How should i start a tall empire?

[stinker]

so im loving the game so far and i like the idea of having a smal amount of star systems. however im not sure what are the best picks to start (i dont have dlc)
1. should i colonize all available planets or wait for teraform tech?
2. which empire type and perks should i choose? i was thinking militarist because i like the idea of having a powerful fleet and making other empires my subjects rather than having allies
3. should i base my economy on trade or make my own stuff?

id be super grateful for any tips!:D

[WesselW]

Playing tall is pretty much staying below the empire size of 100 to net get the downsides from it. Just mostly means stacking modifiers that reduce empire size from the different modifiers like pops, colonies, systems and districts.

An important civic for this is sovereign guardianship it will reduce empire size from pops with 50% stack this with other modifiers like the domination tradition. It will increase the empire size from others like systems and colonies so try to get a couple strong planets. So don't settle that size 11 planet try to go for 20 or higher if possible.

Another modifier that is good to improve is planet ascension this can give a massive boost to output of that specific planet.

If you try to play like that you will mostly be playing tall and if correct really successfully.

[manniepants]

The virtual ascension for machine gestalt empires is tailor made for playing tall as well. Unfortunately it is broken right now, so best to wait for a patch that addresses its current issues.

However, once its fixed, you can easily use it to make a viable empire on as few as 3 planets

[Kretias]

Originally posted by manniepants:

The virtual ascension for machine gestalt empires is tailor made for playing tall as well. Unfortunately it is broken right now, so best to wait for a patch that addresses its current issues.

However, once its fixed, you can easily use it to make a viable empire on as few as 3 planets

Isnt virtual locked behind Machine Age? OP said he doesnt have DLC so he wont have access to it. Its a shame that both virtual and wilderness are behind a DLC as they would serve him perfectly.

Originally posted by female genitalia crash tester:

so im loving the game so far and i like the idea of having a smal amount of star systems. however im not sure what are the best picks to start (i dont have dlc)
1. should i colonize all available planets or wait for teraform tech?
2. which empire type and perks should i choose? i was thinking militarist because i like the idea of having a powerful fleet and making other empires my subjects rather than having allies
3. should i base my economy on trade or make my own stuff?

id be super grateful for any tips!:D

1: Tall typically means low systems and planets (but good/big ones). You want to stay low in the empire size as to not get penalized by its debuffs as much. Systems however dont take as much empire size as planets so you can play small in planets and "wide" in systems. I cant remember which origins are available in the base but you should still colonize early, in the very least your guaranteed worlds as they are within your prefered habitability by default (its a setting when you create the game).

2: Completely depends on you and your playstyle. If you want to bully other empires and vassalize them then militarist works. Each also have their own civics so you can look around a bit.

3: You can try both and both works. You can if you want to focus on trade but likely you will generate all of it. If trade in particular interests you then the megacorp dlc may be of interest to you in the future (only buy DLCs during sale. NEVER outside of it. Sales are frequent).

You can also start on the lower difficulties first if you're unfamiliar until you've got a hang of the basics since lower difficulties boost your economy so its unlikely you will run into negative output (and its corresponding debuffs if you don't fix it).

[Heimdall313]

I hear tall and I think Void Dwellers. You can have a pretty small territory, a dozen or so systems, 2-3 "chokepoints", and Habitats + Orbitals in good resource systems. Starter system alone for Void Dwellers is typically 3-6 Research Districts with 12+ Energy AND mining districts.
Empty systems (1 stellar body with 3 energy or 4 physics or something) are where you do Dyson Sphere, Ring World, or Matter Decompressor if its a black hole. They can also be used for Trade or Hydroponic Farm habitats, but its better to wait for megastructures imo.

[Forblaze]

IMO, Cosmogenesis Rogue Servitor is the only meaningful way to play tall.

Bio Trophies are an incredible source of job efficiency, and you can stick *so* many of them onto a single planet with sky domes.

[Sabaithal]

1. Ringworld start
2. Rush deflectors, energy grid, ion thruster tech, and star fortress techs, then colonize the other two segments (the tech is to remove the clear blockers, and make the segments habitable).
3. Only get some surrounding systems for territory. Go for chokepoints (build fortresses here).
4. Turtle like a MF and rush both tech and unity.
5. Once you get mid-game megastructure tech you can get a decent military going
6. Once you get proper megastructures you can get a proper powerful military going.
7. Optionally, get cosmogenesis. Once you get fallen empire BCs nothing can stop you.

[manniepants]

Originally posted by Kretias:

Originally posted by manniepants:

The virtual ascension for machine gestalt empires is tailor made for playing tall as well. Unfortunately it is broken right now, so best to wait for a patch that addresses its current issues.

However, once its fixed, you can easily use it to make a viable empire on as few as 3 planets

Isnt virtual locked behind Machine Age? OP said he doesnt have DLC so he wont have access to it. Its a shame that both virtual and wilderness are behind a DLC as they would serve him perfectly.

Derp, you are right. I forgot that was DLC content. In that case I would echo Void Dwellers as an alternative, as others have mentioned