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There is a tutorial in the bookshelf but it's largely fluff/distraction as its the same info thats on the game page. the misc section is also mostly fluff and flavor with a few easter egg entries. the journals are where the story fragments are.

there should be pop ups when you begin that guide you through the controls and function of the switches, lens and fuel area.

as far as saving the ships, you can't save them all and depending on spawns some playthroughs will feel almost impossible to complete. that part is very intentional. the fuel and lens are also intentional to force you to focus on maintenance/management and create a sense of dread and responsibility tied to the beacon itself. likewise if you do die and restart, counters don't reset...these are all subtle things i decided to leave in to help get the feeling i wanted...interesting, not hard, but not easy...no down time.

there is a bit of exploration in the way of journal entries in the bookshelf, but if you read for very long you will definitely lose ships fast. 

you're spot on though, it's designed to force a sense of struggle to balance, but if you focus on the beacon and make it three nights, you can spend all the time you want on the fourth night reading almost everything that can be unlocked on the bookshelf. (all stats freeze on the last night so you can focus on the climax and any reading you missed) but you have to start the loop again to read the very last unlocks...

anyway, i'm sorry if it frustrated you, but i did want to create tension in a different way than a typical "horror" experience would and i think i mostly did that, just didn't convey it precisely or explicitly how i intended. i'm learning...and comments like yours help immensely.

thank you for playing it though, and sorry for typing even more stuff for you to read.