Hi Bama Phil,
I'm not an experienced indoor grower but I've grown quite a few times outdoors. As far as germinating seeds and getting them up, I'll tell what always works for me. I take a small cup and fill it 1 inch or so from the top with some good potting soil. I water that soil very well, almost to the point of being a little muddy looking. Then drop 4 or 5 seeds on the top, cover them with a thin layer (3/8" to 1/2") of soil and spray until damp.
Check the next day to ensure the top is still damp and respray if needed. You should get some sprouts in a couple of days. This always works for me, assuming I have nice fresh seeds. If I have plenty of seeds and I usually do, I fill multiple cups.
After I get a few plants sprout in the cups and the 1st real set of leaves form, I choose the seedlings that I like and break all the plants out of the cup and replant one to a cup. I plant the seedling deep, up to the 1st set of round leaves. This helps with any long initial stretch you might have get, especially in a lowlight window sill.
If you have plenty of seeds to work with, you can use larger cups and let a couple of sets of leaves (nodes) form on each plant. Then, you can pick the ones with the traits you want (like short inter-nodal lengths) and move those to single cups.
I guess if I'd payed lots of $$$ for seeds (never did that but may in the future), I'd have to start with just one to a cup.
Good luck man!
Harry