I'm not really a newbie, been playing off and on for a few years.
But it still seems I'm missing something. I've started a game with the starting positions well apart from the others (specially mine). I think the difficulty is beginner, or it could be normal. Anyway.
But no matter what, I cannot defeat the Yor. They always win. Even when I cheat my butt off and the first 30 or even 50 planets are maxed out at 43, I cannot get ahead of them.
Here's how I usually set up my planets. For example, a lvl 12 planet:
2 factories
1 farm (and i've been experimenting with 2 or even 3 and tempted to go higher)
1 recruit center
unless there are special squares, the rest are divided between roughly half market, half research
(for the largest planets, i make them specialize: so for a money planet, 3 or so factories, 1 farm, recruit ctr, all the rest market, reguardless of special squares.)
According to the wiki, all military and social production points comes from factories. (implied question: am i understanding that correct?)
All money comes from markets (yes?)...*but* in the actual game, these dont have an absolute number like the factories and research bldg. Instead they say 10% bonus implying a secret (so far to me) production number that this enlarges. Do people produce this? Having more people produces more of this secret production?
I'm aware that more people produce more taxes (yes?), but do they also help make all the other things a planet produces? (including ships and buildings) I.e. would a planet with 3 factories and 4 b people produce ships and buildings faster than a planet with 3 factories and 1 b people?
Thanks for the help!
a frustrated-because-not-understanding-better player