ORIGINAL: JonBrave
Thank you, I shall try that. I am playing Human.
Human ain't bad - you can find most of the resources you need on continental planets - or barring that, marshy planets (once you've researched it... that is, if you have RotS). Pay particular attention to your consumption of polymer and steel - those are in high demand once you plant your first colony.
By the "first colony", I mean that the AI will do a mad rush in civilian shipbuilding. You should see your HW port build queue going to 25-50 ships - freighters and such. That's a LOT of steel and polymer - and ANY resource which is missing will cause the entire queue to grind to a halt. You need to plan for this initial rush in advance - plop mining stations on any polymer you can, and build a few spare steel mines as well. Keep in mind that each race will have different problems at the start.
As for your cash surplus - I wouldn't be too concerned with it. You'll need a fair bit of wonga to keep up the production and maintenance of your exploration fleet (I'd suggest getting 10 explorers as a minimum out there ASAP) - not to mention bribes for pirates and to build colony ships. If you STILL have excess wonga which you don't need - then you can always drop your tax rates. Accelerating your early growth will pay off in spades later in the game, when your increased tax base will be able to fund a larger military.
Oh, and ignore the advisor messages with regards to defence bases, at least early in the game. Waste of money and resources. Your medium port is more than capable of dealing with the occasional pirate that wanders into its gun range. A def base will, in all likelihood, be completely surplus to your def requirements. A few more destroyers to see off pesky pirates would be FAR more useful.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.” ― Christopher Hitchens
