First Impressions and some suggestions

[BringChaos]

I really loved playing this game. Its very unique compared to others in the genre and is played very fast (no more 20 hour games!) and you are forced to militarize if alien aggression is high.

The AI can be random at times, at one point I would be hitting them with Black Holes and Nuclear Devices and they would sign peace the same turn.
A grace period to prevent peace directly after war would help against this kind of abuse.

For me, at least, the research was fun but at times hard to find things I was looking for.
I suggest color coding the research icons. Green for food, Blue for minerals, Yellow for Economy, Red for Military, etc. Any colors would be nice to make finding technologies easier for players, and to help newer players learn the game faster.

The option to prevent AI workers from replacing Human placed improvements would be appreciated.
By the end of the game Fungus is amazing for resources and as a "wall" against enemies advance and the Formers just try to get rid of them.

[jdmillard]

you are forced to militarize if alien aggression is high.

I liked this too. In other games, I'd just focus on expanding in the beginning. Now you have to balance.

I suggest color coding the research icons. Green for food, Blue for minerals, Yellow for Economy, Red for Military, etc. Any colors would be nice to make finding technologies easier for players, and to help newer players learn the game faster.

I had the same idea. Color coded icons in the tech tree would be nice.