Sorry, just another idea for the expansion; I saw this kind of thing in a space game 15 or so years ago on the commodore amiga (now thats old!). dont ask me what the name of the game was I cant remember, you could say it was one that was a super early type of gal civ..

Anyway, would it be possible to add a family tree / command structure / royal family (race pendant) type thing to the game. where each race would have a equivilant of a king, queen, offspring, offsprings offspring etc etc. these people would have bonuses to them, or negatives, maybe both. for instance you could have a prince which was an engineer, making ships travel 1 extra space a turn. or one to increase combat abilities etc, well you probably get the picture.

These people could be moved around like a ship, and they would have a sphere of influence similar to a space station, so in the example above, all ships in the princes radius would gain the 1 space.

additional royal family type people would be generated by a random event, and if members of the royal faimly were on a "fertile world" the chances of new members would be increased.

the family members could also be used in diplomacy as a "trade good" to act as a hostage or something.

and a victory condition could be added to the game in a "kingmaker" style where only 1 royal family would survive. as soon as a races family was destroyed, all remaining planets & ships owned would be transfered to the victor.

Well i think you get the picture, I would welcome any comments you have.

Thanks stardock for providing us with a game that can stretch the imagination, and help us rule the stars! there are not many out there that can achieve this!