[Suicide Junkie]

IIRC, the only two ways to generate supplies are:
a) Solar panels on ships and/or bases
b) Constructing a brand new ship with supply tanks. (Ships start out with full supplies)
c) ...Capture an alien ship full of supplies...

Solar power plants... Build a base with a reactor or two, and lots of supply tanks.
You'll need enough supply tanks to the maximum capacity of your base is at least twice the maximum capacity of the ships it will be refueling.

Constructing new ships... Expensive, but if you build a ship with bridge, crew quaters, lifesupport, and make the rest one giant fuel tank, you can heave quite a lot of emergency supplies into orbit. (Ships start fully supplied)

Aside from generation, you also have conservation available.
- The supply use reducing racial trait. (Advanced Power Conservation?)
- Research level 3 engines... Each level up in engine technology reduces supply use by 2 points. Gravitic engine tech gets really efficient, too.
- Remove excess engines. The slower your ship, the less supplies you burn to move each sector. Engines which do not increase the ship's speed (due to QNP rounding) can also be removed to save fuel.
- Use energy-based weapons. If you have enough radioactives to pay for them, energy-based weapons are very inexpensive supply-wise. Lasers, HEM, Psychic, and light particle beams.

[ May 23, 2003, 16:20: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]