Hi, I'm new here. Anyway, I really like this game. I've beat the quick start game (easy easy) and also Hard/Hard (would have had all eight planets if not for the Boarine bug). I'm playing a game now where I'm trying to win with an eight planets federation and also while cultivating good will with everyone. I started with the Thoraxian's and I've managed to get them up to 10 influence so far, but it's been slow going so far. Just managed to start a federation with Andor, Thoraxians and Peltians.
Thoughts:
1. Pirates. I understand why raiding pirates doesn't give you cash or influence because you can get anywhere from 3-5 artifacts that can be used in all sorts of ways. But why were they no real rewards for raiding a pirate base? As is it's better for the player to just keep doing raids, rather than attack eliminate the bases. I would like to see a decent sized credit and/or influence bonus to this mission. Surely the people being harrased by the pirates whould appreciate the removal of the thorn in their side?
2. Moons. It would be really nice if planet details listed how many moons a planet has. I know this is indicated on the solar system screen by the white dots, but it would be nice for if the number of moons (colonized and uncolonized) was listed in the details too. Also the game says that colonizing a moon will take 3 months but it doesn't, the date on the solar system screen doesn't change (same for trade deals).
3. Trade. It would be really handy to have a screen that shows details on potential and current trade deals. Trade is the most significant factor in race relations and sometimes it's advantageous to change trade deals to maximize on this, but right now if a race has maxed its trade deals there is no way to see what other potential deals they could make are without breaking an existing deal. Example, Andor has a deal with Peltian, but I want to know if they could instead have a trade deal with the Thoraxians instead. Instead of the game just showing me that they could, I have to break the deal with the Peltians first, just to see what other options I have. This information could be added to the planet detals, too.
4. Planet Detail. I appreciate the pretty pictures on the Planet Detail screen (I really do), but a more organized, more readable layout that took advantage of the full screen would probably be better for readability.
5. Races, someone else mentioned this, but having details information about races and their preferred planet type would be excellent.
