Typical Start parameters

[Trainwreck20]

In all of the games I have started (which is not that many, I am still very new), it seems that the trick is to pump out colony ships as fast as you can, through a combination of increasing military and purchasing production. The trick is to save enough money to make it through the 'lean' years while your colonies grow.

Anyway, it seems the planet grab is the most important part of the game, especially on the smaller maps, where one or two planets can make a huge difference in civ research and mil output. For this reason, I am trying to play on the larger maps. If I want to have a fairly balanced game (or at least 'fair' game, the balance may be my issue ), what settings do people find work best? Does slower or faster tech help? Or more or less other Civs?

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[malclave]

I'm still pretty new myself, so take what I say with a shaker of salt.

I generally put everything on "Random"... I'm currently only playing on "Tough", though, and always (so far) as the Terrans, with a moderate emphasis on economics. (Now that I think about it, I should bump the difficulty for my next game)

I'll upgrade my starting colony ship to speed 3 the first turn, and buy a second speed 3 colony ship. The second turn, I'll send both out to look for planets, and decide based on the first 3 or 4 systems I encounter about how many colony ships I should have out looking at any one time. Terra, as well as any early colonies I put a starport on, are usually building colony ships for this phase, allowing me to rush completion as needed.

I guess the main reason I like Random settings is so I don't get into the mindset of using a standard "recipe" to play the game. Although most of my games end in "Political Victory", that's because at a certain point I'll get bored with the way a game is going, make alliances, and take out anyone who won't ally with me, just so I can get to the next game.

 

[joelwest]

In all of the games I have started (which is not that many, I am still very new), it seems that the trick is to pump out colony ships as fast as you can, through a combination of increasing military and purchasing production. The trick is to save enough money to make it through the 'lean' years while your colonies grow.

Anyway, it seems the planet grab is the most important part of the game, especially on the smaller maps, where one or two planets can make a huge difference in civ research and mil output. For this reason, I am trying to play on the larger maps. If I want to have a fairly balanced game (or at least 'fair' game, the balance may be my issue ), what settings do people find work best? Does slower or faster tech help? Or more or less other Civs?

Any advice is appreciated!

the trick I use is to use up almost all my starting cash to crank four or five colony ships and send them out in all directions towards star systems, particulary towards systems an alien civ can also easily reach.

the only caveat is do not approach the -500 credit limit or your civ will grind to a crashing halt to get out of debt. this happened to me once and was very painful.

along the tech tree I choose a custom race which is developed towards getting a faster base speed for its ships (Hyperdrive, New Propulsion, and Ion Drive as starting techs). the first tech I research is Impulse Drive. the goal is to get to star systems first by way of quantity of colony ships and colony ship speed.

if you outflank the nearby civs early, they will have to resort to settling class 6 or less planets.

do not settle a class 4 planet next to your homeworld until near the end of the colonization land rush. if a nearby civ grabs it you may eventually snatch it away because of your immense influence from your homeworld.