Besides looking at what technology and logistics each race starts with, there's another thing to keep in mind.
Arceans, Yor, Terrans, Altarians, Drengin all begin with a Civilization Capital on their homeworld. The Drath, Iconian, Thalans, Torians, and Custom Race all begin with an Initial Colony on their homeworld instead.
What does this mean? If you play as any of the races from the second group, you're looking at the following penalties to your homeworld relative to those from the first group: -12 industry, -12 research, -5 food, -20 morale, -3bil pop, -25 influence, and +12 maintenance.
