It should be exclude.list, not a hidden file. If it worked as a hidden file, I'm surprised.
The bootloader questions are a remnant from previous versions that didn't have the options list at the beginning. Without looking at it, I can say I'm pretty sure that I can add an option that says "Don't install a bootloader, I'll handle it manually" which would allow you to skip that question. You'll still need to be asked where to install it if you don't check the box for no bootloader. Does that sound right?
I doubt that the gnome version will get cryptsetup or anything else, for that matter. Maybe next gnome version, which probably won't happen for awhile. The next version (xfce/icewm I guess) will have cryptsetup in it, in case you want to install encrypted and in case you need to mount an encrypted volume in a rescue mission.
Damn, you're fast. I'm now replying to three messages, instead of two.
All the error messages look normal to me except for "install_device not specified." and that's one that I didn't write into the script. You did select a partition for the OS?