Hey this is just a nitpick, but a delay of some sort after just clicking 'new game' would be nice. As of now its just slaps you in the face with a textbox.
This is true, and we do want to eventually make all the menus and interfaces fade in and out as well instead of just bluntly switching between each other. The start of the game will be a long fade most likely. It is important to remember one thing though (which is also highlighted on the splash screen): this is an early in development game with an early in development framework, so some issues and inconsistencies are bound to happen for now.