Filled out the survey. To sum up, while I think GalCiv2 is a great game, it fails to captivate me. Having teethed on MoO, I most enjoy space 4Xs where explore, expand, exploit are all means to bring as many advantages as possible to the combat, the exterminate. Ship Design has depth (unlike Endless Space), but is relatively simple (unlike Star Ruler). If I don't have tactical combat option, I'll eventually lose interest. My two favorite space 4xs are Master of Orion 1,2, Sword of the Stars (1 only).
Honorable mentions in spirit go to Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, Imperium Galactica 2, The Ur-Quan Masters Star Control 2 HD remake (I've got some issues with the combat controls and camera, but the races are fantastic), Haegmonia: Legions of Iron (the campaign - after the first chapter trainwreck- was enjoyable), Homeworld, Alpha Centauri, and Conquest: Frontier Wars.
Now, I've enjoyed sci-fi 4X games without a focus on combat such as Alpha Centauri, but then that wasn't a space game. It focused on interesting fluff, story, politics, terrain, world development, etc. I was even interested in a combatless game, Shackleton Crater.
Space is relatively empty, I don't see the appeal of creating a galactic empire without the starship battles. I do understand the appeal of other victory conditions, but rarely go for them.
I do find myself wishing space 4xs had more flavor to them. StarDrive appears to be doing this with their races with clear inspiration from other sources. At a cursory glance, they don't seem particularly original, but they do seem to have a personality beyond their stats. Unfortunate that it is a RTS.
