Getting it installed was pretty straightforward, it could certainly be put into a package (.deb, etc.) but I figure that'll be sorted out by release, an icon might be nice, but otherwise okay.
When I first started it up it was in a window at 1920x1280 (I'm using a 1280x1024 monitor, so I had to move it a bit), so I went into the settings and changed the resolution to 1280x720, expecting it to go fullscreen (as fullscreen was checked), but it didn't do that and seemed pretty content being in a window - checking and unchecking fullscreen didn't seem to do anything except change whether it would scroll if the mouse was near the window's edge. So I decided to roll with it.
Anyways I started a game, with pretty much default settings except with easy AI (it's my first time playing, I mostly just want to get a feel for it) and I played University Togra. I probably should have gone with harder AI because it was really just a long, drawn out steam roll - but I decided to stick with it until the end. The first problem I encountered was that the unit labels for the colonizers like to flash really quickly between different alphas (between a less transparent alpha and a more transparent alpha), but it didn't stop the game so I rolled with it. At first I had a hard time expanding because some of the aliens had set up camp around my base, and I had to focus on military endeavors to get the ball rolling, so I expanded a little bit and quickly came across Terra Salvum who had pretty much taken over the continent her and I were on; she offered peace and some pacts, but I needed more space. So, not content with playing second fiddle to some tree-huggers I assembled a skeleton force, amassed them at her borders (this actually took a little bit of time, and it seems odd that she was completely oblivious to it the whole time), declared war, and within a few dozen turns I had wiped her off the planet, aided by the fact that she pretty much had no garrisons in her cities whatsoever (there were a few, but they were taken care of with almost no effort).
So I pretty much owned the continent, and decided to focus on research a bit, and got the Headhunter sniper rifles, which I stuck with most of the game (until later in the game, when I got the Shock Rifle). Eventually the Noxium Corporation decided to float across to my continent and build a city, to which I responded by declaring war, taking his city, and then doing nothing (he was at war with the Imperium, and I didn't feel the need to expand all that much). So I worked on fleshing out my continent for a while and decided to expand. So I sent a few colonial troopers (with Headhunters) over there and took over the single remaining Noxium Corporation city (he was apparently at war with everybody). That continent was shared with Lady Vermillion, who I made short work of, and the Imperium who was the first challenge I really had. It was around this time that I noticed that the AI would almost never attack me, despite my forces being equipped with the Headhunter, which meant that they almost never damaged any of my troops.
Anyways, after a while I got rid of him and it was just me and Prime Minister Xi (who was on another continent). After having peace for a while, and strengthening up my army (got the Shock Rifle), and fleshing out my newly conquered continent, I went and invaded Prime Minister Xi's continent, and won the game.
Also of note is that apparently every attack plays the one firing animation on the tile that's being attacked and the one that it's (apparently) supposed to play (this is odd for the sniper rifles where the ground around a unit is exploding all around it, but there's no sound being played for it, and then there's a big boom and the sniper rifle animation is being played).
Other bits:
- The interface is really nice and responsive, and it didn't take too long for me to figure it out.
Morale also doesn't really do much - I mean it does a little bit, but losing 4 morale is too small a trade-off for getting a 50% research bonus.
Diplomacy is quite lacking (the other factions rarely ever talked to me), and the factions in general don't really ever seem to have much of a personality (at least, not how the AI plays them).
The music is okay, but not great.
Also, the atmosphere could use some work.
The exploration is pretty good, but I keep feeling that more could be done with it.
Pollution doesn't show up on the minimap (or at least not very well), so it's a bit tedious to go looking for it.
Speaking of which, formers should have a "Pollution Patrol" mode.
Aside from the very beggining, I almost never came across any alien life (not the moving kind, anyways).
I can't find my user data - the readme says it should be in "~/.Proxy Studios/Pandora/", but it's not there.
