So... how does this game actually work?

[Lilykatze]

I just started playing. Yes, I started with the tutorial ;). But still, I can't seem to figure out a strategy since pretty little is explained.

I understood that I get research points for going to a planet for the first time. I need those points to unlock more rooms and stuff for those rooms. Is there any other way to get those research points in a good amount than just sending out teams to a planet for the first time?

What good does it do to actually occupy a planet? And those planned, ongoing missions? Do I need that planning table for every single occupied planet? I think so, but is it worth it? Is that the actual core of the game?

How do I get more construction bots? I currnently have 6 - who are completely occupied by keeping generators working by now. How do I get more? The mouse-over says something about a "capacity limit" - what capacity and how do I expand this limit?

I got that researching patents is the way to make money. For those, I need samples from expeditions, right. But how can I get more (and perhaps more rare) samples? Seems again just by going to a planet for the first time, but is this really the only way?

What other kinds of "ingame currencies" are there and how do you get them?

[galadon3]

You need the "Operations"-Room then you can send your teams to a planet till the research potential is completely used, getting a ton more samples wich give you points for patents and tech-points.

Claiming enough planets grants a higher income in influence (you need a lot of normal planets for +1 point income), claiming a world with an alien population after you finished the necessary cultural study / defense missions gives you a +2 to influence growth.
You need to claim planets with ore-deposits to be able to mine the ore.
Besides that claimed planets can be defended against enemy factions and if an enemy faction claims worlds around earth you are basically under siege.

more construction bot limit as well as upgrades for them are techs.

[Finkle and Einhorn]

You need one operations room per recurring science mission. You don't need it for mining missions. Find a planet with high science and claim it (or just use the ones you already claimed), then build operations room then send science team.

For mining missions i don't recommend sending anything but engineers or you could lose people.

[Lion Llew]

You don't need one ops room per reoccurring mission, you need one Expedition Mapper per mission. As you research more you will get specimens, which give you better patients, There are artifcats to find as well. As far as I can tell, I'm maybe half way through the game; money, science points, power and influence are the only currencies apart from ores, but I've not really used them for much yet.