Just got through playing so I have some fresh thoughts on this:
1) Once all the rooms are upgraded, it's very hard to find space in the smaller rooms to place your guys. I will click on what could be a valid spot behind something, but they either can't go there because there's not a space there anymore (due to the upgrade), their path is blocked by someone else or there's already someone there. Maybe if when you click on a spot that's not a valid space, briefly highlight where the valid squares are. Also, allow crew members to pass through the same square. I don't see any gameplay need to make the players micromanage navigation by manually making other AI move out of the way of each other. (Enemy AI passes right through you, let friendly AI do the same).
2) Often when I pack a room with people, it's hard to tell who is who. I don't imagine putting names over people's heads would be a good idea, too much clutter. But I need some way of knowing if the yellow shirt in the room is assigned to that room or if I sent them there to fix something and if they could/should be sent elsewhere. Maybe something as simple as outlining the health bar differently (blue or division color outline instead of white?) if they're in the room they were assigned to? Or maybe a small icon next to their health bar that indicates they're assigned to their current room (or the icon conveys which room they're assigned to) - to avoid clutter, this icon could only appear when they're selected. That way I don't accidentally send a guy assigned to the Dodge Generator out to fix a hull breach.
3) I would really like to know what the extents of a hull breach vacuum is. I don't mind that my guys can get blown out if I don't pay attention, but I'd like to have the information necessary to make an informed decision about where to send them and what to avoid.
4) When a character dies, I'd like to see their name - maybe not on the icon that appears on the right, but if I click that icon, show me the name & rank of who died (it takes me to where they died, but I can't usually tell and have to figure it out by process of elimination). This is important because I grow attached to the vets on the ship and if a vet dies, I might just decide to restart right then and there. But if it's a new recruit, I'll let them go.
5) I'd like to see rank icons instead of just text up top. Would feel more Star Trekky and would give me more of an instant idea of how good a character is at a quick glance (rather than having to recall if a squaddie is better than a chief or a junior lieutenant or whatnot). Ideally, I'd love to see that icon next to their health bar, too (maybe only when selected?)
6) Getting back to the problem of it being very crowded and not knowing who someone is because they're obscured, I wonder if when I select someone you could show them through everything else for a second so I can see clearly who I have just selected. And/or put their name over their healthbar for a second?
7) I find it very hard to tap on a room to generate more ammo when it's full of people. I usually try to tap on the bottom corner of a room since I know there are valid squares there, but I often end up tapping on an ally or enemy. Is it possible that even if I tap on an ally or enemy in one of the token-generating rooms, it still gives me the option to generate ammo in the room, in addition to any character-specific actions listed at the bottom? This would help a lot.
8) Are there sounds to notify you when one of your weapons/defenses is charged up and ready to use? The token ready sound is very helpful, but I often miss when my weapons are ready to be used because I'm so pre-occupied with fighting invaders. It helps to have a second pair of eyes to let you know (quite fun, really), but a sound would help.
9) One frustration I have is that I'll sometimes tap on a redshirt and try to send them after an alien and it just won't take the tap. I don't know if the tap has to be very precise or if the room they're in gets in the way (sometimes there's nothing in the way) or if the game thinks the alien is already in the next square or what. But this specific-alien targeting fails way too frequently.
10) Another issue I have is, in the heat of battle, tapping on a guy and sending him to a point that may be crowded. I find I often will accidentally tap on a different crewmate when trying to tap the destination of the original and now I'm all backwards. I go back and try to tap the original guy, miss and now the second guy is heading towards the first when I wanted the exact opposite. I know this is a difficult problem because you want to allow them to change their selection. I'm afraid I don't yet have a good solution to offer for this one, but it is an issue I encounter fairly frequently.
11) When I want to send a whole roomful of guys to positions at once, I find I'll send the first two or three, but then I'll forget which ones I already sent (because the other guys are actively walking around the room too). Maybe for a couple seconds after I send someone to a goal, they stay highlighted so I know they're already en route to somewhere else? Making the problem worse, when I do go back and tap on someone I just sent somewhere, it's not always clear if the one I just selected is heading somewhere. I just sent 2 or 3 guys so maybe the goals I'm seeing are for someone else and this guy is actually not en route? Again some sort of status icon (like an arrow) next to the healthbar (for a couple seconds after goal setting and/or when selected) will help - and highlight the point *they* are going to when I select them?
12) Better yet, when I select a guy and send him somewhere, show me the route he's going to take (for a few seconds or until I select someone else). This will help me see if the route he's taking is a dangerous one and if I should hold him back. (Ideally, I could edit the route by dragging any point on it to take a safer path, but I'd be happy just to see the preview).
13) One more thing: I often can't remember what the special ability is a guy has until I select them. I can remember for some, but not when I have up to 15 crew. Especially since they change as they go up in skill. It would be nice to be able to see at a glance who has what special ability (and whether it's recharged). Again, going with icons or some special pulsing border on their health bar to let me know. If it's an icon, it would have to be displayed next to their health bar when it's charged and ready, so that could cause some clutter. But it would be really nice to know.
14) I lied, another thing: when a guy goes up in skill and gets a new ability, what if I liked the old one better? Shouldn't I have the option of picking any of the 3 skills once they get to 30? Why not let me pick any one. Sometimes the older one is better for the specific situation (like long range shooting being useful against fire ants?) If you wanted, you could make the level 10 ability recharge faster than the level 30 one once you've gotten that high. Just present all 3 choice when you select them.
15) Oh, okay, one more: When I'm looking at upgrades for my room, I constantly have to go back and forth between the description which lists the price and the token screen to see if I can afford it. Maybe show a small display of all the tokens I have at the bottom of the screen. That way I can mentally do the math and keep in mind how I'm going to spend all the tokens as I'm browsing through the upgrades.
Also, add my +1 to things like group select and group "return to station". I'd also love to be able to (in non-combat), assign an Engineer to "fix the ship" or a Medic to "heal crew" and they'd just go around the ship on their own and take care of things while I take care of other things. They'd have to stop this automatic behavior once the Red Alert hits, though, so they're not off doing things without me knowing.
That's all I can think of for now, I'm sure I'll think of more later.
Great game, loving the hell out of it! Played it with my son Wednesday night in the movie theater as we waited an hour for Star Trek Into Darkness to start.
