Starting with the simple stuff: you have 6DoF control (rotation and translation on all 3 axis) and you pretty much need it. It's really more like playing Descent than anything so mouse/keyboard works so much better it's not even funny. I tried a controller for a while hoping to get a relaxed playing position, but it throws off the the quick/precise targetting so back to m+k. The cockpit view is what it is: it's there if you like the cockpit surrounding... It doesn't offer much though. Since I dislike the 3rd person flying too, personally I play in first person with cockpit off (everything as HUD). Don't think there's headlook, but then, maybe...
As for death... There's a storyline that explains why you keep doing what you do and why you "respawn" after death. Won't spoil it, but it's there. So what happens is that every time you die (or everytime you win a run), all the credits you accumulated across the run, you spend on permanent upgrades. There are two categories of upgrades: upgrades to the pilot, which apply all the time as it's you, and upgrades to the ship, which only apply when you fly said ship. Each ship has different upgrades, and there are three ships in the base game, as well as an additional fourth in the DLC. So as you keep dying, you do slowly get a better start each time. I wouldn't hesitate to start in Easy, as even with the lower rewards, you'll get farther, will probably enjoy each run more, and will ultimately get more cash for upgrades. Difficulty can be changed every time you start a new run, so you're never locking yourself up.
As for what a 'run' is, it's a bit like in FTL. You run through a number of sectors, each one being a number of connected areas. You jump from area to area towards the sector exit, at which point you get to jump to the next sector. Last sector only has the one endgame location and if you beat that one you "won". Each area is a bit like a CQC map in ED. You can jump out to the next as early as you want (unless there's a jump suppressor, in which case you need to track it down and destroy it), but you also want to salvage fuel and crafting materials to replenish your missiles for example (corrosion missiles are where it's at) rather than replace them altogether with the next drop.
![[VR] optimal_909](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/109/109067.jpg?1553781733){kind=avatar}
Looks so awesome with those huge battles.
