After starting a game, press "Ctrl+K" and that will give you access to the Map Editor and Senario commands to alter game play.

Y = Reveal Map
Shift+F1 = Create Unit
Shift+F2 = Technological Discovery
Shift+F3 = Switch sides/set view
Shift+F4 = Change/set energy credits
Shift+F5 = Change Year
Shift+F6 = Kill Opponent
Shift+F7 = View replay
Shift+F8 = View Movies
Shift+F9 = Edit Faction Diplomacy

Click on the menu option and select scenario and
you will get a complete listing of all cheats and
how to access them in the game.

See Unexplored Map:

When getting ready to move a unit, hold the Left Mouse Button. Move the unit over the map grid. As it passes over each grid square, coordinates and distance will be displayed, along with text associated with landmarks and cities, even if the
square is unexplored (blacked out).

PlayingTips:

Tip 1:

If you're overwhelmed by the amount of detail, then don't be afraid to set Terraformers on autopilot and let Governors handle your bases; you'll learn more quickly by watching what the AI does than by trial and error.

Tip 2:

Don't go "mine happy" early on. Nutrient-boosting Farms are far more important for city growth. Energy-producing Solar Collectors directly contribute to your income and research.

Tip 3:

Take the time to explore with pairs of Scouts or Rovers; this way, when one of them stumbles across the inevitable Mindworm, the other unit can attack it.

Tip 4:

Clear fungus from the squares surrounding your base to keep Mindworms from moving adjacent to them and attacking in the same turn.

Tip 5:

Create a single Skunkworks city to build a unit with new components as soon as they're researched. This will defray the prototype cost for other cities and will keep you prepared if you suddenly have to change your production in
the event of a war.

Advanced Users Only:

A way to get energy credits with out the phrase
"CHEATED" coming up on the score:

Edit at these offsets:

Gaians - 2608
Hive - 46c4
University - 6780
Morganites - 883c
Spartans - a8f8
Believers - c9b4
Peasekeepers - ea70

Change example

offset 6780 0a00 0000 0000
0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
Change 0a = 10 to 4042 0f = 1,000,000. Use the base converter with the program set to Intel, unasserted long to get the proper hex format.

Trick

Try trading ANY city to any faction (i.e. give away a 1 city currently beeing attacked by enemies) and gain a 15 city (!)

Sea Former Cheat:

When seaformers are on automatic, they do not have to pay to raise the seafloor while on manual they do.

Support Bug:

If you go into a Pact Brother's city and support a unit from there, you will control it while no one must support it.

Workshop Bug:

Ever notice that when you're designing air units, sometimes when you give them a better armor the cost actually goes down?

What if someone says that aircrafts don't need armor? "That's simply not true", Hansen says.
"There are a couple of situations where air units defend with their armor, despite what the rules say".

City Trade Bug:

Let's say the Gaians have this one base (not the
HQ) with 3 secret projects. Just make a new base,
and trade the size 1 base for her size 14 base with those secret projects! Sound too good to be true? Hansen has some reassurance for the critics. "Everytime I have offered to trade base for base, the leader agrees without getting mad. Not only have I used this to get all the secret projects I've missed ([all the while] hoping they don't build them in HQ), I've used this method to completely bring down empires in peacetime. Just build a random colony in the middle of nowhere, and trade it for an ally's size 15 base.