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Almost identical, since it tries to use real physics instead of just nifty looking stuf like more modern games use, but there are some differences. Those mostly have to do with different engine powers and ship/cargo masses, (and yes, cargo mass matters also) also not all ships have the same sets of manuevering thrusters, which changes what manuevering you can do easilly. Turrets also affect the controls, but not much, tho as already mentioned, the shape of the ship can affect where you can shoot with your turrets.
And yes, you can get other ships, if you can afford them, but that will take quite a while for any halfway reasonable ship unless you are taking a lot of missions, especially the hardcoded ones. You can also choose between a few different starting locations and ships, but the default is much better since it also has the starting ends of three of the hardcoded missions at the very beggining. Walkthroughs are available, but my hint is to drop all combat equipment except for one missile as backup, and take the Wikanware Race mission. Leave fighting alone until you have worked up enough money for a much better ship, since it willjust get you killed otherwise until you actually understand how to fly. And when you are ready to fight, start a new game to test it out, and use other saves. Multiple saves are a must, especially on the hardcoded missions, since there are some crashes related to them.