Firstly, I'd suggest you check out Se.net and read up of the SE 6 wish-list forum. It covers a fair bit to say the least. I think the majority agree that SE IV makes a better base for a future version, although SE V (I'm told), has a better ability to develop the AI players with more flexiblity.
I played SE III back in 1995, SE IV since 2006. One point that comes to mind, is that SE III was more sensible on planetary production, in that the shipyard WAS a shipyard and was seperate from planet production. SE IV got that wrong.
Any new game needs to allow Modders more flexibility, and if possible (big ask), an open ended list of abilities. Whilst SE IV had a fair list, it was limited too much.
As for fans, eve though SE IV is almost 11 years old, I notice over 700 copies of my Skywalker Mod have been downloaded over the last 12 months, thats dam impressive and a testiment to the basic good foundation of SE IV itself.
A personal point, whilst fantastic graphics are nice, its gameplay that really counts. More scenarios would be good (I'm working on some now), and characters with speech (ala Imerium Galactic II) would be a must these days. I'll come back when I have more ideas...
PS I m so pleased to think you are heading in this direction
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