I have been watching the gameplay vids from Multianna and at this stage want to make a comment about the way the icons for planets could do with some TLC to get the "look" right. IMHO I know it seems superficial but wrt first impressions and immersion, I think it makes a big difference.

It would be interesting to hear what other people think.

Personally I would prefer not to see a fake 3D planet hanging there at the end of the phase lane, I like seeing an icon of some sort but IMHO it looks wrong to make the icon look like a solid object, it should be translucent looking, 2D and displaced from the actual object, looking more like a stylised symbol, with a little pointer, like you might get on a HUD of the grand overlords virtual control visor. In other words the icon should be referring to the visible object and providing info about it, not obscuring it.

The actual object should show up at the end of the pointer like something seen through a telescope, differently at different ranges, but basically when you are just able to make it out it ought to look real like something you see through a telescope, a bright uneven dot for roids and a blurry disc for planets. That is the object not the icon. The icon should always be the same.

Plus roids should IMHO not have a planet icon, they should have their own roid icon because you should be able to tell more or less what you saw at the nearest connecting phase lane point even if you dont know the vital data re asteroids etc. So you should have an idea what you are aiming at even if you dont know what you will find.

2c