Armor needs to be more effective. A full squad with layered personal force fields just got taken down by two of those In a drifting spacecraft.
I agree. Its way too easy to get your mates killed. Especially in late game, when you're trying to do the more difficult things. It kinda makes leveling too meaningless, you'll have to replace the guy soon anyway and things like the fast trait are also quite useless, if you're never going to have a team of 'fast' people.
Also, IMO the game is a little too unrealistic. Biota is too common and too deadly. Anyone can kill some of the largest creatures on earth with something as simple as a shotgun, yet a team of professionals with futuristic hi-tech weapons are regularly massacred in the vastness of space it seems. I'd make alien creatures something very valuable and somewhat rare. Something you could kill with ease most of the time, but won't because its hell of a lot more valuable alive than dead. So the main challenge would become capturing live specimens rather than surviving the zerg rush.
Also, the planets seem a little too small, how about making them larger by creating an additional layer to the planet map. Like a world map, where you do the exploring, and a local map of places of interest, where the action is.
Otherwise, its a great game. Kept dying at the beginning because of acid, but now I already have had myself slaughtered in ancient ruins and pirate bases. Ah, losing is fun. Also, keep away from the mushrooms, the floating kind is especially deadly.
BTW, is the disintegrator supposed to have a damage of 1, or am I missing something?