Not screwed

We got a free technology from a special on one of the other planets in our home system, Vega II if memory serves. That's why we started with Nuclear engines.

And no, I didn't intend to include Antaran fleets in that restriction. In fact due to the way they work you generally can't send anything less than an armada and expect them to survive long enough to get any info they find back. Sorry for not being more clear; I just hadn't thought about that particular aspect.

As for AI speed to settle worlds, well, I expect that the fact that the player race is so slow at expansion (due to lack of pop growth, lack of production, and lack of income in general) makes the AIs seem to settle comparatively quickly. Due to the strategy I adopted for playing the game, it's hard for me to say. More later when I finish the game...