All of my experience with worldbuilding are medieval-esque worlds pre-gunpowder era. However, now I find myself making a game set in a fictional solar system. Aside from the general layout of the system, the size and names of planets, and the reasons for the various factions fighting for control of it, I’m kind of stuck.

I’ve never designed an entirely new life form before, and now I have to populate four different habitable planets. How do I design a fictional world without it being a total ripoff of star wars?