But the production tab is a train wreck. I have no idea wtf to do with this. I have cited the most recent guides available - but there appears to be nothing in common between what the latest guide says - and what the latest FreeOrion release actually contains.
Im trying to build a Colony Ship.
The guide says...
Well 3 is easy enough. But everything from 4-6 is totally nonsensical. What are these steps referring to? This is what i'm looking at:3. Left click on a planet you control (has resource icons, population).
4. (Optional) Right now, all production categories are selected. You can select a single category (Buildings, Ships) by first pressing "All" to deselect everything, and then click on the category you want. Clicking "All" again will select all categories. Selected categories are gray, deselected ones are black.
5. (Optional) Right now, you are shown only available items (you fulfill all prerequisites [tech, location]). You can change this using the "Available" and "Unavailable" filter buttons. Active filters are gray, inactive filters are black.
6. Double click on a buildable item
All that happens when I hit Production is a gray status box appears on the left, and an Index Encycelopedia Page. The descriptions offered in steps 4-6 do not offer descriptions that even remotely match what I see here.
Furthermore on the matter of colony ships - it says that:
Okay? So I need Medium Ship Hulls. Well I check the Encycelopedia for a good 15 minutes... To find that there is no Medium Ship Hull even listed in the game. Only "Standard Ship Hulls".Assuming you know how to build things in general, and that ships can be built only where there is a shipyard, colony ships still can't be built at the start of the game. They are designed with a medium ship hull and a colony pod. The pod is unlocked at the start of the game, but the tech Medium Ship Hulls needs to be researched to build colony ships.
My confusion is further compounded when I go to my design tab and realize that a "Colony Ship" is listed in among the "Available" ships.
What exactly is going on? Am I an idiot and missing something? Or is this completely FUBAR?