Normal

Make sure you've jacked your tax rate as high as it can go while keeping morale at 50%. That will get you the max number of beakers and other production points.

Build labs, research upgrades.

Pick the research bonus for your race when you start a game. You can choose a research bonus of +50%. That'll get you rolling. If that's not enough, align yourself with the tech political party.

Make friends and trade techs with them. You shouldn't try to research the whole tree yourself. For example, lets say you are going the conquest route and a (future) ally is going the economic/influence route you can trade gun tech for financial tech. Sell all of your tech to the indy worlds. They'll make you rich and when they run out of money take their planets away from them. Squirrel guy don't need a planet anyway.

Good Luck!

thanks for the advice i was wondering how the AI got so far ahead myself

Thank you for the advice, I'm going to try this out right now. I usually pick 1 or 2 civs to trade with, but when you fall behind they don't want anything i have It seems to me though that they will give you anything for a cheap tech and a couple of bc. I think my biggest problem is that i kept moral at 75%.

One other question, is it good to specialize earth in one or two groups or to make it well rounded in all three?

Thanks for that, was having the same prob and was about to ask

Back into the game I go...