Low resource map(s)

which map?

Well, first things first, did you upgrade the colonized planet? If you do, there is NO way (even at .000000000000000000000001% alliegence) that a planet can be a drain to you. If you do that, all planets should produce income, always. Also, every little bit helps, so if you have the time and resources, go get those extractors, but don't make them a priority.


EDIT: Upgrade meaning the civilian infrastructure.

It can become a drain in that you have to protect it. Yes, the planet will provide income, but you have to pay to upgrade it and defend it, so it's a while before owning the planet has a positive effect. Additionally, if you fail to defend it, you've lost resources.

To the OP, are you building base defenses? 6 turrets and 2 repair stations (Make sure all 6 turrets are within range of each repair station, so that each turret can take advantage of both at the same time.) goes a long ways towards taking the wind out of a pirate invasion's sails. Throw your initial fleet into the mix (make sure you fight within range of your turrets/repair stations) and you really shouldn't have any trouble with pirates.

Well, first things first, did you upgrade the colonized planet?

Yes, that's the first thing I did, but I didn't have enough resources to get the secoind planet out of drain mode, or to fend off pirate raids. Clearly colonising that early was a mistake, but even when I didn't colonise, my original, maxed out planet wasn't generating enough income to do anything. With maxed infrastructure it was giving considerably less than 1 credit a second.

"To the OP, are you building base defenses? 6 turrets and 2 repair stations (Make sure all 6 turrets are within range of each repair station, so that each turret can take advantage of both at the same time.) goes a long ways towards taking the wind out of a pirate invasion's sails. "

Again, no credits. I had some gauss turrets, but not enough resources to either research or build repair towers. Hell, I didn't have enough resources to build labs.

What was your metal/crystal income like? Did you have enough to sell off for some credits to get base defenses set?

I honestly don't know that I would waste the resources trying to max your first planet out. I think the benefits of it that early would be negligable. If I were that concerned about getting wiped by pirates before I could even get my feet off the ground, I'd focus on getting base defenses up first. Build your extractors on the main planet, then sell some of your starting metal/crystal and invest in some turrets. Repair stations do a lot to bolster defense, but if you're that tight on resources, they're not exactly efficient. My second step would be to build the cap ship factory and cash in on my free cap ship. Depending on your resource situation, scuttling your cap ship factory once you've got your capitol ship might get you a small boost in resources.

"I honestly don't know that I would waste the resources trying to max your first planet out. I think the benefits of it that early would be negligable."

Well I had to max it to get any income at all. The first two upgrades just neutralised the tax. I'm pretty sure that's the only map I've played where the home planet is taxed at the start. As for my fleet, I had my cap ship (Progenitor) and a few Disciples. I figured that would be more efficient than static defences. I didn't think of scuttling the factory - that's a good idea.

You can scuttle if you're not planning on building a second one. Scuttling only refunds a small percentage (20%, I think?) of the construction cost, so if you need to build it again for a second capital, you come out with a loss

Yeah, but the chances of me getting to 3000 credits, let alone the rest of the resources, any time soon on that map were minimal. I needed all the cash I could get just to maintain the fleet and/or stop the pirates.

Are you playing on a map called gaian crescent or something like that?You should realize that you have no capital planet on that map and first need to research the capital upgrade on your planet.That will put the money gain to the amounts you normally have on other maps.

Ah. Now I feel stupid.

Don't feel stupid, I was just playing this map last night and I simply assumed that I started with a capital planet. I was barely able to keep up with the pirate raids, as soon I defeated one and rebuilt my fleet another one was on it's way. I never had any money to do anything else.

Now I can actually attempt this map again and see what happens.

Well, it did the trick. I tried again and cruised to victory against hard TEC AI.