Fox - unfortunate truth is, the graphics aren't usually the focus, the profit is. Copycat games are almost guaranteed a winning formula. Another sad truth is that technology makes demands of games. The hardware is one of the foundations of gameplay, and more and more, gamers are demanding that a game fully use that hardware's capabilities. As for gaming powerhouses . . . they stick to formula like anybody else, even if they don't fund half-assed carbon copies. Many developers cannot get a game funded by a big name unless they can argue that it resembles a previous, successful game. At this point, those companies often make demands of the game's final form, insisting that it include other previously successful themes.
Had a few more thoughts to share. There needs to be a way to turn scrap into upgrade modules - I end up overburdened with scrap and short on modules every time. It doesn't need to be efficient, but it needs to exist.
Lasers . . . should be the de facto missile defense, in my opinion. Their mechanics almost scream it. However, their implementation falls short. Their range is less than gatlings, and if fighters are present, they cannot often swing the beam onto a new target quickly enough to intercept. When they do, they're almost done firing.
My opinion on that is that gatlings should gain a little damage, lose a little range, and lasers should range out a little further, and permit them to fire continuously. This gives them a little more time to target incoming, and lets them continue firing on it even if they started firing before a missile entered their range. Also, missiles should take shield damage, not hull damage, to tip countermeasures in lasers' defense.
Battlestation stock needs to b be improved and varied. I tend to go with one energy cannon, all projectile cannons, and a couple of repair drones - or, one repair beam, projectile cannons, and fighters falling out of my ears.
Lastly . . . there should be some way to buy up random equipment drops, like the cases you find lodged in an asteroid. There are some interesting equips you can get out of those drops you can't get anywhere else, and those things hardly ever drop. I got some Celestial MK 2 beam thing the other day after playing the game long enough to reach level 16, and it's the first time I saw it. There's content being wasted, if it's never seen.
By 'buy', I only mean that scrap should lead to one of these random drops. It could be as simple as buying a one-time jump to an uncharted sector, with battle and a better chance of finding asteroids.
