This is still a great starting point. Thanks for the info. I'll probably attempt to start a new game tonight.

The wavy lines you speak of are 'Wormholes'. The technology you need to travel through them is 'Applied Casimir Effect', which is in the bottom tech tree.



Fleets size is determined by command points. Your faction choice may affect the number of command points you have. Also, you can unlock more command points by researching some of the tech on the left side of the tech tree. Look for eagle icons (when zoomed in all the way).



Your problems w/ the tech tree can be solved by zooming in to the closest level, and then mousing over each of the improvement icons that are listed for that particular technology.



I am new to this game as well, so you should probably wait for someone else for strategy tips. Generally, when colonizing new planets you want to stick to easier to colonize ones like terran, tundra, & arid, and then colonize the harder ones later once you have an established presence and the technology to deal with the harder parts of living on those planets. Avoid negative features on a planet such as Acid Rain or High Gravity, as this will make your system very unhappy unless you can fix it with technology or improvements.