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Save often, and make backups of your saves
Save before you do anything big or small. Save before you leave the StarBase. Save before you leave on a long trip. Save before you meet a new alien race (you'll be given an option before you chat with them if they are initially hostile).

Once you near 50 saves, copy them into a backup directory before you start to overwrite them.


Make friends and allies
A lot of alien races will give you some free ships, but at the very least you'll get crucial information from them.

Write things down
Even if you don't think it will be useful, you can always cross out useless info later.

Find ways to break the game sequence
The game rewards you for being clever. For instance, later in the game you can trick an evil race into trading a bonus item that you do not need for thousands of gallons of fuel.

Also, you'll find a way to more quickly travel through hyperspace. How? Open up your in-game starmap on the 17th of any month. Look for a bright star that is only there from the 17th through a few more days. On the next 17th (or this one if you are fast enough!) go into that star.

Don't rush, but...
You start out in 2155, and things will start to get crazy around 2159. You can extend the "end" date by 1 year until 2160 through a series of later-in-the-game events.

Try and avoid spoilers or walkthroughs
If you need help, just post here...plus, the game is tough, but its never confusing or cheap. If you pay attention to the dialog, and if you experiment, you'll be greatly rewarded.