yeah, restarted after a year, and I realized that money wasn't EASY anymore.
previously you just find a starbase, descompose it, build giant blocks and schematic them for armor/hull as needed, and build a titan in about three hours.
Now, I have been spending a WEEK getting all the materials just to make a halfway decent 65 meter destroyer for fighting isanths at the border. Everything I know about weapons, turrets, drones, and mining lasers is defunct, all my blueprints are outdated and useless, the minerals (and methodology of using them) is entirely different, and there is actually a REASON to build a big space station now (Power and factory enhancers)
I don't even really 'get' what a good ship is anymore. point defense turrets? what are those (ow dangit! I just respawned? What's a pirate station alpha?) for? how big should they be? why do my big cannons shoot so SLOWLY now, and why is my heavily armored ship dying instantly? what is this 'linking' thing? since when are missiles the only good weapon in the game? How did pirates get so HARD? Rails? what on earth are those?
I am slowly learning the answers to most of those questions, but things like drones and the 'new style' turrets, and weapons values, are still a bit nebulous... I have no idea if putting a gigantic missile launcher is better than a dozen smaller 'tubes', whether I should waste the space and money installing 'swarmers', 'laser guided' or just default missiles, or all three, or even how many cannon (linked cannons?) spaces I should use on a point defense turret to have a decent chance of killing missiles/isanths, or what.
I am beginning to wish I was completely ignorant and had never played before, because all my old knowledge is just tripping me up.