Feepness -
          If you are impatient and have lots of r, you can build a
          ground telescope and survey your system, otherwise wait and
          build a factory for shuttles.

  Lestat -
          If you are a meso, the first and second ship you should build
          is a pod ;) If you are a normal race, build a factory (F) as
          soon as you can afford it, and teach it to build shuttles (cs
          #factnum; make s). If your res production is going to
          outstrip your tech, use "modify" to make the shuttle lower
          tech. Put people in the factory, turn it on, wait for it to
          repair. Use the "fact" command (if present on the server) to
          keep an eye on the factories over the segs and updates. When
          it's finished, use "build #" to build # of ships while in
          that factory.

  Keskiolut -
          First to build is F. Modify it to make s's, as cheap and FAST
          as possible, maybe carrying nothing but 1 cargo (for
          upgrading later) and SEX-number of people plus as much fuel
          as possible.

  Neue Regel -
          Make a factory as soon as you can. Have it produce stripped
          down shuttles so you can get to as many planets as possible.

  Garfel -
          One ground telescope as soon as you get tech 5 and 2 res then
          aim at the nearest planets, then a Factory to build shuttles
          with a modified speed of at least 6.

  Cylons -
          A good choice for a first ship for a techie is a Factory. Use
          the factory to build a shuttle to send out to the other
          planets in the solar system. Also, while your factory is
          fixing itself,(it starts with 75% damage and needs time to
          repair.) build a ground telescope so that you can see what
          the planets in your system are like, and don't send your
          first shuttle to an incompatible planet.

  Thing -
          The first ship you should build is a factory; do not build
          it, though, until you have enough res to turn it on. Wait
          until you have at least 33 res before building it. You want
          the shuttle to hold only the minimum number of crew, no guns,
          no destruct, and no resources. This will let you pay less per
          shuttle and spend more on speed. If you are a meta, just
          start building and launching pods as soon as you get the res
          and fuel to do it.

  Muu -
          The very first ship I would build is a telescope. That way,
          you can examine the other planets in your solar system and
          see which ones you should target for colonization first. The
          second should probably be a Factory to build colonization
          shuttles. These should have 5-10 crew and 10 crew if
          possible. Remember, when you construct a ship design on a
          Factory, you don't have to be at the given tech of the ship
          until you want to build them, which is as soon as the Factory
          comes online (about 3-4 updates after activation).

  Fnebish Legion -
          If you're a metamorph, build pods like crazy until you have
          the tech capability to build shuttles with speed 4 or so (you
          can experiment with a factory to find out what tech you
          need). Other- wise, build _nothing_ until you've built your
          factory and turned it on. Don't even build a little
          telescope. You want that factory turned on ASAP, even if you
          have to set it to building really crappy and cheap shuttles.
          Once you have something built, you can always modify it later
          (when you can afford it)...the important thing is getting
          that F turned on. Once you've spent your res doing this (it
          costs 23 plus twice the cost of the ship design to build and
          then turn on the factory), you can build a telescope to
          survey surrounding planets in your system.

  Microbians -
          Pods for a Meso, shuttles for a normal. A lot depends on your
          strategy, your race, your start planet, and (especially with
          Ts) the rules of the game.

  Tribbles -
          Hmmm.... This is questionable. It really depends on the race.
          For the normal player I would say shuttles and then
          explorers. Though I've designed races to skip shuttle
          production before. Remember shuttles are for in system
          exploration mostly while explorers are for other systems

  NB -
          The first ship is almost invariably a shuttle from which the
          weapons systems and so on have been stripped that can carry
          your minimum number of sexes to another planet in your system
          for colonization. The second? Another one! Later you should
          build some shuttles with a bit of destruct on board, to give
          you a chance of snuffing out unwanted alien colonies at the
          beginning of their existence. Of course, if you're a morph,
          you'll build pods first.

  TheCulture -
          In GB a "ship" is anything that you build, so in GB terms the
          first ship you should build is (a) a pod, if you're a morph;
          (b) a ground telescope if you're a normal race. With this
          gadget you can view your solar system and get some picture of
          your position so you can send your shuttles to the right
          places. The second ship type you should build is a factory
          (F). When you have enough tech and res, you can order it to
          produce shuttles (for instance) and in a couple of updates,
          you can start spreading out.

  Froos -
          If you're a morph, pods. :-) If normal, shuttle, then maybe
          explorer.

  Griffons -
          Depends on what you can build pods are good for a meso. a
          shuttle factory for all those who do not have pods.

  Pillarian -
          Again it depends on what race you are.. Meso .. You pod like
          crazy.. if you are a techy then I suggest that you build a
          telescope (gives you something to do more than anything) then
          save up for a factory.. the second for a meso.. (second type
          not the second ship) would be K's (Space plows..) at tech 5
          ..

  Tao -
          First ground telescope to see what planets there are in your
          system. Then shuttles...

  Empire -
          Perhaps the Ground Telescope would be best as a first ship...
          With it you can survey other planets in your star system...
          Second would be a factory to produce shuttles to get
          colonization to start... Don't forget to set your tax to about
          5 percent, 'cause maintaining of the ships takes money and if
          you don't have money your morale drops...

  Link Baker -
          1st) For a meso, a pod. For a techie, a factory (To build
          shuttles) 2nd) Meso - pod. Techie - whatever you have the
          tech for while you are waiting on the shuttles. Domes help
          the planet and you.

  Greenies -
          A factory, for shuttles. Then a ground telescope, to check
          out your system.

  Zurgithian -
          Find out how many planets there are in your system using the
          explore command and build a pod for each one (only need 1
          fuel) when you have the res. Send the pod to a planet, land
          it on a good sector (use analysis to find one and scrap the
          pod, hey presto another colony :-) As soon as you have the
          res and fuel send 5-10 pods to your 10 nearest stars (send
          them in waves, 1 update apart) you will need 1 fuel per ~8000
          distance depending on your race's weight.