zzokalj: Hey Johnnygoging,

SPG2 is an open space sandbox. That means that even if it has a story, you will have to grind between missions. Same thing is in Mad Max, Elite: Dangerous, Farcry or Tomb Raider for example. All open world games, to be precise.

As for the money, you can try capturing ships (boarding), because that's one of the fastest ways to get money at the start of your journey. When you get some money, you can upgrade your starting ship with officers, enhancements, new weapons...

Taurus is a good ship, there are people that kept it till lvl 30 or so.

Later in the game, when you start making more money, you will be able to buy licenses on stations to get discounts for regions, and free T-Gates, for example.

And now, few pointers to capturing ships:

1. Buy officer that gives you Trooper Strenght bonus.
2. Install Transporter enhancement that increases Transporter capacity.
3. Lower enemy shields and bring their hull down to 50% or less.
4. Grapple the enemy and star Boarding their ship (Context menu - Middle mouse)
5. Of course, be sure you have enough troopers on your ship.
6. Don't do this too far aways from stations because you will have to haul captured ship back to sell it.
7. Don't do it too close to the station because your allies will destroy the ship before you can capture it.