quote:
Originally posted by TerranC:
I Don't consider Myself a vet.
But I do play a lot so...
Culture...
It really depends on what kind of race you envision it to b, but strategically, Neutral is the best 
as it has no ups and downs.
But If you did want a culture, Politicians are my first choice as they have +5 to happiness, +2 to Space Combat, and +5 to trade that makes up the Lost -5 to production.
Actually you can kind of save time by saying what cultures you don't want to pick.
Engineers are one.
They have -2 to intel, -5 to trade, -5 to space and ground combat. Even though you can make lots and lots of stuff, eventually they will drain you sooner or later.
Zealots are probably the worst to pick. -2 in production, -5 to research and intel. Even though you have significant combat bonuses, you really don't have a use for an undersupplied, obsolete navy.
[ 15 March 2002: Message edited by: TerranC ]
When you pick culture, you should look at the value of points it gains for you and that varies depending on your racial allocations due to plateua points in buying racial traits. For example, After you get past 110, Maintenance goes way up in point cost. If you want 115% Maintenance, consider taking Merchant with 110 instead of paying for 115%. If you want Attack and Defense of 130, take Beserker, do not buy you way to 130. If you want 125 in attack and defense consider Warrior. If you want high Intelligence, take schemer. If you want high research, take Scientist. If you are playing with average traits pick the one with the highest point value, I forget which.
What you should do is pick what attributes you want to have Extreme values and use Culture to help you get the Extreme values more cheaply. I like low maintenance races myself (I used to play no maintenance before they capped it at 5%), so I go for 115 to 120. Because of that, I usually play a Merchant race. The difference between 120 and 115, is 120 can support a fleet twice as costly as 115 or 5 times as big as a 100% race.
Never pick neutral as it gains you nothing, and some cultures give +5% in one area with no negatives.