Yes, there are many many many possible non-combat enhancements to the game that are being neglected. I guess the idea of 'conflict' is uppermost in the minds of most game developers as a way to make the game interesting. I prefer solving puzzles.
More infrastructure features would be a great way to make the game more interesting. Populations should need a some organics to maintain themselves. Facilities should need a certain amount of population to operate. (This was added during development but deactivated. Dang it... why can't it be an option like so many other things?) If 'labor' were a
non-portal resource then you'd be forced to locate your major shipyards at large population centers. Hey, presto, more realism! None of these would require 'micro-management' at the level of moving resources around in individual ships. It's all doable with game mechanics about as complex as we currently have in SE IV.
There should be more factors in planetary environment, too. Stars! had it right. Gravity, Temperature range, Radiation. Add those three to the current atmospheres and we've got a pretty decent set of simulated environment variables. Add techs to compensate them for your populations and the game gets much more interesting.
As far as ships and crews, I think tracking individual ships' supplies is good enough. We just need a 'default' supply usage rate so they can't sit on station forever. If the game would read and use the supply usage on components like Crew Quarters and Life Support each turn this would be doable.
[ June 27, 2002, 00:39: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]