SJ and DarkHorse, those are good points. I had forgotten about those conditions, and I really shouldn't have - considering that I use x% of other player's score when I play the AI.
In any case, even in games like Civ with the spaceship victory, most of the multiplayer games I've played with human opponents (or for SEIV, perhaps I should say sentient beings?) end in some kind of conquest victory. That can be fun, but for some reason those very rare transcendence victories are even more fun (perhaps because of their rarity?).
Stone Mill - Somehow I thought my comments about the movies might stir up the hornets' nest a little.
Those are just my preferences, and I'm sure there are as many different opinions about them as participants in these forums. I'd be happy to have a friendly discussion of movies in another thread, if you're interested.