This is actually rather easy, depending on how picky you are about it. I actually like playing this way, too.

The easiest way is thus: Make a mod that changes the following value:


Replace 30 with a number as arbitrarly high as you like. Personally, playing a massive map with a single opponent and the staggered start turn range set to 300 gives pretty good results. Of course, it is a random value, it just means that they'll randomly appear sometime in the first X number of turns. But starting out the game with 120 turns of solitude makes for a very nice start, and a good chance to just focus on the world and the quests instead of annoying humans.

If you don't care to mod, the above value can be found in the GlobalDefines.xml file, although if you have the expansion, you'll have two such files to check.

idk how to mod.

Do you ever play multiplayer?

I ask because if you ever play multiplayer, editing your xml files directly results in a lot of problems (instability, crashes, etc.).

If you never play mp though, it is a fairly straight forward process to edit your xml files.

I rarely play mp, actually only played it once.

OK, well, the process is very simple. You just have to find your GlobalDefines.xml file (Both of them, there are two, if you own Rising Tides), and fine the bit of code I mentioned above, and change the value.

Assuming that you have a farily standard installation, it will be located at:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization Beyond Earth\assets\Gameplay\XML

1.
Open the file in notepad or another text editor (Notepad++, for instance). Do NOT use wordpad, Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, or any other big office suite. It MUST be edited in something that will treat the file strictly as a txt file.

2.
Use the find command to locate

3.
In the row below where it says , replace the 30 with the desired number. As I mentioned, I have good results with numbers in the 240 to 300 range.

4. save, then start the game and play as usual.

5. Reminder: If you have Rising Tides, you will have to repeat the proceadure for the second copy of GlobalDefines that exists in the assets folder: (From where the previous file was, go up a few folders until you are in assets, then follow the filepath below and repeat the above steps for the GlobalDefines file located there.

assets\DLC\Expansion1\Gameplay\XML

Any suggestion on how to get rid of Aliens? I like the world building, but sometimes I just want an empty planet.

Sid Meier's Civilization Beyond Earth\assets\DLC\Expansion1\Gameplay\Lua

Open Aliens.lua with a text editor

add:

Return

below every line that starts with the word:

function

Nests will still spawn, but no aliens.

thank you so much