Hello all – I have played with the Alpha previously (mostly tinkering and playing around) but with the release of Alpha 3 I have put aside time and decided to play a real game. In doing so I have decided to take notes and pass feedback, ideas and any frustrating or buggy things I encounter along the way. This first post represents turns 1 – 252. I figured I would pause and post notes and then play another big chunk.

   First thing I want to note is the hex grid. I love it! Upon loading in the large map, my initial reaction was the board did not feel big at all… This was thankfully just an illusion (at least to me). Once you get deeper into the game you quickly realize how big the map you are playing on is. I think perhaps the largeness of the white star dots combined with the perspective of the plane make it look smaller than it is.

   The following notes are really just thoughts that came to me as I was playing the game. They are in no particular order in regards to when things are happening – only when they occurred to me. I will refer to Starports as Shipyards because I think the name is more appropriate and it is easier to distinguish from Starbase. I am playing as the Iridium on a large map with all other available races on the board.

• Right off the bat one of the few things that has annoyed me is the Galactic Civilization main theme coming on whenever I go into the planet view or the shipyard view. The first intro part is fine but when it crescendos I keep having to turn my volume down – then back up again when I get to the space view. I assume this will be fixed but it makes me not want to spend a lot of time in either screen.

• IDEA/SUGGESTION: Once thing that I thought might be cool is having the planetary music bring to life whatever the planets main function is based on the project tiles. If it is mostly factories and manufacturing the planet screen music could be music with hammers and clanking – or if it is mostly research it could evoke a scientific theme – or militaristic music for a military planet – farm/population music, wealthy music, etc., etc… The capital could have race specific music. This would give some variety and make each world feel even more unique and special.

• It is not clear to me why I cannot build a colony ship. People on the forums were kind to help me out and I realized I have to research a simple tech. I had always played as a Terran so it was confusing to me – I thought it was a bug initially. It is parts like this that an advisor would be helpful. I know a lot of people do not want them but I find they would be helpful – at the very least in the early points of the game. It would be cool to see them in a little monitor or hologram somewhere talking to you. This would also let you see your own race while playing the game which is something I think is needed more in general.

• Initially when I was starting a new game there was significant lag and moons that were orbiting their planets would ‘reset’ mid rotation and skip back to the beginning of their orbit. As I play the lagging gets less and less.

• I really feel I need to rotate under the elliptical. I saw it done in the live stream and was hoping it would be in Alpha 3 but sadly I cannot do it. It’s not a deal breaker but I would feel more ‘free’ and less claustrophobic if I could get under ships and planets. I understand that there are words and numbers on the board – but I don’t care if I cannot read them or if they are inverted on the underside. Being able to rotate below would make it feel like I am in space. I really hope this is added – even if it is something I need to check off in options.

• I am sure it is on its was, but I would like to rename my starbases. Will we have different designs based on functionality, rings or what is being mined?

• My initial reaction was we needed a ship completed dialog but I got used to the button down on the right hand corner. Still it might be nice to have onscreen text (or even a computer voice) state when a project or ship is completed.

• FUTURE IDEA/SUGGESTION: When in a shipyard it might be cool to see the main sponsor planet rotating behind the interface. I understand that the port could be far away – but it could be merely symbolic or even not visible if it is beyond a certain amount of hexes.

• I live in Boston, MA - so to me Hospitals and Research facilities go hand in hand. It seems odd to me that the hospitals and research projects do not help each other out on the planet view hex grid. I feel they should be compatible with each other and could be a way to chain farm-hospital-research.

• LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the triangular ‘Adjust Planet Production’ slider. I’ll tell you I have played and played GalCiv2 over and over and this new slider system makes the game so much more enjoyable for someone like me. I actually feel like I know what I am doing!!! I mean I feel confident when I am adjusting my planets assignments! It is so intuitive and the planet – shipyard slider underneath is great too!!!

• IDEA/SUGGESTION: Perhaps an icon of a planet on the left side and an icon of a ship on the right? Also – should this be greyed out when not linked to a shipyard?

• I am including notes I wrote during the game that I jotted down while playing but later figured out. I noted that it would be nice to have a little drop down menu on the shipyard so you can easily select ship to build without having to go into the shipyard itself. I later figured out that Quick Build was this function. I had thought the quick build button was the ‘BUY SHIP’ option so I never clicked it. I wish I had figured it out earlier so the game didn’t have to lead back and forth between shipyard/main view.

• The Restaurant of Eternity is ghosted out. I think it would be helpful to have NOT IN ALPHA written over the completed tile graphic.

• The zig-zag issue is the only drawback of the hex grid. I know it has been brought up before. The dashed line can remain zig-zagged – but can the ship travel along the straight line edge of the hex? Image of what I mean below:

• Space junk says starbase effect… Not sure what this means. Someone explained it on the forum but I still don’t understand.

• This is one from GalCiv2 as well… What are the differential between Production vs. Manufacturing and Approval vs. Influence… Sometimes they seem to be used interchangeably but sometimes I am not sure – I know they have relationships with each other. This needs clarity for me as it is confusing with the project tiles.

• The auto ship update is awesome! I love that the ships improve themselves. I personally feel the more dramatic the new parts are the better (while staying mostly true to the previous form/structure). This is a home-run and a lot of fun to see in game.

• As far as special strategic resources go they are really cool and I like them alot BUT I feel the more we get as the game develops from now through expansions the better. I understand Elerium and Durantium are important but they are all over the place and get kind of boring quickly. I don’t want them to go away at all but I am in favor of a large variety of cool strategic resources littering the game board that not only effect ships but trade, diplomacy, other techs and planetary/population stats as well. Some rarer than others (or maybe even the rarity spread could be randomized each game). I want more!

• People have suggested adding details to a developing planet as the population grows – which I fully support. But how about increased starbase activity as a starbase grows in function and importance (think Deep Space nice from season 1 all the way to how it developed in later seasons – with ships coming and going – docked around the spires – activity going on around the rings). Make them come alive as the game progresses – again like planets music could be based on function.

• It would be more fluid for me if the mouse wheel zoomed in on the selected target and automatically centered it in the screen. Often I mouse wheel zoom in and have to move the map to center the unit.

• On one of my planets I can see the Earth continents in the ocean. (picture below):

• The fog of war would look less ‘hard’ if the areas between the different areas of the fog where more gradual. This ‘hardness’ is more prevalent between the unexplored fog and the already visited fog. The fog between my territory and the already visible fog doesn’t bother me as much.

• IDEA/SUGGESTION: How about a Galactic Map Screen? I have included some images of what I mean… I screen that you can toggle that brings up a more organic less-gamey map (with filters) that shows territories, key stars, planets, trade routes, etc… Something that is easy to read at a glance. I know there is the mini-map and that is very useful. But I am talking about something in a sub screen that is more detailed and fully interactive – perhaps even a slider that shows the map at different points in history. I feel it would be useful and also think it would be great to print out and hang on my wall. (Examples of what I mean below of Star Trek maps):

• On the main tech window the stars are not filling in when you research one of the three techs in one expanding tech block. I seem to recall they did fill in before Alpha 3.

• IDEA/SUGGESTION: How about anomalies that produce negative effects?

• On the shipyard menu a little visual map of nearby space would be helpful when choosing a sponsor.

• When on the planet screen some indication that a project is compatible with a bonus tile would be helpful. Whether that mean the specific projects highlight on the right when clicking the tile in question or if the projects share the same icon in their description window. Something to save on hunting and pecking.

• Do you have plans to have planet screen projects that can link two different ‘types’? (Similar to how I proposed above that hospitals link to farm and research). I know some do – but more specialized ones would be cool and would motivate me to research the techs to get them.

• IDEA/SUGGESTION FOR FUTURE: How about Luxury Liners traveling along routes between worlds? Nothing like a galactic crisis when one gets hijacked, captured or destroyed to spice up things and instigate war. These could also help ferry populations back and forth.

• When you click on ‘IDLE SHIP’ maybe a check box somewhere to toggle on or off having it automatically zoom up to the ship? It already centers auto-zoom would make it better for me.

• THOUGHT: Wouldn’t radio or other frequencies be detectable from distant worlds indicating that the worlds contain some sort of populace? I state this because it seems strange that you can’t detect them on the map – even if they are close by. I am not suggesting knowing what race is coming from any star system – but a little symbol indicating a detected frequency might be interesting… If this was ever implemented red Herrings could also be planted (ancient messages from an old lost civ broadcasting on a loop). This would urge you to travel there regardless.

• Will battles create new ship wreckage to be picked up by our Survey ships?

• It is at this point I turn Anti-Aliasing off... Game wasn’t unplayable before in the slightest – but lagged a bit and lagging a bit more with me occupying so much of my side of the map. Now game FLIES and is very, very smooth.

• How about an upgrade indicator on the planet view map? I would be helpful to know which tiles can upgrade at a glance and not have to click on them all.

• IMPORTANT: The planet screen NEEDS to show it is sponsoring a shipyard. Especially later in the game when I have a lot of planets. I keep having to exit out to see if it is connected to a shipyard.

• THOUGHT: Much in the Star Trek tradition – have you guys ever given the thought of a different style UI for each of the major races? I mean mostly the same just aesthetically different with varied fonts.

• I stated this above but wrote it on my list twice. Planetary projects should have ‘type’ icons associated with them.

• I am able to see what other civs planetary stats and what they are building if I mouse over their planets. This seems wrong to me. It would make sense for an ally or with espionage but not by default.

• My survey ship when traveling along the edge of its range (in a curve) can travel outside its range along the outer edge of the curve before reaching its destination (which is inside its range). Did that make sense?

• Somewhere around turn 175 – 177 the game crashes. I reboot and load game back… Crashes again. I believe it crashes a third time until I decide to save after every step and do things differently. Game continues without crashes – but I save after every turn.

• At first I think it is me not paying attention… But now I am not sure. Without the use of a survey ship I think random ships are spawning inside ship wreckage. This has happened 2 or 3 times. I take the ships anyway.

• All of the sudden a window pops up: CONFIRM BATTLE? Can only choose one option. BAMM! I have no idea where or what happened. Later I discover it was one of my two survey ships… Saw no evidence of the battle as I was on another portion of the map. Took me a few turns to realize it was gone. This happens a couple more times – again I have no idea where or what ship without backtracking.

• Occasionally I see balls of fire explode on the unexplored other side of the map – they are brief and disappear quickly. After the third instance I figure its battles between two other civs. This explains why I haven’t see them much (fighting amongst themselves). This may be a bug but I think it is cool and works for a fun experience. Almost as if my sensors detected nuclear explosions briefly and adds some intrigue. I like it.

• When deciding which starbases to send my constructors to – it would be extremely helpful to mouse over a starbase and see what modules are already installed without having to click or go into the starbase itself. It would also be helpful if the starbases flashed yellow or some other color on the game board while the constructor is selected.

• Ships traveling through or remaining inside asteroid belts should incur damage. Maybe inside space junk too.

• THOUGHT: On the final step on zooming out with the mouse wheel it would be helpful for the game board to become a graphical map with solid territory colors (rather than outlines and hexes) and defined lines (and a lot of the random clutter to simplify). This is different from my galactic map suggestion – but similar in some ways. When viewing the galactic landscape broadly a lot of the clutter can become overwhelming.

   Well that’s it. This took me a long time to write so I hope it is helpful. I will continue to take notes past turn 252 and post them later in this same thread.

   Thank you Stardock for this wonderful game! It is already a lot of fun to play and is very addicting. I can’t even imagine how awesome it will be upon release – it gives me goose bumps just thinking about it!

Keep up the good work!!!

AuraBoy/Chris