tactical combat can be simplified to simply choosing a formation and choosing a direction of movement, roles - defender, attacker, boarding, choose to press start and watch how they beat each other.

This is the thing. While I'm almost certain that someone at Stardock, most likely Brad, will refute this, I'm fairly certain that folks there aren't playing the competition. 

Some of their issues and lacking mechanics would be better off if they stole from others.

for me yes its more immersive

I think that an option to employ the view, as I believe was implented in GC3, covers all bases nicely.  I have stated I don't think I would like a battle viewer, as it seems like fluff to me --- since only the result is important for determining how to best build a fleet.   However, it certainly could be implemented as an option for each battle and I wouldn't object to that.   I.E.  I don't think Stardock is going to offend people by putting it in, but as this discussion shows, there would be people that would react negatively to its absence.   

That said, if a viewer  is implemented, I think it should be with one eye on an eventual dlc, perhaps, that drastically improves tactical choice during key battles, with perhaps a pause button.   There is a bit of tactical stuff as it stands with 77B.   One can think about using missile boats to stand off and attack at distance and meleeing with gunboats and beamers.  Against hordes of pirates/monsters, if you have a strong stack with missile boats you can sometimes get two kills in one turn.  Might be better to break up the stack to attack many pirates at once, but just saying, even this one ability creates tactical opportunities.  There may be  an opportunity here.  (That's what Lee is supposed to have said just before Gettysburg.  Oh well didn't work out that way.)

It's a done deal. The battle viewer is already slated for the 0.8 beta.

Without the battleviewer this just another ordinary game! Just give a checkbox for the ones who don't want it, please don't remove it because without it I'm 99% sure I'd rather have a refund myself!!!!

The GC4 Battleviewer is a dissapointment.   Unless I can't interpret what I see.  Previous Battleviewers let the player observe how the fleet performed in battle.  You could see what ships attacked in which order, and how they performed.   This Battleviewer has very nice pictures, but you can't visually make out what is happening in any detail during the battle.  

For what we call GalCiv IV Next, the battle viewer has gotten the biggest revamp since we started having it.

Exciting!

This is great news.  I think that a good battle viewer is vital.

I have been playing stellaris for comparison while I wait for the juicy final version of Galactic civilisations 4.  Stellaris has a lot of sophistication both in planet and ship development.  The combat is also more sophisticated.  However it lacks the life and soul of Galactic civilisations.

The diplomacy viewer map in Galactic civilisations is a huge advantage. Just this 1 view gives you a real feeling for diplomacy which is central to making the whole game work.  The icons in stellaris just don't convey the same feel.

Exploration feels more like exploration in galactic civilisation.

Having a battle viewer makes the time and effort that you put into ship design feel worthwhile.  I feel that in stellaris I get very little feedback after a battle.  It is very hard to catch the battle, with the battle often being over by the time you've moved to it.  Even if you do catch the battle, it is very hard to get a feeling for what is actually happening, and which weapons are taking effect and which ones are not.  Yes you can look at the statistics afterwards, but that isn't a visceral feeling.  So I think a battle viewer would Give Galactic civilisations a huge advantage.  I am really looking forward to your planned developments of Galactic civilisations next.

Brilliant work.