New to the game

Hiya

theres a lot of random advice here if you want to have a look:

Link

hope it helps

[edit]What the deuce? I didn't post this in this thread....

1 I usually set anything less than pq8 as a research planet pq9-13 as a manufacturingplanet and i set 2 of the higher pq planets as tax/people farms.

2 economy starbases help everything so it really doesn't matter

3 i have no idea i don't think you need it that much

4 no starbases can't moove it would be very ovepowered if you could move your resources or military starbases.

5 i usually just scout with the colony ship but wutever you do design your own colony ships.

6 make sure you specialaze your planets and pay attention to bonus tiles.

7 always design your own ships it's half the fun.

oh and you can't use 0pq planets unless some special event occurs but you can't count on that.

Yeah, I definitely design my own ships...usually not very varied, tho. heh, I have a fighter, a constructor, a transport and a colony/scout (and a freighter)

I've never seen any high class planets...a class 12 is the highest I've found so far...

You'll find higher and there is a moral choice that increases the pq of a planet

lol, play on gigantic with abundant planets , last game I played there were 2 Class 26 behemoths lol.

-What's the best way to build each type of planet and how do you know which to focus on? (eco, inf, manu) (if you could, give an example for a class 5, 10 and 20)

Typically I do the following with my worlds. Anything less than PQ 9 is set as research / galactic wonders (normally brought)PQ 10 - 17 are primarily manufacturing, with a little research and economics. These planets i limit in population of 15 Billion.. PQ18+ are set to be population and economic packed full of farms, entertainment and econ buildings populations will depend on tiles put anywhere between 55 - 100 Billion.

Always try and utilise bonus tiles as best you can and remember to be flexible each game is different!

-Planetary defense strategies? Locations for putting starbases, fleets, etc.

There are a number of schools of thought on the above and its a matter of personal choice... i do not tend to build starbases (other than resource) as i would rather but my money into fleet production and an aggressive style of play. You can make alot of money by utilising trade routes and building loads of econ starbases on them...

Again fleets are a matter of personal choice...

-Is it better to group like planets for specialization? i.e. make all planets in this system trade based and drop an economy starbase.

I would think is better to group planets by class... you might consider grouping by location on larger maps... i.e. heavily defensive planets by your frontlines... In my opinion people tend to look to much into "planet specilisation" you only really need to heavily micro manage on the very high dificulties

-Can starbases ever move? I'd really like to consolidate my resource bases instead of having them on the ass end of nowhere.

No unfortunatly not

-What are effective strategies for scouting during the colony rush? (auto-explore obviously isn't, since they all take the same path)

It is commonly agreed that your flagship should be set to auto-anomoly to pick up cash to fund your expansion, once you have impluse drive and sensors build 5 - 10 (depending on map size!) survey ships to help

-Any other tips?

Read the forums loads of helpful tips and advice, especilly in strategy

My last game, I came across a class 32 planet!!! Naturally, I invaded it with traditional warfare just to take a look at that monster. It was cool.

As far as what I build, it's usually a matter of a planet's PQ, bonus tiles, and what I need at that point in the game. Mainly, I only put starports on higher class planets that can support a lot of factories (at least 6 early in a game, higher later). Otherwise, planets are either money planets or research planets. Really depends on what bonuses they have. For instance, A planet that has a big research bonus is going to be a planet that gets more research centers and a technological capital. Doesn't really matter what the PQ is unless it's pretty high. In that case it might double as a ship building planet or a money planet. Planets that can run higher populations because they have a lot of approval bonuses usually end up as money planets. My needs change as the game progresses so I may switch emphasis on a particular planet. For instance, in the beginning, I need ship building planets right away. In that case, planets with lower PQ may get starports only to be replaced by stock markets or research centers later in the game (after I've acquired more ship builders). At the end of a game (tech tree finished), all planets with starports get mostly factories. All the rest get mostly stock markets. You can upgrade buildings to something else and it's a lot cheaper than destroying and rebuilding from scratch.

I think that when a Colony ship goes to the uninhabited planet, there should be some kinda screen where you see planets bonuses (rings, moons) a map, some random data (temperature, how much water and ground in percents, etc.) naming option and cancel and ok buttons, 'cos i sometimes see good planet close to the planet where i have my colony ship and i can't cancel landing.