TheCybersmily: Any advice for a newbie? I've watched some videos and used the advice, but I consistently get destroyed within 200 years of start by another empire who is always at least 4x the strength of my fleet. I am running on Ensign difficulty, reduced the advance AI to 1, and 6 times I tried to play the game I end up getting utterly defeat. I have tried concentrating on building a fleet, investing heavy into weapon tech, but still am outclassed for what I can pump out in a short time. This last game I had a 400,000+ strength strength fleet roll over me before I could build 5 outposts. I would assume that Ensign would be an easy mode, but no matter what rival empires always are far superior and wipe the board with me. Don't know if is just bad luck with the RNG.

abbayarra: 200 years into the game you should be close to 1 million fleet power. The biggest mistake I made was early game not putting several research places on my homeworld. As soon as you have some extra energy and consumer goods, don't put down another resource generator, put down more research. It will snowball and late in the game it will mean a massive difference in your power.

Second big thing is people management. Don't put down more buildings on your planets unless you have the population to man them. An unmanned job is costing you money in upkeep for nothing in return. I like to put my next building down when there is only 1 person left unemployed.

Finally, not all jobs are created equal. Some jobs are definitely less than others. Make sure you put down the buildings that create better jobs first(Clerks creating buildings are usually the worst). It is also best to specialize your worlds. Have one create nothing but research, another nothing but consumer goods, a few creating nothing but energy, etc.

6969420MyNameJef: The nature of the game makes tutorials difficult to fully explain everything. It's really a game (honestly the genre is like this) where you learn as you play, mistakes and all. Trying to get a handle on all the systems that interact with each other and design a tutorial to guide new players through it with a dynamic galaxy is probably impossible. There are some creators out there who make good guides for beginning, such as the YouTuber Aspec. He has a good beginners series on the most recent patch, 3.8.

I would recommend watching his series, playing lower difficulties, and just clicking around. Almost everything gives you information if you hover over it. My first playthrough ended 10 years in when I killed the space whales. I thought it would be no big deal, but a neighboring empire declared war and subjugated me for my actions. I was annoyed, but that made me determined to lean how to play and win if a situation like that ever arose again.

Pops are important, as is the economy, and your fleet power. A key thing will be learning to maximize all of those aspects. Information on the galaxy and your neighbors will be your best asset.