Posted on behalf of Reddit user Kazuar01 (since they seem to have trouble registering;
https://www.reddit.com/r/aurora4x/comments/827ois/re_c_aurora_v0x_suggestions_official_board/):
In VB6 Aurora v7.1, the way empires are represented on the galaxy overview is completly dependent on how the empire in question has setup
itself in the Race Details Window; due to random generation for AI empires, this leads to a situation where NPRs and spoilers can end up with confusing combinations e.g:
1) NPR
A with an orange flag and a purple system color, and NPR
B with a purple flag and an orange system color
2) A hostile NPR has green systems while an allied NPR has red systems
3) Two NPRs end up with very similiar tones of the same color e.g. one with RGB 27/208/228 and the other with RGB 24/220/231.
Furthermore, all NPRs use the same graphic for their fleet, meaning a player can't tell, from a glance, whether an NPR fleet belongs to an ally or an enemy.
Neither of these problems can be solved via SM mode, as that would require access to an NPRs Race Details Window.
While the random generation routines could be worked over to make more sensible "choices" (and to include fleet graphic),
my suggestion for C# Aurora would be for the color and fleet graphic choosen in the Race Details Window to
only apply to how the empire is represented
on its own galaxy map; and for fleet graphics and system color of other empires to "simply" be an editable setting in the Intelligence Window.