Oddly, people seem to be more interested in copying another game to work in the rules of Starmada. That doesn't make much sense to me as then why not just go play that other game you are copying?
My work was to create a universal Star Trek line within Starmada. A game of its own. Not a water downed copy of another game. But the way i feel is clearly in the minority. :roll: So i have turned my attention to other things.
I think that the reason that people such as myself like Starmada SFU is that we have been gaming in the SFU for a long time (I bought the Designer's Edition in 1983). However, many of us felt the SFU had a problem: a bloated, outdated ruleset that demanded time-consuming micromanagement of each ship, which made games sometimes take multiple sittings to complete. Don't even get me started on how long damage allocation took...
We loved the setting however, and the ships (that was why I disliked FASA - imho their ships were often downright ugly). While I sympathize with you re: your implied issues with "the designer," I have to say, I'm a big fan of his work. What I always wanted was a version of SFB that was quicker and easier to play.
Then, Federation Commander came along. I jumped ship from SFB to FC, and although it was an improvement, too much (imho) of the intricacy of SFB was retained. Damage allocation had been streamlined to a degree, but it still took too damn long to allocate a 96-point alpha strike on a downed shield. And so, I still ended up playing mostly duels, not multi-ships-per-side engagements.
I knew of Starmada SFU, but had heard it was too "different" - especially Nova - and I was told I probably would not like it. But then Unity arrived, and I heard good things. I picked up Klingon Armada, liked what I saw, and I grabbed Romulan Armada as well. After a few games, I had internalized the rules to such a degree that I rarely needed to consult the rulebook. There's no going back for me. You gotta love a game where you can keep the damage allocation chart in your head!
TL;DR: I don't consider Starmada SFU Unity to be a "watered-down" version of anything. I consider it to be an improved iteration of a game and game-universe I love. The (very) few things I missed that were not included out-of-the-box (such as tactical maneuvers) I was easily able to incorporate. Starmada Unity SFU is the game I always wished SFB and FC were.
As for your designs: I think they are amazing! The issue of lack of interest might perhaps stem from the fact that there are no Romulans or other races besides Feds and Klingons. I'll bet many were eagerly waiting to see more of your work - I know I was!