Suddenly my scouts are moving 3 spaces a turn, despite the fact that they used to move two spaces and their design says 2 spaces. Why is that?
This occurs after you develop
Impulse Drive.
I really don't get the economy yet. I gather all my income comes from population, right?
Actually not. You can see your finances by clicking on the finance button at the bottom of the main screen (3rd button from the left - the triangular shaped button with the stack of coins). After pressing the economy tab, you will see in the center of the screen all the sources of your
income, and on the right side of the screen, all your
expenses.
Essentially, your income comes from
Taxes (population),
Trade (trade routes),
Tourism (how much of the galaxy that you control), and
Economic Treaties (traded with other races).
Of equal (or greater) concern are the items listed under "Expenses".
Ship maintenance can be staggering late in the game and can easily go over 1200 bc.
Colony maintenance is another thing that you need to think about long & hard. Each colony improvement has a maintenance fee per turn that ranges from 0 bc up to 5 bc.
I personally have a 2 page list for all improvements which includes for each improvement: Buy cost, Maintenance Fee, Prerequisite, the Benefit, and the value - listed in the appropriate column of: Pop, Mfg, Res, Infl, Econ, Mor, or Misc.
If you have the Dark Avatar (Gold Edition) manual, the economy section begins on page 31.
Also, you can check out the Databanks button on this website. Good luck in your gaming.