In desparate need of fast-travel

I should be clear that, when I complimented 3030 Deathwar Redux for having a good start, that wasn't faint praise; it's sadly typical for the opening minutes of a space simulator to turn players away with impenetrable complexity and a stark lack of direction. Like Starpoint Gemini 2, for example.

I'm assuming that this game - and likely the franchise in general - is directed more toward fans of slow and methodical simulations than those who want an action or storytelling fix, because the story is impossibly bland (despite its introductory cutscene droning on for what feels like forever) and there is an intimidating volume of tutorial text. Starpoint Gemini 2's in-game UI and control documentation is comprehensive, and it asks you to read page after page of this before embarking on even the most basic gameplay task.

Which is to fly to a planet, directly in front of you. Simple, sure, but also agonizingly slow. At full speed there are literal minutes of absolutely nothing happening on your way to planetfall.

But then, oh, a pirate ship! Ready your guns and ... hold down the fire key for a minute or so, until it dies. Not exactly the fast and tense action of a Rebel Galaxy encounter, here.

Finally you reach the planet and are greeted by another several pages of tutorial pop-ups, for shipyard options and news tips; but none of it's necessary, as your only objective is to immediately leave the planet again. And then a guy on the radio says to set course for-- oh, christ, how long is this voyage through the void going to take?

Deathwar fell apart after the first star system, but it showed some impressive design chops by making docking stations feel "alive," and by walking you through its various mechanics in highly-scripted intro missions. Starpoint Gemini 2 does pretty much the opposite: gives you a book to read and tells you to keep flying until something happens.

Progress: Like, none.