Can say i am really enjoying this game so far and the customization you have. Excited to see how it develops. As it stands now, i do have some constructive criticism though.

1.) The game feels slow in regards to building and research, especially late game. Some research takes over 10 mins, for just one. Also, my main draw to this game was being able to create unique ships from scratch, and i want to build them big, but just takes forever to build each module and get to the grand scale i want (im talking 4 hours of endless qued buildings) When multiplier comes out, this doesnt seem viable and will never see a late game play out because it can take so long to upgrade anything or build big ships.
2.) Saves kinda bug out the game. Loading into a game i wasnt able to build anything anymore, or lost my entire que of production.
3.) Would love the build range to be revamped, really constricts cool designs and ideas when you only have a cube to work with, what if i want longer or wider ships, or if im not utilizing the width but want to build it taller. The restrictions kind of limit the creativity of what you can make. The build times already limit the speed you can build out to, so seems like a pointless limitation blocked by research. LET ME BUILD COOL SHIPS HOW I WANT TO!

I recommend speeding up build times and researches to open the options of late game more without games being 4+ hours long. Also, remove limits on your build range and just add in modules that you have to build to extend the range of power instead of having to research.

Think Homeworld meets Avorion, but better than Avorion and honestly better than Homeworld. Me saying that since Homeworld 1 singlehandedly made me a gamer is quite a big deal. The game still in early access has a lot more material other than a story than either Homeworld or Avorion, and until most other similar games ie: Stellar Warfare etc... you actually get to design your ship visually and functionally using a modular block type system similar to Avorion.

The great thing aside from the ship construction is the actual combat is really detailed, as are all the graphics, and we are still in early access, so I am looking quite forward to how its going to be on release. When you use weapons you need to actually use your brain instead of just going with the highest DPS modules.

Sensors and logistics play a large part of the game, and that adds an edge of tactics that makes it much more than just a fleet combat game.

I personally have a penchant for just building my main ship/station until it can do just about everything. (deadnought/mothership) style and dont even build other ships save fighters, and miners. Its doable but difficult, which is why I like it. :)

I would recommend this to anyone who likes space combat, ship design, or was a fan of either Avorion and/or Homeworld. And honestly if space games arent your thing and you liked the Expanse TV show I would recommend it as well. The ship combat and tactics are similar.

I am sorry for this review.

I liked Complex. I was a patreon backer for Beghins, the leader of what is now Team Complex. I liked Complex Remastered somewhat less. And Era One...I cannot rightly recommend. Not because it's in very early access and has many teething issues, but because the underlying design seems undercooked. Much of it may be symptomatic of the Complex design philosophy now being untethered from its former basis of being a Homeworld mod, but whatever the root cause, I don't currently think that a good game can come of it.

One of the major advantages Complex used to have, its main draw if you will, was that it was, in two words, "More Homeworld". Compared to Complex, Era One can only be described as "Less Homeworld". And of course it's fair for it to go and be its own thing, but...its own thing is somewhat poorly though out. And aesthetically a step down, far beyond what can be excused by it being a small team.

In no particular order of problems, let's start with the music. The music isn't bad as such, but it's such a hodgepodge of different styles that it feels completely incoherent. I didn't come in expecting Paul Ruskay, but Era One's soundtrack has zero identity of its own. It may as well be AI-generated. I am very sorry if it isn't so.

The visuals are certainly inspired by homeworld, and at their best a faithful homage. But the best only goes so far, and much of what is in here is, not to put too fine a point on it, a failure. The entire pirate faction looks like they were taken out of a 3D modeler's garbage bin, the federation strike craft are about as visually striking as flying potatoes, and the fact that all capital ships are made out of large cubes with circles on their sides (at least until you cover them in greebles and turn them into a visual mess) is both repetitive and extremely clunky-looking. The range of available external platings is also very limited - go on, check the workshop, and you will see the same slightly curved plate spammed on every ship design because all the others look even worse.

The addition of weapons like rotating drill-heads and flamethrowers to what is ostensibly a space combat game further harms the fantasy. Homeworld was peak science-fantasy space combat with a decent aesthetic grounding. Just enough realism to make it look somewhat believable, and then enough artistic skill to make it look so good that you needn't question it beyond that. Era One sadly discards all that grounding and careful visual design, or is at any rate unable to replicate it. The end result just looks goofy.

Gameplay-wise, when trying to build custom capital ships - the game's major selling point - you will quickly find yourself confronted with many a ship-building game's usual dilemma: Do you want to build something visually tolerable, or do you want to play to win? Era One, as it stands, completely fails to connect the two, and the gameplay-optimal ship is one that will look like utter ♥♥♥♥. Resources are not localized, so your crew, power and RUs are best stored in a giant armored box along with the generators and all other equipment, which leaves your combat ships with...turrets and maybe some gizmos. There is little practical reason to build frontline ships with more structure than that.

The actual combat is usually just disorganized furballs at frustratingly short ranges, with poorly-balanced weapons and completely unreliable ship behavior, but that may well be ironed out during the EA period.

It's not unsalvageable, but given the issues outlined above, fairly short runway of the roadmap, and the very definite "project closure" at the end of it, I suspect that Team Complex are considering this more of an experiment than a long-term commitment and I doubt that solving fundamental design issues will fit their timeline. The asking price is somewhat high to beign with, and is planned to inrease as the EA progresses, and in my opinion this makes a buy-in right now too risky and a later purchase too expensive for what is on offer.