A couple of questions before i buy,
Basically can you own your own planets?
-starbases?
-trade lanes?
No, or at least, not yet. The next Starsector update will introduce the Industry skill tree, and with it probably the whole station ownership and faction gestion. We'll probably have to wait the end of the year for it though.
Until then, the Nexerelin mod allow planet/station capture for your faction. But yeah, the current game is mostly about your fleet.
I love what i have seen so far, the art and combat looks amazing! It's basically sold me on that alone, i just want something i can really sink my teeth into, but also isn't necessarily a grind, like i don't need to personally go out and mine asteroids all day or i won't have any monies (i'm talking late game).
Asteroid mining isn't in the game (yet?), but the Nexerelin mod add this feature. Otherwise, bounty hunting is usually more than enough to sustain even the largest fleet, even during late game. And if fighting isn't your thing, smuggling is quite lucrative as well.
However, Starsector is really brutal to new players, and you'll probably feel you'll have to grind (or get grinded by) small pirates for hours in the beginning. It takes a little bit to understand how to properly make money and grow in size. I'd recommend you to watch the first few video of
let's players to understand how things works.
Does it feel like the rating with different factions actually matters?
When you "choose" a faction, everyone else will rapidly start to hate you. So yeah, it matters a lot. On the bright side, burning bridges with other factions means you'll have access to the shinier toys of the one you sided with. Staying neutral is easy at the beginning, but toward the end, everyone will progressively make your life crappier until you choose someone.
Can you destroy an entire faction? Take them over?
Nope, but you can in Nexerelin.
Is their ship boarding?
Yep, not very exciting though. Basically a dice roll depending on how many marines you have.
