How do I create a vivid sci-fi setting? I'm not sure whether to include advanced technology such as spaceships and so on. Any creative writing tips?

Creating a world (also called "world-building) is the
process where you lay out the details of your imaginary
world: 

• how the characters look, act, and
  speak.


• naming
  conventions.


• what characters
  believe.


• the appearance of the physical world, such as
  planets/star systems and structures (above ground, below ground, glass, steel,
  energy).


• whether alternative modes of transportation are
  used (i.e., spaceships or tauntauns--the snow lizards in Star Wars, frozen ice planet
  Hoth).


• what kind of technology and/or innate special
  powers are available or come natural to the
  characters. 

Also, be sure to create the "rules
of the game" and have the characters operate within those rules (i.e., if bi-locating is
a power, describe it early on, not later). 

Thinking
through your world in detail creates a realistic world. The longer your work, the more
details the better. In the end, just the best/most important details get used, but with
forethought some minutiae may become an important part of the story. By mapping world
details out ahead of time will prevent painting your character(s) into a corner, and
adds some interesting layers of complexity to the
story. 

Science fiction is about how imagined science could
affect the lives of people and societies, so it's open to the limits of
imagination.