Early in development, a concept document was created by Legend Entertainment founder Mike Verdu. Legend also compiled an inches-thick binder of letters, faxes, and e-mails, with fan suggestions for the next "Star Control" game, which they incorporated into their plans. A major target of fan criticism was the tedium of the planetary resource gathering from "Star Control II", as well as complaints about returning to Earth to refuel. The team decided to replace planet landing with a colony management system, an allusion to the strategy elements from the first "Star Control" game. The colony feature was designed to provide a convenient place for players to refuel, as well as a logical location to recruit crew and ships. MacDonald explained, "we wanted a big universe to explore, but we wanted to make it easier to actually get places".