We ' re not real people though . <| sep |> I can ' t help much with Verdant unfortunately as I have almost always played Terrakin variations . That said it sounds like you are on the money with research the value of research complexes really can ' t be overstated , especially on crystal worlds . The best thing to do for your economy is to first decide on a world or two to be your money worlds . The Capitol is often good for this but not always , if you have a tier 2 money resource like medicine it can be worth the effort to level it up to t 3 or even t 4 . When you do so , take special effort to feed it only money resources , e . g . use only t 1 money generators like textiles for the level requirements . Once you get a planet to the higher tiers and it ' s only money pressure you ' ll make a fortune . Be sure to build megacities and whatnot to raise the pressure cap , which imo is not super intuitive so if you want me to elaborate I will . Which some people don ' t even realize is possible , since the game doesn ' t prompt you to level them . It took me awhile to realize that any planet can be leveled . If you are missing them , don ' t forget that you can terraform . Slap a hydrogenator or farm down and convert a food or water planet to a textile or other money maker if you ' re short on cash resources .