Now that I'm getting used to colonizing worlds and exploration, now I have a new problem thanks to inexperience. Planet strategy, how to use them, what to build, etc.
More accurately, if I find a planet similar to earth, abundant resources, strategic location, etc. What exactly would I do to get it started other than infrastructure? Should I transport factories to the planet and if so how many? Should I just leave them 'be' and simply let the civvies plop down infrastructure and let it grow? What level of commerical spaceport is a 'good' level? What do commercial spacesports do? How many automated mines would be 'good enough'?
I know these are really vague questions but that's what I intend them to be, so I can gauge everyone's personal preference, or if there is a uniform 'set' pace that I should take on.
One more question involving jump gate construction kits. If I fit one into a ship and build a jump gate, does that ship 'lose' the kit meaning I'll have to refit it to get another one or can it build jump gates all over the galaxy and never run out?
You are always going to need population if you want to do anything other than automine minerals. Therefore I would say to always start with infrastructure and colonists. If you have a decent civilian shipping fleet and the colony is within 4 jumps then you can get factories and the like to the colony by using the Supply and Demand tab.
i.e. Set Supply on Earth to be 30 Construction factorys and then set Demand on Colony to be 30 Construction Factorys. The Civies will make the runs, taking from Earth and dropping on the Colony - you must have them on Earth, they are taken from your 'real' stocks.
I try to get one Commercial Spaceport on a Colony as soon as it is feasible, they help with loading speeds and I am fairly certain that they help attract civies when they are doing trade runs.
I generally try and setup a Fleet Base every 4 jumps, this helps not only your expansion but also with allowing the Civies to keep up (their routines are restricted to 4 jumps when they search for a suitable destination). For me a Fleet Base consists of at least:
Celestial body in a central position, in relation to the JPs.
Automines and mass drivers in system on the richest bodies and all directing output to the Fleet Base.
Small PDCs with maintenance facility modules. Planetary Sensors to give good passive detection.
Start off by deploying FACs up to 1k tons.
Have tankers and coliers make runs back to nearest Production Colony to get a stock of fuel and missiles emplaced.
As you grow the amount of minerals then grow the maintenance PDCs and that lets you grow the number and tonnage of ships stationed at the Fleet Base.
Start shipping in larger PDCs with far reaching active search sensors and PDC-rated missile launchers.
If you are lucky and there is a Gas Giant with sorium then bring in some fuel harvestors.
If the body I have the Fleet Base is on has a Colony Cost less than 2.0 then I will terraform it during the above phase whilst building a Gate network to the system. as in the real world, a thriving settlement tends to spring up around a large military installation
