The reason why I don't want to give 60s build up time is that then one strategy will become dominant - build mines. Now you have to think, getting center is worth 1.5 goldmine income, do you build mine or even 2 or do you fight for a center. In team games center becomes even more important because all your teammates benefit from it but there might be different strategies, maybe first player builds up but second player goes all in on center etc. This opens up a very interesting game dynamics and adds strategic depth.
Other things are all on the table, but it needs a bit more time and maybe more players to see if there is demand new features. I see you prefer more involved battle management while currently it's more lazy and simple approach. I think more game settings is fine at this stage because it also would allow to self select most popular format that could become the new default, so custom games and custom game features could be the way forward.
I will be redoing ground textures after rework of starting page is finished, so hopefully it will be better.
Btw if you have time I have game opened right now so join for some 1vs1 :)