To improve the combat mechanic in Aurora, I think the game urgently need a CIC (Combat Information Center) User Interface. In there, the player can see all the data about any combat they involve. In this form / screen, the player will get a localized map that centralized on a ship / fleet, Event Update, next turn button, and all necessary buttons that needed in combat (including fleet order). Of course, you can still use this CIC in a non combat situation, and you can still see what happen in combat via other user interface / form. But, this CIC will definitely help the players to understand about what happen in combat more, without changing screen and become confused with the flow of information.
And the other thing is that I think this game need a feature that let the player to test their weapon system by firing them into an asteroid / own ship. Well, of course, you can let the player to abandon the ship (and extract the crews from it). This feature is useful for a player who want to know that their newly battle system (ship, missile, radar, etc) is work as intended. Well, it is happen in real life too - when Navy use a retired ship as the target practice for their newly missile / weapon.
