They have been stalled like this from the beginning of the game. This is not normal behavior. They just sit there and accumulate vast sums of BC... so it's not like they don't have the resources, just that they can't use them for normal production.
So this is weird. I started a game, and soon noticed that all but one of my neighbors weren't expanding their territory... eventually, a couple of them became unstuck and started to act normally again, but out of 9 opponents, there are still 7 that are "frozen" (one of them surrendered to another player when attacked by one of the 2 AIS that is working normally) with only their capitols and 1st colonies, can't build ships or planetary improvements, and can't research new technolog
Seems like they finally fixed this one... at least I haven't seen it in some time. Are there still some issues with save/load that I maybe just didn't notice, or have they REALLY nailed it?
I agree with Byram too- I can make alot of hay with the survey ship, or even the Cargo Hull Sensor ships I build. In one game, I ran into a thick of those anomoly, before I knew it, I had a cargo hull with 17 hitpoints. That would have to be the ONLY way to get more than 1 HP on a cargo hull: I've built "raiders" in the early stage of a game befo
While you may not be able to use them to dicover anomolies, survey modules still give you increased sensor range, over and above even Mk. IV sensors. Thus the GGB STILL provides a benefit (although a minor one) in that you can add powerful sensors to all your ships without taking up valuable space that could be used for more weapons or defensive systems. Of course, if it's broken, then it's not really any use after all.
It all depends on your reflexes. Good reflexes=better odds.
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