slot you want to colonize click the link in galaxy view, and continue from step 2, however you won't need to enter the coordinates, just click continue. You can also take some ships and resources with you, but note that resources will be left on the new planet. If you decide to abandon and try again, you will lose ships/resources unless you return them back, which will take some time. Remember: There is also a little trick about planet size which will be explained later.
Colony ship is destroyed in the process of colonization - this means you will lose points in the value of a colony ship when you colonize. That only applies if the colonization process is successful.
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.
=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 technology.
5. Make sure you have a slot to fly the colony ship.
Positions 3 and 13 can be populated from level 4 astrophysics.
Positions 2 and 14 can be populated from level 6 astrophysics.
Positions 1 and 15 can be populated from level 8 astrophysics.
=Deleting a colony=
If you want to get rid of one of your planets, click on overview, select the planet hitting its 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 guaranteed it will be deleted. Also, you cannot have your planet back if you press on delete.
=Planet size=
Homeworld will always have 163 fields and can be deleted. It is advised to abandon new colonies if they are smaller than 200 fields and find bigger planets for long term.
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.
You can buy planet field premium feature in the shop.
=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 difference 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.
==Astrophysics==
Planets numbers, planet slots you can colonize and expeditions you can send at a time depending on the level of Astrophysics technology. It also tells you the cost of each level.
Astrophysics : 4 000 M, 8 000 C, 4 000 D.
cost by level : level = (cost level 1) * 1,75^(n-1)
==Tips for colonizing==
=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 able to develop it faster. As colony ships are expensive at the beginning, you probably won’t keep this colony in later stages as it's not likely to get a big enough colony on the first try. The cost to build a new colony ship is really high, so you need to find a good spot early and have bigger planet.
=Placing colonies across the galaxies=
In normal unis it takes quite some deuterium 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=
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
Disadvantages
- in later stages it costs some deuterium to transport/deploy cargos from planet to another planet - Jump Gate can make this easier
- transport/deployment times between planets are longer
=Placing colonies in one system/close together=
Advantages
- short transport/deployment times between colonies
- low deuterium cost
Disadvantages
- you can get farmed/IPMed by a single person easily
- extremely limited farming area
=Spreading your colonies, but keeping one colony in same system with another one of your colonies=
Advantages
- safest Fleet Save there is (deployment between moons)
Disadvantages
- losing one farming area
=Colonizing the edges of the galaxy/unpopulated parts of a galaxy=
Advantages
- there's less active fleeters, so you aren't probed/attacked this much
Disadvantages
- less players to attack/farm
==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 the sun will make your solar satellites produce more energy. Those are planets closer to slot 1. It's recommended to have at least one planet closer to the 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. Disadvantages are lower deuterium 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 satellites 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.
- You need to wait the 2nd reset when you see a Destroyed planets before a new colonization. The reset is at 3 am german time.
==Relocation==
Relocation is a new feature that enable you to move any one of your planets along with a moon to a new position. Read more about it <<Relocation>>.
