Uplift Series (by David Brin)

[Saxon]

Didn’t the two orders take to very different parts of the galaxy? They did not share systems, unless my memory is more damaged than usual. In the game you are describing, you would need to work on the victory conditions to get a nice balance. If it is pure points, I will glass everyone else so I advance. However, if my victory could somehow be made contingent on not killing other races, I will be friendly. Perhaps you could have Last race standing on each of the planet types.

One way to simulate the Uplift is with the neutral races. Once another race is advanced enough, they can make the neutral surrender. Sure, it is not quite right, but it does give some advantage to the Uplifting race and does not require any modding.