[PvK]

Interesting AI test results. Looks like the AI can use both colonizers and starliners, but isn't very coordinated about it in the early game, as you reported. Starliners moving speed one sounds like they are out of supplies.

Ruin messages aren't moddable. Sometimes they have ordinary techs which the game unmoddably randomizes, resulting sometimes in you getting tech levels you already have.

As for capital ship missiles versus point defense, I note your experience with them, but I've used them in competitive PBW games, and there they are balanced pretty much as intended. Yes a single PDC I will not shoot down on CSM I in one shot, but they can in two shots, and CSM I fires only once per three turns and the launcher takes 50 kT ship space and uses supplies, while the PDC I fires once per turn, even during enemy movement so it can get two shots in per missile, and it is only 20 kT. If you have 100 kT of CSM I's, that's two missiles, which facing 100 kT of PDC I is 5 shots at least, maybe 10. There are other factors too of course such as range, whom you're trying to defend, etc. I think it plays out pretty well and if anything, I'd say CSM's tend to lose out against point defense in a single tech versus single tech consideration - of course it becomes a guessing game how much PD you need, etc.