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... altough plenty of fuel is in store on the planet.

Two save games uploaded to your FTP server: sbach2o-UnfueledColonyShip.zip.

These save games show two instances of when a newly built colony ship wasn't fueled for no apparent reason (although I have a guess).

QoirmeaUnfueledColonyShip.dwg:
The colony ship in question should be selected and the view zoomed in to the planet where it happened. If not, the colony ship is hotkeyed to '0'. Note, that the planet 'Juantar Junction 1' has plenty of both fuel types in stock. The message about the ship's construction is still at the top of the message log.

QoirmeaUnfuledColonyShip2.dwg:
Different location, same story (as usual, the '0' hotkey will take you to the place). Here it took the message about 'Ship needs refuelling' to make me aware of the problem. The planet that produced the ship is 'Di Girelleun 4a' nearby.

Make sure to have a look at the cargo holds of both planets.
A little twist is the error icon besides a couple of 'Di Girelleun 4a's' entries in the resource list. This is probably due to the items having been reserved by an empire that isn't in the game any more. This is a different story, probably two of them: First, the error icon in itself, second, if my guess is on target, reservation for the stuff should eventually be lifted.

My other guess about why the ships aren't fueled: The game probably only looks to the first resource entry matching the required fuelt type in the planet's cargo hold. My colonizers need Caslon, so we have those entries right at the top. And all is reserved (by ships of other empires), nothing left. The other entries showing plenty available Caslon further down the list are ignored.

Note, that the colonizer around 'Juantar Junction 1' could load fuel okay from the planet when ordered to refuel at the nearest fuel source. Ships built at the spaceport also start out fully fueled.

I've noticed the same thing. I just attributed it to the fact that I probably didn't have enough Caslon. The problem went away after creating a handful of new mining stations.



K

In the described cases (plus a handful more planets) the problem is completely reproduceable. Every Colony ship built there starts without fuel but can refuel at the very same planet right away. There always is enough Caslon in store. On every planet there is a large amount of Caslon reserved by another (or non-existent) empire at the top of the list of resources for the planet - in addition to the free resource stocks.

Definitely a bug. No, two or three bugs.

First there is the stocks of reserved goods by empires that do not exits.

Then there is the fact that some reserved stocks are never ferried off nor are they ever released back to the free pool. They just sit there forever, most annoyingly those of the empires that do not exist.

Finally there are the colony ships that are not fueled when built. My guess is, this would also apply to other ships built by the planetary ship yards. It verifyably doesn't affect ships built at the space port.

Interesting. I have noticed that occasionally when I upgrade the design of an Exploration ship, it comes out of drydock with only about the amount of fuel the older and usually smaller design went in with. I have to send it on a mission, then immediately hit "Refuel" and it turns around, goes back and tops off its tanks. Have not seen new ships built that came out without fuel or with low fuel, but to be honest, I don't check every one as it is completed.

Thanks for those savegames. We'll fix this in the next update.

I can confirm this also...

Also, it seems that it depends on how much fuel is at the planet...some of my colony ships are fueled, while others are not.