it’s vital we allow the player to create customized interfaces
In my opinion it would be equally important allowing the user to interact with the unit using shortcuts. At least in games like starcraft I think the UI was important to provide feedback, but most actions would be performed using the keyboard.
My current idea is to offer two different devices to output this information.
Makes sense. Would this be an option that the player can make (i.e. it could affect the cost of the unit)? or would the devices be always available and it's just a matter of complexity?
This would render something like this:
Depending on how hardcore you want to go, maybe the minimap is something the user has to create using the units' visibility and radio capabilities haha
what happens when you have multiple units selected
I think this poses an important question. In other games there are a limited number of units that behave the same way, so the user can perform actions in all of them easily. In Kikai it seems like all units could be unique. Maybe it would be responsibility of the player to define an interface between them and the units to interact in a way that makes sense (for example, attacking is the same "command" for all units). Anyway, I think this is something important to figure out and helping the player to define.