Beginner's Guide

A new galaxy awaits — your first empire takes shape among the stars.

Welcome to New Stars! This guide walks new commanders through their first hours in the galaxy: setting up an empire, surviving the early game, and building a foundation for galactic dominance. If you have never played a 4X strategy game before, start here.

The 4X Loop

New Stars is a 4X grand strategy game — every play session revolves around four pillars:

• eXplore — Send Explorer ships through Hyperlanes to chart unknown star systems and discover planets, anomalies, and rival empires.
• eXpand — Use Builder ships to claim systems and Colonist ships to settle habitable worlds.
• eXploit — Develop your colonies and starbases to harvest resources, grow population, and unlock new technologies.
• eXterminate — Build fleets and engage in Warfare to conquer or eliminate rival empires.

Most early-game decisions affect your ability to do all four well. Balance is key.

Setting Up Your Game

When starting a new game, you'll choose:

Galaxy Settings

	Setting	Notes
	Galaxy Size	Choose between Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, or Huge. Beginners should start with Medium or Small — fewer systems means shorter games and easier-to-track conflicts.
	Difficulty	Higher difficulty boosts AI bonuses. Start on Easy or Normal for your first few games.
	AI Players	How many rival empires share the galaxy. 4–6 is a good beginner range.
	Hyperlane Density	Denser networks make travel easier but expose you to more neighbours.

Choosing an Origin

Your Origin shapes the opening hours of your game. There are 8 origins to choose from. A few beginner-friendly picks:

	Origin	Bonus	Why It's Beginner-Friendly
	Forgotten Outpost	Start with a Colonist fleet	Lets you settle a second world early — extra economy and breathing room.
	Lost Colony	Start with extra population, a housing building, and a minerals building	A stronger homeworld makes the early economy forgiving of mistakes.
	Aetheric Sanctifiers	Start on a Pristine world with Pink Plasma access	Excellent food/science output without complex setup.

For the full list, see Empire#Origin.

Government & Ideology

Pick an ideology (eight available) — each gives unique bonuses and changes the unique buildings your colonies can construct. Beginners benefit from Cooperative Militarist (balanced economy + military) or Megacorporation (strong trade-based income).

Your First Moves

Move ships through hyperlanes to explore new systems.

You'll begin with:

• One Homeworld colony on a habitable planet
• A Capital Starbase in your home system
• One Explorer ship for scouting
• Some Builder and Colonist ships, depending on origin
• Starting resources: 100

{{#switch:gold | gold = | golden_spice = | gunboat = }} Gold, 100 {{#switch:energy | energy = | explorer = }} Energy, 100 {{#switch:minerals | metals = | minerals = | militarist = }} Minerals, 100 {{#switch:metals | metals = | minerals = | militarist = }} Metals, 100 {{#switch:food | food = | frigate = }} Food, 100 {{#switch:power | pacifist = | pink_plasma = | power = }} Power

Recommended First 5 Steps

1. Send your Explorer outward. Click your Explorer fleet, right-click an adjacent unexplored system. Repeat — Explorers reveal planets and find anomalies.
2. Queue colony buildings. Open your homeworld and queue an Energy building, a Minerals building, and a Housing building. These three are the early backbone of any colony.
3. Claim nearby systems. Send Builder ships to systems you've explored — claiming a system lets you place a Starbase and harvest its star's resources.
4. Designate a Starbase. Right-click a claimed Starbase and pick a designation (Outpost / Fort / Hub). Outposts are cheap general-purpose; Forts add defense; Hubs boost trade.
5. Open the Tech Panel. Pick a research target. Early picks like Heavy Cruisers (military), Starbase Hub (economy), or Repeatable Hull (defense) are reliable openers.

Resources

Your empire runs on seven core resources, plus four special resources found on rare planets.

Resource	Icon	Used For
Gold	{{#switch:gold	gold =	golden_spice =	gunboat = }}	Trade, diplomacy, integration, business deals
Energy	{{#switch:energy	energy =	explorer = }}	Powers buildings, fleet upkeep, terraforming, vaporizing systems
Minerals	{{#switch:minerals	metals =	minerals =	militarist = }}	Building colony structures
Metals	{{#switch:metals	metals =	minerals =	militarist = }}	Building ships and starbases
Food	{{#switch:food	food =	frigate = }}	Population growth and upkeep
Power	{{#switch:power	pacifist =	pink_plasma =	power = }}	System claims, Starbase upgrades, special actions
Science	{{#switch:science	science =	shields =	siege =	speed =	star_cruiser = }}	Technology research

Special resources — Antimatter, Crimson Stardust, Golden Spice, and Pink Plasma — unlock advanced buildings and ships. Conquer or trade for them.

Tip: Each month, your empire gains a small base income (10 of most resources, 5 Power) plus everything your colonies and starbases produce. Watch the resource bar — going negative on Energy or Food causes serious problems.

Building Your First Colony

Each colony has jobs assigned to its population. The basic jobs are:

• Politician — runs the capital building
• Miner — produces Minerals
• Engineer — produces Metals
• Entertainer — keeps citizens happy (amenities)
• Farmer — produces Food
• Scientist — produces Science
• Soldier — defends the colony in sieges
• Investor — produces Gold

Construct buildings on the colony to unlock more job slots. Upgrade your Colony Capital (4 levels: Settlement Center → Metropolis Hub → Stellar Nexus → Cosmic Citadel) to increase population caps and total job slots.

Colony Focus: Each colony can be assigned a focus (e.g. Industrial, Research, Agricultural) that boosts certain outputs. Match the focus to the planet's natural strengths.

Diplomacy Basics

When your Explorers meet another empire, you'll receive a Meet Player event. Open the Diplomacy Panel to see relations:

• Establish Embassy (free) — opens deeper diplomacy options.
• Request Trade — exchange resources monthly.
• Declare Friendship — boost mutual opinion (lasts 2,160 days).
• Form Alliance — military cooperation.
• Declare War — see Warfare.

Tip: Friendly relations are usually better than war in the early game. Trade resources you have surplus of for resources you're short on.

Research and Technology

Open the Tech Panel to see your research options. You can pick from three random fields each tier. Priorities for new players:

1. Heavy Cruisers / Star Cruisers — unlock larger warships.
2. Starbase Hub / Starbase Fort — unlock starbase designations.
3. Repeatable Hull / Shields — survivability buffs that stack.
4. Building Fort — defensive colony buildings.

Some techs are repeatable — they reappear after research and stack indefinitely.

Winning the Game

You can pursue several victory conditions:

• Domination — Last empire standing.
• Galactic Union — Form or lead the dominant union.
• Score Victory — Highest score when the time limit ends.
• Cosmic Convergence — Special endgame event involving the Celestial Squid.

You can also lose — protect your capital colony. Losing it can trigger defeat conditions.

Common Beginner Mistakes

• Over-expanding too fast. New colonies cost upkeep before they pay back. Stabilise 2–3 strong colonies before building a 4th.
• Ignoring Power. Power is needed for claiming systems and Starbase upgrades. Build Power generation early.
• No defense fleet. Even peaceful neighbours can become hostile. Keep a small fleet near your capital.
• Forgetting to upgrade Starbases. Higher-tier Starbases provide huge defensive and economic bonuses.
• Not assigning jobs. Population without jobs produces nothing. Check the colony screen and fill empty slots.
• Going negative on Food or Energy. Penalties stack and snowball — fix it immediately.

Next Steps

Once you've survived a few games, dive deeper into:

• Empire — Origin details, government types, and unique mechanics
• Colony — Full job, building, and focus reference
• Starbase — Designations, upgrades, and roles
• Fleet — Ship roles and management
• Warfare — Combat, siege, and peace mechanics
• Diplomacy — Treaties, opinions, and unions
• Technology — Full tech tree
• Saving System — Save and load mechanics

Welcome to the galaxy, commander. May your empire stand the test of time.