Is the SEIV->SEIV Gold upgrade worthwhile?

[Saber Cherry]

I have SEIV, and really liked it, but stopped playing after a couple of games, for 4 main reasons:

1) Excessive micromanagement (manually deploying satellites, stuff like that);
2) Poor strategic AI;
3) Some strange artifacts, like population playing a tiny role in a planet's productivity;
4) Poor tactical AI forcing most battles to be handled manually.

Is buying SEIV Gold worthwhile? Are there any mods that address some of these issues, without breaking the AI? I only like to play SP, and I saw the "Proportions Mod", which looks great, but the author says that it makes the AI worse than before, so...

If I did get SEIV Gold, is there a consensus on the best SP mod out which improves the game, without changing the theme (e.g., not a Star Wars mod)?

Thanks for any advice Insider info on the "when" and "if" of SEV would be helpful, too!

-Cherry

[ October 08, 2003, 19:05: Message edited by: Saber Cherry ]