I got off to a running start which certainly helped. I’d already put about 5 hours in on the 1st of the month which was nearly enough to max out my ship and crew. Since the game after that mainly relies on knowledge, it’s fairly easy to speed things along with judicious use of saved games.
I don’t reckon Starflight is particularly tough in all honesty especially for the era. Compared to Wizardry or Might and Magic, I’d go as far as to call it forgiving. There seem to be several ways to find some of the clues and farming minerals/endurium was never difficult even when close to Arth. The aliens gave enough hints to get me to the end of the game, I don’t recall ever having to entirely chance upon anything. The hardest part of the game by far was at the start where I was still trying to figure out how everything worked.
Pooling resources might not be a bad idea. I could certainly offer hints but I’m trying not to give anything away. If you know where you are going, I expect it could be completed in about 15-30 minutes once you have the ship upgraded. I’d hate to be the only one to see the ending at any rate.
