Help with GM'ing

[SgtEasy]

I'm thinking of starting an NRP with a couple of friends and I plan to GM it. This is my first time GM'ing anything so anyone got any tips? It's about different civilisations stuck in this decaying and basically ending Galaxy. Disease, famine and war have been very common things over the recent years and they all feel that they need to continue their race.

The players control a colonist ship funded by a country, syndicate, gang, corporation, etc. to go to the next galaxy over. They start out on the same planet (At the very edge of course) and they will need to use the tech and people they transferred to develop a new civilisation. Over time, the players will be given multiple problems such as equipment breaking, crop failing, etc. There will also be numerous other colony ships coming from either their civilisation, corporation, blah blah, or another one. So, suggestions?

[Hank]

That premise sounds really similar to a videogame I played a while ago, but I forgot the name.

Anyway, I don't have a lot of experience with NRPs, but if you're planning on doing the RP with friends, just be easygoing. Shoot them a PM if they stop showing up, be firm (but polite) in your expectations. If any one of them tries to derail the RP with ideas of their own, go with the flow a little bit, but don't let them sidetrack you completely.

Write your posts in past-tense, omniscient third person ("Mark's colony was doing well, until they were confronted with the sight of raiders appearing at the horizon. The raiders were..." etc etc). That's probably the easiest way of getting information across without breaking immersion.

[SgtEasy]

We're actually thinking of making it public to other players, we're arguing whether it is a good idea or not.