tips for a n00b?

Check out the databanks area. There's a little guide I whipped up there that might help.

First off, this is a TBS, not RTS (though I'm sure that was just force of habit that caused that ~_^).

Second, early expansion is crucial. I cannot stress this enough. Buy a few colony ships to get yourself started. I also usually opt to not colonize Mars (or your race's counterpart) in lieu of using the initial colony ship to get a better class planet. The only possible exception would be the Korx, as their secondary planet is class 8, which ain't too shabby.

damn what was i thinking, RTS lol. thanks for that tip, do you know any technology strats on what to get first and any tips for the campaign?

Generally I usually focus on Ion/Impulse right off the bat, for faster initial expansion, then Xeno Comm/Universal Translator so I can talk to the aliens. Depending on how close the neighbors are, I'll either then go for a quick weapons technology (in order to build ships to keep the aliens non-hostile), or the first round of planetary improvements.

After that, I tend to play it by ear. If there's convenient targets (i.e. minor races) nearby, I'll make planetary invasion a high priority (even though it's quite expensive early). Otherwise I'll leave it for much later.

Also, I'll disagree on the "Buy a few colony ships" everyone seems to be fond of. I'd rather rush buy factories - with spending turned up to 100% and the sliders turned up to 100% military, it's not hard to get to a situation where you're spitting out a colony ship every other turn. And after the colony rush is done, you're set up to build constructors and military ships.

This game is about starbases. I never got my economy running until i finally started to build bases everywhere, builing a ring of stations around your industrial planets boosts your production, a ring around your science centers boosts your research and trade centers (stations of course) at traderoutes will fill your pocket. Just watch out for their sphere of influence and the right kind of expansions, but even an industrial station is near to invincible in early gameplay with just four or five military moduls. And the other way round, if you are at war with somebody, kill the enemy bases and they will crumble economicaly (well, mostly...).

IMO

Factories first. And I don't buy them, I build them. I rarely rush anything. Protecting that initial bank roll lets you get things up and running early, and allows 100% capacity for quite a long time.

I would agree with getting engine techs and universal translator early on. Also, don't leave space weapons too long - being able to produce some sort of ship with a gun can often be quite useful (particularly on smaller maps). The main thing with tech though is trade trade trade (IMO). Sell any non-military techs to everyone who can afford to pay (money or other techs - don't forget to 'top-up' tech for tech trades with money as well) and consider selling some military techs as well (eg defences for weapons you aren't building ). Minor races in particular are often a good source of cash - I have never invaded one (though not played that many games) because they are such a good way to prop up your economy.

That's how I play anyway.