I found the campaign is a great learning aid. Some of it is redundant and/or doesn't apply to all play styles but it is a good way to learn it plus it unlocks stuff I think.

Oh and it helps to spread out. Put all your industry on one island and your food and agricultural on another then a huge population center somewhere else. It is easy enough to setup freighters to auto shuffle the goods and it keeps people from getting pissed about pollution or, even worse, running out of room to build your population center.

 

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