Bottom line: it's not the best game ever, it's very old and it shows, it's very casual style, but yeah it's worth a few bucks.
Casual, fun, laid-back space mining game. With the occasional pirate attack. You can basically complete all of the unique content in just 4 or 5 solar systems... but if you enjoy being a "space trucker" or "asteroid miner" or "casual pirate hunter" then you'll still get some enjoyment after that. It's a very old game, but I like it.
There is, however, [b]A HUGE ISSUE WITH MODERN HD SCREEN RESOLUTIONS MAKING THE TEXT AND UI WINDOWS & BUTTONS APPEAR MICROSCOPIC[/b] BUT I HAVE FIXED IT. [url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3033353871]Click here to read my guide if you encounter the same problem when you play the game.[/url]
Now I'll tell you some specifics about the game.
You can setup various options when you start a new game;
galaxy size (number of star systems), amount of starting money, ship you start with, death penalties or perma-death, number and frequency of pirate squads, how quickly jobs expire and refresh, likelihood of finding more advanced asteroids in each system, your face portrait, your name, and - this is IMPORTANT - what condition you want to set for "VICTORY". You can set it to end the game when you earn a certain number of credits, or when you murder the pirate officer in every star system, or a couple other options.
You can also MOD THE GAME YOURSELF using the txt files in the "MOD_DATA" folder if you feel like it's lacking something.
There are only 32 ships in the game that you can buy and fly, but each one is built differently.
You will travel between star systems. Land at space stations to sell merchandise, buy ship upgrades, buy skill upgrades, modify your equipment, buy/swap ships, or turn in job orders for extra money. Then you go out to complete various simple jobs. Like "transfer 1200 food to station X" so you buy 1200 food items and truck them over to the correct station to turn in the job there. Or you can go mine asteroids for minerals and profits. The minerals can be used to upgrade the equipment on your ship; the raw asteroid ore can be sold for money. Or you can go bounty hunting and murder some pirates.
Your ship has several numbers you need to keep track of. Energy lets you use your systems (like your laser guns, mining lasers, shield boosters, and afterburners). Fuel lets you travel from place to place; if you run out then your engine drains your energy instead. Run out of both and you're stuck until your energy recharges. Hull is your HP basically; if you get damaged you need to return to a station and pay to have it fixed, if it drops to zero then you die. Shields soak up damage before your hull does, they will recharge slowly over time or automatically at a station. And your cargo limit determines how much stuff you can carry. Then later on, in some of the bigger ships you also will be able to carry and launch drones to help you fight pirates or mine asteroids. Just remember to recall your drones before you try to land on a station!!
The story is, you got arrested for "bad thoughts about The Corporation" so they're forcing you to work off your fines as an asteroid miner on the edge of civilized space. ... Whatever "victory condition" you set determines how you end up paying off your fine or escaping this space prison colony or whatever. Thats' it. You're basically free to do as you please after you finish the tutorial, assuming you even bother to follow the tutorial.
