I posted this in another thread, but am placing it here, too.

Here's my initial experiences and thoughts. Not sure of the protocol here, so I'll just stream my thoughts for the devs. It's a long list, but a combination of observations, wish-list items, and questions.

1. Installation via Steam was flawless.
2. No bugs noted, no crashes during initial gameplay so far. Very nice initial impression.
3. Music was good; heard the same themes as from GC2, but updated (it seemed).
4. Visuals on game selection were nice.
5. Ship and planet visuals nicely displayed.
6. Unit/planet info window (bottom-left): when planet selected, would be nice to see it rotate (wish list).
7. Planet list (right) and planet info (bottom-left): can the unit under construction show a time estimate?
8. Main window was not scrolling with mouse movement.
9. Production Wheel -- liked this a lot. I prefer it to the GC2 sliders, especially when those sliders took a lot of manipulation getting just the right numbers -- remember when we would set 80% research to finish that weapon design, then try to go back? Nightmare... this works much better.
10. Can I assume that in a later stage, when I click on a star, the system info will appear (i.e., number of planets, habitable number, asteroid fields).
11. What's the difference between "uninhabitable" and "dead" planets?
12. Can I assume when I roll over various identifiers (an anamoly, for instance), that info will be available for terms such as benevolence, specifically how this will impact my empire, etc.
13. On the planet screen, I saw several inconsistencies. On the map, a hex would indicate "+2 level to cultural" but in the info at the bottom it would say "+2 level to influence." There were several of these.
14. Again on planet screen, the symbols for modifiers seemed inconsistent -- same symbol (such as GC2 pyramid used to indicate research bonus) would have two different effects hex to hex.
15. Was I incorrect that we could build a ship and a hex facility? Or, in GC3, only one item at a time?
16. Main screen, info window at bottom-left: a mouse over the industry, research, and finance would indicate change, but the flag (influence?) and population had no mouse-over information.
17. (Like) Dust clouds and nebula effects. Nice. What about the possibility of ambushes from them? Just a thought.
18. (Like) The various types of loot from anamolies. Very cool.
19. Constructors -- will we have a range of effect indicator so we know where to place them to ensure we get the correct planet coverage?
20. Turn results information -- I'm assuming in a later drop we'll see an announcement telling us what was built, research completed, etc.
Thanks for listening. Really good start here, I think.