I'm sorry if this is a necro (I don't really think it is, at least that much - besides, the game's only a few weeks away) - I just wanted to ask a question or two. I've tried to find out, but is it possible to change ships in this game like in the other X games or are you stuck in the one ship for the entire game?
Because that's a big thing I'd like to see happen.
So yeah. Sorry for the almost necro.
Did you read the whole thread? We talked about it pretty extensively.
Facts:
You may pilot only the one ship, the Albion Skunk, directly. This is similar to the original X game, X: Beyond the Frontier, where you pilot only one ship.
The Albion Skunk can be customized to suit your needs (details foggy).
You may pilot certain drones launched by your one ship.
You may hire pilots of other ships. These include trading vessels (both specialized and general haulers), mining vessels, combat vessels and whatever else.
You may conduct mining operations and trading operations yourself, or you may automate it. Doing it yourself (even with the assistance of hired AI pilots) grants some benefits.
Conjecture:
The Albion Skunk may have linear progression, similar to "leveling up". It was mentioned in a dev video that at least some weapons must be "unlocked". Whether this means that the craft is experimental and needs to develop the slots or other infrastructure necessary, if there are mid- and late-game weapons that must be researched, developed or found, or if there is something more similar to an RPG level system, no one's really sure.
Here's some additional information at the official Egosoft forums:
[INFO] Ships and stations: What is yours and how you control it