Hello,

I've compiled a list of various observations, suggestions, and opinions based on multiple games in v2.3.

Please note that all observations were made using the default settings, medium-sized galaxy, and the genius difficulty level.

1) Minot Start Credits: The Mimot Brotherhood is the only civilization starting with only 100 credits. Meanwhile, the Corporate Sector starts with 5000 base credits plus 2000 from the wealthy ability, totaling 7000 credits. Navigators get 2000 credits. All other civilizations seem to start with more or less 1500 credits. If it's intended, I feel a bit disheartened for the Mimot. =o(

Fun fact: if you customize your race by editing the Corporate Sector, you will start with 5000 base credits. I suppose that any custom civilization from the Navigator gets the treaty block as well. I wonder if there are other 'hidden' parameters for each civilization?

2) There are a few noteworthy events with side effects that aren't visible at all. For example, the Gift of the Mithrilar raises all your citizens' intelligence from a selected planet until they reach genius status. That's incredibly beneficial. The event description does warn about using it, but what are the side effects? I haven't found out so far.

In the event "A Mission of Mercy," are there any positive effects from giving supplies to the station? I always seize the station and its supplies and never seem to notice anything special. There are a few events like that; perhaps providing more details on the effect of a choice would be helpful. Otherwise, why even give the choice when one is clearly better than the others?

3) Layout: I strongly recommend incorporating an in-game layout that highlights the explored areas, sensor range, and resources. This addition would greatly contribute to a more intuitive and user-friendly experience, providing players with a clearer understanding of their surroundings and available resources.

4) Menu Missing Close Button: When selecting a constructor to choose the starbase type, the menu lacks a close button, making it challenging to exit without switching units. This issue is also present in the Orbital Improvements and Ship Upgrade menus. My suggestion is to add a small "X" in the top right corner of each menu, providing a convenient way to close them without the need to switch units.

5) Extra Food: It would be beneficial to introduce some form of benefit, such as a faster growth rate, for civilizations with extra food production. Regarding the main screen, I suggest relocating the Food indicator alongside research, manufacturing output, credits, and control, rather than with strategic resources, as it cannot be stockpiled.

6) Irrigation Network: Addressing the current imbalance, the Irrigation Network, designed to enhance food production, falls short compared to the effectiveness of a standard Agricultural District. Agricultural Districts provide a baseline of 1 Food plus a 10% bonus and an additional +5% per level, along with +2 level Food and Population. In contrast, the Irrigation Network, incurring a 1 maintenance cost, offers a meager 2% per level Food and +3 Level Food.

I'll let you delve into the detailed calculations, but it's evident that the Irrigation Network is not a cost-effective choice, even in the midst of an ideally arranged 7-tile hexagon. Additionally, it's perplexing that the AI tends to construct this building on planets without Agricultural Districts nearby.

7) Improvement Border Color: Notably, several improvement border colors in the right menu appear to be incorrect. For example, the Coordination Beacon should be cyan instead of yellow, the Planetary Recycling Center should be orange instead of bright green, the Holo Theater should be pink instead of yellow, the Durantium Processor should be orange instead of red, the Tower of Endless Night should be red instead of cyan, and the Office of Control should be dark green.

It's important to note that this observation doesn't cover all the improvements, and there might be more instances of incorrect border colors. Additionally, it would be beneficial if improvements that cannot be built due to a lack of available tiles were somehow highlighted in the right menu. This would prevent missing out on potential new improvements for maxed-out planets, as they might be overlooked when all options are blacked out. Another suggestion is to add filters for different improvement categories, enhancing the overall navigation and usability.

8) Garrison give Resistance: It appears that I recently captured a Drengin planet with a Garrison building. I'm unsure if this building is still in the game, as I haven't come across it in the tech tree. However, I noticed an issue – the Garrison is providing a Resistance bonus instead of Planetary Defense. This seems to render the building ineffective, as it currently doesn't offer any tangible bonus.  

9) Mercenary Camp: In my Xeloxi playthrough, I observed that the technology "Culture Assimilation" was supposed to unlock the Mercenary Camp. However, I couldn't find the Mercenary Camp building anywhere in the available options. Additionally, the description indicated that it raises Resistance instead of Planetary Defense. This discrepancy raises questions about the functionality and existence of the Mercenary Camp as intended by the game.

10) Entrepreneur: I highly recommend changing the prerequisite for the Entrepreneur specialization to be a specific research, perhaps tied to the Economic Development technology, instead of being locked behind a cultural ideology. Another idea could be to introduce a lesser specialization for civilizations without the corresponding ideology, named Trader or Merchant, similar to how Scientist and Quantum Physician function. This would ensure that all civilizations have access to a credit-making specialization, promoting a more inclusive gameplay experience.

11) Soldiers: Currently, soldiers seem to lack a distinct purpose beyond offering a modest bonus to Planetary Defenses, approximately double that of a regular citizen. However, their impact on other aspects appears limited. A suggestion to enhance the relevance of soldiers could be to grant them a bonus to military production. This adjustment would align soldiers more closely with their role as a military force, providing a tangible and strategic benefit to the overall military capabilities of a civilization.

12) Defense Matrix/Sensor Array Improvements: I find it challenging to discern practical applications for the Defense Matrix and Sensor Array improvements. To heighten the relevance of the Defense Matrix, a suggested improvement could involve granting a percentage boost, such as 20%, to the Planetary Defenses of core world, rather than a flat +20 limited to a single colony.

As for the Sensor Array, it appears somewhat redundant, particularly considering that, by default, there is no Fog of War within your borders (unless the option is unchecked in advanced settings). Even with this setting unchecked, constructing a starbase with sensor upgrade modules offers significantly greater sensor range than the Sensor Array. The only conceivable utility for Sensor Arrays and Defense Matrix might be in very distant colonies grappling with supply attrition, where alternative improvements are not feasible.

13) Recruiting Station: I must admit, they are quite effective. Firstly, being one of the most affordable Orbital Improvements without requiring Durantium is a significant advantage. The +20 Growth bonus it provides stands out, especially when compared to the regular growth rates of most species. I do empathize with the Festron, which cannot benefit from Recruiting Stations but has a Hatchery instead, offering only a +5 growth bonus. As a result, most species tend to reproduce faster than the Festron, thanks to the Recruiting Station. Is this intentional?

Additionally, I've observed that when capturing an enemy planet with a recruiting station, the planet doesn't seem to gain the expected +20 Growth bonus. Subsequent testing revealed a more general issue: orbital improvements on captured planets don't appear to retain their effects. I hope this information is incorrect, as it would entail the need to redo all orbital improvements on those planets. 

14) Tropical Grassland Show Wrong Icon: Currently, the Tropical Grassland tile incorrectly displays a leaf icon, indicating a bonus to agricultural districts, while it actually provides a +1 bonus to manufacturing districts. This inconsistency can be confusing for players as it doesn't accurately represent the tile's functionality.

Additionally, regarding the Lagoon tile, there seems to be a missing approval symbol on the tile. Including this symbol would improve clarity and ensure that players can easily identify the benefits associated with the Lagoon.

15) Artocarpus Fruit Planet Improvement: There seems to be a duplication issue with the Artocarpus Fruit improvement, as it displays the +2 level to Population modifier twice. Additionally, there is a discrepancy in the Growth bonus when upgrading to the Artocarpus Orchard, where the bonus decreases from +30% to +10%.

16) AI Constructing Improvements on Restricted Titles: I recently observed that the AI constructed a Financial district on a mountain tile of one of my captured planets. Typically, it should not have the capability to do so.

17) Advanced Barrier Fields Shield Strength: There appears to be an inconsistency in the shield strength values of the Advanced Barrier Field. Despite having the same mass as the Advanced Shield Generator and requiring additional research, the Advanced Barrier Field currently offers a lower shield value.

18) Weapons Order: There appears to be an inconsistency in the order of weapons in the design screen, specifically with the Enhanced and Experimental Disruptor Bank. As it currently stands, they are positioned before the Enhanced and Experimental Plasma Rod, which seems to be incorrect. A more logical order would be to have the Enhanced and Experimental Plasma Rod listed first, followed by the Enhanced and Experimental Disruptor Bank.

19) Prolific supply ship description in the design save screen is wrong: When saving a new supply ship design, the default description says: Delivers 100 Manufacturing to target world. However, when you move your cursor over the supply ship in the shipyard manager, it says: Hauls refined goods to another colony providing 75 manufacturing points because it's the prolific version. Hmm... perhaps it's because there is only one supply ship description, so it can't see the difference between the Prolific and standard supply ship. Anyway.

20) Refit: The current implementation of refitting raises concerns about its effectiveness. The combination of credit and time costs, coupled with the issue that the refitted version often fails to surpass the current one, diminishes the perceived value of refitting.

21) Decommission Button: Adding a direct decommission button on the star map would be a valuable convenience. This feature could streamline the process of decommissioning ships, providing a more straightforward and efficient way to manage fleets without the need to navigate through multiple menus. Such a button would enhance the overall user experience and contribute to a smoother gameplay flow.

22) Research Screen: When selecting a research from additional candidates, the previously chosen breakthrough research remains somehow selected. This prevents direct reselection, causing inconvenience. A fix for this issue would enhance the user experience by allowing seamless reselection of breakthrough research without unnecessary steps.

23) Political Capital: Upon researching Political Capital, the expected outcome of gaining 5000 Diplomatic Capital does not occur. 

24) Executive Orders: Providing information about the duration of the effects (and side effects) would enhance clarity for players. Additionally, transitioning to percent-based effects could make Executive Orders more relevant throughout the mid and late game, allowing them to scale with the increasing scale and complexity of the gameplay.

25) Exploit Population Executive Order Description is Wrong: The description of the "Exploit Population" Executive Order is inaccurate. The description states: "All planets outputs +200% for 5 months." However, in reality, it only affects one planet. While it would be exceptionally powerful if it truly influenced all planets, considering its low control cost and cooldown, the current implementation contradicts the provided description.

26) Small Ship Production: A suggestion for improvement would be the ability to build multiple ships in a single round using the overflow of military production from the shipyard. This change could make crafting smaller vessels, such as fighters, more worthwhile, especially when players are not restricted to producing just one ship per turn.

27) Economic Strategy: It seems there are two distinct approaches to generating credits in the game. On one hand, players can focus on building trade routes, economic improvements, investing in tourism, and adjusting tax rates (even if it lowers manufacturing and research). On the other hand, an alternative strategy involves selling items obtained from events and engaging in trade with other civilizations for additional credits, all while keeping tax rates as low as possible.It's worth noting that the latter approach enables players to operate with a negative credit flow throughout the game, without much concern for the effects of crime. This may potentially diminish the impact of certain economic aspects. Interestingly, even though the economic power may appear low, a high treasury compared to AI civilizations raises questions about the balance of this strategy.

28) Crime: Currently, crime management appears relatively straightforward, thanks to the effectiveness of various elements like Supply Depots, events, ideologies, ministers, and policies. This ease of control has resulted in a decreased reliance on constructing Surveillance Centers and a less frequent use of Prisons or Planetary Courts.

Moreover, during my Xeloxi playthrough, I noticed that all my planets consistently maintained 0% crime without implementing specific measures to prevent it. The significance of crime seems to diminish further, particularly in games that focus on gaining credits through trading and selling ship upgrades obtained from events, rather than relying on tax income. In such cases, crime appears to only impact the approval of specific citizens and remains an inconsequential aspect of overall planetary management.

The only scenario where crime appears to matter is during the early game, specifically when there is a criminal population on your core world and numerous colonies linked to that core world.

Lastly, I observed that the AI constructs Prisons and Surveillance Centers on planets with 0% crime. Upon closer inspection of every AI-controlled planet, it became evident that all of them maintained a 0% crime rate.

29) Liberators: There appears to be an unintended advantage with Liberators civilization, where they spawn and provide an opportunity to easily sell technology for a substantial amount of credits. Despite their presence, Liberator seem too weak to pose a significant threat, and players can exploit the situation by selling technology for considerable amounts of credits. The higher the difficulty, the more credits can be gained, often exceeding 5,000.

30) Cosmic Contaminant Tech Trade: When engaging in technology trade with the Cosmic Contaminant as another civilization, an issue arises where the technology "Research Districts" appears twice in the left menu. Curiously, this anomaly actually allows for the technology to be traded twice with them.

31) Trading Resources/Credits: For quality of life improvements, it would be convenient to have the option to increment by 10, 100, or 1000 units at a time when trading strategic resources or credits. Additionally, an option to match the offer, allowing the civilization to agree to the current trade, would be beneficial. While it's acknowledged that credits do match up to a maximum of 1000, there are situations where a higher matching value is necessary.

32) Ships/Ressources Trade Value: There appears to be a significant imbalance in the valuation of ships during trade, with our ships being considered nearly worthless compared to the AI's. For instance, with a friendly AI, one of their probes is worth about 1 cruiser, 5 frigates, and 3 fighters of mine. This discrepancy seems excessive. To add a thematic touch, it could be intriguing to explore the idea of civilizations having bonuses for trading ships that align with their characteristics. For example, the War Profiteers civilization like the Drath could have a bonus for trading ships, reflecting their expertise in profiting from warfare.

On a related note, a similar issue arises with strategic resources. While the AI's resources seem to have fair trade values, attempting to buy anything with one's own often results in disproportionately high costs. It might be worth adjusting these trade values to ensure a more balanced and enjoyable experience.

33) Your Military Ship is near my planet: I've encountered situations where seemingly peaceful civilizations declare war on me because my military ships are in proximity to their planets. It becomes frustrating when my fleet is not even orbiting their planets but within my sphere of influence. One notable instance involved the Altarian Republic, a typically peaceful faction with whom I had established multiple treaties and open borders. Despite this, they declared war on me, while the hostile Korath, with a -16 diplomacy modifier due to their aggressive stance, remained peaceful. It seems that the AI might be overly sensitive to the presence of military ships in its vicinity.

Due to this, when you commence conquering planets from an opponent, there's a considerable risk of entering into war with other civilizations, even those that are friendly, if their planets are within the conquered territory.  Considering that fleets automatically return to their respective spheres of influence at the start of a war, one may question the necessity of such sensitive reactions from the AI.

Also, it seems like the automated survey team, along with a few escort ships, can inadvertently start a war with another civilization if it lingers too long near one of their planets.

There should be a more extended period before diplomatic relations between civilizations deteriorate, accompanied by warnings from the respective civilizations. While I occasionally receive warnings, most of the time, the relationship deteriorates so rapidly that it goes directly from Warm to War.

34) Approval: There seems to be an inconsistency in the effects of events related to approval. Some events that grant approval don't seem to apply any modifier, while those that decrease approval appear to work as intended.

35) Drengin Citizen Description: I've noticed an inconsistency in the description of Drengin citizens. The text mentions "High Resistance," raising questions about whether Resistance is still a relevant concept in the game. If it is, I'd appreciate clarification on the distinction between Resistance and Planetary Defense, as the description seems to use the terms interchangeably.

36) Crime Wave Executive Orders: I've observed that the executive order "Crime Wave," which requires the "Criminal Ties" culture, appears to be less impactful due to the AI consistently maintaining 0% crime on its planets. Even with a 200% crime bonus from Crime Wave, the multiplication with a base of 0 results in negligible effects. Currently, this executive order, along with its associated culture, Criminal Ties, seems less advantageous compared to alternatives like the Realism culture. I believe addressing the underlying issue with crime mechanics would enhance the usefulness of this executive order and related cultural choices.

37) Celebrity Description under Culture Domination: I've noticed a discrepancy in the description under the Cultural Domination technology when hovering over Celebrity. Instead of providing information related to Celebrity, it displays the description for the Colony Ship.

38) Prestige Victory: In my experience with version 2.3, Prestige Victory seems to be the most prevalent and easily achievable victory condition. Even when not actively pursuing this victory type and without engaging in Galactic Challenges, Prestige Victory often becomes almost assured for both myself and the AI. This trend holds true in games with default settings and a medium-sized universe.

With those settings, simply conquering my sector is frequently sufficient to secure victory by prestige. It's worth noting that on more confined maps with a limited number of AI opponents, other victory conditions may come into play. However, in standard settings, Prestige Victory appears to dominate the outcomes.

39) Citizens' Ideology: I've always been curious about what factors influence citizens' ideologies in the game. Besides the Shared Belief option in Collectivism ideologies, there doesn't seem to be much control over citizens' ideological preferences. Frequently, there are more citizens from a divergent culture than from the one associated with the civilization.

I believe it could be an interesting addition to the game if players had more ways to influence their citizens' ideologies. One idea could involve the choices made during events affecting the ideological stance of the colonists. For example, if a player, following a Pacifist ideology, consistently makes choices aligned with Nihilism in events, their citizens might gradually shift towards a more Nihilistic viewpoint. This could add an extra layer of depth to the game by allowing players to actively shape the ideological landscape of their civilization, along with the usual ideology discount they usually get.

40) Economic Starbase: In my recent playthrough with the Xeloxi, I decided to test the Economic Starbase to provide insights for others. I'm usually skeptical about building them, and here's what I found:

I targeted my main tech planet, Arnor (confiscated from the Navigators), which was producing 1025.5 Research per turn. I constructed an Economic Starbase equipped with a Starbase Laboratory, Zero G Experimentation, Orbital Research Center, and an Orbital Institute. This configuration yielded a 12% research bonus, bringing Arnor's research output to 1043.4, a total bonus of 17.9 research.

However, considering the investment, this setup cost me one constructor, four modules, 10 promethion, 2 hyper silicates, and added a maintenance cost of 6 credits per turn. This seems to be a marginal improvement, especially given that it was applied to my best research core world. It's reasonable to assume that the results might be less favorable for an average world. I didn't test it with manufacturing, but the outcome is likely to be similar, making the Economic Starbase appear relatively weak in comparison to its costs.

50) Graviton Vulcan Gun vs. Best Kinetic Weapons: Upon closer examination, the Graviton Vulcan Gun appears to outperform other kinetic weapons in terms of damage per mass. The calculation shows that the Graviton Vulcan Gun deals 4 damage per mass (12/3=4), while the Quantum Driver, another kinetic weapon, deals 2.8 damage per mass (14/5=2.8). The Singularity Driver, considered the 'strongest' kinetic weapon, provides 18 damage per 5 mass, resulting in 3.6 damage per mass.

Notably, the Graviton Vulcan Gun not only holds its own in terms of damage but also boasts the lowest Thulium cost among the three. This makes the Graviton Vulcan Gun a cost-effective and efficient choice when compared to other top-tier kinetic weapons in the game.

Perhaps its mass was intended to be 4, as the difference between the previous kinetic weapon is also quite substantial, going from 10/4=2.5 to 12/3=4, nearly doubling the damage output. There are other questionable weapons, but this one is the worst offender.

51) Gauss Cannon/Railgun/Pulse Cannon Abnormal Mass: The standard versions of these three weapons exhibit higher mass than normal when placed on larger ships, reaching 6 for a battleship and 7 for a Dreadnaught. They are the only weapons that appear to behave in this manner.

52) Frigate Carrier: It is possible to equip a Frigate with a Carrier Module once you have researched most of the relevant technology. This results in a Frigate with a Combat Rating of more or less 21. While the construction time is still a factor, and it maintains the standard Frigate HP, it comes equipped with an entire fighter squadron. All of this is achieved with only 2 logistics and at half the cost of a dedicated carrier. Is this intended behavior?

53) Percursor Anomaly as Xeloxi: When you survey a Precursor Anomaly, a small pirate fleet spawns as a defender, typically featuring a Dreadnaught. However, as the Xeloxi are allies with the Pirates, defeating them on the first encounter is crucial; otherwise, subsequent attempts to fight them may become impossible. The only remaining option is to use the "Enlist Pirate Fleet" executive order. Interestingly, if you send another ship to the Precursor Anomaly, the pirates continue to appear. This situation becomes intriguing as it allows you to enlist an infinite number of Dreadnaughts through repeated engagements. Is this behavior intentional?

54) Courageous Civilization Trait: The description of the Courageous civilization trait still mentions "Resistance" instead of "Planetary Defenses" when the civilization is at a craven level (-1 or -2).

55) Super Shark Event: The first choice in the Super Shark Event still refers to "Resistance" instead of "Planetary Defense." Additionally, it's one of those events where the second choice doesn't provide any Approval, as I mentioned earlier. 

56) Pillage the Weak: When using Pillage the Weak on my population, if I check the approval of my colonists, it says "Print Money -5%" instead of "Pillage the Weak -5%."

57) Refusing the Prophecy Event: When refusing the prophecy, you don't receive the -3 Diplomacy malus.

58) The Deal Event: Similar to the prophecy event, you don't receive the -3 Diplomacy malus for accepting the ship. Additionally, it should be referred to as a Cruiser instead of a Corvette, as the Corvette class doesn't officially exist in this game, and in many sci-fi universes, Corvettes are considered smaller than Frigates.

All these issues/observations are quite easy to reproduce. However, if you need screenshots, saved files, or additional information about any of them, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. Please feel free to leave comments, as I am interested in hearing how each of you deals with these issues. If you discover more of them or have additional ideas, I would love to learn about them.