Yup, I finally decided that I suck at this game. 
Despite playing it since the original OS2 release, I am having a terrible time competing against the AI. What used to work for me no longer does. I'm turn 166, Excessive galaxy with all normal races and all minor ones. Playing my own custom race. I'm dead last. The Yor, currently #1, has over 130,000bc! I have no clue what I'm doing so wrong to put myself so far behind the AI like I am. I first started of against Gifted AI like I used to but then read the other thread about how "obscene" they were and then encountered it in my own game that I quit that one 132 turns in. So I figure back to Normal where they have no cheats. Well, they are still mopping the floor with me and leaving me in the dust in terms of money and research, both of which I'm focusing on now. I haven't even been able to wipe out the local pirates' bases because of my focus. At least I can kill all their ships now...
So, I'm looking to the true veteran experts of this game for some tips on what to focus on with my research and build orders on planets because what I'm doing isn't cutting it! Did I say I suck? Well I do!!! So any help would be greatly appreciated. Even links to a youtube game showing these things would be great. Thanks for taking pity on this miserable player.