ORIGINAL: Dohon
1) How are civilian ships produced? Does the player (aka the overlord) build those ships?
The private sector decides when it needs more ships and what kind and where to build them.
2) If those ships are build outside of the players control, will they still take credits and resources from the treasury?
The private economy has its own funds. They will use your shipyards for construction, so you will get additional money from the private economy when they need to use a shipyard to build a ship. It will also fill up a slot in that shipyard until construction is complete.
3) Are there civilian mines and mining ships so they can extract their own resources?
There are private mining ships. The larger mining stations are created by the state.
4) Can the player build their own version of civilian ships, say, transports for transporting gas from refinery stations at gas giants?
I haven't actually tried this, but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work in theory. I'll have to try this to confirm though.
5) Are their civilian versions of "escorts"? Or is only the player responsible for the safety of the shipping lines and so forth?
Fundamentally, the state is responsible for security and is expected to build and maintain enough ships to keep shipping lanes secure. If you don't, your economy can be quite vulnerable in times of conflict and piracy. With that said, it may be possible to adjust the civilian ship designs to give them some armament as well. Again, not something I have personally tried.
6) Do civilian traders actually trade resources between empires? Or are resources traded using a "trade" screen and then magically switched and added to your stocks?
Not sure I understand the exact question, but I'll answer as I understand it. Civilian freighters can absolutely trade with other empires. They look for a profit and in some cases they may decide the best profit is with a friendly alien race rather than you. But given security concerns and fuel costs, the majority will choose the easier, safer routes among your own systems. The private sector generally does a very good job of distributing resources efficiently where needed among your facilities, as long as you have enough supply to meet demand.
7) Do civilians automatically transport colonists to new (but already established by a colony ship) colonies? If so, what are the conditions? Is it random or do high-population worlds feel a certain "overcrowding" pressure and as such expel some colonists?
Basically yes. There's migration both within your own systems and across boundaries with other empires. People want to live in a better place with lower taxes and more development, etc. Overcrowded worlds will generally send colonist to less crowded worlds, but apart from that happiness, development and taxes play a pretty big role. This generally tends to lead to a fair amount of immigration going to the nicest new colony worlds that are close to existing trade/supply routes, as well as to good established worlds that still have plenty of room for growth.
8) Do civilian ships require upkeep in any way?
The private sector pays for its own upkeep and fuel, some of that can go to the state if they are using your space ports and shipyards. The upkeep they pay reduces their bottom line, which also affects how quickly they will build new ships, establish new routes and generate additional tax revenues, etc.
I tried a forum search, but it didn't enlighten me much I'm afraid. But then I could be going blind though). So, I would appreciate it if someone could shed some light on the matter.
