Absolute Newbe getting started

Welcome to the game on the other side of the curtain

There are a few guides around that help new players out and give you an idea of what to expect from the game. If none of these really help you i would jump right in and try a small or tiny map with the default settings the game gives you. Using the standard Terran empire you should find the game easy enough if you set the difficulty to the lowest possible. Work up from there and dont jump into too high a level as you will have your behind handed to you in a matter of months

Its really best to dive right into a sandbox game i think. I don't know what your experience is with other TBS games so i can't tell you what level to start with. You may have good understanding of what you need to do from reading the forums like you said you did; now its just learning HOW to do those things.

Learning the game should be fun even if you don't do well at first. Seeing things happen for the first time can be exciting.

So jump in and if / when you hit a snag post a question here and you will get all the answers you could want.

Have fun

Thanks for the replies.

I am a SEIV veteran, plus many other 4X type games.  I started a game last night so we will see how it goes.

How do you ever find time to play rather than play with the ship designer all night long

I'm glad I found this thread! I had problems learning how to play this last year but I bought the Ultima Version today and i'm giving it another shot!

LOL. Sometimes, we don't. I know that myself and a few hours can waste many..many hours just building ships. some of these never see the inside of a game even....

It's just fun to build em...

Okay, first, learn the basics.

Watch the tutorial videos. Personally I'd prefer text, and rather would just ignore the damned video enteriely but Cest La Vie...

regardless once you've got the basics down start up a tiny game. Play with a customized race. I like to use My confederation of Augments, Terran based tech tree with super adapter super ability.

once you've played a tiny game move onto a small one. Then a medium and so fourth.

I started an immense game and It's gonna take me WEEKS.

Best way to get started is to pick the Humans, boost economy and morale with your extra racial points, and jump into a medium-sized universe. As opponents, pick friendly races like the Thalians, Altarians, etc. That way you won't have war-mongers all over you in two seconds.

I wouldn't recommend looking for strategy articles too much until you've finished that games. Its hard to get a grasp on strategy articles if you arn't familar with the interface yet.

Coming from SEIV you shouldn't have much of a problem.  You can't mothball ships but you can upgrade them in deep space.  Overall it is a less complex game with a softer economy- you can always sell influence points at lower difficulties to make up any shortfalls.