Most of the sci-fi out there is of the Star Wars/Star Trek variety, where the technology doesn't make sense and most of the aliens are just colorful humans.
Yeah. I guess the tech feels just so antiquated after a time. And the colourful humans definitely are the bog standard of sci-fi. It's like the Asari from Mass Effect. They are basically like space elves. If you aren't into women then you absolutely don't get the supposed "allure" of them, because everyone is supposedly into them. Meanwhile I'm just like: "What... my female heterosexual brain does not compute."
Then there's space magic AKA biotic. It's blue. I love Mass effect, but you can smell the formula.
and often lacks logical world-building
Yeah, hence why I recommend treating it like technology. It's rules won't be as solid as hard science. But maybe you can put some numbers on it. I remember reading a novel where barrier magic was a subtype of magical study by itself. Mages basically had to do mathematical calculations to erect a barrier and do some geometry. It's cost energy to create one and it has to be sustained.
Oh and I found this on the wiki from r/indiedev:
https://old.reddit.com/r/indiedev/wiki/resources#wiki_marketing