Galactic Civilization
The gameplay of galacitic civilization is 4X, to Explore, to Expand, to Exploit and to Exterminate.
The gameplay should be something like this.
Explore the map and try to find resourches and good planets to expand your empire faster than the competition. And information is always power.
Expand your empire and use your colonyships to expand your empire to grow faster than the competion. And try to get faster than the competion to the next uber planet or galactic recource.
Exploit in political, economy, economics, and sociology, exploitation involves a persistent social relationship in which certain persons/aliens are being mistreated or unfairly used for the benefit of others. This corresponds to one ethical conception of exploitation, that is, the treatment of human/alien beings as mere means to an end — or as mere "objects". In different terms, "exploitation" refers to the use of people/aliens as a resource, with little or no consideration of their well-being. So cheesy gameplay should be possible. (wikipedia)
Exterminate grow so big you could crush the competion. You don’t have to do it, it’s just a possibility to do it. (personal opinion)
So analyzing the gameplay of Galciv.
The first fase of gameplay is going to the "best planets" in the shortest time possible.
The second fase of gameplay is building your few planets in to an empire. And trying to get ahead in research.
The third fase of gameplay is building your defences, fleet to defend your empire and try to conquer the competition. This can be called the midgame.
The forth fase depends on your skill if you have smashed the enemy conquered thier planets and be the biggest boy on the block. Then it can get tirresome you have grown to big to play the game smooth. To many planets to handle. So you have to streamline the interfase or remove some planets. But how?
You can blow them up or use them in a more useful manner. The first fase of gameplay trying to colonizing the best planets is one of the nicest aspects of gameplay. You have to get there faster than the competition or you lose.
The possisbility of aquiring planets as a recource in the end game should give the same gameplay and thrill as with colonizing planets. In the first fase.
If it where possible to build something like a Dyson sphere it would solve some problems. You have to use useless planets class 0 or above for material. And thus we have the same thrill as with colonizing planets in first fase. And it would be nice to get the home planet of the competition not for the infrastructure on the planet but for the raw materials in the planet.
In the end game it should be possible to build structures/ships Terror Stars or Planetmovers to destroy/move planets. The forth fase could then be one of trying to destroy or aquire non-usefull planets for raw materials or denying the competition them.
So in the endfase there could be a galactic map without many planets a few dyson sphere’s and different or new gameplay possibilitiy’s. Giant spacewars and epic battles.
Just some ideas.