Ok, before I get to the heart of my rant, I have to give some well deserved praise. So far, so frak'n good. The game you have put together thus far is rather solid. I have had zero crashes, and the interface and premise is great! It has a good level of detail, great research tree and overall a solid empire building scheme. I would have to say it is becoming as promising as Sins, but much prettier.



However, the empire building/control goes right out the window with fleet combat. I basically have no control over tactics, how ships are deployed, used, etc. It's a little depressing, and at times very frustrating. Let's face it, your fleet should be able to function in regards to obvious tactics; like having a couple ships devoted to missile bombardment, while your standard combat ships wade in, carriers launch fighters/bombers, electronic warfare ships jam enemy sensors, and battleships belch out massive barrages. These are a few of my favorite things.



Now I can understand that the finer points of fleet combat may not be for everyone. Perhaps having a third choice (Auto, Manual, Expert) when fleet combat starts for those who want more control can have it. Just make it a turn based feild that the combat occurs on until one side is down or flees. Especially flees, because colony ships should have an option to run away. You could still even incorporate those beautiful cinematics into each turn of combat.

Just bought the game today, and wound up fighting my first battle against a single pirate ship with a fleet consisting of a Protector and a Procreator (playing as Sophons).



Problem one: the "phases" of combat are timed, and the time allotted is too short. I barely have time to read through what the cards that I have available do now, and I expect it to get much, much worse later on. I would much rather be able to read through the cards, determine what I need, ponder what my opponent is likely to select, and then make my choice. As it is now I'm basically picking at random.



Problem two: my Procreator (possessing no offensive or defensive capabilities) wades into combat right alongside the Protector. Uh... why? The end result is that it gets destroyed every time, and I see absolutely no way to influence that in any way, shape, or form. At the very least my Protector should interpose itself between the Procreator and the pirate ship and take the majority of the damage. Instead it seems like the opposite happens.



Problem three: While the visuals are nice, they are also quite confusing, and I have no idea what is going on. Kinetic weapons are impacting my ships... how much damage did I take? Do I need to repair? Can I repair? I don't know.



I personally find the long/mid/close-range idea compelling, but I have so little control it's rendered moot. All of my ships wind up at close-range, even if they are optimized for long-range combat - as far as I can tell, anyway. The entire "drive-by" set up also seems... strange.



If I had the option of sending some ships forward and pulling others back (or maintaining position) as the flow of combat dictates, it would be much more interesting. Right now engaging in a "Manual" battle seems pointless.

It grew on me pretty quickly. You can review the cards out of combat as well, click 'Battle Actions' when you have the fleet selected. Most of the choice is either playing to your strengths or trying to cover your weaknesses, ie do you make the enemy miss or do you want hits to do less damage? Is it worth going for a repair knowing it can be countered and there's no other bonus?



It's smooth, it's fast, it's fun, I love it. Remember not to put your civilian ships in the same fleet as your combat ships