Exile, I can kinda see it, but then I see a similarity to several crustaceans. Probably all goes back to that.

I was going to say an earwig or house centipede, but crustacean works too.

Earwig or silverfish. Still related after a fashion.

I'm...kind of shocked there will be no new planets types.  It's been a common 'wishlist' request and any decent mod has managed this, it doesn't seem like a hard thing to do to add some variety to maps.

I'm more shocked there's so little information still from the devs about it.  There's will be titans, new factions, balance changes, and.. that's about it so far.

 

The AI can't handle starbases, period.

To fix this, either (1) Devs need to get the AI to realize not to charge headfirst into enemy starbases, or (2) go play on ICO against opponents who are actually capable of making strategic decisions.

I recommend option (2), but if the devs eventually manage (1) that would be nice as well.

 

I sincerely hope the AI is getting major improvements, as this sort of game will always have more appeal to single player than multiplayer.  No offence to the ICO crowd, but most multiplayer tactics I've seen more or less suck all the fun out of the game.  I sure love spamming two unit types and only using the most OP caps if I want to win...

Well, MP aside, it just makes sense to have an AI that can play the basics.

Planets are easily modded and new textures take up memory that new ships may need.

If it had to come down to one or the other, I would rather have more random planet buffs (and DEBUFFS) [like Peanl Colony or Mineral Deposits] than new planet types (though I would love both if it were possible.)

planet traits take almost no memory, so that's an easy please.