So ya... I just came for the food.
I've never played an alpha, but I've watched programs develop and can say this is well on its way.
The core of the functionality required for the game seems to be in place. I can move units and those units look pretty moving. Graphically it looks nice and I hope will continue to improve (there are a few artifacts and some flickering I've seen in the gray beyond).
The combat seems very rough and I hope to see it more implementation going on there. I really would like to get my hands on the ship editor at the moment (not saying the ships look bad, but I want to play spaceship legos...
The view screens for the idealogy and the ship screens need to be tweaked. The visuals on the crafts look nice, but I cannot see the back of the ships when I rotate the camera. Also, the background doesn't show very well.
The scale on the main screen seems a bit off to me... Suns are too small, planets are too big... I do some differences, but I would prefer more contrast. Same with the ships. I would prefer if the largest ships in your fleet are planet size, and see a distinct size difference for your smaller ships. Right now they all look roughly the same size.
The second survey ship, I find... the lost one. I like it and fit nicely with my Terran armada. I would like to see a unique one for each race...
I've mentioned this before, but I really think that there should be weaponry on the survey ship (even if it is just defensive). I wouldn't mind seeing that ships have defensive weapons if for nothing else to counter those with weapons. I cannot fathom that we decide to fly across the galaxy and not have a laser or two to help shoot or thwart off mini asteroids or debris.
*Ideally, I would like to see on the selection screen the choice between several survey ships... benevolent, more speed and distance and malevolent with small weapons.* It would be a trade off for those that want to have a more militaristic area in the beginning of the game.
Also, it would be nice to have choices when one encounters anomalies... simple options choice A or choice B, and the effects depends on your choice.
Would like to see some more strategic type elements on the map utilizing the dust clouds and nebula's. It is feasible that scanners or sensors would miss a small scout ship that travels into an asteroid field, or in a dust cloud by navigating closer to the large clumps of dust.
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Most of these are just simple thoughts.
