Extended Edition Android Beta Test and Feedback!

First let me say that I'm a huge fan of your games. Please take this feedback as a sign that I enjoyed your game enough to download the beta, pay attention to how it plays, and provide you feedback.


Balance (+ good, - needs improvement) - better than Harbinger stock but still needs improvement.
+ Projectile cannons are no longer the obvious (and only reasonable) choice as a starting weapon. You have balanced them well. Good job.
+ You now stand a reasonable chance at winning without going for a carrier-focused strategy. This adds playability and dimensionality.
+ More than one path to victory. In Harbinger there was a well-prescribed recipe to winning on any difficulty (projectile cannons on large ships plus as many bolter drones as possible). There is no obvious path to victory now.
+ You have also balanced drones much better. They are no longer the only logical choice for fighters.
- The game is entirely far too hard at the beginning. In the 11 test games I've played, I have gotten past the first world once. I have died within the first 5 turns 4 times. Note that I beat Harbinger on every difficulty and with almost every starting ship, so I don't chalk that up to n00bery. I worry that you will turn off new players if they can't even get past the first world after several tries on easy. Suggestion: double the amount of resources (scrap and research) you start with. Players shouldn't have to choose between a fighter bay and a weapon.

Gameplay - overall much improved.
+ Unlike other folks, absolutely no crashes in 11 games.
+ Really like the non-linear campaign. Playing a difference path each time adds a lot for replay value.
+ Really like the variety in ship designs for aliens.
- Need to balance the spawning of "special" sectors. It thoroughly sucks to hit two or three in a row where your shields get drained, then your hull, and in neither case can you repair.
- EMPs. ugh.
- You should consider adding a way to trade scrap for research. As others have said, I agree that it's irritating to end the game with 10k scrap and zero research.
+ / - the "WTF" factor is certainly higher. I haven't decided if that is good or bad. In stock Harbinger, you only had to worry about being ambushed by roving packs of a dozen large ships. Now, you have to worry about that, plus traps, EMPs (ugh, again), strings of "special" sectors that drain hull/shield. It thoroughly sucks to get ambushed by a roving group of large ships after you have had both your shields and hull drained without a chance to repair. Suggestion: always allow repair at mission end. Period.

UI -to be frank, I'm not a fan of the UI updates.
- I find the red "your ship is damaged" boxes on the edge of the screen to be distracting. I know I'm damaged and don't need to be reminded.
- you changed the colors used to indicate hull damage to yellow. Not a huge fan of this change.
- The mission icons don't quite work right in this version. When you complete a mission, a sector can stay green. This worked well in Harbinger. When you completed a mission, the sector changed colors.