Excellent suggestion! I wholeheartedly endorse the idea, and am gladdened by your response, CariElf. (the same look / different paint job idea also has a nostalgic, MOO2 feeling to it.) Also, in respect to the identification of traded ships, it could be handled in three ways that I can think of at this moment:
a.) an automatic advisor pop-up, as Beta Testa suggests,
b.) overall observation of ship design trends (this is assuming that a.) you've seen the ship designs of the originator race, and b.) all ten "stock" races have distinct ship aesthetics. Not being involved in the beta, I sadly don't know the answer to the second point.)
c.) (My Suggestion
) through espionage. This option would not only let you know *who's* trading ships, but also *how many* and/or *what type!*
