As the topic says, I play Sophons and my first quest was to win three battles (which I find a bit weird, because I thought they were peaceful and research oriented).

When I go to create a new ship, I can only choose a scout or colony ship.

And in the research screen, there's just so many tiny icons and text all over the place, I can't see which research option contains a military class ship hull.

Am I missing something obvious or is this not highlighted enough in the UI?

I noticed how inhospitable planets say what you need to research in order to colonize them, so it would be nice if the ship designer's hull type tool tip could say what I need to research to get new hull types.

First of all, there is a search bar at the bottom of the research screen. If that doesn't help, the hull types are in the left quadrant (Empire Development). Anything military related is colour coded red. Ship hulls are considered military related.

Second of all, in the first part of the Sophon main quest, YOU CAN CHOOSE between three possible routes. You could have chosen the scientific or the pacifist questline as well.

Hope that helps.

I think it works fine, you just need to get used to the system. Once you do, it'll all be good.

I bet that's what the people who made that missile warning system thought as well...