Getting a strong start in Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova is crucial, no matter whether you’re playing as humans or an alien civilization. The first few dozen turns set the foundation for a prosperous galactic empire. This guide walks you through early exploration, colonization, resource management, and research choices to ensure you gain an early advantage.

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Turn 1: Setting Up Your Empire

Surveying Your Home System

Your first move should be to locate habitable planets within your home system. Check the map to understand your position in relation to other solar systems nearby. This will guide your exploration strategy.

Exploring with Ships

• Flagship → Immediately scan the closest anomaly for bonuses, resources, or ship upgrades.
• Probe Ship → Send it to the nearest solar system in search of habitable planets with high citizen slots.
• New Scout Ships → Use freshly built ships to explore closer systems, leaving probe ships to scout faraway locations (since they have unlimited range).

Colonizing Your First Planets

• Your starting colony ship should be sent to a habitable planet within your home system.
• Colonized worlds boost your homeworld by providing production, science, income, food, and influence.
• No manual management is required for homeworld resource collection—it all happens automatically.

Optimizing Shipyard Production

• Order 2 Probes (on smaller maps, one is enough).
• Queue a Supply Ship → This ship will boost early building construction on new colonies.

Managing Your Homeworld

• Keep researchers assigned to boost early tech progression.
• Train all other citizens as workers to increase production speed and reduce building time.
• Place the Capital City improvement on a central tile to maximize adjacency bonuses.
• Build Capital Mainframe on a light bulb icon tile (to boost research efficiency).
• Construct an Industrial Center on a manufacturing tile (cog icon) to improve early production.

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Choosing Your First Technologies

At the start, research boosts can be critical. The top-left technologies have 50% research speed bonuses, making them ideal early choices.

Best Early Research Choices

1. Colonial Policies → Unlocks additional boosts for your civilization.
2. Armed Shuttles → Grants two free warships for early exploration and potential defense.
3. Starbase Modules → Provides two free constructors, allowing you to start mining or research stations.
4. Universal Translator (Optional) → Avoid researching too early—wait for a mission to appear for extra culture bonuses.

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Cultural Progression & Policies

Choosing Your First Ideology

• Your civilization’s natural culture influences which unlocks are cheapest.
• Collectivism civilizations should start with Unification to double homeworld influence, expanding control faster.
• Spend control points on an executive order to get an extra free colony ship.

Managing Taxes & Approval

• Higher taxes = more income but lower citizen approval.
• Lower taxes = better happiness and faster planetary growth.
• Early-game focus should be on growth, so keep taxes low and look for alternative income sources.

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Expansion & Mid-Game Planning

Colonization Strategy

• Draft Colonists Executive Order → Use early to expand quickly.
• Find planets with high population caps and unique bonuses.
• Queue colony ships in shipyards if necessary (use credits to speed up construction).

Optimizing Construction & Supply Ships

• New colonies have slow building speeds, but supply ships can speed up production.
• Send supply ships to new colonies to boost early infrastructure.

Managing Leaders & Ministries

• Your first free leader should be assigned based on their highest stats.
• Recruit additional leaders with the best matching attributes:
  • Exploration (Purple icon, Lightning Bolt)
  • Research (Blue icon, Lightbulb)
  • Colonization (Green icon, People symbol)
• Assign leaders to Ministries to gain approval, research, and ship movement bonuses.

Expanding Influence & Starbases

• Starbase Modules tech unlocks free constructors.
• Use constructors to build Starbases to claim valuable resources.
• Communication Starbases are needed for Xeno Archeology modules, which unlock relic benefits.
• Mining Starbases provide key mid-game resources for shipbuilding & planetary improvements.

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Trade, Diplomacy, & Economic Growth

Interacting with Alien Civilizations

• Refuse bad deals, even if it angers them.
• Accept early trade offers—even if they seem unfair, they improve relations.
• Over time, AI civilizations may offer extremely lucrative deals, so build trust early.

How to Maintain a Strong Economy

• Use trade routes and diplomatic relations to generate income.
• Balance tax rates to keep citizen approval high while maintaining financial stability.
• Prioritize building commercial structures to increase credit income.

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Conclusion: Securing Early Dominance

By following this step-by-step guide, you’ll establish a dominant early-game presence in Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova. The key takeaways are:

• Use probes & scouts wisely to find habitable planets fast.
• Maximize early production and research by training workers & prioritizing adjacency bonuses.
• Expand aggressively using colony ships & supply ships.
• Utilize leaders and starbases to secure long-term advantages.
• Engage in early diplomacy & trade to build strong economic ties.

With these tactics, you’ll not only survive the early turns, but also position yourself as a powerful force in the galaxy. Happy colonizing!