some feedback and a question

[salvo]

some thoughts to the game after playing it for two days

Overall, the first impression is very positive, I love it, a 4x space game which has managed not to annoy me after two days of playing, is a rare phenomenon.
I'd like to point out some things which I think could be improved.
The UI is superb, especially the system view, though I'd have loved a 3D system representation (i.e. like in space empires IV or V?), but it's just eye candy and not essential to gameplay. Though I think that some info is missing on the UI what makes life unnecessarily harder for the player, especially if you have to manage a big empire. As far as I see, there is no way on the galaxy or system viewto know if there are any upgradable components on a planet. It would be enough to have an icon on the galaxy and on the system view notifying the player that some component (farming, industry ...) can be upgraded. On the galaxy map such an icon would mean that on one or more colonized planets components may be upgraded. On the system view (after selecting a system on the galaxy map) the planets with upgradable components would show a similar icon (on the right panel). So I'd not have to click on each single planet to check for available upgrades.
Another thing which should be in any case added is some way to tell the player if a ship is fully upgraded. As far I can see there is no way to tell if a ship has the newest components. So in order to be sure the ship is fully upgraded, I have to have it orbit a planet with a starbase even if there are no upgrades available for this specific ship (fleet). But how do I know it?

Finally a question:
Are ground troops (tanks, ground aircrafts and so on) manually constructable or are they just an abstraction and appear only in ground combat? If this is an abstraction without player involvement , according to which formula are ground forces set up (how many tanks, aircaraft and so on)? I suppose colony population plays a role.

anyway thanks for this great game

[salvo]

two more questions:

1) in my current game I have a developed small terran colony with abundant ressources generating losses. Since it's the only one of my developed worlds which does generate losses, I'd like to understand why and eventually know if there is something I can do about it.

2) on the design screen there are for each ship 8 weapon slots. How does facing exactly work, especially the side slots (2 on each side)? If I put missiles in a side slot for example, do I have to face the target from the side in order to use them?

[Zaimat]

Are ground troops (tanks, ground aircrafts and so on) manually constructable or are they just an abstraction and appear only in ground combat? If this is an abstraction without player involvement , according to which formula are ground forces set up (how many tanks, aircaraft and so on)? I suppose colony population plays a role.

These are abstracted as you noted and at the moment they increase army strength, by being an available resource for your army.

1) in my current game I have a developed small terran colony with abundant resources generating losses. Since it's the only one of my developed worlds which does generate losses, I'd like to understand why and eventually know if there is something I can do about it.

You probably figured this out a while back but maintenance costs and other expenses like food trade weren't as obvious as they could be. Improvements are coming on colony management and info.

2) on the design screen there are for each ship 8 weapon slots. How does facing exactly work, especially the side slots (2 on each side)? If I put missiles in a side slot for example, do I have to face the target from the side in order to use them?

If the weapon has a limited arc then yes the side has to face them. We plan to add visible arcs so this is clearer.

Sorry for the late response to your questions. Missed this thread unintentionally. Thanks for the rest of your feedback about more UI info about planets and ships, some solid suggestions.