[BlueTemplar]

Maybe you're too accustomed with SE4?
SE4 had several features I couldn't stand right from the start, like watching 50 ships fire and move one after another, or no construction spillover to the next turn (while in the early game, the most critical part, you're limited by construction rate, not ressources!). I didn't try any mods, but it's not like they could have solved those problems...

On the other hand, I didn't have any of those show-stopping problems with SEV. It might not be enjoyable right from the start (in singleplayer) now (due to the brain-dead AI) , but I wouldn't bet on that it still won't be by version 1.95!

I also find there's plenty of mods for SEV (more than I have the time to try anyway), even if it's a shame that the progress has slowed down in the past few months for some of them.