So I'd like to start about by pointing out what a cool opportunity this is. I remember using windows blinds on XP, and my friend getting me GalCiv 2 many months ago on steam, so I've always been fond of Stardock. When I first booted up the alpha, it was essentially what I expected: a huge improvement already over GalCiv 2 but much work to be done. Then I went and checked out the design PDFS which sparked these thoughts:

-Yes, the first event would be better if you gained points in Malevolent instead of Merciless (I'm not quite sold on this terminology either, in this situation at least it seems almost tyrannical: a leader forcing his people to do something against their will).

-The colony map is obviously rough at the moment, as pointed out, but not badly so. Honestly, it isn't bad at the moment, it's functional and that's what it needs to be. However, I've noticed that sometimes I've have hexes to build on with bonuses not related to their visual counterparts. For example, I might see a hex to build on that is visually represented as ocean, but when I go to click on it, the description and bonus is something like plains or mountains. This is relatively minor, but it feels like it defeats the purpose of a visual map at all when the image doesn't match up to the bonus.

-Finally, there is a big chunk in the PDF's about how ideology might contribute to tech. This will probably be pretty sweet and make a lot of sense (the temple example comes to mind) but at the moment it feels very unclear in game. What is ideology? How did I get it? How can I get more? Why do I want it? (i.e. what types of benefits do I get? what technology do I unlock?)

Again, the small amount of time I have been able to spend with the game and the additional resources has been a blast, I can't wait to see this game grow!