Am I getting constant horrible starts/games or is this it?

[XistenZ]

This is actually not a whining thread, I genuinely don't know if I get extremely bad luck or if it's normal that:

- I have to be extremely selective of which stations to build, every rare energy resource is a given, but if a planet doesn't give at least 3 minerals/research then don't waste the upkeep
- I rarely get to colonize a planet for under 200 influence (the AIs connected empire looks way more powerful than my spotty mess scattered across the galaxy)
- I must max out all spaceports and flesh out a full fleet ASAP so I won't get crushed by superpowerful crystal monsters and pirates that constantly attacks
- The AI behaves just like in Civ games. Impossible to trade with so they're only good for fighting with which is a bad idea since they will crush you with their impossibly large overupgraded fleet.

Sure, these issues can be remedied somewhat by giving your civ certain traits like bigger borders, better habitability etc. But you pretty much get to choose one thing to not suck completely at, but you'll be worthless at anything else.
I'm playing on normal, replayed about 10 times with different civs each time but I get very similiar playthroughs. I've come to playing a 1000 system map with 1 AI just too see if I can grow an empire at all, which I can't.
Have I missed a very simple core mechanic?

[paugus]

Being selective early is good. Once you have multiple planets with many power stations, you can pick up the 2 mineral planets without worrying much. Colonizing costs more the further from your home world. Increasing border range can help link more distant colonies together and claim more territory for you. You generally want fleet and spaceports maxed, even if you're peaceful they'll act as a deterrent from others declaring war on you. Diplomacy is kinda scattershot, but there are ways of improving your opinion score and getting decent deals out of neighbors.

Keep in mind as you progress in research/traditions you'll get things that provide you with border range, better habitability, etc. It's not only limited to the bonuses you start the game with.

[cooltv27]

crystals shouldnt wander and the pirates that do shouldnt be a problem (4 corvettes?)

the main thing to focus on is minerals, only minerals. energy so you dont stay negative for a long time. science can be ignored early game. a fleet can be ignored for a little while as your spaceport is fairly powerful early game.
as for not having planets to colonize, anything above 40 is something you can colonize, there should be a good number of planets that have 60% though. if you continue to have serious problems with it, take the extremely adaptable trait, you can then colonize any world that has no negative modidifers (also, not tomb worlds) from the start

also, what ethics are you using?

[HugsAndSnuggles]

Originally posted by Perrterrter:

I genuinely don't know if... it's normal that:

- I have to be extremely selective of which stations to build, every rare energy resource is a given, but if a planet doesn't give at least 3 minerals/research then don't waste the upkeep

No. Unless you're about to run into negative energy, you build every mine you can get. Forget that research.

Originally posted by Perrterrter:

- I rarely get to colonize a planet for under 200 influence (the AIs connected empire looks way more powerful than my spotty mess scattered across the galaxy)

If you tend to leave colonization for second half of first century - pretty normal.

Originally posted by Perrterrter:

- I must max out all spaceports and flesh out a full fleet ASAP so I won't get crushed by superpowerful crystal monsters and pirates that constantly attacks

No, you don't need to max out spaceports. Early on it's more of a waste of minerals until you reach fleet cap.

Crystal monsters rarely attck. In fact, there are like two stacks of crystals and amoebas that migrate every now and then. Chances of them choosing your system are pretty small.

Pirate event is like 4 ships and a base - 6 corvettes are enough to kill everything. Unless you want them to spawn larger fleets for whatever reason and leave their base alone.

Originally posted by Perrterrter:

- The AI behaves just like in Civ games. Impossible to trade with so they're only good for fighting with which is a bad idea since they will crush you with their impossibly large overupgraded fleet.

Perhaps. Depends on ethics and your ability to produce fleet.

Originally posted by Perrterrter:

Sure, these issues can be remedied somewhat by giving your civ certain traits like bigger borders, better habitability etc. But you pretty much get to choose one thing to not suck completely at, but you'll be worthless at anything else.

That what specialization is about, no?

Originally posted by Perrterrter:

I'm playing on normal, replayed about 10 times with different civs each time but I get very similiar playthroughs. I've come to playing a 1000 system map with 1 AI just too see if I can grow an empire at all, which I can't.
Have I missed a very simple core mechanic?

Seems to me, you're trying to build 'tall' and expect to gat a 'wide' empire as a result. Doesn't work that way.

[Maddin]

Well as far as I know the spawn is supposed to be in a way to give you at least 2 planets in your vicinity that you can colonize.
Yellow planets can also be colonized only the red ones are a problem.

In the games I've played so far I hadn't had these problems of missing planets as I one time went robotic and the other time I went Psionic with terraforming first. Thus I could always colonize everything.

[March]

If you are having serious problems finding colonizable worlds, consider building a race with the +10% habitability trait. I have never needed to go to this extreme, but it is there if you need it.

[K00lex]

Originally posted by Perrterrter:

Sure, these issues can be remedied somewhat by giving your civ certain traits like bigger borders, better habitability etc. But you pretty much get to choose one thing to not suck completely at, but you'll be worthless at anything else.
Have I missed a very simple core mechanic?

Supposedly, the game rewards you for having disadvantages, including Fallen Empire giving reserach boost.

Check out this Let's Play by ASpec, using all negative species traits:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcq9DHjo3g0bmgSzQNU0qGc4TLQOF_nFu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-DjSV1zLyw&index=1&list=PLcq9DHjo3g0bmgSzQNU0qGc4TLQOF_nFu

It's fun to watch, because he purposedly do stupid things or decide idiotically, and still manage to come out decently or ahead. At one point, his economy crashed:
Jointed Federation. Lowered his naval capacity below current. Fleet maintenance skyrocketed. Enegy Credits plummetted. Factories shut down. Mineral storage depleted. Ships capabilities reduced. He recovered, but it was hilarious.
Often repeated: "Should I do this? I should. Am I going to? Nooo..."

[Shahadem]

Originally posted by K00lex:

Originally posted by Perrterrter:

Sure, these issues can be remedied somewhat by giving your civ certain traits like bigger borders, better habitability etc. But you pretty much get to choose one thing to not suck completely at, but you'll be worthless at anything else.
Have I missed a very simple core mechanic?

Supposedly, the game rewards you for having disadvantages, including Fallen Empire giving reserach boost.

Check out this Let's Play by ASpec, using all negative species traits:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcq9DHjo3g0bmgSzQNU0qGc4TLQOF_nFu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-DjSV1zLyw&index=1&list=PLcq9DHjo3g0bmgSzQNU0qGc4TLQOF_nFu

It's fun to watch, because he purposedly do stupid things or decide idiotically, and still manage to come out decently or ahead. At one point, his economy crashed:
Jointed Federation. Lowered his naval capacity below current. Fleet maintenance skyrocketed. Enegy Credits plummetted. Factories shut down. Mineral storage depleted. Ships capabilities reduced. He recovered, but it was hilarious.
Often repeated: "Should I do this? I should. Am I going to? Nooo..."

Aspec is not purposely doing stupid things. That's him playing normally... Just watch his "Empire Did Nothing Wrong" playthrough he is producing concurrently to see him making all the same mistakes.

[XistenZ]

From the answers in this thread it's painfully clear to me we're playing totally different games :) The crystal monster do wander, almost every game, and they come in fleet strengths ranging from 800-2200 which is pretty damn hard to match when you don't get any production.
The pirates never had a small fleet of 4 corvettes, never. I don't recall what they usually have but 6-8 at least. Yeah it's still not much but again, when you have no production you can't even match that.

I'd be thrilled to have a 40% planet in my vicinity, I'm not being selective I just don't have the choice.

I'll replay until I hit a normal seed, it should be easy to know when I hit one as long as it's nothing like what I've played so far xD
Thanks for the replies, it helped! I don't have to wonder anymore. Still weird I've been so awfully unlucky each game.

[cooltv27]

ive never even heard of crystals that wander, and I think there was only one place where there are 2k strong crystals (I might be wrong on this)

[XistenZ]

Ah, sorry I was confused... I blame insomnia :) the crystal monsters don't wander around but what I meant was that they always appear in most systems.
I don't know how I thought wander could be interpreted like that...

[galadon3]

Tbh in EVERY game I started I had at least 2 planets nearby, most of the time at least one of them inside my starting borders, wich I can colonize. The Game is supposed to give you those. Same with monsters like the crystals they can be in quite some systems near you but it should by no means be MOST of the systems.
What galaxy-size are you playing?

[-Singularity-]

Originally posted by Perrterrter:

Ah, sorry I was confused... I blame insomnia :) the crystal monsters don't wander around but what I meant was that they always appear in most systems.
I don't know how I thought wander could be interpreted like that...

This game, like many other 4x games, suffers from restart-itis. You have to keep restarting a new game until you find one with a good start. Heck, Galciv 2 has a restart game hotkey to make this process easier.

[XistenZ]

Originally posted by -Singularity-:

restart-itis.

Giggle.

[Dracco0085]

You should start with two 70-100% planets within your boarders to start with. Can you post a screen shot of your starting settings? And are you playing with mods?

[Yow!]

Unless you are being plagued by extreme bad luck, you are missing many things.

I have been in very bad start areas, and only on insane dificulty you can get screwed by a bad start. And probably just because you would have to wait 100 years to pull something out, and thats without cheese moves.

You should probably watch some lets play, i watched some about civ, and it carried on to many other grand strat games.