I can't figure out how to settle planets that are not in my territory. 2 turns after I land a colony ship, the planet gets culture flipped. I have time only to fast build a single building! I tried to build a Consulate, but it doesn't seem to help.
I also tried building an influence starbase next to the planet I'm trying to settle on, but the AI alsways takes offence at that and declares war after about 5 turns of having a starbase there (and the relations were warm before I sent the constructor!). No such problems ever happened in GalCiv2, I think.
Best Answer
The Altarian and Drengin have the Unwaivering trait, meaning their planets are immune to being culture flipped. You could play as either race (or a custom race with the same trait).
Other than that, culture flipping seems to be the way to specifically prevent this type of behavior. In Civilations, players are limited to building cities 4 tiles removed from another. In GalCiv, you can populate any planet regardless of its surroundings, but cultural influence prevents you from doing so in most cases.