Hi there! I am a long-time lurker, looking forward to this game very much. (look at my join date, and my number of posts...I wasn't kidding about the long-time lurker part!!!!)
Here are some of the titles I currently have on my hard drive:
Advanced Tactics
Empire Deluxe
The Lost Admiral
Civilization IV (with all expansions)
Sins of a Solar Empire
I prefer turn-based, tactical combat, and remember fondly all of the old Talonsoft titles.
This game just looks sweet! I especially like the technology tree. If I may presume, I would like to provide just a little input into my personal preferences.
1) Don't make the technology too easy to acquire. I want my research to make a very real difference. If I shoot for better bombers, I want it very difficult to get better artillery, infantry, and ships at the same time, EVEN AT THE END OF A LONG GAME!
2) Like most 4X games, the early game starts pretty slowly. I like that. I LIKE a deliberate style of play. For a game like Empire Deluxe, the expansion is a heck of a lot slower than the unit creation, and this leads to dozens and dozens of units flying around, all heading for the periphery of the conquered area. This can be a micromanagement nightmare...so the development of the units need be kept slow. It should HURT when a unit is lost....conversely, a unit gaining experience should be a cause for celebration.
3) The gamemaps seem to pretty modestly sized. Can we get a feel for how many turns of movement it would take for a fast ship to circle the gameworld? If the world is too small, then what would be the benefit of a fast-moving unit?
4) Is there a provision for starting the world without the fog of war? One would think that when this universe is generated, with already having dirigibles and other "modern" units, that the general map and layout of the continents would already be known...the "New World" is no longer new. Now, I don't have any issues with not knowing what was ON these worlds, as far as cities, roads, resources, but the basic terrain shouldn't be a surprise to my destroyer. This will serve one big, big function. I will generally have a clue where to send my units!!! Searching for a landmass worked well for Cristoforo Columbus, here, not so much.
5) Please, please, please give some thought to what technology will do to the units. If I have an upgraded fighter, and go against a dirigible, let the results speak clearly. The ol' Civilization notion of a Ship of the Line beating a modern destroyer was (and remains) absurd. I want a bi-plane to have ZERO chance against a modern jet fighter. With that in mind, if the AI sees that it is badly out-gunned from a tech perspective, it needs to either abandon production of the badly out-classed units, or rapidly research the counter.
6) How many turns does the average game take? I would hope 300 or more. I would also like NO MORE than 25% of all available techs to be ABLE to be researched over a long time. If you have to double or triple research times, even better. Please don't use the same research times for all levels of research. For example: The first upgrade to biplanes may take 50 research points. The second should take a MULTIPLE of that...not another 50! As your empire grows, so should the requirements for research, geometrically.
7) Basic infantry should be cheap and plentiful, but with a cap, based on the number of cities you control. Many games use this mechanism, and I like it. This forces expansion, and stops players from "turtling."
Enough for now. This games shows pretty good promise, as is. Thanks for letting me ramble.