Opening Strategies

What do YOU do early game?

from GalCiv2 Forums
In an effort to build a competant starting strategy, there are many ideas out there but no main resource. Post your early strategies here and we can share what we've learned. For me, here are some tidbits:

1) Research towards universal translator, and eventually trade with the other races. I notice they like to research many military techs, so this saves me the effort with a trade.
2) Buy a factory on your Homeworld. Not to be confused with build, "buying" allows the building to appear instantly at the end of the current turn. You will need this building to help build the other things on your planet quickly. Go speedy contractors!
3) Identify the best planet to colonize with your Colony Ship. You may need to scout to the next starsystem with your Flagship/Scout. Try not to settle for anything less than 8 class, but beggars can't be choosers. Remember that it is waaay easier to colonize a planet than capture it, so don't be afraid about wandering too far. This is a good thing, as finders keepers.
4) Send a scout ship across the galaxy, making contact with every alien race possible (due to range restrictions). Since you cannot open trade until you meet them first, get it done early before they get uppity about invading their space.

Go ahead and post any ideas you may have, let's try to keep building this database of useful info.
strategies
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Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I Crank up my tax rate immediately, in the start I can go as low as a 50% approval, later on something between 60 and 80 is good.
I usually buy 1-3 factories immediately, also one or two coloniser ships and/or constructers, depending on the map (It's said that none of the AI do buy ships early on though).
It's way easy to colonise many planets that way, but normally they're useless without a factory and a starport and a market, and so on . Thus on my new colonised planets I buy 1 or 2 factories, and a spaceport, until I run out of money. I DO NOT take the debt options, it's as bad an option as in real life (And the AI doesn't seem to take these either).

I only played on normal yet...
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It is far more important to jump out there immediately with colony ships. Take whatever you come across as your opponents certainly will. I blow most of my money on buying colony ships each turn as the galaxy is usually settled way way too fast.

As far as planet builds, I always buy a factory first.

Other than that, techwise I get the universal translator and try to minimize the AI's penchant for trading techs with abandon by buying/selling them as fast as possible.
Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
One good trick is to immediately design a fast version of the colony ship. Adding engines to the basic colony module will only cause it to be built a trun or 2 slower, which is easily made up in the speed it will reach far off destinations. Also you can reland your initial colony ship to ensure that 500k people are on it instead of the initial 100K. Another thing, buy a colony ship for the first 3 turns, as it is awhile until planetary invasion is researched so whoever gets there first usually keeps the planet.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
1: Crank up tax a bit
2: Build as many Colony Ships/Constructers as u can
3: Research at the same time the basics of all
4: Quickly Research Cultural things that will enhance your influence to "take" over more plants/resources (aka your territory)
5: Soon after build Basic Defense if any race is mad at you
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Immediatly I'll buy a factory on my home planet, I'll send my survey ship out to explore the surrounding systems, picking up anomlies if they happen to be on my flight path, I send the colonizer out with it and set my planet to produce the next colony ship.
Set my spending to research max and my tax rate to as high as possible before going lower than 50%
If my survey ship finds another planet, THEN I'll buy up the second colonizer, and repeat this for every planet found, I rarely worry about my home system's second planet until all other local planets are mine.
If there's a resource nearby, I'll also buy up a constructor and claim it, if it's morale or economic then I'll even interrupt the colony convoys to grab it quick.
Once I have researched Ion Drives and first level weapon tech I'll put together a basic fighter design, produce 4-5 of these and fleet them up, along with contructing a military base where I expect conflict to arise.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top


Turn 1
1) Tax up till I have 70% approval
2) 100% Research spending
4) Buy upgraded colony ship
5) Set survey ship on auto survey
6) depending on where the closest planet is (besides the crappy one in your system).. if it's close, set the starting colony ship toward that direction. If it's far, move the starting colony ship to the crappy planet.
7) build xeno labs for both.
8) aim for diplomacy tech to get an upper hand if other civilization is nearby or could be nearby. Otherwise aim for tech that improves build/research rate like planetary improvement, then possibly tech to expand range.

With luck, survey ship will be able to get more bc from anomalies for me to continue purchasing colony ships and planetary improvements.

Small planets will be used for research.
Large planets will be used for economy.
Home planet will be capital for a while and a jack of all trade.

Once a colony ship reach a faraway planet. Purchase stardock and colony ship to speed up process.

Once the bc drops to about 1000, adjust the sliders to emphasize on social/research and start building actual improvements.

Good thing that it takes a while for any civilization to build something that packs a punch. The strategy would probably change if survey ship can gain attack power from anomalies.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
buy factory on earth. place sliders at 80%mil and 20%research. expand cranking out colony ship every 3 turns. USE the FOCUS buttons on planets less than class 10. never put a starport on them. Trade techs. Develop military. kill Yor. wim game.