Ever since it came out I have heard only good things about this game. And it sounds like a perfect fit for me. I enjoy figuring out puzzles, I enjoy figuring out lore and I love to explore.
I picked it up during a sale a while ago and since then I had 3 or 4 attempts of trying to get into the game but after a few hours I'm just too frustrated and give up.
My problem is, that I am so horribly bad at moving around, it infuriates me like no other game ever has. Like, I want to go to that planet, I board my ship, I fly towards the planet. I either slow down too late and die crashing into the planet or I slow down too early and by the time I get to my destination the planet has already moved away too much. So I either wait until it comes back around or I try to follow it wich usually ends with me crashing into it. It's like slapstick comedy. The autopilot let me crash into stuff blocking its path so I gave up on that too.
The few times I managed to get to a planet, I couldn't enjoy exploring, knowing I will have to pilot this spaceship again. When I think about having to be at a specific location at a specific time, it fills me with horror. Moving in lower/zero gravity is also not enjoyable for me.
I want to love this game so bad but I just can't. I know this game is a one-time experience so I am torn on what to do.
Are my problems with this game so fundamental that I should just give up and watch someone else's playthrough on YouTube? Or are my experiences in a normal range and I should keep trying until the movement clicks with me?
I fear that the longer I wait the higher the chance that I randomly encounter a huge spoiler somewhere in the internet.
Thank you for reading and thanks in advance for any recommendations, advice or feedback
Edit: Thanks a lot everyone! I will give it another shot and use a combination of autopilot and manual movement. If that doesn't work I'll look at some mods. If that also doesn't work I'll give up and just watch someone else play it. I feel like I'm extra bad at this because my spacial awareness sucks in real life too. Can't tell if a car in the distance is moving or parked and if it's moving how fast. Don't worry I never even bothered to try to get a driving license lol
I'm kind of in the same boat. I played this game expecting it to be the best game ever made, based on what people said. I played about 2 hours. The flying controls were annoying as absolute fuck, and I was just kinda bored. Maybe I need to give it another shot? Is it not for me?
Flying is definitely the first challenge that players tend to meet. Just use autopilot. You can cancel the autopilot mid-flight, and you absolutely should cancel the autopilot if you start to see that a planet is getting in your way. Most people just fly with the autopilot, and that's really my biggest advice.
If you really insist on flying manual, don't treat it like driving a car. Spaceships (both real and in-game) drift most of the time. You want to get up to speed (400 m/s is a good top speed most of the time) and then drift the rest of the way to your destination. Do you see the white dotted arrows coming out from the planet that you're targeting? You want to get those arrows to be as short as possible. If the arrows are visible, that means you're not lined up with the planet and you'll miss the planet
It's one of my favorite games ever, but I wouldn't say it's the best game ever made. I would say it's one of the most unique gaming experiences I've ever had though, and that's valuable to me. Learning about this cute little star system one mystery at a time is an incredible experience IMO. But if you're bored by the gameplay loop, don't expect it to change much. It stays pretty constant. The point is learning one secret at a time and getting a full picture of what's happening.
Flying is definitely clunky, but to me it feels intentional (or at least fitting). As others have said, always use auto-pilot to go between planets and cancel to move your trajectory around anything that comes in between and then re-engage auto pilot. Usually that's either the sun or a moon (happens a lot if you book it straight to Brittle Hollow). When you're near other things, match velocity is very useful either to stop next to something or get nice and aligned with the planet you're about to land on.
When flying manually, less is more. There's no friction to slow you down but there is gravity to speed you up.