First of all, let me say to the devs that this game is already amazingly fun, even in it's alpha state! I heard about it from a friend yesterday, and after some considerable reading decided to grab it at the (steal) price. I think Endless Space has the potential to be one of the top (if not best) 4x's of the year. As a huge fan of the 4x and space strategy genre, I'm excited.



I've thrown in quite a few hours and I wanted to share with you some suggestions, tweaks, bugs and just thoughts in general that I wrote down as I played. I appreciate that you devs have been quite supportive of feedback, hopefully this is useful. Here is my 2 cents.



Suggestions (in no particular order)



1. Fleet strength indicators. Many games have implemented some meter, number (maybe the aggregated MP?) or graphical indicator of fleet strength. This is always visible from the main view, and doesn't require you to click on the unit. This would be really, really helpful in distinguishing fleets from the main interface. Shogun 2 and SoaSE did a good job of letting you know relative strengths of enemy armies. You could even go above and beyond and change the ship icon based upon the fleet strength ! Also, it would be helpful to see the "number" of fleets stationed at the planet, although I don't have a good vision of how that would look on top of the strength indicator. This is one of the most important things, IMO, that would improve the game. It would give the player a better strategic overview of the situation without having to click on all of his (or the enemy's) fleets individually.

2. Planet strength indicators. Civilization V had a single number on top of the planet that helped you know it's defense. I think this would be very helpful, although not as essential as the previous suggestion.

3. Hero indicator. Put a "star", maybe even with a specific "rank" icon related to the Hero's level, on fleets and planets that have them assigned. Again, this would be very helpful for the player and give a better strategic overview in the main screen.

4. Let me rename a fleet from the main screen. I can click on fleets and do almost everything from the main UI without going into the fleet tab, but there isn't a rename button! This drove me insane, because I would have to go to my fleet panel, remember which fleet I was looking at and rename it from there.

5. Better "Finished Constructions" panel/indicator. I love that the game notifies me of the stuff that is completed. However, from that screen, if you click on the system that has completed a project so that you can assign a new one, it opens up the system screen but when you close it the "Finished Constructions" panel is no longer open. This means I have to re-open it and then click the next system on the list that I want to assign a new queue item. Keeping this box open would really save some annoyance and is a small change!

6. PLEASE let players change the order of queued items in the star system. An up/down button or even a drag and drop interface would make this easy and intuitive. Also makes things easier when I have tons of things queued up and suddenly need to make a fleet for defense....I don't want to have to re-queue everything!

6. Give me a colonize button on the star system UI. A moon exploration button would be nice too. That way I don't have to click on the individual planet to colonize and I can add it to the queue on the same screen the queue is displayed on!

7. Related: If you can keep the build queue open when you zoom in on a planet to pick exploitations and stuff, this would make the transition smoother and less aggravating (otherwise I can't see what I'm queuing up without backing out to the system view again).

8. A quick icon in the system UI to see if the moon has been explored and if anything was found would be helpful. It could be a tiny symbol, like a crescent moon for unexplored, a half moon for empty and a full moon symbol for a temple. Something of the like would help so I can know which planets I explored without having to click on them individually.

9. Let me add an improvement to the queue of a set of systems if I want. When I research a new system improvement or want to pump out a fleet across a set of planets, let me select those planets and add the item with a single button click to all of them. This would take a bit of work to implement, I'd imagine, but it would REALLY help empire management, which is the weakest part of the game right now. Ideally, you could group systems (you could call it "sectors" or something like that) so that I could select my "shipyard" systems and queue up a new cruiser on all of them with only a few button clicks. This also ties into rally-point suggestions that many people have had.

10. When I click on a fleet, select the whole fleet but don't select all of the ships in the side panel. If I want to drag and drop only a handful of ships from one fleet to another, the game by default selects all of them and so I have to de-select the ones I don't want to move. I think it should be the opposite way around, none of the ships start out selected (blue outline). Just my opinion!

11. Let me drag and drop heroes from the empire and fleet management screens. It would be so intuitive to just be able to drag a hero from one slot to an empty one instead of having to click on the fleet or system and reassign. Less button clicks, but ultimately a nit-pick.

12. Please, please, please don't let me build exploitation on planets that don't benefit that planet. I want to only see the exploitations that have the potential to benefit that planet. Why would I build one on that planet that won't benefit it in the first place? I understand the terraforming implication, but it is still annoying to have to read each one again to remember if it benefits the type of planet I am on (especially as you unlock more exploitations). Maybe another option would be to have the game bold or highlight the text of the exploitation that pertains to the planet type you are on for a quicker and easier discernment.

13. At the top left let me see my empire's income, total combined MP or fleet capacity, and my total science generated. You already show total dust earned, so it makes sense to include these as well (ie Dust: 230 (+15), where the (+15) is how much per turn). Maybe even some icons for how many important (purple) resources that I own versus how many I am using (Titanium-40: 3 (5), where (5) is total and 3 is available).

14. An icon near planets to let me know if the planet is idle in case I missed it on the "Finished Constructions" pop-up. A single, filled or unfilled circle, or something like that. Civilization 5 held your hand in this respect, which really made the game more accessible and less overwhelming in the later phases where you have tons of systems. It is annoying to forget or miss that a system is idle, only to realize it tens of turns later. Maybe a pop up each turn would help (you have 4 idle systems or something). Ideally, no system should EVER be idle!

15. Make the on-system/fleet indicators (name, population, etc) stay visible when you zoom a bit further out. Currently, I can't zoom much farther out than maybe 2-3 systems before the info fades. It kills the strategic overview that I would have at further-zoomed distances. You can still keep the UI fade-out there, just make it start further out.

16. Let me upgrade/retrofit ships in the hangar. Currently, I can only do this by making them into a fleet. But what if an enemy is stationed over my system, and I have 5 corvettes from 3020 AD that I want to retrofit before I launch them into orbit against the enemy? Currently, there is no way to do this. Maybe that is by design, but I do not think it is the best gameplay choice.



(Continued below)

17. Give me the choice of running from an engagement towards a system of my choice (can't be the same direction they are attacking from) if my fleet has all of its movement points remaining. With the current "simultaneous" turn system, the AI throws a fleet at a planet right as I'm about to move a fleet away from there. If my fleet hasn't moved that turn, I think it should be fair to allow me to retreat to a system of my choice. If I have used some or all of the movement points, that shouldn't be an option.

18. Fleet "Stances". This goes back to the "idle system" indicator, like the Civ 5 interface. If a ship arrives with moves to spare at the location I told it to some turns ago, let me know that it is now idle and available for more orders. It could be a pop-up on the righthand side, with a list of fleets with movement points left. Let me tell a fleet to enter a "defend/wait" stance at a location so that the game KNOWS that it isn't idle, but that I have made it stay there on purpose.

19. Player/AI should not take their turns simultaneously. I know this might just be the difference between my thoughts concerning a turn-based strategy game versus your vision, but the current implementation is very annoying. The AI moves fleets near the beginning of a turn, so if I want to move a fleet to attack I better do it before their turn comes up. I think a more traditional round-robin turn system would be ideal, and I have seen lots of other suggestions on this topic. I think some thought needs to go into it because currently it really ruins the strategic aspect of an otherwise "relaxed" game and forces me to try to QUICKLY order my fleets before the enemy player moves them.

20. If a fleet is stationed in orbit around a system, don't let an enemy AI fleet bypass it just because I didn't order it to attack fast enough. A fleet in orbit should be an effective blockade, like a kind of "control zone", and force the enemy to engage. Currently, system defense is a nightmare because of this and the #19 suggestion.

21. Longer debris/explosions in combat. I LOVE the combat system, it really is gorgeous. Currently, I think ships explode too quickly. Star Wars: Empire at War had some great animations in this regard. Kind of like how you guys have cruisers die slowly (love that animation), do the same with the other ships.

22. Combat camera options. Let me switch between cinematic/free/follow/overhead/distant cameras. A single toggle button would suffice. I know I'm beating a dead horse on this one.

23. Some way to manage groups of fleets engaging over a system. Let me move a GROUP of fleets together towards an enemy planet, and let me choose which one engages first. Otherwise, even if your first fleet to invade survives, it dies in the next round of combat to the next waiting enemy fleet. The same should happen when I am defending a system with multiple fleets: Let me choose who responds to the attacker's first fleet. Maybe in long, back and forth engagements like this, the strongest remaining fleets always engage first (instead of the first fleet, which is usually weakened from the first round of combat). Right now, it's like this: Let's say I move two fleets (11 and 9) into an enemy system where they have a few fleets. My 11 ship fleet picks their weakest fleet (because, why not, right?) kills a 6 ship fleet with 3 losses. But then I'm is immediately engaged with another enemy fleet, and because my fleet is no longer at full strength it generally loses. But I should have been able to pick my 9 fleet to engage instead because it is now stronger than the first fleet that won. There should be some order to multi-fleet engagements, otherwise it just turns into a back-and-forth loss (my big fleet eats your smallest fleet, then you kill my now medium (suffered losses) fleet with your other, now bigger fleet. Then I kill that now smaller fleet (suffered losses) with my now bigger 2nd fleet....you guys get what I'm saying? It just goes back and forth and numbers trump more than anything else. If the strongest (by MP or size) fleets always engaged next it might make more sense and actually make victories in multi-fleet engagements depend more on fleet composition and cards rather than who can pit the biggest size fleet against the smallest enemy fleet at that planet.

24. Let me be able to haggle during war with an AI. Even if I offer the AI 1000 dust and two planets, they will not take a cease fire due to some strict parameter ("invalid fleet strength" or something). I understand that you shouldn't be able to buy yourself out of every war, but it should be feasible occasionally.

25. Cough cough Starbases cough cough. Let me fortify my frontlines with fleets, but also with static, system-based support! I know some improvements already do this, but I'm spoiled by SoaSE: Entrenchment.





Bugs

1. BUGGY LOSSES AFTER MANUAL COMBAT. This one is huge IMHO. I don't know if this is intended as part of the game, but in my current game, when I enter a battle manually, I lose ships at the end of the engagement EVEN IF THE ENEMY IS DEAD. Let me give an example. I warp in with 11 ships versus one or two corvettes. In the manual combat (and by the HP indicator), I lose no ships. But after the "victory" message is playing, right before the game fades out to the main UI, I lose 1-2 additional ships (I see them blow up and my total ship count goes down). This is sometimes 15-20 seconds after the enemy is dead, and I see no torpedoes being exchanged....the ships simply explode right as we are heading back to the main screen (sometimes even if I had a repair card going that phase!). It also shows up in the aftermath screen as losses. This is VERY upsetting. Is this because the visuals are not representing the actual combat numbers and losses, or is this a bug? I wanted to turn off the game a few times when I absolutely smashed a smaller fleet with no losses, only to lose 3 ships way after victory had been declared and I thought everything was over. This isn't fair, and makes things a lot harder versus the AI. Maybe there is a reason for this that I am missing, but it isn't cool and needs to be fixed!

2. Simultaneous turn issues. Several times I've been engaged by the AI but was unable to select manual or auto combat. I think you are aware of this bug.

3. Diplomacy text string bug. Tried to negotiate a cease fire and I got some weird response from the AI ("Cease Fire Response String" or something like that).



Please don't think I hate this game because of the amount of suggestions, I think it is great and I can't wait for the finished product. It's "just my opinion, man". Hell, I have a date tonight with my current saved game after being up until 4 am last night. My wife isn't too happy, but she understands that the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance.



Let me know if anything I said needs clarification or further explanation. Keep up the amazing work, you guys have a lot to be proud of! Thanks for the opportunity to play the game before release!



-Mesthione

Mesthione wrote:
Bugs

1. BUGGY LOSSES AFTER MANUAL COMBAT. This one is huge IMHO. I don't know if this is intended as part of the game, but in my current game, when I enter a battle manually, I lose ships at the end of the engagement EVEN IF THE ENEMY IS DEAD. Let me give an example. I warp in with 11 ships versus one or two corvettes. In the manual combat (and by the HP indicator), I lose no ships. But after the "victory" message is playing, right before the game fades out to the main UI, I lose 1-2 additional ships (I see them blow up and my total ship count goes down). This is sometimes 15-20 seconds after the enemy is dead, and I see no torpedoes being exchanged....the ships simply explode right as we are heading back to the main screen (sometimes even if I had a repair card going that phase!). It also shows up in the aftermath screen as losses. This is VERY upsetting. Is this because the visuals are not representing the actual combat numbers and losses, or is this a bug? I wanted to turn off the game a few times when I absolutely smashed a smaller fleet with no losses, only to lose 3 ships way after victory had been declared and I thought everything was over. This isn't fair, and makes things a lot harder versus the AI. Maybe there is a reason for this that I am missing, but it isn't cool and needs to be fixed!

Missiles use a few turns to reach their targets.