When do I colonize low habitability planets?

[Skoga]

I was thinking about settling on them just for the pop growth, then letting the pops auto miigrate to other useful planets

[Carog the Fat]

Once the are terraformed to nice planets

[Ryika]

As soon as you're done colonizing the higher habitability planets, if your neighbors let you get away with it.

[ScreamCon]

If you have no where else to expand to and your economy is stronger than the efficiency loss of those worlds.

Thats what they are, not null producers, but, less producers per pop.
That why you go for the prime planets first.

It may or may not be better to war for more prime planets before colonising the more bads but I'd imagine it depends on how hard it is to war your neighbour.

[bunies]

remember that you get a tech penalty per planet and pop so if those planets/pops are not generating enough resources to offeset the penalty then you are just hurting yourself.

low habbitability is usualy fixable with terraforming or just using more fayvorable pops depending on your ideology

this used to be much more of an issue back when planet size was actually important

[MP]

Imagine if someone made a mod that introduces squatters that claim uncolonized planets. Now that'd be maximum annoyance!

Just like that alien colony ship event.

[Ryika]

Originally posted by bunies:

remember that you get a tech penalty per planet and pop so if those planets/pops are not generating enough resources to offeset the penalty then you are just hurting yourself.

The penalty is very minor. Without reductions, a planet generates 10 Empire size, which is 1% tech costs. That means that a 2500 base cost tech for example will cost an extra 25 research for every additional planet you have.

Any pops you grow on those extra planets will easily outscale the additional costs in no time once they're born, it's not really something that needs to be considered in the early parts of the game where those planets will generate a significant percentage of your overall population.

[HappySack]

You colonize as soon as you can afford the costs and upkeep for it but for simplicity sake just consider only planets with yellow habitability or better unless you have no other planets available.

[ScreamCon]

Originally posted by bunies:

remember that you get a tech penalty per planet and pop so if those planets/pops are not generating enough resources to offeset the penalty then you are just hurting yourself.

low habbitability is usualy fixable with terraforming or just using more fayvorable pops depending on your ideology

this used to be much more of an issue back when planet size was actually important

You tend to get more the more you expand, but you are right within reason.
IF you have a better pop to work world that is more favourable, but there are cases where you might want to get the 60% colonies running with your base population. 20 years in you can get pops to work the 20% worlds if you haven't colonised them already.

But you should colonise them with main population as you can have those worlds with just 1 pop of main species to get the planet started and fill in with alien pops. Colonising a world takes time and you may opt to start them earlier.

If you won't have alien pops anytime soon then colonising the 20% planets may or may not be more futile but then again. For example if running genocidal empire you don't have access to agreements.

I've run games where much of the galaxy did not have pops for a specific biom, but usually you can get pops for at least 2 planet types as a diplomatic empire. That in two of either cold, hot, or warm.

[SirSmokeALot "Raptor" [505th]]

Originally posted by Sko:

I was thinking about settling on them just for the pop growth, then letting the pops auto miigrate to other useful planets

if u a newbie like me wait until u can terraform them, getting yellow or red planets can ♥♥♥♥ up your eco pretty bad

[felmari]

that's what i do(colonize greens wait for teriforming)and i do not consider myself a newb. i do tech crunch though.

[Yhvh10]

I dont. Theres really not ever a need for it, unless I'm turning one into a thrall world. And I usually have Terraforming unlocked by 2250 so that solves that. Best case scenario you get Ba'ol Precursor chain, then you can go ahead and colonize the most valuable bad hab planets, then immediately turn them into Gaia worlds.