My feedback on the game

First of all, thank you devs for making such a great game. I wish it can get more attention on Steam and Youtube.

Next, my list of recommendations:

1. Upgrading the lab seems like a unnecessary system. With how much it costs I feel like everyone should just try to upgrade it to max right away, so upgrading it doesn't involve much choice or fun. It feels bad for new players at the start of the game. "Oh I have this awesome game with all kinds of awesome customization. I really want a Rank5 Caster Hull and these cool weapons, but I have to spend 150k first on this meaningless lab upgrade or I'm fucking myself over in the long run." I usually hate these kind of game mechanics, cuz it's kinda a no-brainer here to buy all the lab upgrades first.

In games like PvZ and Starcraft, there are sunflowers/resource gatherers that help you in the long run, but there are strategies and tradeoffs involved with those: if I just do nothing but buy tons of resource gathers in those games at the start, I will lose. In Ring Runner that's not the case: It's always better to buy all the lab upgrades first, so it almost just feels like I'm starting the game with around -150k Plex: Gotta buy the lab upgrades first before I can get the fun stuff.

2. Please explain in game how time for research and cost for funding research work. I noticed that time for researching each equipment /hull goes up the more I have unlocked. Also different hull/equipment category has different research time too (Maybe because I have different progress on them). Beating different missions also seem to give various boosts to research. Things like this should be explained better.

3. Does researching All Node Types have an advantage over specific nodes? If I always research All Node Types, do I get to unlock all equipment faster than if I research each category individually?

4. Distance needs to be explained better. I see weapons and skills with ranges labeled in meters, but there's nothing that explains how long 100m is ingame. The only way to measure is to take a 200m range weapon and shoot it or something. Is there a way of improving that? Maybe add realtime distance labels? Or just have a practice map with concentric circles around your ship showing distance? Cuz trying to figure out how far a 4200m rocket can reach is kinda hard atm.

5. Is there a place where the lore is explained better? In see different race names, and often I don't even know if the character I'm talking to is a guy, girl, rat, cube, or whatever.

6. Can I know what kind of mission reward I'll get before I play a mission? I can understand in Campaign if you guys don't wanna say "You get a Rank 5 hull after this mission", but at least for the repeatable scenarios it would be helpful to know if I can unlock anything by playing it. Sometimes I unlock something by playing deathmatch, sometimes I don't. It's kinda confusing.

Thanks for giving the game a try, glad you are enjoying it.  

1) I agree the lab upgrade system is a bit weak, I'll give it another look in an upcoming patch.

2) Research progress at the end of the mission is directly connected to the amount of plex you get in the mission. Researching equipment or hulls generically is faster than a specific category, I believe this is explained if you inspect the research buttons in the lab. Research time increases as there is less items left in the category you are researching.

4) Each notch on your aiming line is 250 meters.

5) The race or faction of a character is determined by their icon and sound they use for their text.

6) You can look at the bonuses in a mission from the hangar or pause screen by selecting mission info. All missions that are after the Dvorak shop is unlocked have a chance of giving you new schematics.