laudablepuss wrote:

Commander ships and leveling ships up
In GC3, you could have a commander in your fleet, and this was a big deal. The basic commander offered I think 50% bonus to hitpoints and fleet movement. Wow! You could also make him an admiral and he gave different bonuses, or a privateer for off-the-books warfare, or a survey-type ship I think. All ships (commander or not) gained experience and leveled up, gaining hitpoints as they advance.

In GC4, you have certain ships (up to 7 I think) that unlock with certain techs. GC4 calls them "flag ships". These 7 are sets that you pick when you design your civ (if you did that). You drop a leader on one and it appears near your home system. They, along with special prototype ships you unlock through surveying anomalies, and your survey ship(s), are the only ships that can upgrade. As these ships go up in levels, they can acquire new ship parts that, say, extend their sensor range or increase their speed. Or weapons that increase their combat rating. Other ships go up in level still, but they don't get cool new parts.