My first game and a 7x research tile

1. You can if you want, but bear in mind the map size itself affects research cost.  You actually research at the same speed regardless, but the technologies become more/less expensive according to setting.  However as you increase the difficulty beyond Tough there is a modifier to research for the human player, or so I've read.

2. Wait until I have Xeno Labs and Xeno Economics at least before doing anything with it.  Early technologies are relatively cheap.  Better to focus on building up an economy that can support the cost of doing teh research.

2a. Warp bubbles ships need to be in the same fleet as the ships whose speed they are boosting, otherwise you're wasting your time.  Assuming you have the logistics, sending out a convoy of trade ships is a great way to offset the burden of colony maintenance, and on a large map you're bound to make a very profitable route.  However as the game wears on this income tends to be less important than taxes and tourism.  You need to keep your treasury under 10000 bc or trade income gets halved.

Thanks for the quick reply, my idea won't work because of logistics.  I can't find the number in game, but I don't think I'll have the 20 logistics required for a fleet of 1 warp ship + 3 traders.  An impulse engine also doesn't help traders as you need the range. 

It looks like with a 7x research early your best option then is economy techs as you said and its not really that big a deal as population growth through colonies is your major limiting factor.

Its 400bcs to xeno economics for a 10% economy bonus and 1100 to star democracy and its 20% bonus.   The production and social bonuses are still relevant since we can't deficit on 100% production spending. I can't see rushing any economy buildings as the capital will be building ships non-stop.  Perhaps the +10% economics and Fertility Clinic for the growth rates is worth burning 20 turns and 2k bcs of 100% research... 

The way you have to split your spending and can't fully utilize your research and factories at the same time is so odd by the way I see the focus button, but my 7x research planet does 62 research on 100% research on turn 3.  If I go 100% military so I can do 5 turn colony ships in the capital and put focus research on the research planet I get - - - 2 research pts. If there is a way to specialize your planets and correctly take advantage let me know! 

I hope you saved at or near the start.

Some folk would see the 7X tile as a chance to grab the civ and diplo techs early and then tech trade.  That is, get advantageous deals, esp with Minors.

Some would see it as a chance to go heavy into the eco and morale stuff, letting high taxes etc be feasible.

Remember that you can get only N+1 tech gains per turn, where N equals the number of colonized planets.  This could be limiting if you research some line and then switch to another research line at the basic tech level.  That is, if you, say, research five levels of civ type and then switch to Missiles, you could get only 1 more level gain that turn as you have planets.

Other players might see it as a chance to get Invasion tech early, and have that sort of fun.

Thanks guys. Yeah it looked lucky already with the 3 big planets turn 1 so I saved it then :) 

Hmm, I was not familiar with this.  So I can research something to the one turn left, swap to somethintg else?  Or can I tech on multiple things at once?  I don't compeltely follow.  I love the game and have had it for a while, but I have FAR from mastered it  :)  Could you pelase clarify, I would love to grasp what you were meaning there.

Perhaps an example would be best.

Suppose you do not convert the miner and do not build other colony ships as you research.  So, you have only two colonized planets.  No matter how many research points you generate, you will not be able to gain more than three research techs per turn.  

Thus, suppose you began with a run up the Interstellar Government tech path and are generating by the end something like several hundred points per turn.  Say you now switch to Space Militarization.  A simple counting of research costs would say that you would gain in the next turn Space Militarization, Space Weapons, Rail gun theory, basic rail guns, enhanced rail guns, and maybe another level or two.  

You will NOT gain them all.  You will advance only N+1 levels which, since you have two planets, means you will gain only three levels.  The other points disappear.

This is another reason to convert the miner to a colony planet and to quickly get three (or more) planets colonized when you are using a high research strategy and before you shift from an initial tech path to the start of another.

(If you use your initial colonizer as an extra scout, or are simply determined to save it for a real juicy planet you have not yet found, having only your home world colonized will limit you to two per turn)