What's the smallest planet size you colonize and why?

I stick with the PQ13s and PQ14s. I usually do not take the 13s right away (since the AI will ignore them, and they cost you upkeep). If I have chosen the +5%PQ bonus pick, I will take PQ12s in the second wave of colonization, since Soil and Habitat will take it to a PQ15.

If there is a need for range extension, I will take whatever extends the range to get to another juicy sector, since a colony ship plus planet maintenance is easier to get than a constructor and 10bc/month starbase maintenance in the early game.

Anything that you can upgrade to PQ15 quickly would be good. Make sure its in you culture control.

I pretty much do the same as BamBam, except once I have the terraformer special wonder I will happily colonise PQ12's without the initial PQ pick.

I dont't bother with 13's but always 14's in my home "sectors". I also colonize whatever to extend range but only in the early game.

in 1.49 AP there is no starbase maintenance it just costs you to build the starbases bexcept the first one..

Although there is an interesting "bugette" that if you are in the red, it says "Building this starbase will cost you 0bc you do not have enough credits"

There is another reason to colonise planets and that is for the alignment events.

If you are trying to get to good or evil for the additional techs you can colonise these planets and not care what the actual event is as long as you get you alignment modification.

What you do with the planet then is up to you.

You can also colonize planets in order to increase your range. 1 pop on a PQ1 planet is enough and cheaper than a starbase if you disband it after it did its job (typically settling another planet which would have been out of range). It's also easier to defend than a starbase (ships defending a planet having a bonus, and transports are required to invade).
Otherwise, don't settle PQ less than 12 because they will cost you money to maintain. After terraforming/events/social improvements, all your planets must be PQ14 at the very least.

Another reason to settle a low PQ planet is to serve as an advance base when at war. Bring along a colony ship with your attack fleet, settle the most convenient free planet in the enemy's sector, and place a couple of good defenders in orbit. This will provide a healing station for your ships and give you the ability to cash-rush urgent reinforcements right at the front line. This is what we call a "combat settler" in civ games over at Realms Beyond. Of course, it should only be a temporary measure until you can grab one of the enemy's planets to serve the same purpose.

~SDC~

Once i colonized a PQ 3 planet and gave it as a gift. the AI did not disband it and it drag down there econimy untill it and 3 other of there worlds joined the I-Leage.

The lowest I will go is a PQ 13 (prefer 15 and above) but with what was said I will go lower for a temp base.

~SDC~

the lowest planets i colonize are PQ12, but those only when the good planets are already dealt with

I never colonise anything lower than 15. If I have a starbase in a sector I sometimes colonise class 14/13 planets just to take advantage of it's production bonuses or else if there is some strategic reason. Otherwise I'm spending a fortune rushbuying PQ upgrades to get at best a class 16 planet. The kind of planet that by the time your onto battleships is a kind of space litter. Perhaps the AI's shouldn't ever buy a planet lower than 15 to prevent the "poison gift" exploit above.

On the higher difficulty levels it is worth colnising the PQ14's because quite often the AI will start colinisng them. This can lead to planets then being culture flipped.. Just something to keep a watch on

Just want to clarify what I posted before, I only colonise PQ12/13 in enemy culture zones or on their borders to help me spread my influence

In my initial colonization burst only PQ15 and better. AI's don't seem to want the PQ14 planets. Depending on how well my land grab went determines if I go for PQ14's. I rarely do that.

As others have stated for a range extender any PQ will do. To spread influence I will settle down to a PQ12.

later,
oldgamster - colonizing like a mad man with a plan

Before I installed Enhanced Terraforming, I'd colonise Class 11 late on in the game for culture (with a gigantic galaxy) once I'd got the Terraformer, but always playing with the +7% PQ pick - soil and habitat would take that to 15, and terraforming to 17, enough for culture or frontline troops.

Now that I use ET, those old Class 11/12/13 planets are pretty valuable Class 30/32/35 planets

"Before I installed Enhanced Terraforming, I'd colonise Class 11 late on in the game for culture (with a gigantic galaxy) once I'd got the Terraformer, but always playing with the +7% PQ pick - soil and habitat would take that to 15, and terraforming to 17, enough for culture or frontline troops.

Now that I use ET, those old Class 11/12/13 planets are pretty valuable Class 30/32/35 planets"

With that mod can you submit you score to the metaverse with it being considered a cheat or giving you self an advantage? if not im getting that mod

I've just submitted a game and it accepted it without a problem. I don't see though why it would be an unfair advantage, as the aliens get the tech too!

Yes, but the AI as a rule doesn't colonize those low quality planets. If you played the game the way it was designed, there would be no way to get a class 11 to a class 30! So the AI is probably never going to do it. This seems like an unfair advantage to me.

Hmm, well playing on challenging now, the AI seems to be colonising 13/14PQ planets.

I happen to like playing 4X games to develop my planets and empire, not generally for military conquest, so this, for me, makes the game much more fun. I don't believe that, if humans can research tech to transcend humanity itself, they can't turn a poxy PQ11 planet into a paradise!

The enhanced terraforming techs come after Evolution Control (and there's another high-cost tech after EC you need to get). I've had them installed for several games and never even saw them (and one of those games was Gigantic/Abundant). By the time you get that far in the game victory is a foregone conclusion anyway, so I don't see any harm in people building up their planets if they want to.

~SDC~