Aeson
Posts: 784
Joined: 8/30/2013
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I'd suggest browsing the Guide to Guides (http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2988049) and seeing if there's anything there that strikes you as interesting. You might also look to the 'How to play an Easy Introductory Game in the Age of Shadows' thread (http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3333889). I don't really know that there are really any beginner's guides around, though.
I personally would suggest just jumping in to a new game on whatever settings you feel like (though don't put expansion/tech higher than 'young' when creating your and your opponent's empires, as otherwise you'll start out with too much stuff and it'll be a management headache), look through the different menus, and get an idea of what you'd like to manage yourself, what you'd like to automate, and what you'd like to have the advisors suggest (I would suggest that you should set as many things as you can to 'advisors make suggestions' when trying to decide how you'd like to automate things so that you can see what the computer would do were it given full control of this aspect of the game). Personally, I like to control the main part of the navy but create system defense fleets that get automated, I like to control taxes and troop recruitment, and I like to control ship (but not base) designs, and I leave diplomacy on 'suggest.' I typically automate colony improvements but don't allow the computer to automatically place regional capitols or the various troop structures; sometimes, I use 'advisors suggest' for colony improvements.
I would also suggest that at least in the early game you personally control colonization and mining station construction, and that you should strongly consider invading independents rather than sending a colony ship to invite them into the empire even if the independents are likely to join you (just be careful not to tank your reputation too badly by invading too many independents in too short a time period, as low reputation tends to cause a relations hit and that can lead to trade embargoes, blockades of your colonies, or wars with your neighbors, which can cause some problems and annoyances in the early stages of the game, and remains annoying in the later stages of the game). Pre-warp/Age of Shadows start is a little harder than normal start, and can lead to great strength disparities between factions due to when each empire gets around to developing hyperdrive (both because the event giving you access to hyperdrive tech can vary between 'really easy to get' and 'really hard to get,' depending on your luck - I once had it trigger on a moon orbiting the same gas giant my capitol orbited, which made it really easy to acquire, though most of the time it's on a planet on the other side of the system - and because different factions start off with different default explorer designs which have differing cruise speeds, and a faster explorer generally means you'll get the hyperdrive-enabling event faster). Pirates are also much more difficult to manage on a pre-warp start, as a pre-warp start generally allows them a much better shot at establishing themselves before any of the empires can really start fighting back, hunting the pirates down and exterminating them. Also be aware that the computer opponents tend to handle their empires better at lower levels of aggression; higher aggression settings get you more wars sooner, but they're generally wars against weaker opponents than you'd be facing on a lower-aggression game setting.
The above was for normal empires. For pirate empires, which are significantly more difficult to play than normal empires, your early game revolves around finding an independent colony or two to corrupt, or an empire willing to pay you off or which is weak enough that you can corrupt their colonies, as otherwise you have no reliable or steady source of income. Pre-warp/Age of Shadows is the easiest time period for the pirates, and I suspect that higher aggression levels will make it easier to play as a pirate, since it tends to keep the computer empires weaker. You'll also find that as a pirate your research rate is absolutely terrible, so build up those intelligence agents because, for all intents and purposes, your espionage bureau may as well be your research office, as the planetary empires will typically surpass your technology level before you've really gotten beyond the techs you started with. Pirates shouldn't attempt to contend directly with a planetary empire militarily, as maintaining those kinds of fleets just costs you too much money unless you've been really successful at corrupting worlds or have lots of money coming in through the various smuggling, attack, and defense missions or general raiding.
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