So, you have decided to come to the dark side, eh, Luke? Yes, lad... it is time to get out of the Mud and put your flight suit on. Buckle yourself in, because we are going on an adventure into deep space. You say you are scared? You have never been out of the Mud before? Muahahahaha.. you are missing some of the finest combat around, my lad.... A good sector raid makes Mud Pvp look like child's play! Come with me, and I will be happy to get you started.
The object of this exercise is to capture Ferrengal - the richest prize of them all. To do so, you must battle fearsome odds - waves of evil Ferrengi that want to kill you, Quasar cannons that will blast you to shreds, and oh, yes... the other players in the game.You will need credits.. lots and lots of credits to do this. The average Imperial StarShip (ISS) runs around a million credits fully loaded. And then, there are the fighters and shields, and mines, and.. and.. and....
It never seems to end! You will need to build a solid home base of operations. You will have to go get colonists to work for you and build citadels as well as fighters for you. These colonists will also produce products which you can turn around and sell for money. Volcanic and Mountainous planets are good producers of Fuel Ore - used to power your ISS, and fuel those Quasar cannons. You will probably spend about 1/3 to 1/2 of your time in the game working on your home base in one way or another. You will want to build ports to trade your goods at, and you will want to maximize their production as well.
The Universe isn't all good, lad. In fact, there are many Alien Robbers running around. You will also meet your fair share of renegade warriors who delight in robbing and stealing from the ports. These hooligans think nothing of blowing that million-credit ISS into space dust! Watch out for them, and steer clear!
I will suggest honing your skills on the Classic 5K game. The settings are pretty standard with very few surprizes, and you will have enough turns every day to actually learn something. All of my advice here is geared towards this game for now. When you enter the Universe, you will be given a Merchant Cruiser, 50 fighters, 50 holds for cargo, and 3,000 credits. You will also be given a planet - usually right in the middle of traffic! At least you can count on finding some goods to trade and a few colonists. Land on your planet and check things out. Fill your holds with Organics or Equipment, and set off for Stardock.
*** Hint... Do a (V) - this will let you view the settings, including the sector for Stardock.Trade your way to Stardock, because you want to have at least 30,000 credits on you by the time you arrive. If you don't, you can only get a density scanner. Your first day, you don't usually want to haggle for the best price. You want to stay below that magic 1,000 experience mark so that you can sleep in FedSpace (Sectors 1-10 - nice and safe) overnight. Be sure you are not carrying more than 99 fighters!
Soon, you will want to put down roots and begin to build your kingdom. Beware - unlike Muds, when you are offline, you can still be invaded and attacked! Keep reading, my son... My very favorite sites for basic info are the official Epic Interactive Strategy Site and the awesome Home Sector/Stardock BBS. Both sites have great information on the game and strategy too. This will get your feet wet, lad. The rest is up to you!
Keep exploring.... and above all, remember - When in Doubt, Kill them ALL!!