I really like the planet most of the time.  I've seen the enemy bump into it once or twice, but never because of any intended action on my part.  The randomness of it is great for keeping you on your toes, so long as it spawns in such a way that it is humanly possible to react to it.  The thing that gets me are the times when it hits me from just off screen, or when combat starts with me so close to it that I can't possibly escape being hit (sometimes twice).

I've figured out a few really basic tricks to avoid the planet hurting me.  These are basically a.) don't go off screen if you can avoid it, b.) don't drift in a single direction too long, ever c.) end your combat engagements as quickly as possible, to reduce the time random factors have to come into play.

The lingering irritating thing here is the third part.  Short combat engagements pretty much mean that you've fit your ship with way more power than the other ship can withstand.  Fights like these are gratifying the first time, but are overall much less satisfying than the long, anxious, wit-and-patience fights where the player is dramatically out matched.  My particular favorite here is when the player is against the Ilwrath, in a ship that turns and moves quickly but has only a couple of unguided Guns or Blasters to go "fishing" with.

I just picked up The Ur-Quan Masters yesterday when my roommate asked me if i knew of any good space-themed RTS games.  A quick Metacritic search turned up this, which I downloaded.  It seems like a lot of fun so far, but I have *one* horrible gripe, concerning space combat.

The way the screen zooms in and out in space combat is great.  It makes it much more exciting and chaotic, and is also extremely useful against those pesky cloaking guys.  The way the screen randomizes and flips when you go offscreen is also interesting in terms of strategy.  The gripe I have is over the sudden appearances of The Planet in space combats.  After 5 otherwise flawless fights against a wing of cloakers, it's driving me crazy!  Every time, I'm hit by the planet singling me out from offscreen as I drift gently in front of the cloaking ship, waiting for it to reveal itself.  One time I even drifted past the planet, only to have an asteroid come (also from offscreen) at the precise angle and timing necessary to shove me back into the planet.  Twice I've been hit in the super close-up that happens when you've just killed a ship.

Is there any way to make The Planet any less frustrating?  It's driving me insane!  Even just a little arrow in a gutter on the edge of the screen would be great to make avoiding The Planet more an act of skill and less a prayer to the RNG gods.