DesConnor

Thanks, I'll try fastest then. I suppose I could just play the games with smaller numbers of players.

Having pirates off seems to make the game far easier with 1v1s against the AI- I've completed the first of the military research only achievements with my first 'rush'! What is an 'unfair AI on hard'- doesn't it have to be unfair or hard? I've tried normal speed but I'm concerned that fast might be too much for my PC, especially online- are there games played on slow and normal as well?

Shouldn't fighters and bombers have to return to carriers before a jump, otherwise you lose them? They would remain behind, but without uplink information they might be easy to pick off? This doesn't seem to be so in the current version, but if it was implemented- and if squadrons cost far more antimatter- it might be effective in restricting carrier spam. Having them land suddenly seems less attractive than having them destroyed if left behind, and might be a d

The pirates could work as the shipyards for the neutrals- since the pirate base often becomes awash with ships during an extended game, how about designating a use for them? Implement a limit for the base itself, then allocate the ships left over to first neutral planets, then the neutral extractors. The reinforcements could be sent out at the same time as the raid, and increased according to the severity of the raid- so with the highest raid level the pirates would check whethe

Any hints on what speed settings I'd be expected to play as a multiplayer rookie? I can defeat the hard CPU 1v1 on full slow- though it seems much easier with 1.12?

The TEC emerged from the remnants of the former human worlds, they are a faction rather than the former government that the rebels were loyal to. Different TEC factions might have different government types or leaders- so the rebels might fight other cultures as enemies and other ideologies or factions as rivals? Though not vital, a campaign might help with the backstory. If it was possible to link missions in the editor and set victory condit

I was hoping that there was a general government/diplomacy/piracy theme to my suggestions, so they merited a single thread. The slavery aspect of population was more as an added diplomatic element. The pirate-as-player option is further than I'd want to go when extending the role of pirates. However, with mines, the pirate base has another possible defence, and a mined pirate space junk defence seems more plausible than the current space Maginot. Also, turrets would be muc

What speed settings are used for online? I've only played on full slow/max fleets, what would make for better practice?

This is a mix of suggestions for gameplay enhancements that you might have considered already, perhaps they'll be good for a discussion, most require no graphics updates. However, like many others the game would profit from player-scriptable AI, if not government types, characters and slavery (and space marines). AI needs too much developer work not to be editable. Government types: Three races can become twelve without much extra work. 'Monarchy' +fighting skill, -economy