So, I'm an old Gal Civ player that bought the game on sale recently. I've been getting back into it, but years of playing shooters has dulled my tactical mindset. There are just a few aspects of the game that seem to be eluding me.
So, here are my questions (for reference I usually play on a mid-to-larger sized map, I usually disable tech brokering, and I set my difficulty/the AI to gifted - speeds/rates are usually set to normal - I also usually am on a custom race with predominantly benefits to ships combat ability).
Economics/Upkeep: I seem to not be able to climb out of a serious credit debt that gets significant mid-game. I'm basically forced to sell techs to minor races for income-per-turn to keep afloat. Once the military build-up begins I can't seem to come close to supporting the ships I need. I notice some of the leading AI will field massive fleets when I check how many ships they have, and to keep a comparable military I'm non-stop churning out ships and going deeper into debt. I try to create specialized money-planets but they don't seem to offset the debt significantly, nor does trade.
Research: Around mid-game, just after medium sized ships start to become commonplace, my research seems to nosedive and I don't get why. I usually have 1-2 specialized research planets with just enough production percentage to build their improvements, the rest research. Yet techs jump from the 6-14 turn range to the 20-50 (or higher) turn range.
I feel like there's clearly some aspects of the game I don't yet "get". Can anyone help explain to me what I'm missing?