"Actually... if I set it up so that you start with level one in the theoretical racial techs, most races can start using their racial weapons quickly."
okay, I forget about that. that would work, i guess
"Do you want me to send you a few savegame files from the P&N PBW game I mentioned? The population modifiers are changed drastically. Small colonies build slowly. Ships cost fewer minerals and a lot more organics and radioactives, so you have to develop more of those facilities before you can build very much."
No, don't bother. I believe you without that
. As I said, I haven't played P&N in a long time. That was probably before the change of the pop modifiers. That's why I asked.
"3000 points limits your options to take other racial advantages too. I don't really want to do that."
Well, I do
. Limited options are good. With 5000 pts you can just take everything you want and have some change left. That would cause a lot of redundant empires. If you drop some other stats, you can still take other race advantages. For example, in my latest game I had only 3000 pts, but I could still have 2 racial tech traits plus Propulsion Experts, Adv. Storage and Hardy Industrialists. Giving the empires some low scores in some areas will make them more interesting, IMO.
Rollo