SE IV The End Of An Era.

[Captain Kwok]

I don't often weigh in on such matters, but:

SE:V needs to move to real-time resolution for combat. It is simply the best way to even out battles. Right now in SE:IV, so much is dependent on who has firing initiative etc, that battles are almost always lopsided - even between equally matched opponents.

As Phoenix-D mentioned, this is no problem for PBW type games, as all the battle is handled automatically already. "Tactical Combat" if desired for single player could be more interactive, with the user able to define targets and strategies for their ships during combat (ofc, with a handy pause option to reduce possible clickiness) if they wanted.

What is more important is that the engine for combat is done well, so that ships will obey their strategies and such, while avoiding the ills of unintended collisions and run at such a "processing" level not to make the game requirements too high.