[onomastikon]

I see, thanks for these replies so far.
I hadnt considered getting the older game vs. the newer, since I only uncovered reviews for SE-IV (by Bruce Geryk no less) after reading these posts. It really is nearly 8 years old?!?!
I didnt know that AI was redone on mods, ok. I will try the demo.
If SE-V hasnt been "fixed" by now (I mean simply bugfixes, not improved AI etc.) then I doubt it will be in the next year.
That's too bad, since it appeared that there were really a lot of neat choices to be had in SEV.
If I am understanding you correctly, SEV and SEIV are also, like Dom3, basically for MP play. I am afraid that I will have to look elsewhere then. Aren't there any good SINGLE PLAYER 4X games out there with decent AI??