Its a small point, but one that would make each play through feel unique, even theoretically in the same timeline would be to have the starting year be randomised with each play through.
Of course the game is set in the future so maybe a minimum year and a maximum year (only so long the galaxy would make lee enfields).
It would be nice to imagine that all of my colonies didn't start at the same identical time.
Though to avoid confusion on how many years a colony has been around, have the starting year always end in '0' e.g. 2550 / 6730 / 4040.
In addition having the actual 'year 1, month 6' type timer from a few alphas back would be nice.
+1