1. One of the overlays you can activate is a waypoint system that draws a line from where you are to the system where your mission is. Sometimes the correct system is unknown, so it will draw a red circle around the approximate area where the star is. You should be able to activate these layers in the overlay control in the bottom left corner of the screen.

2. This happened to me a lot at first, too, but I've cut down on it considerably. First, make sure to arm all your cities with turrets. It seems to discourage attacks, and when they do happen the cities are able to defend themselves somewhat, making it easier for you to destroy the attackers. Second, make nice with aggressive empires in the areas around you. If they demand money, pay up. If you have enough stored up, travel to one of their stars and try to but a peace treaty (PROTIP: be sure not to choose the lowest available tribute amount -- they'll get insulted and continue the war, but still take the money). One you've ended hostilities, run missions for them and open trade routes to improve relations and keep their demands for tributes low.

All of this is expensive work, so in your spare time be sure to found new colonies and collect and sell Spice from the ones you already own. If you get into a tight spot with low money and demands for tribute from enemies on all sides, you could easily lose the game -- no money means no peace offerings, no repair funds, no colony expansions, and eventually no more worlds left standing.

Oh, and lots of people are saying that aggresive species are doomed to constant attacks from others. But I played aggressively in every previous stage, and still managed to cut down attacks to almost nothing using the above steps. The only raids I get now are from pirates.

Good luck...

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You're an amoeba. Eat. Survive. Grow. You're a fish. Eat plankton. Gain limbs. Walk on land. You're an animal. Hunt. Run from monsters. Form a tribe. Make fire. Build a town. Raid other towns. Invent tech. You're a nation. Build tanks. Planes. Nukes. Make war and trade. Conquer the world. Global empire. Reach space. Colonize other worlds. Terraform. You're galactic. Meet aliens. Build unions… or empires. Befriend some. Kill others. Explore the galaxy. Conquer it. You are God. You make an amoeba…