this video of gameplay is about a month old - you'll notice that targeting ships is different in the current build especially with the TDC mod.
crew panic attacks etc are a lot less frequent in the current build
but this video gives you a pretty decent idea of the gameplay
one thing to keep in mind is that the game can certainly be played most of the time in first person view... however the third person cut away view as seen frequently in screenshots like the one below...
... is simply the easiest and quickest way to manage damage and move crew where needed.
it is just to be thought of as a very detailed advanced more interactive version of this...
