Okay just gettin started. I have had some good starts on normal, but haven't finished a game yet.
1) The dark lords have shown up and are usin my starbases and tiny ships for target pratice. It reminds me of the bad guys in MO2. My questtion is how do I communicate with them to ask for peace. I dont' get them as a option on my diplomatic screen but I get messages of other races reachin peace with them, also do they always attack ya when they see ya?
2) The 2 times I have done a custome race almost all the planets next to me are occupied from the start. I don't seem to have this problem the times I have chosen one of the 'set' starting races. Is there a reason for this, seems to make it alot tougher using a custome race if ya don't get any planets near ya.

Thanks in advance for any help:)

Outforblood