Hello SectorLords!
Early Access is coming soon (about a week or so after Next Fest finishes) and there's just so much left to do before launch! Rest assured, the game is feature complete and you can play start-to-finish with 2 different career paths with 2 different endgame content and the option of continuing on in endless mode. Now onto the sneak peeks of what's in the EA release!
So, ok, you've colonized a bunch of planets, but they are dozens of warps apart. Unless you have the spare capacity to station a Hired Captain in orbit to stand guard, they are pretty vulnerable to Pirate/Hostile Faction raids or any sorts of calamities. So how can you respond? Well to make reacting to events a little more responsive, you can construct a Trans Warp Beacon at your colonies to Warp inbetween colonies regardless of distance in 1 turn. This opens up lots of opportunities for more strategic movement. There is a cost though! And it's up to you to decide if using it is worth it!
For those not inclined to trading or exploration to make your fortunes, and are more combat focused, besides hunting down Pirate Hideouts, raiding faction colonies or salvage, there are missions that you can run for each of the factions in the game to make money.
Selecting a Bounty Hunt will mark a sector on the map that contains the location of the target. Bounties are usually put out on particularly dangerous individuals, so prepare accordingly!