(Please do not actually answer any of my questions. I know A - the game is in EA so a lot will change, and B - Im sure it all in a wiki or something somewhere. Getting answers is not the point of this post.)

Hello!

First time GalCiv player here, but I’m a long time TbSG player going back to Civ1, AoW1, MoO1 and all the rest.

First I want to make it clear that it is clear to me that what Im playing is a EA version. So lotsa stuff is going to get added and get changed. Since Im sure that the largest majority of players excited about Supernova are as familiar with GalCiv as I would be with the next iteration of Civ, (or even am in the case of AoW4), I wanted to be a little voice to get some attention for GalCiv first timers like me.

My input / feedback is only on informatics locating and absorption. As a brand new player to GalCiv, but brining in decades of past experiences of other TbSGs and 4X games, I can say Im enjoying the experience. (As an aside, I have friends that would shock - I am ruthless with my analyses of games.) So again, the only thing I found in the way of my exploring all the game has to offer is

1. Where do I get the information I need?
and

2. What actually is the information Im looking at?

I could most likely post over 40 examples, but since they are all mostly the same that won’t be necessary, Ill just list some that should cover most all of the main concepts.

Please keep in mind all these are from a first time ever GalCiv player that has never seen any of this at all.

1. When zooming out there is a point where an arch of colors, like a band, appears. In my case they are gray, blue, and light blue, and they are different sizes. - Ive found no way in the game to identify what those are or what they mean.

2. What is “Promethion” and a host of other really nifty scify namey things? I looked in all the empire stat windows to even see if I could find someplace where I saw a “Promethion” symbol next to a 0, to at least get an idea of if its something I find, research, produce, etc…

3. Citizens - Traders, are also called Entrepreneur? Or, is that two different terms for the same citizen? It says I can use them to enable trade routes. How? Do I put them on a ship? What kind of ship? Can I move citizens from one planet to another?

4. +10 Social? +2 Intelligence? Where are all these stats going / being added up to?

5. Why are the “wealth” and “income” symbols different if they are the same resource? Or are they?

6. That lil “Prestige Trophy” - when the tooltip pops up…that’s - a lot - of lil icons. Icons that I cant hover over or click because the tooltip is only a temporary popup.

7. Right now Im lookin at earth. In the lower left it shows in this order, a cog, a beaker, coins, a flag, an apple and scales, but then it shows its “resource input” as a cog, a light bulb, a diamond, a leaf, and a flag - why are the cog and flag numbers different? However, at the same time on the same screen, the info bar over the planet, titled “Earth” shows a hammer, a beaker, coins, an apple and a flag - the coins are not the same number as on the lower left window, however however, at the same same time the popup window for Earth shows a cog, a beaker, coins, a flag, an apple, and scales - but does not display the “resource input” numbers.

8. Only 1 “explorer” ship can be built per player? What makes it an explorer ship? I cant make any other ships to explore anomalies? But that’s not an “explorer”, it says its “class” is “flag” not “explorer”?

9. The shipyard has three symbols (a ship, two “moons”? and a shield) that have no popup at all. Hovering over it has even more icons I cant hover over to look at.

10. When I zoom out I see symbols for resources, and planets and ships and….well everything. Is there a filter? Its so much clutter, I just want to see only the resource icons. (Don’t forget point #2, Im still looking for whatever Promethion is - remember?) Im sure in the late game, when the galaxy is just...huge...there will be all kinds of reasons to what to filter out all but specific icon types.

11. Ship design - cant….tell……..what….too much….where is - how…….I just…want to put…on - a…Survey Module! Omg!

Conclusion - Some games have a “What is your experience level with [game]?” and the player can select from, “First time playing any [game] from the series.”, “Played other [game] but first time to [game #x].” or “Played [game #x] but new to [dlc / expansion].”

Ill tell you right now, Id put that dial on “Never have I ever so hold my hand and point out & tell me everything!”

I hope this was not taken the wrong way. This is not meant to be a slight or complaint of any kind. I like the presentation, UI, options, foundational game elements, and all the rest…but right now its just like trying to play a game where I only understand half the language and I don’t have a translator or guide. (That lil guide tutorial bot needs to put in some overtime! Lol)

P.S. Does GalCiv copy Civs “Civilopedia”?  If not, it should. Everything in the game should have a hyperlink straight into an in-game “Galaticopedia”, and, don’t feel bad about copying that. A “gameiopedia” should clearly be a standard in very nearly every game ever made since Civ came up with the concept.