Thank you so much for the in depth reply/critique. That was incredible. I'll try and respond close to the order of what you posted.
Yes, Barrel Rolls do increase the rate at which you absorb energy and just over double the ships rate of fire. Another application is that if you graze a shot at any point during the barrel roll you retain charged status for the remainder of the roll so you can deliver charged shots anywhere via stunts.
On the configuration menu, what went on there is partially due to using an ancient engine and the way memory had to be serialized meant state changes had to be handled very very cautiously (which is why quitting out the key config via escape is locked if you haven't finished the sequence). The game is undergoing a port which will allow us to not HAVE to do that, (we'll also be able to tell which buttons the player is pressing on a given controller as that was actually impossible in the old engine and was also the reason we didn't have access to all buttons on every pad.)
On the epilepsy front, it does all serve an aesthetic purpose in regards to menus and transmissions but I'll tone it down on the transmissions as you aren't the first person to mention it (definitely influenced by the vision of the future from the 80's, things not being very reliable, prototype ship etc.) Menus are likely to see a makeover during the port as well. The effects in game are meant to communicate information at a high speed so instantaneous binaries that are there are very deliberate. There used to be more effects that worked that way before we updated the look of the game for a more hi-bit aesthetic specifically so we could take advantage of other means of communicating information that wouldn't require flashing.
Thanks again for playing and the input.
Thanks for the reply! I have not checked the game status for a while so I'll be glad to try the new version.
I see how glitches are part of your art direction now. As you said, there should be other ways to convey the feeling of an instant and disrupted communication, such as after image and visual noise, as well as playing with the audio.
Good luck for the release!