I purchased Distant Worlds yesterday, is there anything I should know before jumping into the deep end?

This is not like other 4x games.

Some quickies:

Read some of the previous posts in here, go to the DW forum proper and read some stuff there. Resources are important and on a first-come-first-serve basis early on Play with ship design, arm your mining bases You always want 2x the number of troops they have when invading a planet.

Welcome aboard, Valhanis! I'm glad I was able to help influence you to jump in with Distant Worlds.

I won't lie, learning to play Distant Worlds is a daunting task. The tutorials do a good job introducing the interface, but don't help much with strategy or just figuring out what to do once you've started a game.

Here are some ideas:

• You might try the rather odd method I used to help teach myself the game.

• Many have found Das24680's Let's Play videos to be good tutorials.

• Check out the Distant Worlds Wiki for more information, mostly culled from advice given on the Distant Worlds Forum. If you see something missing from the wiki, make a request by editing the Wanted Pages page. Or add some material yourself. That's a good way to learn as well.

• Don't hesitate to ask questions on the Forum. I've found the "old timers" there to be welcoming and very helpful.

EDIT: How could I forget? Ask your questions here in this subreddit as well!

Maybe it's a little gamey, but I decrease the tax rate to 0 for all of my growing colonies. Their population growth rate skyrockets with no taxes and the lack of revenue from taxation is negligible.

I though I'd post an update of where I am.

First of all I would like to thank all of for the tips they have helped quite a bit. I initially started a small game with other empires present with quite a few automations on. I was never want of anything to do, but I didn't understand the mechanics behind the choices the AI was making. What I didn't notice was the sheer sense of scale. I had the smallest possible galaxy... and it was massive in comparison to other games.

I then saw bryanhbell's post about how he learned the game from starting in a sandbox with no threats and no automation. That sounded like, and indeed is a good idea. While I wouldn't say I have a firm grasp of the economic aspect of the game yet I'm coming along now and I think I'm getting the hang of ship building. I'm still putting the pieces together on some of the more abstract things, like the "cost" associated with research but I'm greatly enjoying my time thus far.

As of now I'm still toiling away in the sandbox building my own little trading empire of satellite mining bases. I went ahead and armed them despite there not being pirates just to get into the habbit. Seeing the dozens of independent traders scurry about ferrying goods is quite a treat and something you just don't see in other 4x games. It really gives the game life and removes some of that abstract board-gamey feel that a lot of games like this have. Early impressions put this right up there with Crusader Kings 2 and Europa Universalis is my "Awesome Strategy Games I Keep Going Back To" category.

I think this impulse buy was a good one.

Thanks again for your help in getting pointed in the right direction.

Hi Everyone,

Another first time player here. I'm finding my way around the game. Worked through the first two tutorials, and whilst they were informative, I didn't feel like I knew enough how to play the game. I'm going to try Byann's sandbox method of learning the game. Anyway just wanted to say hi and get involved with the game's community.