Seems like it's helpful to maximize income on every level. Should I get the bounty detector thing on level 2? And still can't figure out how to hack those things, holding down shift. Ugh.
Hacking containers isnt easy. I saw a trick for it way back when, but nowadays I just sell them. And I dont purchase the hacking unit ever.
And yes, you do need to maximize money each level. You never lose cash, all goods are sold at 100 percent. But you need to do a little experimenting each time to figure what combos work.
Another way to save money: Either use shields or nano-bots. Not both. Shields raise your heat a great deal even with small hits. When your heat is up the nano bots dont work.
You will have to upgrade cooling, but early on its best to focus on either shields or repair. Late game when you've maxed cooling is the only time you can do both.
Bounty hunting and kill-cam are a great way to make extra cash and they should be purchased ASAP.