I'd like to see more Appearance options, even if the factions they represent don't make it in as their own affinity. I've been working on a custom affinity, and none of the existing appearances really fit their story. Plus, when I borrow an appearance from another faction, they need to be excluded from my games, because otherwise I have some other faction flying around in my ships, and that is just not acceptable!



The Plocynos, the Deuviyan, and whatever race Ebeneezer Scrooge is would all be fun. As would corporate partnerships between factions, like human/amoeba, hissho/horatio, etc. Could have the little hologram in the diplomacy screen appear as just the corporate logo. Just imagine a great big Terran Battleship gliding into battle, tentacles streaming behind it in righteous fury, awash in the glow from its phosphorescent fungus bubbles. Or a Horatio dreadnought, flying along on golden wings, beak ready to devour hordes of ugly little non-Horatio. Or a Sophon dreadnought, with giant engines strapped to it's rear, trailing a cloud of radioactive waste and broken enemy ships as it hurtles through space.



That way the artists get to play w/o having to to as much nitty gritty coding and balancing. And, if a particular appearance proves popular/endearing enough, someone could do their affinity later. Maybe even a fan.