1. When in Galaxy view, hold Control to toggle on/off the names. Or, you can go to settings, interface, and set it to show permanently.
2. Correct, some ships do not function without supply (having a command station on/adjacent to the planet), like science vessels. Another example is the mobile builder i think. The tool-tip should reveal such information.
3. I usually destroy the guard posts, because that lessons the reinforcements they get to the planet. Once its safe, you can move in a mobile builder, and build turrets around the remaining wormholes/command station. They can clean up the little reinforcement waves as they come in. If you neglect the planet, eventually it will have a ton of ships, which could spell trouble if you get a big cross planet attack. I'm a little confused, because you seem to say your problem is you ARE taking them out, which should lessen the reinforcements. I can't remember if destroying guard posts raises AI progress a little.
4. No other way to "build", but you can use parasites to reclaim Mk IV ships as well. To the second question, I usually use turrets to guard wormholes I'm not interested in, and have one main fleet somewhere else. This means of course I do have to sink some knowledge into turrets, but it seems very worth it and provides excellent peace of mind. It probably does not hurt to leave parts of the galaxy untouched, provided you have scouted the planets for adv buildings and data centers. In summary, I work well on one front at a time, using turrets to guard all other wormholes needing defense.
5. Did you mean to ask a question about starship use?
6. I read for 80 planet maps, by the end game a progress is 400-600. Looks like you have less planets, so that number could probably be lower by the time you are ready to take the AI homeworld. I haven't much experience myself, maybe someone else can comment?
7. I almost always stick with only 1 Mk II and 1 Mk I per planet. Maybe, at the beginning, i have a Mk III, but I'm very conscious about the efficiency and after another planet or two I shut it off or scrap it. I usually make do with a smaller fleet, rather then build the Mk III to increase the fleet size. Again, since I use low energy requiring turrets this works very well for me.Maybe I'm playing way below my skill, but I'm currently playing against two easy diff 7 AIs with a friend (new as well), and have had max resources for a couple hours, and energy is 70000 to 120000. I could build more, but I prefer to keep a smaller fleet, easier to handle
. This does mean, of course, if the AI breaks my defenses somewhere, I can bring back my engineers (not to many, they use tons of energy!) and produce a LOT of ships for defense very quickly. Oh, I play with no AI auto progress, so that could be why i'm having an easy time. I'll use harder AI's next time, but no auto progress is a great feature for me, cause i can walk away from the game all the time and know i'm not "losing" time.
Have not got to a homeworld yet, currently about 5hrs into my first game. I hear they are a tough nut to crack, and may take more then one wave. Once you take out one, try to be in a position to take out the other quickly, because the increase in AI progress can make defending that much harder (its a significant increase).
Good luck!
