Starting Planet Type question.

[Seawolf]

Just an FYI,

There will be an option to have all the players start with the same planets. Also weighing in on the Gas Gaint issue, I find that it balances out since you have to stop building facilities to build ships. Also if there is a player who uses gas giants well you just have to go take them out!

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Seawolf on the prowl

[Lupusman]

I once tried to figure out which would be best. So I started a few games with ancient race to see the entire map, and counted the frequency of every type of planet, and atmosphere in a mid-life system. Then I figured in the number of facilities that each would accomodate. I don't have the numbers in front of me right now, but what I got was that rock/none or gas/hydrogen are the best combo's. There are a few other close ones, but those are the highest.
Of course this doesn't figure in gameplay factors such as the ability to concentrate on large gas planets. With rock/none, you can spread out much more, but need to spend more on colony ships, and loose defensive capabilities due to the spreading out.
You can also figure in that later on with gas, research and intel centers can be helped with their percentage increasing counterparts (moreso than rock or ice), but usually by that time I already have the other types of colonies.

[Arralen]

What I guessed from the demo... rock/none works best with "natural merchants", so you can get along without space ports, otherwise you'll have trouble collecting your ressources ...

Arralen

[Psitticine]

One thing that's pleased me no end is the fact that there is enough randomness that you can never be 100% sure which combo would be best for any given game. Some pairs, like gas/hydrogen, have a strong tendency to be better than others, but nothing is guaranteed! The Last game I played as gas/hydrogen, all I seemed to be finding were gas/methane.

That makes sure the other options remain valid, and that's the key to a long life for a game!