[DirectorTsaarx]

Just another piece of advice about ring/sphere worlds that tripped me up (briefly) the first time I built one: you don't get an automatic colony on it; you have to build a colony ship and colonize the ring/sphere world. (I know, it seems obvious, but not necessarily).

Oh, and a little trick (just in case you're playing against an opponent who's either reckless or overconfident, or even sneaky): after you've built the ring/sphereworld, leave all those extra space yard ships there to build troops/fighters/weaponplatforms/satellites or even defense bases to defend the ring/sphereworld. That allows the planet construction queue to concentrate on building facilities. (And again, maybe that was obvious, but I don't always do this for colonies, just the important and/or vulnerable ones).