I have to be honest, one of the best "looking" 4 X games that I can recall was BOTF. It was designed by the folks who designed MOO2. MOO3 did not employ any of those people.
SEIV may not have all of the "eye candy" of other games, but it does look good. I actually like the DOS look of the game over that of MOO2 and now MOO3.
SEIV has a mild learning curve that is rewarding, not penalizing. I love the way that you can get the information you want or need within a click or two. This is why SEIV is so damned addictive to play. It draws you in, while allowing you to play the role that you want without all of the "peel the onion" crap.
You can do as much micro-managment as you want, or as little as you want.
The planets look like planets, the ships like ships. The game is one of the most well thought out games of this kind that I have ever played, and I have played a few.
So welcome back to SEIV, and I hope you enjoy yourself.