Do crewmembers ever "level up"? And how to make friends?

Okay, I have a ship where my people haven't been eaten by spider-monsters or died of starvation! Woo!

Do they ever get better in their skills? Do I need to allocate points at some time? 

Also, how do you gain allies from factions? I have met one other crew and figured out how to trade, but at the time didn't have anything to really work with. Is trading how you build allies?

I am definitely enjoying the game and the direction it's going in.

Hi there!

Crew members don't level up currently, but it's something we have had in mind and will look to implement at some point. Currently you can mostly only trade with other factions ships, more features like ship-to-ship combat and
some type of missions (Helping out another faction with something) will come in the future!

Awesome. Thank you!

By the way, fantastic atmosphere too. I am really enjoying the game and looking forward to seeing it grow.

I was thinking about crew leveling up - it seemed like a natural thing that is common in other games. There is something satisfying about leveling characters.. However the more I play the more I see that it might not be a good fit for this game.
What I can see it some kind of very gradual re-balancing, but only on skills that are maxed otherwise the characters would lose their individuality.
For example a skill three miner could drop to two through lack of use, but not below that, as they are a good miner. On the other hand a character who has a one in medical and never uses it could drop to zero giving them a 'free' skill slot to maybe experiment with mining.

What I can see it some kind of very gradual re-balancing, but only on skills that are maxed otherwise the characters would lose their individuality.
For example a skill three miner could drop to two through lack of use, but not below that, as they are a good miner. On the other hand a character who has a one in medical and never uses it could drop to zero giving them a 'free' skill slot to maybe experiment with mining.

Crew would maintain a varied skill distribution if there is a maximum level such that nobody can max out every skill.
Gaining skill in fields through practice runs into the problem that a skill 0 miner is incapable of Mining.  They will never be able to try out mining.  On the other hand, Weapons 0 people can still fire guns.

My wish is to buy slaves from slavers.  They would cost credits proportional to how many skills they have.  A cheap slave could become more capable over time by gaining levels, or buy the skills of an expensive slave right away.  They could have a rebellion or higher surrender chance, so you have to keep control of them.  And obviously, the option to release the slave or, after earning sufficient experience, recruit as a full crew member.

Crew would maintain a varied skill distribution if there is a maximum level such that nobody can max out every skill.
Gaining skill in fields through practice runs into the problem that a skill 0 miner is incapable of Mining.  They will never be able to try out mining.  On the other hand, Weapons 0 people can still fire guns.

My wish is to buy slaves from slavers.  They would cost credits proportional to how many skills they have.  A cheap slave could become more capable over time by gaining levels, or buy the skills of an expensive slave right away.  They could have a rebellion or higher surrender chance, so you have to keep control of them.  And obviously, the option to release the slave or, after earning sufficient experience, recruit as a full crew member.

That makes a lot of sense. Having a maximum number of possible points per char does work well. The whole attributes are fixed, stats can be affected by injury/mods and skills are flexible due to training/use/lack of use thing is tried and tested. If it aint broke....
I like the slavers actually providing some game richness in that way too.