suggested this a few years back, but figured it was worth bringing up again. always struck me as odd that for all the things you can do in this game, and all the ways you can play it... you MUST play as a ship pilot.
How is it odd to pilot a ship in a space RPG that started as a bunch of combat scenarios? If anything it's odd not piloting your ship because the entire game is built around that:
- combat skills
- orders that aren't really orders
- limited command points
- smart enough AI which is designed to follow the player's movement and actions in combat
I know it's basically a meme to say "You're playing the game wrong", but I firmly believe it's a sin to play Starsector without ever once trying to pilot your flagship. And I know a ton of players play like that and then express their frustrations online. The game just wasn't designed as an RTS in mind, that's the fact. And any amount of trying to cater to that playstyle will actively hurt the game design, as again, it was originally built as a pew pew shmup with AI comrades.
Just like how you can play through the entire Elden ring playthrough without ever once swinging a sword, doesn't mean that you should. You're free to prefer a certain playstyle, but sometimes you're just robbing yourself of game mechanics and gameplay that you just can't have if you're ignoring a big chunk of it.
Sorry for going so hard on a simple suggestion, I just want to actively cut any RTS ideas because that's asking for an entirely different game, and the development plus final product would be greatly hurt with it.
BUUUUT you bring up good points about more information when viewing your ships. It is bit of a hassle to check the status of each ship while looking around the tactical map.