I'm probably not alone in finding it takes a little too long to close out a game. Frequently, I have to replace careful strategy with just bombing out every enemy planet until I win an election. A good game though, can take hours to setup--so I was thinking of a few aspects from other games that could be incorporated to improve the game: Change Empire on Load: It would be fun to have the option to switch which Empire I am playing as. This feature is in Hearts of Iron (a WWII game): once I started as the Germans, steamrolled my neighbors, then switched to playing as the Americans against a superpowered Germany. My favorite games are often those in which I must overcome a superior opponent--and sometimes I wish I could play against the Empire I built. Vassal States (Protectorates): Conquest victory takes too long, and huge empires require too much management. When playing Civ4, I would force defeated empires to become vassals (unequal alliance + tribute)--saving me the trouble of finishing the conquest and managing my planets. These vassals then count toward a conquest victory. Something similar would be useful in Genesis to make closing out a game less tedious.
