Sorry if this has already been brought up but there must be an easier way to "see" what your Research will eventually get you in terms of the ships available, both your designs and the core ships.
I guess what I'd like to see is a full listing of the ships available. It stands to reason that if the whole Technology tree is viewable that your scientists can extrapolate what kind of a ship you can build after the necessary research has been done. The ships should all be viewable via the ship-builder while at the starports, only ships that are ready to build would be shown.
To make things more user friendly, have the ships you are able to build in bold white while the one's that are not available yet are greyed out. Moreso, when you mouse-over any ship design, have it list the necessary techs to build it. While you're there, perhaps the ability to delete a user design that you know you won't use ever again to minimize the clutter.
I like the game, don't get me wrong, I would just like the ship designs a little more transparent/viewable. This would allow the player a little more strategy when choosing to spend precious research time.
