Hey, I was following the newbies tutorial on building stuff before I went off on my own. And it told me to "Combustion Drive (Level 1)" (without quotes).

I don't know how to research or build combustion drives. I am using the guide in the new here? Tab....

Make sure you didn't miss a step in the guide AND that you have at least a lvl 1 Research Lab AND that you have researched at least lvl 1 energy tech. Those are both prerequisites of combustion engine research. That info can be found under the "technologies" tab in the "empire menu" on the side bar.

If those are all met, go to "research" under the "planet menu" on the side bar. There will be the possible techs for you to research. Then just click research level 1 if you have enough resources.

I only have computer armor and energy for tech research. There is nothing for combustion drive. I have all of the requirements, and did everything in order.

How about Combustion Engine?

Nope. Nothing combustion

Are you positive you researched energy tech already? I can't think of why else it wouldn't show up

I got it. Apparently my energy research got cancelled before, so I had to just re do it. Now I got my combustion drive and impulse drives that I can research. Thnx for trying to help guys.

What does it mean at the end "Now build a small cargo"??

A small cargo ship is one of the ships used in ZE, in this case for beginning players. To build ships, click on "Shipyard" under the Planet Menu. There will be graphics of each ship and a place to enter the number of ships you want to build. Type in how many you want (assuming you have the resources for it) and click build. Make sure you have some espionage probes too. When the ship(s) are finished building, espionage some inactive players -(i) or (I) beside their names - and find a planet with no defenses, send the cargo(es) there on an attack mission. This way, you can gain resources faster to start your empire. Good luck death

Cargo ships are also necessary to fleet save. VERY important if you are to survive the game.