Help the newbie!

[dille]

Hello everyone, i've been reading alot of topics in this forum and i've found some really good tips. I do got some questions though. First of all, is this setup good?

Custom Race
+30 Economics
+30 Research
+10 Trade

Federalist

Hyperdrive
Gal Warfare
Xeno Engeneering
Stellar Cartography
Xeno Research
New Prpulsion Tech

Should i change anything or is this good? I'm basicly having trouble in the beggining of the game. I tend to either expand too fast and break my economy or too slow and the enemy gets too many panets, i play on normal btw. Another problem is that i can't find a good balance between non-military techs and mlitary techs.

First of all i go for faster ships, then republic and then i get techs that increase my research and after that i probably go with trade.

 

[Trainwreck20]

Well, I am a newbie too, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but....

I have usually played the human, just to get a feel for the balance. Starting out slow is a somewhat large handicap in the early race; however, the good economics certainly help. I vary where I spend my points, but have found population growth EXTREMELY useful in getting my economy balanced.

Anyway, I have gone industrialist lately. The production bonuses are quite useful, and I start the game early with my sliders heavily toward social. This gets my factories up and running quickly, and I am pretty much buying all my ships anyway. Research is not terribly useful in the first years, so if I fall behing a bit, I can make it up with my more effective 'planet grab' in the early game.

For research, I have typically gone with the ones that increase factories and/or military production. Galactic warfare (+10 mil), and the other one that gives +10 mil, plus the environment one (+10/10/10 across the borad) help increase the colony ship production. As a human, I do try to get speed up from 2 to 3 after that.

Finally, you will fall behing in planets, especially on most big maps. You will need to quickly identify the weak neighbors and take you planets from them. On normal and the level or two above it, I find that it is easy to culturally snag many, many planets through Inf starbases, and the AI does not get upset. There is an initally $500 investment for one line of Inf modules, and then a second $500 sometime later. Once you have absorbed all the planets in an area, you can disband the starbases.

As far as military, I typically have a low military for much of the early game. Playing on normal and challenging, the AI does not typically get aggressice too early. Do not waste too much time early on ships that will cost upkeep and construction time, since these will be outdated before the first combat, and it is very expensive to update - much cheaper to just build modern new units.

I do often find that I have to slow down colonization and/or cut back my economy a little to allow my population to grow and make more taxes. I have not tried the more aggressive method of producing small warships to take out foreign colonizers. If there are many opponents, you could be at war with a lot in a hurry, and that may be just as expensive as colonizing yourself.

Anyway, let me know what works for you, I am curious!

 

[Supreme Shogun]

One its hard to judge b/c my play style may not be same as yours.
Are you going for a peaceful victory type? (research, alliance ) or Military ?
If you are going for a military you might want to say put some points into HP or Weapons.

Going for faster ships is a good idea. Speed kills. What you haven't told us is how soon do you research weapons techs ? Don't ignore them. You should strive to build some fighters, garrison your worlds. Your neighbors won't think you're weak and pick on someone else.

Trainwreck's analysis on economy is spot on. Some people, (myself included) see minor races as free PQ 15 worlds not trade partners. Then pick on some other weak major race and grow your empire. You should be the largest (if not already) .