Nuub help, pretty please

The game doesnt cheat on the normal level.im assuming you are playing the easiest, so you havnt played since 2015, or 16. It would help to know if you are playing the base, or crusades. It helps to specialise planets. You are going to need multiple starports. Its better to build starports with constructors. Use the ship list on the main screen to move around. You should send you trade routes to different opponents this will help you in diplomacy.

One of the biggest advantages in the game right now is increasing your population.  Torians are aquatic, which means that they get amazing Hydroponic farms instead of Xeno farms, but the technology is further down the tech tree.  Getting farms (thus cities) is more difficult.  However, aquatic races also have the best research facilities.  

Usually, when playing aquatic, I go for the basic lab buildings to jump-start my tech.  Then I go straight for the Hydro farms.  Then I build cities, and research goes crazy, as does production.

Speaking of production, the aquatics also have the Central Mine, which gives +1 raw production (social, military, wealth, research all benefit from this) and +1 to All Construction per adjacency.  

So aquatics take a lot longer to get their economy up, but once they do, they have major advantages.

I forgot to mention what version I am playing.  I am playing version 2.8, which I think is Crusades.  I have Mercenary ships available, and I think the Crusade campaign...  So I am playing with Citizens (which I hear is the big change)...

You mentioned the AI does not cheat on normal, does it cheat BELOW normal?  I am playing on beginner and getting ROFLSTOMPED.  My planets are generally crap (rarely over 8, and if so, rarely with areas I can take advantage of the adjacent tile bonuses).

Is it worth it to build the two aquatic buildings Torians start with on Toria, or is it better to wait?

Seems like cities is the best thing to do... maybe that is my problem

No you cheat below normal. Ok one thing to remember is mine asteroids whenever you can. When they are in your influence click on them they will cost you 100 bc, but they are worth it. When exploring shoot for the white dots on the map they are stars. When a star appear click on the star it will tell you how many habital resources, or habital planets that is there. If there is none move on. Do not auto survey, or auto explore.

Now depending on your shipyards build your first right away. If you are slynn you get a free constructure. Build a shipyard with your constructure. If you dont make that your first building on the planet.

Now factories are very important i go with 4 at least to start off with. Specialise your planets. 

Now as far as resources grab promethium, anti matter, and duranthium as fast as you can. Build a shipyard every five planets as soon as their are extra planets. It helps to have that extra shipyard.

I learned the mine asteroids thing pretty quick.  So I am at least doing that properly.

What do you do with low level planets (4-8 range)?

When I end up with multiple low-class planets (which I take for at least the basic 3 pop) I go for the terraforming techs more quickly.  This increases planet class (thus max population) and can cluster adjacency boni early-game.

Here's a guide just for you. 

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=698661261

Good guide.  To be fair, I don't necessarily agree with all the advice (depends on my starting position and civ traits), but most is pretty solid, and is certainly a great starting point for new players.

AdamMG,

Can you provide some detail as to where you may go against the advice of the guide based on racial variables?

Kevynn

Just off the top of my head, from memory:

I do not always planet rush, and often take the second planet in my system, especially if playing Xenophobic.  Or if in a large universe with few stars/planets nearby.  I find the initial population/productivity boost to a single system can work well for a starting game, and I can then use less citizens on Admins right away (usually, but not always, focusing on early research citizens) - though I do make quite a few constructors in this situation.

So, I just had a game, on BEGINNER difficulty, where the Drengin managed to colonize a world that required Atmospheric Cleansing for me (as the Yor), BEFORE turn 40.  How is that possible?

There have been some changes to extreme planets.

• Corrosive Worlds: Can be colonized by Carbon based life but not by Synthetic without tech
• Bacterial Worlds: Can be colonized by Synthetic but not by Carbon without tech
• Frozen worlds: Can now be colonized by Synthetic civs without tech
• Barren worlds: Can now be colonized by Synthetic civs without tech
• Radioactive worlds: Can now be colonized by Silicon civs without tech

From your description it's a corrosive planet.

There are a few ways to get a planet ahead of the tech tree; it could be a racial feature (previous post),  you can pick an ideology trait to give you a planet, you can colonise with a merc from the bazaar or you can take a planet from someone else (war/flip). But in your case most likely it would be legit tech or as Rhonin described (racial feature).

Now lets say it takes 2-3 turns to research a tech. Atmospheric cleansing is 7-8 techs into the tech tree and in the second era. So it would take 25ish turns to tech up to it. Add in a few little diversions to get through the first era and it is still very possible to have the tech by turn 40.  You can check if the Drengin has the tech by going into diplomacy to see if it is a trade-able item.

Personally it is one of the techs I beeline even if I haven't found a radio/toxic world so I can colonise before the AI gets a chance. I hope this helps clear things up for you

I am going with it was a corrosive world and I missed it.

I had the Drengin as my allies (I _SERIOUSLY_ suck at this game apparently) to try and get the acheesement for getting all of the Malevolent ideological tree stuff... Easy difficulty, 3 players (me, snathi, drengin [allies]), Big galaxy.  He barely had Weapon Systems, definitely no second age tech.

I seriously think I just suck at this game, completely and utterly suck.  I get, generally, horrible start locations (large clusters with 2 planets), where my opponents apparently can colonize 16 planets before I can get out of my cluster.  They have apparently unlimited cash to purchase ships that take me 10+ turns to build...  I tend to be ahead in tech, sometimes...  If I can manage to get to where I can defend what I colonize in the mid game, I am SOOOOOOOOOO far behind on empire size, I cannot win... so I have to turn off conquest, then I had to turn off Infuence (it ended a game early).  I never manage to make enough cash to afford to properly defend my planets to the 30-40 ship fleets that show up immediately after the 2nd age starts...  Again, this is all on BEGINNER, not some tolerably acceptable difficulty.

Tell me again why I bother to try to play this game...

Finally got the malevolent tree acheesement.  Got a good start on a ludicrous sized map, with mu opponents far enough away I had ships before they started the mass spamming of transports.

Kinda liked the Yor, and the build your population in the queue method.