I grew up on Universe 1 and recently started playing it again.

I then found Universe 2 and figured I'd give it a try, and while it's similar, it certianly is a different beast.

My biggest issue is I can't figure out how you actually make money in this game. The passengers to fuel doesn't seem to really net a profit, for every 5 goods I buy maybe 1 makes a little money and the rest lose money, ore isn't plentiful enough to make money, at least in the early game, and the same goes for piracy.

So how the heck do you stay afloat? Or are you just supposed to hang on until you're called for "missions"?