Hello,
So I'm new here so I may be getting ahead of myself, but I wanted to shoot and ask for some ideas on how to make the most realistic Earth start.
So, instead of the population being 500m (that's far to low) I made the population 6000m and the start date 2050 as 6 billion will be the number of working age people projected for 2050. However, this creates a bit of a problem.
See, I think the most realistic start would be for the player to start out as not a united Earth government but rather as the United Nations Space Authority which is a multi-national effort to explore and colonize space. Of course, nations are reluctant to give up resources for things that don't only benefit them just like the real UN, so you don't have access to even a fraction of that sweet, sweet, Earth population, research centers, or space-ports. Yet.
I understand the game allows you to create different factions that come from the same planet. Would it be possible to model this extra-governmental organization which despite being the sole human authority in space is limited in its resources? Can you then diplomatically "assimilate" Earth into a unified government to get Earth's full benefits?