Still trying to get the hang of it.

[neptuneuk]

Cool game. Wasted hours and hours on it. But I always end up coming to a dead end at somepoint when I try pushing my luck.
A few questions:
1) Can I delete previously made characters? I have quite a few that I can't really continue (faction hatred, marooned on a planet etc)
2) Why does criminal status get worse if you are defending yourself from pirates when attacked? How does that work? Or am I getting it wrong. I know you can't keep everyone happy, but I started a new character and have been avoiding any illegal actions so I can skill up or get a new ship but everyone ends up banning me from their space so I can't refuel etc and I end up being unable to continue the game. Getting a bit frustrated now, I'm on mt 5th character and by the time I get to level 6-8 if I run out of fuel I'm pretty much screwed.
I completed a contract for a faction but my reputation went down, which I don't get... And one faction I've pretty much avoided altogether but I've been labelled as a child molesting war rapist....
3) What are the first awards I should be trying to unlock? Or should I already have unwittingly unlocked some if I've played for hours and hours I must be terrible at this game if people are saying it's too easy.

[boeu]

Check your awards in"challanging" mode and aim for all of them first. You can delete any game. Any award you've unlocked will stay unlocked. Pirates are classed as warships i think which is why you lose rep.

[slayernz]

Hiya NeptuneUK. Glad you are finding this game as addicting as all the rest of us

Deleting dead/redundant captains is really easy. To do this, click on "Roster" on the main title screen. you will see the list of all of your captains, each with a "View" button. Those lucky enough to be alive will also have a "Play" button.

Clicking on "View" will let you see the details on that captain, and allow you to "Delete" the character. There is no way to undelete a character, so always make sure you've selected the right character before blitzing him/her.

Pirates are always a bone of contention as yes, blowing them up seems to irk the faction those pirates belong to. There have been a huge number of tweaks by Cory to make pirate killing more pleasurable, but at the end of the day, you are blowing up a space ship and there's usually a substantial dollar value associated with doing that.

The good news about pirates is (a), if you retreat/ignore a pirate, you won't get any negative RP, and (b), once you have a trade permit and perhaps a rank with a faction, pirates will not actively pursue you.

So two tactics that you could employ are: make friends with factions and get as many trade permits as possible, OR get a BIG ship with good engines and lots of guns then go pirate hunting in enemy territory. It may not help with RP, but it's great fun, especially with Steel Song or Thulun dogs

Awards ...
It all depends on what you want to do as to what is best to aim to unlock first. Also, some awards are inherently easier to achieve than others. For example, the thousand-suns award on Challenging level is easier to achieve than, say, Dark Nemesis on Crazy.

Look at the award and see if it appeals. Having a W-F tank is amazing - 25 units of water stashed away in addition to the rest of your cargo hold is brilliant. It almost removes the constant concern of having enough fuel for interplanetary hops. Another relatively achievable award is the "Hero of the Stars" award. Ancient reactors are very useful during space encounters as well

Most of the starting ship unlocks are best left as secondary targets. The Vae Victus is actually a surprisingly good all-round ship.

Good luck and may you always find easy pickings with Steel Song cannon-fodder.

[Cory Trese]

Thanks to boeu and slayernz for the responses here.