Thanks a lot for the feedback! If you made it to the ally level, you’ve probably gotten the farthest out of all the players!
I agree the game is too easy once you get the hang of it. Stay tuned, because I have some post jam updates to make the enemies less dumb and add some more content.
For command HQs, you can just drag the flag once you see it (with right click), or left click on the flag to select its building. Also I generally only use 1-3 HQs and attach all Compilers to them (one for the main army, one for a smaller raiding party), since it reduces the micro you need and uses less resources (HQs take resources to build). I also plan on having multiple building select later on. If you place flags on top of each other, you can move all of them at once with right drag.
I will probably add resources to the UI, but networks can actually be separate and have their own independent resources, and I plan on making some mechanics around that. So the UI would probably only display the ones on your main network connected to the base.
Agreed, the tutorial needs to be much better. If your stuff isn’t getting build, it’s probably because there is a resource shortage (usually CPU is the bottleneck, since only the main base produces it), or because ghost buildings (in building state) don’t route resources through them (this should be visually clearer). The Network resource is very easy to get, just build one Sniffer and that is enough to last the whole game. But you gave me an interesting idea!
Buildings generate requests for resources on the network and then the closest nodes fulfill them if they have inventory. Then the resources travel physically in the little trucks. So yes, building outputs and input close together is the point of the economy part. I like the approach of having everything kind of work even if you don’t optimize placement, but to get the most value you have to think about paths and logistics and optimize travel times, like in Cosmoteer.
I’m glad you liked it, and thanks again for the input!