Any newbies around?

[magnate]

Well, looks like I'm the first newbie to post here in a while. I can't make head or tail of the "classic threads" forum - I'm looking for an idiot's guide, and they all seem to start a long way beyond where I am.

I've played the tutorial, and I'm about 80 turns into my first game - I've wiped out three empires already (mainly with superior tech), and I've just taken my first planet with troops (instead of bombing it to bare rock and recolonising it, like I did with all the others). I've just researched ship capture and might try that. I've also researched gas giant colonisation, and am now building so many new colony ships that I'm running out of minerals. Etc. I'm sure you've heard all this before.

So, without further waffling, could someone point me towards a "things to think about once you finish the tutorial" type newbie guide? Like how do I start terraforming my planets? I have climate change tech but I really want to change the atmosphere. Is the diplomacy AI quite poor or am I doing it wrong? Every time I make a treaty they break it two turns later and I have to wipe them out. The options look quite sophisticated, so it would be a shame if I couldn't use them.

Looking forward to getting to know this game ...

CC