Thanks DraQ. I'm actually messing about on FE2 as I type this. I'm just doing the Barnard Star - Sol run to make some cash. I'll experiment with manuevering while I'm playing and have a look at the site as well.
You can also try buying some rubbish/radioactives, flying to an uninhabited system or the outskirts of an inhabited one and use the containers as learning aid.
What I meant by "Steep learning curve" is not the navigation, that's easy, but the actual combat manuevering. I guess I'm just a fan of the original Elite/X-Wing/Freespace 2 style combat... it might not be realistic, but for me it's more fun. I realise it might not to be to everyones taste though.
On the other hand, once you master the system, there is simply less fun to be had in "conventional" space-sims: the gameplay there simply consists of flying around small area of space and going "pew! pew!", while in Frontier or FFE there is simply much more than can happen - manual planetfalls in crippled ship, putting your ship in orbit, stripping everything, but drive, and laser to be able mount the cabins when you see particularly lucrative offer on the BBS, then navigating a pirate infested system with no automatics whatsoever, extreme velocity (>20000km/h) low altitude flight with military cameras strapped to your ship, fending off enemy fighters, then barely managing to make it over a cliff that suddenly springs up on the horizon, even combat is much more satisfying when you can turn around and nicely tan your pursuers while flying backwards. Hell, there was even the time when I flew around with beam laser and blew drives off enemy ships with short bursts. I also know a guy that once sent me a save where he managed to immobilize enemy fighter completely - you could fly around the helpless thing.
As a matter of fact I also know guys who were making competitions in FFE - one particularly memorable consisted of the challenge to make as close fly-by as possible near Sirius B - the winner literally skimmed the star's outer layers, the sky outside the ship turned brilliant white for a moment - mind you, he had to do it at tremendous velocity to simply avoid getting pulled into the star - white dwarves have really harsh gravity near surface. The sandbox potential is simply limitless.
It's again like the driving games analogy, it may not be realistic to hit a wall at 200mph and then drive away because you don't have damage turned on, but it keeps you in the game and stops you getting frustrated when things go wrong.
The analogy is spot on, especially in that simple and easy games simply easily bore you after relatively short while.
There is simple too little to do.
It's always the same story as when playing with godmode - there is not much fun to be had and not much motivation to play well.
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*Edit*
Pretty cool and intseresting website you linked me to, DraQ
Well, it helped me become a good pilot, so I guess it will help you as well. Good luck!