The first seven days are the most important aspect of the game. This is where you can do tons of research, build up your farms, quarries, mines and sawmills, and build up your population, all without the fear of being attacked, because you start the game with seven days of damage protection. If you start a new city on a new world, you get the same benefits. Upgrade all of your resource buildings as much as possible, and fill as many empty spaces in your city as possible with resource buildings. Complete quests, too, to earn tons of resources in rapid succession.