Not the best space simulator/action game in the world but not the worst.
I think quirky is the best description of this game, you cant save the game then load from where it was saved. You can store the game data (not the same) then restore but it starts from the jump gates, this can at times be very useful.
Weapons are not the best part of the game there confusing at best, there are deferent weapons for deferent shields and hull plating, one weapon may good against the shields but poor no the hull.

Joy stick
I never got mine to work (it did not work in freelancer not even an Xbox controller), there's suppose to be a patch on the website be I never found it, if your controller wont work set mouse sensitivity to full, takes a bit of getting used to can be a little slower then controllers but your enemy is not that good.

Do's
Do pick up cargo left by ships you or others destroy by teleporting ( its not in your cargo hold until you move it there by clicking in the right hand panel and selecting take all).
Do use a storage unit in every sector our friendly with, be sure to mark it position (hold delete for numbered list ).
Do collect minerals (use mining tools form stations)
Do collect cargo, there's a lot of cargo scattered through out most sectors just get close then you will get a transport lock hit the T key then move it to the hold( you will need 3 energy cell level.
Do take all satellite jobs in the sector first and dock with a station before taking a head hunting job.
Do make sure you have plenty of nano bots (they restore you hull).

Don'ts
Don't upgrade you first ship by paying for upgrades in the stations (there not transferable).
Don't get to close to Collective ships when they explode, they leave a acid cloud behind.
Don't dump goods just because there illegal in that sector put them in a storage unit till you leave the sector, another sector will pay well for them.
Don't sell minerals even if you don't need them, use them to build upgrades then sell the upgrades you don't need.

Massdriver or double massdriver are first weapon to get hold of its good against pirates and fair no most others.
Sniper upgrade is a must have it fires one very powerful shot at a time.
While your docked at a station go to upgrade and repair then hold the mouse pointer over a weapon to see the damage it will do to shields and hull. You only have one weapons and missiles slot in the light fighter and two gun slots in medium fighters, the heavy fighter gives you two of each but you have to switch be between one or the other. There are a large number weapons to chose from, you can't use just one for all ship types you can change weapons as long as you not under attack, press the I key go to upgrades.
All weapons including missiles are graded 1 to 10 your ship must match its upgrades to weapons. Missiles are graded the same way with different speeds and damage and prices to match, the soft missile you start with are the lowest power damage at 20% speed at 12 cost 30, ectasy are better damage 70% speed 11 weapons class 40 cost 40.

At the beginning you have a light fighter with 12 soft missiles, turbolaser, ship upgrades are 10 except for shields energy cargo space (cargo has two settings weight and space you need both for large items). I recommend not to upgrade this ship above the value of 30 at each section, save your credits to bye the medium fighter again don't upgrade much until you have the heave fighter the highest ship you can bye.

There are two types of upgrades ship based and add on, ship based you bye from station add on you build from the minerals you collect from asteroids an cargo left by destroyed ships. Add on upgrades you keep when you change ships, ship based you have to start again. To build add on upgrades dock at your storage unit remove every item from your ship including weapons (You only going to the near by station) load your ship with minerals click the tech lab tab at the bottom left there are 10 levels you really need level 5 for good start and use of minerals but with some upgrades it takes a vast amount of minerals. When you're ready dock at the station click on the upgrade tab select the level you want click the upgrade you want you get the chance to cancel if you're not sure. Then go to the ship repair tab and click to install, there are two upgrade slots on heavy fighters, don't forget to dock at your storage unit to pick up you're weapons. You will have to buy some ship based upgrades just don't max out until you get the heave fighter.

You can not cancel a job once you have taken if so store your profile before you dock then if you want to cancel just restore your profile.
Satellite activation loading as the easiest just fly to the satellite an icon will appear press enter then a progress bar shows the progress.
Head hunter jobs are combat missions not just pirates, you could be taking out an other EMD pilot.
Destroy station not easy there are always 2or 3 ships to take care of and again it could be EMD station that UF want destroyed.
Capital ship again not easy and could EMD so be shore you check before taking mission.
When you select a job in a station highlight the job(green are in the same sector) then from the bottom left select a faction (this increases your diplomacy with that faction) click the bar at the bottom and your hired.

Factions ships hull plating shields best weapons to use
Alreeani (H) Nano (S)Trans (W) Dirupter level 90
Chulta Olirion (H) Nano (S) Nano (W) Double Massdriver level 50
Collective (H) Bio (S) Bio (W) Disrupter / Singlar level 30
Draglon (H) Meta (S) Nano (W) Double Massdriver level 50
EMD (your faction) (H) Trans(S) Trans (W) Microwave level 0
Ezodar (H) Meta (S) Meta (W) Gouse Cannon level ?
Pirates (H) Nano(S) Nano (W) Double Massdriver level 50
UF (H) Trans (S) Meta (W) Microwave Chemical Blast level 0/80

There are tree modes of fire sniper(after you bye the upgrade) short burst full guns pressing the comer key changes the mode.
Sniper good for long distance very heave damage short burst good for close range use boost drive to increase damage full guns just fires until energy fails.
If you get close behind your target they can't fire at you but can still fire missiles, once you get the shields down hull damage comes quickly but their shields recharge you can take the shields down with missiles, I like to take the shields down with guns then hit them with missiles. When you have multiple targets attack the mission ship if your taking heave damage hit the boost to give your shields time to recharge for hull damage use nano bots but only if you some shields. never store your profile while your in a mission because when you restore you start from the beginning.
Wingmen can be hired just get in hailing distance and hit the P key that brings up a list on the lower left press1 to hire. Your only restriction on wingmen is the credits you have and the profile you chose when you started. Your wing men are listed in the bottom left of the screen showing hull and shields.

Not much to say its easy to follow, you start with an instructor he tells you for your last test is to activate satellites then he tells there are pirates. Shoot the pirates collect the cargos then activate the near by satellites to get instructions for the next. I recommend builder up your cash by taking jobs and shooting pirates, mine materials collect cargo for upgrades (you need a minimum of 3 energy 5 better I also increases your boots steed). When your ready for the next story line go to the map and you will sea a marker showing the sector you need to get to, the first 5 are kill pirates then they get a little harder.
Story line 6 destroying a shipyard remember what the mission is destroying the shipyard is not fighting the UF fighters, use your boost to take them away from the shipyard then boots back. Stations don't repair them self, hit with full guns and all guns fire missiles at the same time fly past then boots back fire again until the mission complete then boot away go to the next sector before you store your profile to make sure it ends properly.
Story line 7 Meeting interrupted by pirates there are three of them but more join in, press the B key to target the weakest, the quicker you reduce the numbers the easier it will be.
Story line 8 The collective when this starts you see small object round a large ship you send in a probe and it gets shot, after the cut seen your attacked by fighters boost away a couple of time then press the B key take out the weekest, there should be three. My may find pirates join in so boots away from them your next target in a capital ship but not the one with the object round it. The capital ship is slow so keep out of range while you can get behind it then hit it with all guns full guns an fire missiles as fast as you can.
There are another 12 missions to the story line but the only one that's a little different is the escort of a freighter, Just check for a mission icon when you attack a ship.
You may want to hire wing men (I never did so can't comment) just get within coms range press P and a menu opens.