The disappearing resource thing is a known bug that hasn't been pinned down yet. The issue with influence taking a while to return to previous levels is also a known issue that has not yet been fixed. The "yellow barrel looking thing" is a morale resource :)
Stupid link was split. Go to the Encylopedia and hit the link for "Economics in Galciv".
Here is a link to some more in-depth info about how the bonus system works and it's impact on production. http://www.galciv.com/encyclopedia.asp?action=showpage&page=http://www.galciv.com/docs/undocs.html
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It should be possible to get a decent score without having it be tied directly to how many AI ships one kills.
It can also happen that: 1) A survey ship, which has extended range, finds a ship that has less range. 2) A planet or starbase that was extending your range is either destroyed or conquered.
There's also a randomly generated space shark that can pop up. :)
Azakain, Did you really mean "depleted"? I resource should never go away. If it did vanish this is a bug. The vanishing resource bug is one that existed in various stages of the beta test but I haven't seen it in a while.
This is part of the setup for the game and the rationale for it is explained in both the manual and the on-line encylopaedia.
A saved game consists of the contents of the directory with the name of the save and the single file in the directory above it with the name of the save game. In a default GalCiv install this would be: c:\Program Files\Drengin\galciv\Data\SaveGames\ The easiest way to send it in is as a zip file with the directory structure preserved.
They help your empire too.
Leasing is handy sometimes but it's also an easy route to crippling the economy of the empire. Before committing to a lease be very sure of the benefit.
Another way to cripple yourself early in the game is to saddle the empire with too many lease payments. If all your cash-flow is going towards paying off leases it's not being used for all the other things it could be. Be very sure of the benefits before committing to a lease.
There's also a small chance that the game will generate a high quality planet at the start of the game. The highest I've seen, occurring naturally, recently, is a class 26 planet.
Trading a planet away doesn't have any impact on your place in the good - evil spectrum. As far as I know the only thing that will effect a change there is your response to the random events that require a moral decision.
Regarding the destruction of Starbases by space sharks: when I build a starbase the first thing I do is add all possible defensive modules before anything else. Even two or three defensive modules can give a starbase an excellent shot at taking out a space shark.
I can address your last two points. The answer is yes to both of them. The Max. Pop value is decreed by the planet quality level.
Yep. Building a mobile Party Palace is much more fun than actually using a Terror Star. It allows you a mobile cultural influence generator that's like smacking the attacked sector with a giant dope-slap that says: "Wake up! You _really_ wanted to join the Terran Empire all alone". :D
So far, out of three games played with it, I have had no noticeable effect from choosing the "Creative" ability at game start.
Sigh...should have added this to my post. The only way to fight destabilization is: 1) Destroy the offending empire :) 2) Allocate funds towards propaganda
Destabilization does work but the result is only visible if you have the other empire infiltrated. What destabilization does is work to wreck their economy and morale.
Destabilization is a nasty weapon. Just wait until one of the AI races uses it against you. If your economy is going down the tubes and you can't figure out why it may be time to start putting some funds into propaganda.
Pezdispenser, No. Planets supply your resource and production bases. People loaded onto a colony or transport ship are essentially removed from the game until you use them to either colonize or attack a planet.
There is at least one random event that can prompt the evacuation of a star system.
There's also the problem of the different alignments to take into consideration. Different techs become available to the player depending on choices made during each game.
It's not measured in months. The necessary techs to build a fully functional Terror Star are pretty far down the tech tree.