Here is a list of general improvements that I think would benefit the game. Some might have been suggested, but I couldn't find them.



Something to See



Well, this suggestion is about the creation of a list of known enemy ship designs, it's kinda difficult to remember all of the combos the other guy is doing.



Something to Do



As the game goes on, the "End Turn" Calculation takes longer and longer... I think this time could be put to use by enabling the player to read the combat reports or consult the tech tree and enemy ship list suggested above.



New Key Functions



After playing for some hours today, I started getting lots of notifications every turn. It takes a while to move the mouse from the notification then to the dismiss button and back and forth, so I would suggest key binding, for example the "Esc" key to dismiss the notifications once open - no back and forth with the mouse!



Another key function I think could benefit the game is to use a Key - usually "Ctrl" and "Shift" I think - to increase the increments of the modules we are instaling with each mouse click, I had one instance of having to click 72 times to instal weapons (just for test) - please refer to the screenshot below. If this is already in the game I don't think it is working for me, but I will test again.









Visuals



In the picture above, we can also see something that isn't right, please look to the "Beam" weapon slot and note that the "Strenght" value is parcially hidden by the blue icon.



Balance



I am starting to think that beam weapons might be a bit OP, as it can be seen in the picture I only researched "Pinch Guns" and I am still to have a battle going over the second phase. My guns just kill everything before the end of the "Long Range" phase. I haven't felt the need to upgrade my ships since turn 60 and I am currently on turn 127 finishing the Cravers and Horatio at the same time, and I have just started a war against the UE player.



My fleets of Battleships (usually 5 to 7 ships) equipped only with "Pinch guns", two flaks and the third tier of shields, with a total power of 5400 to 8200, can kill any fleet equipped with any weapon so far. I haven't lost a ship in a long time.



To sum, beam weapons might be to accurate. In the case of the pinch guns, there might be a bug that makes way to much damage, since the AI barelly is able to collapse my shields let alone make damage to my ships and the AI is using more advanced beams.



A New Way to Get There



Given the current issue of pathfinding I would like to propose a different way to travel. Instead of looking for the shortest route, maybe make the lanes selectable to move the fleets from one point to another. And in order to reach a distant star, making a movement cue similar to the research cue would be a nice way to reach a target without ever getting out of our territory. The current system could still be used (when fixed) if the player doesn't want to bother with this.



Battle Cards



In the battle phase, I would like to make the list of phases in the corners collapsable, sometimes it disturbes my view of the fight and I can't enjoy everything!



One final suggestion, it might be a good ideia to split the battle cards by type. I am at a point that I have so many cards that it takes me a while to find the card that I want to use since they are all mixed up - separate by Offense, Defense, Sabotage...



Thank you for reading!

Examples of the "Imabaness"



Look to how long it takes:



1)



2)



3)





And in most cases the Strenght of each fleet is balanced or even tilted to their side.