Hi Chris,
I agree with your assessment to some degree; not so far as “crapolaâ€, which is a rather dated expression.
As for what other problems await you: You most let the lotus flower unfold itself petal-by-petal.
If you read the bold blue topics you could avoid a lot of frustration attempting to play missions that are posted as flawed, and for which corrected versions are available.
Many corrections are on the Creators Forum, a quasi-official arm of VSTEP, and free to all who bother to register.
In case it has not penetrated, this forum and the CF are run by and for users who volunteer their time to solve problems (often the same questions are asked over and over by … never mind), construct missions, test missions submitted for approval, improve ship dynamics and controls, and write manuals and tutorials that some have better things to do than read.
When you trash SS, you are trashing the efforts of many unpaid members of this forum. You are not reaching VSTEP.
Most of the missions that you claim you paid for are missions created by members, and are included in releases as-is for the enjoyment of others.
You are not the first to come on this forum with no understanding of what is involved in producing and maintaining a program like SS. Others have come before, made themselves obnoxious for a while, and disappeared, to the relief of most on the forum.
http://www.shipsim.com/ShipSimForum/index.php/topic,16532.msg217244.html#msg217244 (http://www.shipsim.com/ShipSimForum/index.php/topic,16532.msg217244.html#msg217244)