I will definitely check out the UI enhancements.
But two thoughts from the patch notes:
1) Governors give production bonuses. I strongly disagree with this. I don't like the idea that automation gives me a benefit I don't get myself. Automation should be a way to streamline my game-play experience...my incentive is less to fret about, not getting some extra bonuses. 4x games are all about control...when I choose to give up control for convenience, my choice. When I feel obligated to maximize my bonus (which a lot of hardcore players do)...then you have removed control.
Don't worry, they are terrible bonus'on just shy of setting the slider at 33/33/33 rather than some combination of 0/0/100. As far as I was able to tell in testing, you won't be using them to maximize anything aside from more chances to click end turn
2) Larger hulls are a little cheaper. First, I think the main issue on the boards is that ship costs across the board are too cheap, not too expensive. It is too easy to mass produce super ships even by mid game. Second, has the "mass fleet of small ships" suddenly become a balance issue? In my experience, fleets of larger ships already crush swarm type fleets.....except for carriers of course which are in their own class.
Kinda wonder about this myself. The ai only has trouble making them because they are expensive to rush buy & take a long time when your "EpicManufacturingWorld" has 2 food tiles, a FoodHub tile, an approval tile, wealth Tile, Defense Tile, Military Tile, Influence Tile, MilitaryHub Tile, Tourism Tile, Manufacturing Tile, and a third food tile behind 7 manufacturing tiles, a manufacturinghub, & a mabnufacturingunique. Now that's not too mad I guess if you have a planet with space for 22 improvements... but that's not the average planet. those look more like NormalManufacturingWorld
<PlanetClassMin>10</PlanetClassMin>
<PlanetClassMax>12</PlanetClassMax>
<Improvement>Manufacturing</Improvement>
<Improvement>Manufacturing</Improvement>
<Improvement>Manufacturing</Improvement>
<Improvement>Manufacturing</Improvement>
<Improvement>ManufacturingHub</Improvement>
<Improvement>Food</Improvement>
<Improvement>Food</Improvement>
<Improvement>Influence</Improvement>
<Improvement>Approval</Improvement>
<Improvement>Wealth</Improvement>
<Improvement>Manufacturing</Improvement>
<Improvement>Manufacturing</Improvement>
<Improvement>Manufacturing</Improvement>
<Improvement>Military</Improvement>
<FillerImprovement>Manufacturing</FillerImprovement>
<FillerImprovement>Food</FillerImprovement>
<FillerImprovement>Research</FillerImprovement>
<FillerImprovement>Influence</FillerImprovement>
<FillerImprovement>Wealth</FillerImprovement>
<FillerImprovement>Approval</FillerImprovement>
a player who only puts 4 manufacturing improvement on a manufacturing world is probably doing it because there are only 4 or so tiles on that world to begin with after the colony is counted, not because they are saving room for food, food, influence, approval, & wealth tiles on the remaining or so 6 tiles